Generations of people have been born into this society where man rules the world through his own systems. Men make up the laws by which we are to live and set the lifestyle we have come to know as our culture. Unfortunately those that govern us are for the most part the cursed descendants of fallen Adam and so their judgment, understanding and morals are tainted with knowledge fed to them through Satan and his evil world of fallen spirits. God takes a dim view of all this and is determined to establish His Kingdom on this planet through His government. Where is His government? How will He accomplish this? The answer is, through the body of Christ. You see, the Holy Spirit enters those that love Him, while evil spirits enter those who love the world and its pleasures. When those that are possessed by the Holy Spirit come together in one accord, they form one body, the body of Christ. When those possessed by evil spirits are focused and in one accord, they also form a body that is against the body of Christ. They are Anti-Christ. The Adamic governments of this world are the head of the body of Anti-Christ. Like their father Satan, these governments appear as angels of light, but are really agents of death and destruction. On the other hand, those called to the offices of the fivefold ministry found in Ephesians 4:11, form the head of the body of Christ and are God's answer to His government here on earth. It's the government of God against the government of Satan. The battle is on, Jesus Christ against Anti-Christ, through man. Or we can say it this way, it's the Kingdom of light against the kingdom of darkness, through humanity. We all pretty much understand how man's government works, but our interest is in God's government and His Kingdom, so we will begin our study on the government of God by looking at the office of the Apostle.

The Apostle is represented by the thumb on the hand of God. The thumb is the only finger that can touch all the other fingers. This means the apostle to a degree can walk in any of the offices. Maybe not with quite the same anointing and authority as a person holding a particular office, but nevertheless, enough to do about anything the Lord needs done if the other offices are not available. This is why they are a foundation layer for building the Kingdom of God. They, along with the prophets can establish a work and do the job until God brings in the rest of the team. With this appendage in place the hand of God can make a fist and power against the rulers of darkness is released to restore, renew, establish and regain dominion over this planet. Without the restoration of the office of apostle, or any one of the offices for that matter, the government of God is incomplete and fragmented.

The number twelve is symbolic of government in the Bible and we see that the first apostles were that exact number. They were even known as the twelve by the people of their day. These gallant men were martyred and sown to the ground so that a latter end time harvest of apostles could come forth even more fruitful, based on the spiritual law found at John 12:24.

What are these end time apostles like? Well for one thing, like their predecessors, the anointing that is on their lives can restore an old house of God, or build a new one. The apostle is one of God's greatest weapons against religion and tradition, and in fact all carnality. They insist on holiness and separation for the true church. So along with the prophets they do not mind a bit ripping up and pulling out the dross and mold that has tainted the church for so long. They will defend truth and spiritual law and not be afraid of religious leaders with big followings, money or power that come against them.

Apostles, along with the prophets have the gifting to understand the rhema word and so are instrumental in restoring truth, which has been lost or forgotten as the church went through the dark ages, and they will do so at all costs. They are quite unafraid to attack false doctrines and criticize man's tradition. Where traveling ministers in the past for the most part have been afraid to speak a truth that may offend the people, the latter day apostle, like the early church, will tell it like it is, regardless of the consequences. This is the nature of God operating through the Apostolic and prophetic people. The softness of the Lamb is evident to love and care for the flock of God, but the aggression and boldness of the Lion opposes the enemy.

Apostles are aware and understand that the spirits that are operating through the complacent and lukewarm church today are no different from the spirits of the old church. These spirits cause people to have eyes, but not see, and ears that don't hear. There is a spiritual dullness. Then there are those who are so caught up in worldliness that they have no interest in the things of God at all. But you see, judgment cannot come to even those that have no love for truth without them first being given the opportunity to accept it or reject it. In other words, the apostles put the truth out there for all, but do not expect everyone to eagerly hear or accept it. Some that they minister the word to will turn out to be whitewashed graves, a brood of vipers, ones that cannot hear God's words through their message just like Jesus said many of those in the early church were. He also said many years ago that this kind are not His sheep so the word is given to these for judgment only, but it must be given to appease the scripture in Matthew 24:14.

