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PREFACE
We have come to the page in Church history when the message on
the following pages should be received by all of God's people,
as it has great import for our times. This message was written
by our Brother John Noble, from Romford in Essex, England, and
was reprinted from a paper published by Fellowship of Believers,
Grand Rapids, Minn.
This message of the restoration of Apostolic ministry in the
End-time Church of Jesus Christ on earth, swept across the land
in a new way in 1948-49. It caused great spiritual upheavals,
and set up shock waves throughout the Pentecostal movement. No
Pentecostal denomination at that time would receive the idea
of Apostles and Prophets set in the Church by divine appointment,
for it struck at the very heart of their religious political
system. Popularity contests, with leaders and officers of denominations
set in by democratic ballot, had always been the method of choosing
divine government. No one was about to change to the helter-skelter
method of letting God choose His own men, and set them in by
the laying on of hands with prophecy. No one, that is, except
those who were hearing from God at that time.
Fortunately, God aimed His trumpet at me, and I heard the message.
It called me out of the denominational system, with its politics
and static theology. I was a young man, just 30 years of age,
an ordained pastor, a writer for Headquarters Publications, and
my future secured in the organization. I had nowhere else to
go. But the truth of God could not be ignored. I had to make
a choice, and I chose to follow the Spirit into the deeper recesses
of the Word of God, into the treasure house of God's divine purposes.
It was not easy for my wife and I to make this choice and walk
this lonely path, but we have never been sorry. It has been a
glorious way, filled with Holy Ghost surprises. It has been an
upward calling, from glory to glory, bringing us to mountain
tops of divine revelations, and beautiful spiritual experiences.
Yes, God's divine government is being set in, by God's methods.
His Body is mus tbuilt up, coming to the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ. Apostles are needed today, and God
has them. Now open your heart, and read this much needed message
of truth.
In Christ
Bill Britton
WHAT SAITH THE WORD OF GOD?
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists;
and some, pastors and teachers; 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, and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure
of the stature of the fullness of Christ: (Eph 4:11-13)
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily
prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of
healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. (I Cor
12:28)
For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as
it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto
the world, and to angels, and to men. (I Cor 4:9)
INTRODUCTION
My concern is to arouse my fellow Christians to look for apostles
to shape church life in our day. I am convinced that the rediscovery
of the truth concerning the apostolic and prophetic ministries,
will play a vital role in establishing and bringing to fullness
the body of Christ in preparation for the return of Jesus. It
will also be an essential step leading up to the final great
evangelistic thrust before this glorious climax of history.
Every trace of unbelief concerning the appearance of apostles
must be dealt with, so that we may watch and pray with faith
for the men of God's appointment to come forth in power. These
men will move through the church subduing the evil forces which
divide and strip the saints of their true glory. They will unite
and release an army under God which will accomplish His purpose
in these end-times.
If the apostles are to function in this way, they will have understood
one simple, fundamental lesson from the example of Jesus. They
will know that a man can only exercise authority when he has
first put himself under authority. (Luke 7:6-8). Jesus learned
this submission to authority as a boy, when His evident gift
first appeared during His talks in the temple (Luke 2:46-47).
He immediately went about His Heavenly Father's business by subjecting
Himself to His earthly parents who had just made the mistake
of leaving Him behind in Jerusalem. With such obedience He rapidly
grew in stature and in wisdom (Luke 2:51-52; Phil 2:5-9). Leaders
in the church will also have learned to be subject to the Father
by submitting to one another even in weakness, growing in favor
with God and men. In this way they will earn the right to raise
up other men of authority from amongst those who have come to
recognize and to trust the ministry. So the body will become
healthy once again, being renewed internally by "that which every
joint supplies" (Eph. 4:16).
FIRST AND LAST APOSTLES
The tide of recovery in the church continues to rise, despite
the seemingly long pauses between rollers. Almost unnoticed,
year by year, day by day, God moves forward with relentless precision
in His program to draw all things together to Himself, engulfing
creation in His love.
