Watching Out for those 'APOSTLES'

Back in 1982, when I moved from Virginia Beach, VA, to Parkersburg, WV and planted the first church of my ministerial career; things seemed a little easier. Oh, it was definitely a step of faith... Some would even consider it 'daring'. But when the Lord Jesus, the 'Chief Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls' is in charge, it makes for a tremendously exciting, fulfilling, and thrilling ride, to say the least. One thing that was 'easier' was the fact that your potential congregation members listened to your message and observed the fruit thereof, to determine what their support and participation levels would be. They did not have to place any 'blind trust' in a man, but they seemed to have enough basic knowledge of the Word to be able to determine whether they could afford to place true confidence in the Holy Spirit, working through the man.

Though they may have never seen it done exactly this way, they somehow knew this was the way it's supposed to work. And as they learned more of the Scripture, they could see this was the way God had worked since the beginning... He put His Spirit on a man to do a specific work, 'sent' the man to the place and the people where He wanted that work to be done, and 'confirmed' His Word and His calling with 'signs following'. He did it that way with Moses (Exodus 3:10-12)... He did it that way with Jesus (Luke 4:18, Acts 10:38)... He did it that way with the apostles of the early church (Mark 16:15-20, Acts 13:2-5)... And He does it that way today---except where envy and vain religious tradition prevail and hinder His plan.

Today it seems that neither the fruit of a ministry, the message of the minister (and it's source), nor even the supernatural, heaven-sent signs of confirmation are enough to determine that ministry's validity... The question now, is, "Who is your covering?". What famous minister or organization endorses you? Or sometimes---"What NON-famous (but official-sounding) organization or ministry endorses you?... What kind of 'degree' do you have, etc., etc.

This is a major problem and it has robbed the church, not-to-mention the multitude of individual church members, of the manifested presence and power of the true Head of the church and the ONLY Scriptural 'covering' of any man (or ministry)---the Lord Jesus Christ.

A few years ago, I wrote and published a little book entitled, "APOSTOLIC COVERING?", which I believe, thoroughly addresses this problem...


If you would like a copy of the book, drop me an offering in the mail (enough to cover costs and to show me you're interested enough to actually read it) :) and I will send it to you via First Class Mail. My mailing address is:
Eddie Hughes, PO Box 794, Morgantown, WV 26507

Proper training, experience, mentorship, etc., without question, have their place and are essential in the developmental stages of a pastor, evangelist, Bible teacher, and so on. But the idea that a man or woman can never reach the point where he or she can be trusted in ministry without a continuous 'covering'---a mentor, or especially one who calls himself an 'apostle' is preposterous. I am in my fifties, for example, and the mentors God placed in my life have all reached their final reward. Is it reasonable that I should seek out a new 'mentor'? It is not only unreasonable---it is impossible.

The current 'apostolic movement' has all but destroyed the ability of God-called, God-equipped, Holy Spirit led ministries to flourish. What happens all too often is this...

A relatively new, but growing church or ministry is approached by 'apostle' so-and-so and is delivered the sales pitch... "Every pastor needs a pastor... You cannot have any authority unless you are 'under' authority, etc." A scripture verse is taken out of context and thrown in occasionally to support their pitch and then the 'credentials'---the 'signs of their apostleship' are laid on you. These 'signs' usually comprise a list of other small churches over whom this 'apostle' presides and a signature or two of some better known, senior 'apostles' within their particular hierarchical system. And all that is required of you, once you have signed up with this 'apostle' is a certain monthly or quarterly payment of some agreed upon amount (usually a tithe or tenth of the church income), and viola... You have your official 'covering'!

How sad! How ridiculous! Can you imagine the apostle Paul approaching a church in which he had no investment of his time, his labor, his blood, sweat, and tears---selling his name and reputation for a 'covering' to supposedly help that church grow? In the first place, though Paul 'magnified his office' of apostle and gladly served the Lord in that calling; he did not consider himself to be the apostle of any particular church he, himself, did not plant. And in every church he planted, he also served at some point, as pastor, teacher, evangelist---as well as greeter, janitor, 'chief cook & bottle-washer', etc. The 'signs' of his apostleship was not some list of churches who blindly considered him as their 'apostle', nor did they include the purchased endorsement of some nationally known ministry... The 'signs' of his apostleship, at least in part are listed in his first letter to the Corinthian church (which he planted) as the following...