So, along with God's prophets, the apostle's message is one of life eternal or destruction to those they preach to. The two-edged sword is in their mouth as the truth cuts you off, or brings you healing. Like Apostle Paul said at 1 Thessalonians 2:4.

They are compelled to speak truth, the full gospel, to mankind. This is the mark of God's true sent ones. He has never sent false doctrine or watered down truth to His people through His messengers! The early apostles were severely threatened and told not to speak in the name of Jesus or teach any doctrine that was contrary to the religion and tradition of the day, but let's look at their response in Acts 5:29:

It is with this same tenacity that truth is spoken through the Apostles today. Apostles Peter and John at another incidence where the religious leaders had forbidden them to speak, told those that opposed them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge!"

Jesus spoke only truth. He never diluted it, and His message was considered hard by those who liked their life the way it was and didn't favor change.

So the approach of speaking straight, un-watered down truth is not new with God, only man. Let's look way back in history to Ezekiel's time:

Even the wicked must be offered an opportunity to change.

The apostle is also a champion of faith. If the Bible tells them a thing can be done, they believe it and act upon it. The promises God made to Abraham and his seed are real to the apostle, and are expected to happen, because it is God who made these promises. Their Father said so, and that's good enough for them. They have the anointing to unite the Body of Christ and walk as God's commanders and chiefs, uniting God's armies and teaching them to trust and follow God. They wield a spiritual God-given authority to bring freedom to the flock through the ministry of Isaiah 61, thus helping the church to experience the feast of atonement, and victory over the powers and principalities, the rulers of darkness and evil spirits that have been holding them captive. In fact, the ministry of the apostle will have a large part in preparing the church to experience the final feasts. God will soon be receiving a Bride without spot or wrinkle, and separated from the world because of the uncompromising nature of those called to the apostolic office.

If you look up the word apostle in the Strongs Concordance, you will see it is number 652 in the Greek. You will get an even better picture of the nature and ability of the apostles. They are: a delegate or ambassador officially commissioned by Christ with miraculous powers. It goes to 649, meaning to be sent out or sent forth, to 575 meaning they are separated, they bring completion and reversal by the cessation of sin and hypocrisy. It goes to 4724 meaning to repress or abstain from associating with, to avoid and withdraw self, to 2476 meaning to stand, abide, appoint, bring or continue covenant. It is compared to 5087 meaning to place in a passive or horizontal position. In other words, those called to be apostles, like the other offices, must die to themselves so Christ can be who He is in them. They must be separate, set aside, able to stand adversity without being discouraged in order to keep the flock of God together when under trial.

It goes on to describe, utterly prostrate in position. These, as just stated, must die to their desires, their lifestyle, their opinions, their agendas, and do things God's way. They have to lay aside their need for fame and recognition, their ego's to be patted, or to have large numbers of followers. They must be content to have their works destroyed so He can perform His works through them, bringing glory to His name only. Swallowing their ego is the hardest one for the apostolic to accomplish. They are among the first to start a work, but those that are brought in to help many times get the credit, at least by man. If this is important to one that is called to the office of apostle, they will probably never be chosen to fulfill the office.

Where will you find the apostles today? You will find them laying the foundation of the church triumphant, the church of the first born, or you could say, the church of Abraham's seed. You will find them establishing business for God's Kingdom based on Godly principles and spiritual law. Behind the scenes you will also find them praying and covering God's flock and battling the powers of darkness that would interfere and try to stop the advancement of God's Kingdom. With the restoration of the apostolic and the prophetic there can be no stopping the body of Christ. God through the apostles is the cloud by day to cover and protect, and God through the prophetic is the fire by night to lead the way to eternity. How can we lose!