The ebbing tide took about three or four hundred years to withdraw
into the obscurity of the dark ages of church history. Then it
settled back into the doubtful comfort of formal religion. But
during the last four centuries, at the close of this age, the
winds of light and revelation are blowing again as strongly as
ever. The mighty floods of His love are sweeping into empty lives
once more.
These surges of blessing began their inward trek when the great
Bible translators set to work, risking their lives to bring the
word of God to the masses in a language they would understand.
This quickly led to the opening up of a succession of glorious
truths, such as justification by faith, holiness, social responsibility,
the priesthood of all believers, the baptism in the Holy Spirit,
and lately the truth concerning the body of Christ and the structure
of the church. It does not require a great deal of study to see
that the progress of this renewal is similar to that of the decline
in reverse. In the past three or four centuries we have recovered
much of the ground that was lost.
In the early church the loss of authority, or authority getting
into the wrong hands, brought divisions which caused a leakage
of power. As a result of this the needs of body and soul could
not be met and miracles ceased. The brightness of the gospel
sun was overshadowed by clouds of apathy and worldliness which
crept into the lives of the saints. Even the Scriptures became
buried under the words of dying language which, like falling
autumn leaves, obscured the path of truth. Only a thin cord of
grace, wound lovingly around a few warm hearts, traced the way
forward through the long winter of apostasy.
To ignore these facts and to sit quietly by, waiting to see what
God will do next, like some armchair prophet, would be denying
our Christian responsibility. We must respond to the forgiveness
of God extended to us for our part in all this, so it will be
our joy to seek Him afresh until He pours out the Spirit in latter
rains (Hos. 10: 12). The Lord Jesus always reaches out meeting
hungry, thirsty souls with His springtime renewing grace (Matt.
5:6). So let us set our hearts on recovery. Let us determine
by grace to go through with God whatever the cost. Then we shall
begin to hear what the Spirit is saying to our generation. With
His help we shall find practical ways to put the truth to work
in our families and fellowships.
When the church was born at Pentecost, the Lord had created a
delicate structure to support the body and allow growth. He wanted
a mature man with whom He could complete the work of building
the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. He wanted a united people who,
like His Son, would obey and serve Him faithfully in showing
His love to a dying world. The structure has not been altered.
The Lord is working right now to bring us into the same life
and style that the first Christians enjoyed. He desires that
we should press beyond even this to a fullness which the majority
never knew.
Now in terms of recovery, what was first to disappear will be
last to reappear in order that the heavenly program may be completed.
Jesus Himself is, of course, both First and Last; the Alpha and
Omega (Rev 1-11); the Author and Finisher (Heb. 12:2); the Foundation
and the Topstone (I Cor. 3:11; Matt. 21:42). The One who left
the scene first will be the last to return, it is His privilege
and our joy, and we look forward hopefully to this great event.
Next to Himself He set "first" apostles (1 Cor. 12:28); when these
men died, they left a vacuum of authority into which the wrong
men stepped. The leading elders or bishops in the larger congregations
waxed stronger and stronger, filling the place which until then
had belonged to the apostles. A central organization emerged
making way for an over all leader or pope. These bishops were
neither given (Eph. 4:11) nor gifted for the work, so the decline
began and hundreds of years of darkness followed. In spite of
all this we can praise the Lord that at last His people are being
prepared again to receive apostolic ministry which will lay the
foundations of the latter house, the glory of which will exceed
that of the first (Hag. 2:9). The Spirit of truth has been welcomed
in and we can be certain that He will lead us into all truth
(John 16:13).
So it's first apostles and last apostles, the master builders
who have seen the plans and are gifted by God to put His work
on a right basis with the help of the other ministries.
VANISHING APOSTLES
One major problem standing between many sincere Christians and
the truth concerning the apostolic ministries is an ingenious
teaching known to some as "the theory of the vanishing apostles."