We are 'fools' for Christ; We are 'weak'; While you are honored, we are 'despised'...
We are 'hungry', 'thirsty', 'naked', 'beaten'... We 'have no certain dwelling place'... We 'labor to exhaustion'... 'Men curse us', 'persecute us'... We are made as the 'filth of the world', the 'offscouring of all things' (1 Cor. 4:10-13).

May God Almighty deliver His people (including His pastors) from the extortioners---those who are in this wonderful profession for personal financial gain or reputation---the phonies, the thieves---those who despise the idea of 'suffering with Christ'; who could never experience the joy of displaying the true credentials of Christ's calling---the 'stripes', the 'scars', the 'bruises'; but would instead have you in awe over their jets, their mansions, and their celebrity status.

Good Confirmation of this 'Blog' Ministry... ALL THE WAY FROM SINGAPORE

'Richard' from Singapore left a complimentary comment on one of my articles. When I visited his blog, http://www.richtheman.blogspot.com I found the following additional comments at the top of his opening page...

QUOTE BEGINS...

TUESDAY, MARCH 04, 2008

http://backtotheword.blogspot.com/
i came across this blog.. and.. its like.. a little treasure chest of insight :)

"It was obviously important to the Holy Spirit that the church be taught concerning His gifts. And may I say, I am not referring to some kind of substitute 'gifts' that are not listed in the rest of that chapter (or anywhere else in the Bible). It's appalling to me how certain 'Bible teachers' have added 'gifts' to the Bible, and fail to even mention the gifts of the Spirit expounded on in three chapters by the apostle Paul. Sometimes just a word or two is changed, but in so doing, the true definition is totally distorted... For example... There is no such gift as "spiritual discernment". The correct terminology is "discerning of spirits" and there is a big difference in how the two would be defined. There is no gift listed, such as the 'gift of wisdom' or the 'gift of knowledge'... It's the "word of wisdom" or the "word of knowledge". Again, there's a big difference."

i've never realised that i've been asking for the wrong things all the while... the gift of wisdom and gift of knowledge... i tried searching this on biblegateway.com and i really couldn't find and gift of wisom or gift of knowledge...
thanks once again Hugh!
posted by God bless and guard those who love him @ 7:56 AM 0 comments

END OF QUOTE

... I thought that was real nice, and I am thanking God for sending my articles to the far reaches of the world, i.e., Singapore.

A Deeper Look at His 'Passion'

"... to whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs..."

--Acts 1:3

The only place in the King James Bible where the word "passion" is used, it translates the Greek word, "pentho", which is defined as an 'extremely painful experience'.  Most translations, i.e., the "New King James Version" use the word 'suffering' instead of 'passion'.  Luke, the writer of the Book of "Acts", as inspired by the Holy Spirit, found it necessary to refer to the suffering of Jesus (not merely His death) as the event that lends proof to the resurrection.  In other words, the 'many infallible proofs', such as the fact that He was seen by over 500 on one occasion (1 Cor. 15:6); He ate with His disciples; the scars of His wounded hands and side were physically touched, etc., would not have been proof had He not really died.  And it was more than the cessation of vital signs, or even the appearance of blood and water from His spear-pierced side that proved to the witnesses of His crucifixion that He was truly dead...  It was the incredible suffering that no human could possibly survive.

This indescribable suffering was what made a believer out of the Roman Centurion (Luke 23:47).  It was pain that could only be inflicted by God Himself (Isaiah 53:4,10), as He punished His only begotten Son in your place, and mine---a punishment so terrible, it disfigured His physical appearance 'more than any man' (Isaiah 52:14) and the witnesses turned their faces from Him.  They turned their faces from Him, though, refusing to look at His suffering, before it had gotten to the really bad part... God, the Father, in His love for His Son and in respect for His willingness to endure such an experience, obscured the worst part of this terrible scene by darkening 'all the earth' for three hours (Luke 23:44)... This was no thunder storm, solar eclipse, or any other such natural occurrence---'all the earth' was darkened.  Only the sounds of Jesus' painful cries pierced the darkness... "My God, My God..  Why have You forsaken me?"

