APOSTOLIC RESTORATION

Acts 3:19-22, "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began."

        The church has gone from moving in the dynamic power of God, to talking about prior POW and giving ten point on how to feel great with complacency for the next week. We have gone from demonstrating and practicing Gods glory and power, to talking about fluff and puff. It is time to repent, to return to Gods original order, to return to our first love; Jesus and His word, and go after God without apologia. The demise of the first century church was "A Lack of Holiness," "Institutionalism," Pride, and "Politics" which quenched charisma opting for humanitarian, political control. The same is true today. John Wesley was a reformer who believed the gifts and ministry offices of the spirit were in full operation in his time wrote a stirring sermon on this issue. John Wesley's followers operated in the gifts and believed him to be a prophet of God and that the only reason for the decline of spiritual gifts was worldliness. 

• John Wesley wrote this in his journal, "’I was fully convinced of what I had long suspected, That the Montanists, in the second and third centuries, were real, scriptural Christians; and, that the grand reason why the miraculous gifts were so soon withdrawn, was not only that faith and holiness were well nigh lost; but that dry, formal, orthodox men began even then to ridicule whatever gifts they had not themselves, and to decry them all as either madness or imposture."
• Later in his sermon, "The More Excellent Way," John Wesley proclaims that "The cause of this [decline of spiritual gifts following Constantine] was not, (as has been vulgarly supposed,) `because there was no more occasion for them,' because all the world was become Christians. This is a miserable mistake; not a twentieth part of it was then nominally Christian. The real cause was, `the love of many,' almost of all Christians, so called, was `waxed cold.' The Christians had no more of the Spirit of Christ than the other Heathens. The Son of Man, when he came to examine his Church, could hardly `find faith upon earth.' This was the real cause why the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian Church; because the Christians were turned Heathens again, and had only a dead form left.'"

        Notice the phrase, "until the times of the restoration of all things" in Acts chapter 3. The bible makes it clear that for God to move upon the earth and bring an end to all the wickedness there must be a restoration of all things pertaining to the kingdom of God and the Church. The bible said the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church but why is it that the church seems to be loosing. I have one word for the church; REPENT! The church has left the blue print of the book of Acts and followed her own desires and her own heart. The bible says repent and, "the times of refreshing" will come. If you want seasons of revival, if you want to live in the blessing of God you must obey Gods word one hundred percent. The church is far from what God intended it to be. We must return to the Lord and the pattern of Scripture. There are some key things that must happen before Jesus can come again. Number one the whole world must hear the gospel. Before that can happen there must the final outpouring of God upon His Church so that they can out into the streets and win the lost in the power of the spirit. The bible says that God will pour out His spirit upon all flesh, and that the glory of the Lord will cover the earth like the waters cover the seas. However God is looking for willing vessels. He said preach the gospel to all nations then the end shall come, not might come but shall come. The church must be revived to reach out. We must be built up to become His habitation, His dwelling place and then we must go out with His power flowing through us. For this to happen the church must be functioning properly. The Apostle Paul said the God gave the fivefold ministry to the church to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. For centuries we have heard about the great evangelists, pastors and teachers of God. However we seldomly hear or see prophets and apostles in action. The Lord is looking to restore the gift offices to their full and proper function before he comes back. 

"And he gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, preachers and teachers," (Ephesians 4:11).

        God gave the fivefold ministry gifts to the church and never took them back. The gifts and callings of God are irrevocable. In the late 1980's we saw a restoration of the gift of Prophet in the charismatic circles with a larger acceptance coming from the rest of the body of Christ in the 1990's. God is in the process of restoring the office of apostle. Jesus used twelve foundational apostles to establish the church that can not be replaced, (Revelation 21:14 ). However that was not the end of the apostolic gift or office there were more than twelve apostles in the New Testament. Of course there was Paul the apostle, there was also Barnabas (Acts 4:36; Acts 14:14), Andronicus (Rom. 16:7), Junias (Rom. 16:7), James (Jesus' brother Gal. 1:19) all of whom were apostles who partook in apostolic ministry. New Testament Apostles will not right any new scripture however they are in charge of the restoration of proper doctrine and practice in the church. An important part of an apostolic call is church planting. Apostles take on the role of spiritual mentors to many of the leaders in the body of Christ, taking on the task of ministering to the ministers. Apostles manifest Gods glory and power through the working of miraculous gifts of healing. One of their primary tasks of an apostle is to execute and establish Gods divine plan and order in a region, overseeing and strengthening churches, effecting entire regions with the gospel and power of God, implementing and establishing effective regional outreach and discipleship ministries based our of local churches and networking ministries together. Apostles must have allot patience, show forth the character of Christ, give direction while managing crisis situations and leading by example through servant style leadership. An apostle is one of the fivefold ministries (Eph 4:11), which is set as first in priority in Gods order in church structure (1 Cor 12:28-31), and is part of the apostolic prophetic foundation laying and rebuilding ministry in church planting and church restoration (Ephesians 2:20; 3:5). 

