Sunday, January 25, 2009

The Apostolic Church

What Will the Apostolic Church Look Like?

By Cyndi Foster - www.beautyforashes.org


I will be the first to admit that no one has a full understanding of what the Glorious Church of the last day will look like. However, God has been revealing some facets of this end-time Church to many of the prophetic voices of today.

If you seek Him for understanding, He may reveal these and other aspects of His final move to you using the Church. I would like to set forth the observations concerning the Perfected Bride (the Last Day Apostolic Church) that God has revealed to me. You may also catch this vision and ask God to change your heart and life so that you can be a forerunner in this glorious move of God.

The Fear of the LORD

One of the primary outcomes of the true apostolic move of God will be a true revelation of the Fear of God. Thus we will once again walk in Godly Wisdom instead of human planned programs and events. Much of what the church has experience in the last few years has come forth from well-meaning leadership trying to bring forth the promises that God has planted in their hearts. Just as with Abraham, many Ishmaels have emerged to bring confusion. And just as with Abraham, God has blessed many of these Ishmaels with His anointing for a season. However, as the true promise begins to come forth, these Ishmaels will have to be sent away. What did God require to bring the promise of Abraham’s son, Isaac, to pass? Specifically, God had to receive all the glory and credit for bringing forth His promise to Abraham.

Receiving the Promise

Many of God’s children, who have been given end-time visions for Kingdom purposes, are now experiencing trials that will purge their motives and hearts. This season of testing will change the hearts of men and bring forth mature children of the Most High God. This maturity will produce seeds of righteousness which will by focused on glorifying God and doing only those works that have been ordained for them to accomplish. The advancement of the Kingdom of God will be the result.

Purging

Selfish ambition, greed, fear of man, fear of rejection, striving to be acceptable by God, condemnation, low self-esteem, and various other motives must be purged from the heart of God’s people. All these seeds that Satan has planted and watered must be uprooted and completely destroyed. In order to purge these seeds of Satan, every hidden area of your life must be revealed and uprooted.

Preparing for the Apostolic

God is preparing His people for an apostolic move. We have seen the teaching movement, the prophetic movement, and He is now preparing the Church for the apostolic movement. The apostolic movement will be a season where Christ is formed in the Body. Individual believers will come together supernaturally arranged by the Holy Spirit for His end-time purpose of lifting up Jesus and drawing a large harvest of new souls into the Kingdom.

Though I could write a book about the transition and changes that are coming to the organized church, I will just list a few observations of what I feel must happen by the Holy Spirit working in our hearts. These observations will cause you to throw in the towel and realize that your works can not produce this miraculous turn-around that only God can bring to pass. Enter the "rest" and allow God to use you as a vessel to accomplish all that He will do in these last days.

Some aspects of the Apostolic Church:

1. Jesus will be the only focus. He will be lifted up by God’s people.

2. Believers will begin to know the Father, and the fear of the Lord will be restored.

3. Doctrine will be pure, and all the Church will be in agreement.

4. Unity will come due to the love that God will give us for one another as we emerge from the trials of purging. (Pride and judgmental attitudes will be destroyed).

5. The five-fold ministry will focus on equipping and building up believers. Believers will trust the Holy Spirit and mature quickly once doctrine has been purified. Fear will no longer hold them to covering doctrine that strips their pursuit to hear the Lord for themselves. They will have their very own vibrant relationship with Jesus and will be moving in the gifts of the Spirit to fulfill the evangelism of the world.

6. Division will no longer be in the Body. We will have one Church united in love.

7. Each believer will walk with the power of the Holy Spirit and do the greater works that Jesus promised.

8. The Church will know their God and sin will lose its hold. (Inner healing will come with the prophetic move and restore wholeness to God’s children.)

9. Homes will be filled with Bible Studies and ministry. The church buildings will not be able to contain the amount of people coming into the Kingdom. The focus will be the maturing of new converts in record speed as they learn to walk with Jesus. Large worship meetings will fill the stadiums and conference centers. (Persecution will begin in a full measure as the Anti-Christ recognizes his time of great deception is about to come to its full measure).

10. The Jewish people who are truly looking for their Messiah will be stirred to jealousy by the Apostolic Church. The New Man will emerge and many Jews will see blinders fall from their eyes. A united church will amaze the world.

11. The Glory of God will cover the earth even as the deception in the world becomes very dark. The hypocrisy in the Church will be gone and light and dark will stand on opposite sides. Man will choose whom he will serve. The lukewarm will experience trials that will cause them to become hot or cold. All mankind will choose and then the rapture shall come and God shall pour out His tribulation on all the earth.
Only God can bring these things about. The Church has begun to desire to see God’s Kingdom come in fullness. Much of what we have participated in has been the soul trying to bring forth what the Spirit has planted in our hearts. Do not be discouraged when things don’t happen as you thought they would. Just ask God to change you and make you ready to bring forth these radical changes in the church (don’t fight the Holy Spirit and His servants as this great transition takes shape).

Prayer for all Believers:

God help all of us to surrender to you completely. Bring each of us to a place of wholeness in Christ. Lord, develop compassion in our hearts that will change the world and glorify the Father.





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