 

Today, people (even Christians) turn their faces from the sufferings of Jesus and refuse to see and understand the incredible price, paid for their salvation.  A severe lack of understanding was evidenced in the popularity of Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion" and its portrayal of the mental and emotional suffering of Jesus.  The movie opens with Jesus in Gethsemane, praying in agony, sweating blood, over the anticipation of that which men were about to inflict upon Him.  May I submit, however, that nothing any man or group of men could do, in the way of torture or physical abuse (or the anticipation thereof) could have caused Jesus Christ to fear, tremble, and sweat blood.  Real men have laughed in the face of worse, and no one can convince me that Jesus was not a 'real man'.

The 'cup' He so agonized over---the 'cup of suffering and death' of which He was about to drink, had absolutely nothing to do with what any man was going to accomplish by acting out the human part of His painful experience...  As bad as it was---and I do not make light of it---it did not compare with the wrath you and I deserved, which Jesus willingly suffered for us.  The suffering of Jesus---the suffering, that is, of His soul---that which would ultimately so disfigure His appearance as He hung on the cross, began days before Calvary, as described in the Gospel of John...

"Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

Father, glorify Your name...

Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.

This He said, signifying by what death He would die.

--John 12:27-28, 31-33

That which troubled the very 'soul' of Jesus did not have to do with the pending punishment of men, but it had to do with the fact that He was about to be joined with the sinful state of mankind and for the first and only time in eternity, be literally 'cut off' from the Father---forsaken by Him---and suffer the outpouring of His wrath on the sinfulness of man.  When He said, "If I am lifted up from the earth", He was NOT referring to being 'lifted up' in praise, as many today have thought... He was referring to being 'lifted up' on the cross.  And as He explained to Nicodemus (John 3:14-15), if salvation was to be made available to believers, He must be 'lifted up' as 'the serpent', as prophetically indicated by God's instructions to Moses in the wilderness (Numbers 21).  The 'suffering' that bought our salvation was not physical, it was spiritual...

"He shall see the labor ['travail' - KJV] of His SOUL, and be satisfied.  By His knowledge 'My righteous Servant shall justify many, FOR HE SHALL BEAR THEIR INIQUITIES" 

--Isaiah 53:11

The suffering 'of His Soul' (not body) was brought about by the fact that 'He bore our iniquities'.  Paul, in the New Testament, says it this way...

"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him"

--2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus, who 'knew no sin'---never committed any act of sin or disobedience to the Father---as He was 'lifted up' on the cross, drew all of mankind to Himself, becoming one with our sin.  And as He became 'the serpent' (the symbol of sin--not Satan)---as He became one with the sinfulness of mankind---He began for the only time in eternity to suffer separation from His Father, and receive the most severe outpouring of wrath that would ever take place---that which you and I deserved.

  

It is this Biblical portrayal of His 'passion', not the Hollywood version, we need to turn back to, praying earnestly for vision and understanding of the awesome price, paid for such a wonderful salvation.  The greatest revival---the greatest outpouring of the Spirit and grace of God---happened on and following the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), when the full remnant of true Israel (by the thousands), as well as the first multitudes of Gentiles, began to be saved and filled with the Holy Ghost.  This was prophesied by the prophets of old, including Zechariah.  But it was part of Zechariah's prophecy which revealed that it was actually the suffering of Jesus, witnessed by those who watched His crucifixion and told of it, that brought about such a great repentance, especially on the part of the Jews...

"And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced.  Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn...

In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness"

--Zechariah 12:10, 13:1

Zechariah's prophecy was fulfilled, according to the gospel of John, beginning when Jesus was actually hanging on the cross...

"For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, 'Not one of His bones shall be broken.' And again another Scripture says, 'They shall look on Him whom they pierced."

--John 19:36-37

If the view and revealed understanding of the suffering of Jesus (His 'passion') initially brought about such a great awakening---doesn't it stand to reason, that if we can just come back to the Word, seriously revisit that revelation, and allow the Holy Spirit to renew our understanding; then true revival can happen again?

Please let me encourage you, not to 'turn your face away' any longer from this most important truth concerning His suffering, but allow the Holy Spirit to give you such a graphic picture of it that you will, as the Scripture says...

"... be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height---to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

--Ephesians 3:18-19