THE DIVINE PLAN
There is a divine plan for the success of the Church, a divine order God has put into place to ensure that His Bride, the church reaches full maturity and manifest Christ to the World.
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” (Eph 4:11 KJV)
We must utilize His plan to fulfill our purpose as soul winners. First, we must understand we are in warfare and that Jesus is in command.
The most important thing to remember is to be led by the Spirit of God. The Bible declares: “They that are led be the Spirit of God are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). The Holy Spirit will lead you and guide you. He will put you in a win-win situation. The Spirit of the Lord will go before you to prepare the hearts of every individual, comprising the area of evangelistic release where the Holy Spirit has strategically chosen for that particular hour.
We must go out with that confidence in Him to prepare our path and scatter the enemy!
This is why intercessory prayer is so important. We must have our prayer warriors allied with us, blazing a path, and providing air support for the ground troops. The ground troops should also be skilled in spiritual warfare and have clear communication through intercessory prayer. Each gift and part of the Body must be working together if we are to fulfill the mission God has for us!
“And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.” (Isaiah 59:16 KJV)
Under Apostolic Authority
We must have God’s wisdom to be effective.
“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” (Proverbs 4:7 KJV)
We also need to understand authority. The soul winner can have an apostolic dimension. A dimension is a range of ability or a portion of grace.
“Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.” (Phil 1:7 KJV)
There are levels of authority and each one has a certain area of specialty.
“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 KJV)
Who is an Apostle?
The word “apostle” is from the Greek word, apostolos. This means “messenger, envoy, ambassador.” Jesus Christ is the head Apostle. He is the sent one of the Father (Hebrews 3:1).
“Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.” (John 8:28-29 KJV)
First, the apostle is a person who is sent by the King (Jesus Christ, the Head Apostle) with orders and provisions to advance the Kingdom in a certain territory or region. Therefore the apostle is connected to the King or in other words under authority (has been authorized). This is the apostolic dimension.
The prophet is submitted to apostolic authority. Therefore, he is connected to an apostle. Since the apostle will esteem the prophet and make himself accountable to the prophet, he can receive ministry from the prophet. This is the prophetic dimension.
Barnabas is an example of New Testament prophet (Acts 13). In Acts 11:25-26, we read how he went to Tarsus to find Paul, an apostle, and bring him to Antioch. He accompanied the Apostle Paul to Jerusalem.
The evangelist is submitted to an apostolic and prophetic authority. The evangelist is sent by an apostle with prophetic guidance. In the following scripture, an evangelistic team is sent forth under apostolic leadership with prophetic guidance. These three dimensions work together winning souls, building churches. Then the pastoral and teaching gifts will operate in the church to continue spiritual maturity in the local body, raising up the next generation of the five-fold ministry gifts.
Study this example from Acts 21:
“And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done. And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem.” (Acts 21: 8-15)
This is the inter-dependent chain; the five-fold ministry gifts. This is the Body of Christ working together. This shows that we all need each other.
We must come together to win souls at a corporate level with a corporate harvest. We must be an organized army to deploy its strength strategically, to take the regions and the world for Jesus.
