Doing The Work Of The Kingdom
The entire Word of God is prophetic because it is futuristic.
Amos 3:7 - Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
We know that we can prepare boldly for what is coming because Jesus gave us the prophetic signs. He told us what we should look out for and we know that we are living in the last days because prophetically the Bible has shown us where the church will be in the future. We know that it will end in glory and will end strong and not weak. The Laodicean church is one of the seven churches that Jesus spoke about in the last days but it will not be the final church because the last church will be united and strong and will grow into the full stature of Jesus.
God is equipping and preparing His children for great and mighty things and we will finish strong. We will take the nations for Jesus by preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth. The devil has already been defeated and although he will exert great power on the earth, his reign of terror will end in the lake of fire.
The entire Word of God is prophetic, but it is also apostolic because the word “apostolic” is a doing word.
James 1:22 - But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
This is one of the most relevant apostolic verses of Scripture in the Bible. To be apostolic means we must be “doers” and what we do should extend beyond the four walls of our church and extend to the ends of the earth. An apostle is a person who performs the word in deed. At Pentecost, the disciples became apostles because they were anointed to do ministry. Jesus’ ministry was apostolic because of what He did.
Acts 10:38 - How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
When you are busy working for God you are apostolic. The definition of an apostle is “one who is sent to represent another.” We are sent by God to represent heaven on earth. We are the answer to a distressed world.
The true definition of the apostolic ministry is “someone who is anointed by God to perform a supernatural task on the earth which will add to God’s Kingdom.” It implies that we can all be apostolic. God has always been building His Kingdom over the past thousands of years. To God, building His Kingdom or building His church is the same thing.
There are some terminologies in the Word that may change. The first time the word “apostle” was used was in the New Testament. It was never mentioned in the Old Testament, but its meaning carries the same function throughout the Old and New Testaments because God has always sent men and women to represent Him and to perform work for Him.
There are anointed people who are doing things in the name of the Lord but they are not sent by God to do whatever they are doing. The Bible speaks about these people who will stand before Him testifying to all the mighty deeds they have done during their time on earth. But Jesus will send them away saying “I never knew you.” If we are not sent by God, we will not be acknowledged by Him. It is important to do only what God directs us to do. That is what Jesus did. He never did anything without God’s permission.
We cannot solve all the problems in the world, but we should rather wait for God to show us what He wants us to do before we do anything. We also need to know that we are following people who have been sent by God.
God has called us to work with Him and He is building His Kingdom with us and through us.
God is the builder
Colossians 1:16 - For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
From this we can see the great apostolic power of Jesus as the Creator and because He created everything, He has power and authority over what He created. Those who have an apostolic anointing are also creative and the things they build for God are a testimony against the kingdom of darkness.
Matthew 16:18 - And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
What God builds will defeat the devil and the things we build with God cannot be destroyed by the enemy. If you want to ensure the devil’s defeat, build with the Lord because what you build will defeat his demonic assignments against you. To be apostolic means building something that exalts God and overcomes the enemy.
Anything that was built by God and His workers in the Old Testament is apostolic and anything built by God and His workers since then, is apostolic. God has not yet finished building His Kingdom. For example, He has yet to create a new heaven and a new earth which He will do sometime in the future.
That is part of His future plans and we are part of His present plans. That is why we need to have the blueprint for today. We cannot use the blueprints of the church of yesterday, because God has moved on from there and is building something different today. The plans that were used by any previous generation cannot be used today because we are involved with building something different. God is in another place today and we have to do what God wants us to do. We should also not build anything without a blueprint from heaven or else we could be building something that He does not want.
God has anointed every one of us to build apostolically.
Start with the foundation
God is the Creator and we are created in His image to create. When we talk about building with God it means that we are creating with Him. Even though He created the heavens and the earth, He has never stopped the creative process and we are part of that process. He has given us a prophetic power to create things with our mouths.
Everything we see in the physical or natural environment responds to words. That is the way God’s creation is designed. Words which line up with God’s Word have power and when these words are applied to God’s creation, there will be a response.
God has given us the ability and the authority to frame our world with His Words. Prophetic words have power and can be spoken into our circumstances in order to shape our world so that it reflects the majesty and power of God’s Kingdom.
