Apostles today are sent out – not only to evangelize and win the lost – but to plant new churches. When the Holy Spirit said in Acts 13:2 that Barnabas and Saul were to be set apart “for the work to which I have called them,” the ‘work’ in view was clearly to plant churches throughout the Roman Empire.

There is a wonderful pattern here. Apostles are sent out from the church to do the work of planting new churches. The next step, shown in 1 Thessalonians 1:8 is even more exciting: The new church itself then becomes an apostolic base, sending out it own workers to do the work of establishing still more churches. Thus not only are disciples going into all the world and making more disciples – but churches are also reproducing themselves as they reach out with the Gospel and plant new churches as the Kingdom continues to expand.

The beautiful thing about this process is that it is designed to go on and on and on and on and on… Every church is supposed to be reproducing and sending qualified apostles and apostolic teams into the harvest field to plant new works. These new churches can, in turn, send out even more workers in the harvest field and so on. It is truly meant to be a process that never ends.

This pattern in the New Testament shows the high priority God places on evangelism and “missions.” It goes beyond seeing people come to salvation; it is greater than offering humanitarian aid where and when it is needed; it involves the planting of new churches – churches that will continue the task of proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom and discipling new converts – while also reaching out and planting another and then another church.

It is regretful today that we don’t see most churches reproducing and planting new churches. This is still a very effective way to evangelize just as it was in the Roman Empire during the time of Paul’s apostolic ministry. It is hoped that as apostolic ministry becomes more widely accepted and the influence of apostles increases in the life of the local church that we will see this process of multiplication begin once again and become a part of regular life within each and every local church.

We have been looking at valid apostolic ministry today. Many today who are calling themselves apostles are really not. Many today who are apostles are quietly doing the work of an apostle and are seldom seen or heard as they labor in their part of the vineyard and are not known nationally or internationally. We have seen that:
1> True apostles are actually doing apostolic work
2> The local church is the normal “sending unit” from which apostles and their apostolic teams are released and sent
3> Those considering working overseas must first have proven their call and ministry on the home front and in a local church

As we continue our look into Acts, chapter 13 we quickly see #4 – The call of an apostle should be received and confirmed in a place of prayer as the leadership team of the local church wait on The Lord in prayer with fasting.

Barnabas and Saul received their call in a prayer room, not a board room. They received the apostolic call as they and other leaders in Antioch “ministered to The Lord and fasted” (Acts 13:2a). This pattern – apostolic commissioning birthed in a place of prayer – occurs in a number of Scriptural episodes. Immediately before Jesus gave His disciples the commission in Matthew 28:16-20 to “go and make disciples of all nations,” the disciples were worshippingHim. Genuine worship of Jesus, “The Lord of the harvest” (Matthew 9:38), will propel us to reach out to others with His love.

Isaiah, likewise, was commissioned during a mighty encounter with “The Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up” (Isaiah 6:1). He did not just “volunteer” for the army of salvation, but responded to a direct question from The Lord: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” (Isaiah 6:8b). This is the same question God wants to ask us – but we have to get deep enough into His presence to hear His call. One of the greatest scandals among professing Charismatic, apostolic, prophetic, Pentecostal, intercessory, and other ‘deeper life’ Christian groups is that we claim to be exceptionally spiritual, but somehow we have often missed this cry from the heart of God.

We are examining Acts 13:1-5… and the genuine apostolic ministry as seen in this passage. This is a good thing to do because there are many “false apostles” (2 Corinthians 11:13) and “super apostles” (2 Corinthians 11:5; 2 Corinthians 12:11). So, we must book to the Scriptures to help us determine who the “real (or true) apostles” are (2 Corinthians 12:12). Yesterday we saw that true apostles do apostolic work. This may seem so very obvious but it needs to be stated because many who call themselves apostles are simply not doing what the Bible clearly states is the ministry of the apostle.

Today (#2) we want to state that the Church is the normal sending station from which true apostolic ministry is sent.

Acts 13:1 begins, “Now in the church that was at Antioch there were…” Today many who have been called to be apostles have been trained by “mission agencies,” parachurch organizations, and seminaries. But, the actual sending is rightfully and biblically done by the Church. I believe that the time is coming when future apostles will find their training within the local church and mainly through mentoring relationships with active and mature apostles who have proven themselves over the long term and have a fruitful, long-term ministry. However, even though training is often currently received away from the local church – it is the local church that must be the sending agent for all those called to be apostles and work in apostolic ministry. It is the biblical pattern.

