Jennifer LeClaire reports at CharismaNews
that there are people out there claiming to be anointing Apostles of God that
are false in their assertion. She does not diminish the Ministry Gift of
Apostle, but warns to be wary of false Apostles.
JRH 3/28/17
****************
3 Sure Signs of a False Apostle
March 28, 2016 6:00AM EDT
Jennifer LeClaire is now
sharing her reflections and revelations through Walking in the Spirit. Listen
at charismapodcastnetwork.com.
Since the 1990s, we've been
witnessing the Lord restoring the office of the apostle to the church. Of
course, the rise of true ministry gifts always prompts Satan to raise up a
counterfeit anointing to pervert the pond.
The Bible warns of false
apostles, and I've certainly seen my fair share of them. But what does a false
apostle look like? How do you recognize them? What does Scripture really say about
these hucksters?
I decided to study this out
after I saw several articles online arguing Paul, who wrote two-thirds of the
New Testament, was a false apostle. Between such odd assertions and the number
of people claiming to be apostles without any evident fruit, I set out like a
good Berean to offer some truth on false apostles.
Yes, There Are Modern-Day
Apostles
Before we get into the signs
of a false apostle—and this is just part one in a series—let's start off with a
foundational Scripture to set the stage. Ephesians 4:11-14 makes the case for
modern-day apostles:
He gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists,
pastors, and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of
service, and for the building up of the body of Christ, until we all come into
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, into a complete
man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so we may no
longer be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about with every
wind of doctrine by the trickery of men, by craftiness with deceitful scheming.
Nowhere in Scripture does it
say Jesus has stopped calling apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and
teachers. (We'll look more closely at the functions and purposes of apostles in
another series, but I felt an urgency to start raising awareness of the biblical
signs of false apostles this week.) I am not offering sign of false apostles
based on my experience with them, as that's subjective and can start a witch
hunt. The Bible has plenty to say on its own without inserting our opinions at
this point.
Just as we find authentic
apostles in the New Testament, Paul made it plain there were false apostles in
his day—and there are still false apostles in our day. We'll start our study
exploring 2 Corinthians 11. Note that just because someone has poor character
does not make them a false minister, but false ministers have poor character.
1. False apostles boast
about themselves. They are
braggarts. Paul longed to impart spiritual gifts to help establish people in
what God was calling them to do (Rom. 1:11). False apostles seek to puff
themselves up in your eyes so they can get something from you rather than
adding something to your life.
Paul wrote, "And I will
continue doing what I am doing, that I may cut off the opportunity from those
who desire an opportunity to be found equal to us in what they boast about. For
such are false apostles..." (2 Cor. 11:12-13a).
Proverbs 27:2 says, "Let
another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own
lips." Now, it's absolutely legitimate to offer stories and testimonies of
the power of God because it builds people's faith. But false apostles are more
interested in puffed-up power stories that exalt themselves rather than
glorifying Christ and building your faith in Him. It can be a fine line, but the
line is there.
2. False apostle are
merchandisers. What was Paul
speaking about in 2 Cor. 11:12? What was he going to continue to do in
order to cut off opportunity from the false apostles who wanted equal status
with Paul and his true apostolic company? He was preaching the gospel free of
charge.
"Did I commit a sin in abasing myself that you might be exalted, because I preached to you the gospel of God free of charge? I robbed other churches by accepting wages from them to serve you. Furthermore, when I was present with you and was lacking, I was a burden to no one" (2 Cor. 11:7-9).
There is nothing wrong with
receiving an offering for the work of the gospel. There is everything wrong
when you begin fleecing the sheep to line your pockets for personal gain. There
is nothing wrong with asking partners to help support your ministry. There is
everything wrong with manipulating people for mammon.
3. False apostles are
deceitful workers. False
apostles operate in deceit and align with those who operate in deceit. Just as
there are companies of false prophets, there are networks of false apostles.
In context of those who brag
and merchandise people, Paul wrote, "For such are false apostles and
deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder!
For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is no great
thing if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness,
whose end will be according to their works" (2 Cor. 11:13-15).
The Greek word for
"deceitful" in this verse means just that: deceitful. False apostles
are not merely people who take on a title without the gift, the calling or the
fruit. They may be sincere and misguided—but that doesn't make them false.
False apostles are those who set out to deceive.
I pray that the Lord would
sharpen your discernment in these last days, to recognize these deceitful
workers; to avoid labeling the false as true and the true as false; and to
rightly divide the word of truth, in Jesus' name. Amen.
__________________
Jennifer LeClaire is senior editor of Charisma. She is
also director of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, co-founder of awakeningtv.com, on the
leadership team of the New Breed Revival Network and author of several books, including The Next Great Move of
God: An Appeal to Heaven for Spiritual Awakening; Mornings With the Holy
Spirit, Listening Daily to the Still, Small Voice of God; The Making of a Prophet and Satan's Deadly Trio:
Defeating the Deceptions of Jezebel, Religion and Witchcraft. You can visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.
Jennifer's Periscope handle is @propheticbooks.
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