This teaching is responsible for a great deal of misunderstanding.
The idea that Paul was the last apostle is quite unfounded as
there are a number of others mentioned in Scripture and still
others implied. We can find a few without too much trouble. For
example in Acts 14:4 Barnabas is called an apostle, together
with Paul; in Galatians 1:19 James the Lord's brother is named
an apostle; Thessalonians 2:6 refers to Paul, Silas (or Silvanus)
and Timothy as apostles. Other references will need a little
research but they are there to be found by the inquiring mind.
Ephesians 4 points out that all ministries, apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors and teachers will function until the body
of Christ is come to the unity of faith and the full stature
of Jesus Christ. I do not think we can claim to have quite reached
that position yet in Christendom. You will also note that the
evangelist (the ministry which, together with the pastor, is
more in evidence today in the church than any other) is only
ascribed to one man in the whole of the New Testament! We will
certainly not use this as an argument to suggest that the evangelist
was only around at the start to get the church off the ground,
as some say concerning the apostles. J. B. Lightfoot in his commentary
on Galatians says that the word apostle "is not so used as to
lend any countenance to the idea that it is in any way restricted
to the twelve."
ORDINARY MEN TODAY
By placing the apostles in an elevated position we have made
it impossible to recognize the calling in ordinary men today.
Jesus really did call simple fishermen and made them founders
of the church. He wants to do similar things again, but we have
robbed ourselves of this vital ministry through false humility
and unbelief. Because we expect all apostles to be like Paul
we have lost the benefit of the Timothys and the Barnabases.
The Lord will change this as we encourage one another and recognize
all the gifts and callings in the body of Christ.
The two extremes of Catholicism and Protestantism have both equally
failed to produce the right kind of authority in the church.
The one by investing absolute authority in one man, the other
by giving every individual the right to rule in the church. This
was never God's way. He intended that, through prayer and recognition,
we should see a plurality of leadership emerge at every level,
which will become evident as folk wait upon God and will be based
on true acknowledgment of gifts coupled with submission to those
gifts. It will begin amongst groups of Christians who, through
fellowship, have come to love and trust one another. The "one-man
ministry" will be banished for good and there will be a real
security in the church. Ministries will respect and submit to
each other, working together within the limits of their commissionings.
Local elders will be covered by the ministries and will themselves
be a true covering to the sheep because of their mutual trust.
VANISHING EFFECTIVENESS
With the disappearance of the apostles and prophets from the
early church she soon lost her power and forward thrust. Divisions
arose, and as we have seen, she was plunged into the darkest
night of her history. Except during fleeting revivals, miracles
were almost unheard of, but the fire of truth was never completely
extinguished, praise God! Nevertheless, however much we may thank
God for past revivals, they were more often than not a salvage
operation to save extinction, rather than a crisis experience
to lift the church to a higher plane. A generation must be born
and grow up steadily under the authority and discipline of the
ministries and offices, taking all of God's interventions as
means of reaching maturity or the full measure of life in Jesus
(Eph. 4:11-13). Truly this people will mount up with wings as
eagles...
Today we have a situation parallel to that which existed during
the days of the Judges. From time to time men were specially
raised up to rescue Israel from extermination. In between times,
it seems, every man did that which was right in his own eyes
(Judg. 21:25). There was no king, no consistent authority in
Israel, and so the people went from one trauma to another. Likewise,
the church has been staggering between one revival and another.
Certainly these revivals were led by men who knew God, and His
truth has been recovered, but it was His desire that His people
should be changed from one degree of glory to another. He still
longs that we should know consistent refining, encouraged by
His stirrings, until at last He sees His own image perfectly
mirrored in the church.