There are important reasons for this pattern. No one knows us bette than the folks back home. No one can better encourage is or offer prayer support. And no one is in a better position to gauge our spiritual condition and provide a source of accountability. It is important for apostles and apostolic team members not only to know that there is a place where they have been sent out from but also to know that is a place where they can go back to. Tragically, many apostles today don’t have this sense of security that only a local church can supply.

So, the local church should be the place where apostles are trained and equipped (Ephesians 4:11-15) as well as sent out from. This also means they should return to the sending church on a regular basis to give an account of their work as Paul and Barnabas did in Acts 14:27-28).

People ask me all the time – “How come we don’t see miracles, signs and wonders in our services?” The answer is not complicated. God wants to arise and do mighty miracles in His Church today. However, this will happen not so much because we have sought after miracles or sought to attract crowds – but we have sought Him. If we truly find Jesus, we will find miracles too. Crowds will again come to seek out the mighty miracle-working Jesus who lives within us by His Spirit.

What will we do with the multitudes when they begin to come? Will we treat them to a spectacular combination of supernatural and showmanship, telling them they can have God’s best and still hang on to their self-centered lives? Or will we tell them the truth about eating Jesus’s flesh and drinking His blood – the truth that only those willing to lose their lives will find them!

As The Lord restores apostolic evangelism to the Church, His Church, we will have an exciting opportunity to proclaim and practice both the power of God and the message of discipleship. Instead of reaping a harvest of shallow, self-absorbed “converts”, we will once gain produce a generation of world-changing disciples.

Note: Our next blog will begin to look at apostolic outreach – the work of “missions” that every local church, if they are apostolic in nature, should be considering.

We have been looking at the role of signs and wonders in reaching out to the lost and making disciples. Apostles, and thus apostolic people, move in a calling and empowerment that brings about signs and wonders both to initially get a person’s attention as well as to confirm the words being spoken and the message being shared.

As vital as signs and wonders are for successful evangelism, John chapter six also includes a sobering warning. Although the chapter begins with great crowds and triumph, it ends on a far different note. Midway through the chapter, Jesus starts to challenge the multitude that the time for real commitment has come. Instead o remaining a crowd of freeloading miracle-seekers, they must eat His flesh and drink His blood (John 6:53-57).

How do people respond to Jesus’ message of total commitment? “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66). How would the sight of these mass defections affect Jesus’ original twelve disciples? Would they question their own dedication in light of Jesus’ sudden unpopularity? “Then Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you also want to go away?’ But Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life'” (John 6:67-68). Despite Peter’s affirmation of the disciples’ unwavering commitment, the chapter ends with the tragic statement that Judas, one of the twelve, would ultimately betray Jesus.

John Chapter 6 describes a pivotal decision in Jesus’ ministry: He would build His Church around eleven dedicated followers rather than 5,000 people who were looking only for a good show and a free lunc. This is, in fact, one of the crucial “apostolic decisions” that every believer and Christian leaders must face: What kind of people will we build our ministry around and what kind of people do we want to invest time in discipling?

We need to understand the central paradox in John chapter 6. On the one hand, great crowds were attracted by Jesus’ signs and wonders; on the other hand, most of these people turned out to be fair-weather followers, who quickly disappeared when confronted by the call for true discipleship. So what are we to think and conclude? Is it therefore a waste of time to seek God’s power in order to draw people into the Kingdom? Or should we go the other direction, watering down Jesus’ call to full commitment because it hinders Church growth?

We need to be challenged by both sides of this apparent dilemma:

>> God wants to reveal His miracle-working power in every church today, drawing multitudes to come and see Him work

>> Churches that are experiencing the supernatural and attracting large crowds must honestly ask themselves whether they have taken the next step: presenting the cost of discipleship. If your church (ministry, personal outreach to the lost) is only portraying God as the “God of the goodies,” you may well have a lot of people – but you are deceiving yourself if you thing they are really committed, true disciples of Jesus.

HERE’S MY POINT: True apostolic evangelism combines miralces and discipleship, realizing that both are crucial to the growth and stability of the Church. Apostolic evangelism isn’t impressed by big crowds alone but inquires about the maturity and depth of commitment in the lives of the people. It realizes that the evangelism process isn’t finished until individuals have been built together as a healthy spiritual body.