        An Apostle is one who is called, matured and commissioned by Jesus Christ Himself. An apostle is sent by God to a particular region, location or church. An apostle must have been given by God spiritual authority, character, gifts and abilities to successfully reach and establish people in kingdom revelation, and truth establishing proper order. Apostles do this by founding, restructuring, administration and overseeing ministries as a spiritual father of autonomous, trans-local, territorial, church based ministry. I believe one of the main functions of an Apostles is that of reordering the church to focus on reaching out instead of being central and selfishly orientated in focus. 

        According to the New Testament their are Five levels of Church Government that is both congregational, autonomous and universal. These are important to the purpose of God and they are the method of God used in dispensing His power, grace and love. God uses the church as a container and dispenser of His love and power. We must be in proper order and alignment for God to pour out His power upon the earth with Jesus as the head and every member fit and functioning in proper order.

God has given us:

(1) Episcopus -         "episcopal" "bishop" "overseer" 

(2) Poimen -              "shepherd" "Pastor"

(3) Presbuteros -      "presbyter" "elder"

(4) Diakoneo -           "deacon" "minister" "attendant" "table waiter"

(5) Hagios -                "saint" also called fellow laborers

To fulfill the destiny of God in the earth and make His mercy known.

        The New Testament makes is clear that all saints are called to the work of ministry and that the leaders of the church are to equip the saints to minister and facilitate numerical and spiritual growth. There needs to be a major paradigm shift in our mind sets in the church today for this to become a reality. Because for so long we have bought into the lie placed in our minds by the Roman Catholic tradition of clergy and laity distinction. I want to say that we have had it all backwards we are all priests/clergy in the New Testament not just a select few.  You do not have to go to another person for forgiveness from God you can go straight to God for we have one mediator between God and man, the God/Man, Jesus Christ.

"And he gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, preachers and teachers," (Ephesians 4:11).

Philippians 1:1 "Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops..."

Acts 20:28 "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."

Titus 1:7 "For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre."

"And he gave some to be... pastors (shepherds)," (Ephesians 4:11)

1 Peter 5:2-3, "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock."

Acts 14:23 "And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed."

Titus 1:5 "For this cause left I thee in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are wanting and ordain elders in every city (region) as I had appointed you."

Acts 20:17 "And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church."

1 Timothy 5:17 "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine."

1 Peter 5:1 "The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed."

Philippians 1:1 "Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the... deacons."

1 Timothy 3:8-13, "Likewise deacons must be reverent... holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience... then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless... For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus."

Acts 6:1-7, "Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint.... Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business;  but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip... whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith."

Romans 1:7, "To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Romans 16:15, "and all the saints who are with them."

1 Corinthians 1:2, "To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours."

1 Corinthians 16:1, "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also."

Philemon 1:24, "my fellow laborers.."

Hebrews 13:7 "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation."

Neo-Apostolic Church Planting

"Gather My Apostles," by Rick Goodwin

Azusa Street Revival

1 Corinthians Commentary

Release the Roar of the Lord

Spiritual Gifts

The Cessation of Cessation Theology

Prophecy 101

Should Women Lead

New Wine

~Worshiping God~
~Equipping the Saints~
~Evangelizing the World~
~Uniting the Body of Christ~
~And Mending the Broken Hearted~
~Through the use of Modern Techonology~
Webmaster: Jeramiah Giehl - Revival Times Website

Revival Times Ministries - Home Page
Pentecost Bookstore/ Revival Live CAFE/ A.S.O.T - Apologetics/ Hot Links/ River Chat/ Splashin' in the River/ Got Jesus?

This page works best with Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0. or Netscape Navigator 4.7. To Download the latest browser for free, please select one of the following.

Internet Explorer  or Netscape Navigator