The Scripture says "first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly
teachers, after that miracles etc. etc.".. (I Cor. 12:28). The
Lord has a reason for giving Paul this sequence. You see, these
ministries will lay the foundations of character on to which
can be built the house of power. It has been observed in many
places where there have been manifestations of power without
the foundation of character, that a work has grown up overnight
like Jonah's gourd. But because there is no ability to resist
the subtlety of Satan's attack it withers just as quickly as
it sprouts. No wonder we have seen so little continued blessing
in the church. No wonder we have failed to consolidate the blessings
and move on to the greater heights of experience and depths of
love God has in store for us.
In the Corinthian passage quoted above and more clearly in Romans
12 the ministries, supernatural gifts and natural gifts are mixed
up together and called "charismata" or grace gifts. Romans 12:6
says, "having then gifts differing according to the grace that
is given to us. . . " The word gift here is charisma as in 1
Corinthians 12:4, and is applied in various ways, for example
- prophecy (v. 6) is a gift of the Spirit, teaching (v. 7) is
a ministry gift, showing mercy (v. 8) is a character gift. So
then the gifts are all grace gifts. The first are created in
us by Jesus, the second are formed in us through experience and
by the discipline of the ministries, the third are given by the
Holy Spirit as He decides for the blessing, development and expansion
of the church. All are gifts from God which we do not deserve.
All are for the body that each joint may effectively supply others;
the whole is then built up and edified from within itself.
Without this, the evangelistic program of Matthew 24:14 during
the last times will not be possible. The gospel of the Kingdom
is not just the message that Jesus died on the cross for sinners;
nor is it even simply a message accompanied by signs; but it
is a message accompanied by signs and changed lives. The powers
of darkness will then be driven back and held back. Every corner
of the earth will see and hear that Jesus really is alive. Christ
being alive in the church, will be seen by the world; the church
being alive in Christ will be preserved from the final out-pouring
of judgment. As darkness covers the earth, her light will shine
brighter and brighter, and persecution will only add fuel to her
fire. She will know overwhelming joy in the midst of suffering,
and tremendous victory when her defeat seems inevitable.
Let us work together according to God's order and together we
shall know a consistent walk with ever-increasing effectiveness.
FIRM FOUNDATIONS
The special work of the apostle and prophet is one of foundation
laying. They lay the foundation, which is Jesus Christ (I Cor 3:11),
in the hearts of individuals.
The Lord Jesus Christ wrote the names of the 12 original apostles
on the foundation of His holy Jerusalem (Revelation 21:14),
because they made Him, the Word, the foundation of all that they built,
setting in place the apostles' doctrine, the doctrine of Christ foremost.
(I Cor 3:11). So it is with the local church; the elders in this
case are the pillars standing on the foundation and they put Christ
into the lives of the sheep. Shepherds must be like Jesus, rock-like
in their commitment, unmovable, not continually changing direction
or running from one thing to another.
When Jesus spoke to Peter (Matt. 16:15-18), He first made Himself
the rock on which Peter' s life was to be built, and then He
made Peter a living stone in the church. Once again both
Catholics and Protestants have missed the full implication of
these verses. The former having built everything on Peter, and
the latter not using the apostle(s) at all in the building. The church
is built through men and on men who have a revelation of who
Jesus is. We can see the infinite wisdom and mercy of God in
making it so.
Today the work of the apostle and prophet is not quite so easy
to understand, as there is already a church in existence. Or
perhaps we should rather say the materials for building the church
have been gathered together. It's the difference between Hai
and Bethel in the story of Abraham, the one was "a heap of stone"
the other "the house of God" (Gen 13:3). Men have piled up converts
on the wrong foundation; they have built on doctrines and creeds
instead of friendship and revelation. We are not called to associate
with one another simply because we accept the same teachings;
our gathering together is to Jesus. We are to look for Him in
each other, not just a mental appreciation of truth. We are to
relate to people because we are born into the same family, sharing
the same life and spirit, with the same Father who makes us joint
heirs with Jesus, the first of many sons. There is nothing to
join, no ultimate denomination, nor final statement of faith.
We are joined together by the Spirit in true and lasting relationships.