However, there is a time to speak and a time to do things. That is why we need both the apostolic and prophetic anointing.
Any impressive building will have a cornerstone to show that it is valuable and it usually contains the names of the architect, master builder, and the visionary.
All that God builds is valuable and Jesus is the cornerstone of everything He builds. If Jesus is not part of the building it is not worth building. If it is not built by Him it is not His building.
Not everything that is built honors and exalts God. There are buildings that come against the purposes of God. Many of God’s pioneers in the Old Testament built altars as a testimony to what God had done for them and God was always the cornerstone of that altar. But those who worshipped false gods would build altars to exalt their gods and those altars opposed the Kingdom of God.
Anything that is not built by God must be broken down and rebuilt. Our lives must exalt God. We are God’s building and there is nothing wrong with starting over again if the foundation is not right.
1 Peter 2:6-8 - Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion a Chief Cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” and “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
God places His name on everything He builds like artists who autograph their paintings. The value is determined by the name on the painting. When Jesus is the cornerstone of our lives it denotes value.
When Jesus is the cornerstone of what we build whether it is our spiritual life, our marriage, our home life, our careers, or our businesses, the name of Jesus will always be a stumbling block to those who oppose Him because the cornerstone will reflect heaven.
God wants everything to be built on His apostolic blueprint so that it can exalt Jesus who is the Creator and the greatest example of the apostolic anointing.
Hebrews 3:1 - Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus.
God wants every family to have an apostolic blueprint so that they can be built according to His plans with Christ as the cornerstone. When others see the building, God will be given the glory. God wants to be glorified in our families, our ministries, our business, and every other aspect of our lives. But He can only be glorified if things are built according to His design. When His name is on the building, it becomes a stumbling block to the kingdom of darkness, but life and hope to the world.
Every ministry should have an apostolic blueprint if it is to succeed. In order to fulfill our apostolic mandate we need to find the blueprint for the cities and nations that God is giving us to rebuild because anything that has not been built according to how God wants it to be built, must be broken down and rebuilt.
There is nothing wrong with rebuilding because there are things that must be redesigned, restructured, and repositioned so that God can be given the glory. If your life is not offending the kingdom of darkness, it means Jesus is not the cornerstone because the cornerstone will be a rock of offense to everything that refuses to bow to Him.
Cornerstones are laid according to our apostolic build-up anointing. God is going to give us a powerful apostolic mandate and we will build into cities and nations and when the building is complete, Christ is going to be the cornerstone of that city or nation. God wants us to place Christ back into these places.
Revelation 11:15 - Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"
When Paul and his team ministered in cities, the people were convicted of their sin and brought all their occult books and burnt them in public. There are things that do not exalt Christ that are going to be burnt up because of our witness.
Be part of the foundation
When we fulfill an apostolic mandate we become part of the foundation. When we build things for God, He places us into the foundation of that building as a testimony for all eternity.
Revelation 21:12 & 14 - Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The names of twelve tribes and the twelve apostles are etched on the foundations of the New Jerusalem because they contributed to the building. God advanced His Kingdom through the twelve tribes of Israel who possessed the Promised Land and laid the foundation for the nation of Israel and performed their apostolic part.
After Pentecost, He built the church through the early apostles and they laid the foundation for the New Covenant believers to build on and they completed their apostolic part.
Ephesians 2:20 - Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.
What we do for God means something and He remembers the names of those who have worked with Him. God does not merely use your life and resources and then forget about you, but He remembers your name and blesses you and your children up to the third and fourth generation.
When you operate prophetically and apostolically, God will make sure your name is in the foundations for all to see and He will send others to build on that foundation from generation to generation.
When your name is mentioned in heaven perhaps a number of cities or nations will be linked to your name.
2 Corinthians 6:1 - We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
Your unique anointing will express itself in your passion. If you have a passion to see people healed, God will use you for healing. Remember, we cannot do anything without Christ because He is the Source of the anointing.
There are things that need supernatural solutions on earth and those secrets need to be accessed from heaven. Pharaoh needed a supernatural solution for the money that would fail in Egypt and God positioned Joseph with an apostolic anointing who provided the secret solution from heaven. Some problems on earth have solutions that are only found in heaven and are released upon the earth through the apostolic anointing which glorifies God.