No one can join my group, but someone may be joined to me or
my family. Whole families may be joined to others by God. Even
whole congregations can be joined together when we are willing
for the Spirit to do it in His way and time.
Today, the church is torn with division because men have built
on the wrong foundations. They have built on theology and not
on God Himself. They have taught men's minds without changing
their hearts. We have converts or proselytes, not disciples.
The Lord Jesus and the new birth are the starting point of fellowship
and building, not doctrine. So the work of an apostle here is
to untangle the knots, to clear the site and bring things back,
beginning again right at grass-roots level. In order to achieve
this a vision is necessary, coupled with a clear knowledge of
the pattern and purpose of God. Because of the nature of this
work apostles will always be misunderstood. They will be accused
of meddling and constantly under reproach, but the thrill of
seeing the body built up will be more than an adequate reward.
When proper foundations are laid (Heb 6:1,2), as the Lord permits,
there can be a moving on to other truth for the final stages
of equipping in preparation for the last great battle. During
this onslaught the church will stand in all her glory, more than
conquerors through His great love.
APPOINTED TO APPOINT
In many ways the apostle is like a father (I Thes. 2:11; 1 Cor.
4:15). It is his desire to bring those entrusted to his care
to the point where they are able to stand as mature people in
their own right. A good father is not possessive; he wants to
work himself out of a job. Just as the gifts of the Spirit become
superfluous when that which is perfect is come (Cor. 13:10),
so the apostles' work in the church is finished when maturity
is reached. In God's family, authority is a means to an end,
not an end in itself. God exercises His authority over us to
bring us into the full expression of His kingdom, but if He had
to exercise authority to keep us there He would have failed in
His job. Once we have come of "spiritual age," authority becomes
redundant. The Lord will not need to close the gates of heaven
to make sure we don't all run away. So leaders in the church
must be prepared to lay down their authority at the right time,
remembering that underneath it all we are just brothers together.
Unlike so many present-day missionaries, the apostle does not
seek to bring new converts under the authority of an outside
organization or mother church. He encourages them to care for
themselves and to find their structure within the new company.
He is, therefore, authorized by the Lord to appoint elders by
the laying on of hands (Titus 1:5; Acts 14:23; 6:6). He will
only do this in fellowships where the saints recognize that the
line of His apostolic authority extends to them. For whilst the
apostle may take authority over evil forces or powers without
their consent, he may not do this in the church. He will only
build with those who give him the right to do so! The apostle
does not lay his hands on just anyone who might happen to seem
suitable. Nor does he get names from the air, but he will know
the people in his care. When he appoints, there will be the confirma-
tion of the Spirit in his heart and an "amen" from the believers,
who will have already seen their brethren functioning by serving
in one way or another.
These elders must be prepared to stand alongside the qualifications
in Scripture (I Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9), and will continue their
office so long as they wish and so long as it can be seen that
they are serving the congregation and are free from habitual
sin. They will not be men who move around a great deal, but in
every sense will be pillars of the local church. They will always
be a plurality, except where the church is very small, and they
will be submissive and deeply committed to one another in life.
Like the ministry who appoints them, they will deal with those
under them with both grace and truth, fervent in love and discipline.
The whole success of the structuring of leadership in the church
will depend on a true spirit of recognition and submission. Indeed,
every Christian must seek to recognize and acknowledge what is
of God in his brethren, and when it is seen he must learn to
submit. In this way the whole church will be structured. Submission
does not really begin, either, until there is a willingness to
yield over issues which, in the natural, we would rebel against.
The word is quite clear, "obey them that have the rule over you"
(Heb. 13:17). This is not a dictatorship (I Pet. 5:3), but free
and willing submission to the men who serve us and whom we have
learned to love. As we keep rank in this way and accept one another
for what we are in God, then the kingdom will begin to be seen
in a wonderful way here on earth.
Reprinted by:
BILL BRITTON
P.O. Box 707
Springfield, Mo. 65801
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