—JEREMIAH 26:12–15
Whenever God brings forth a ministry, Satan will bring forth a counterfeit. In other words, before there is an authentic ministry, there are false ministries as well. That should not put us off but just make us careful. If we hear that counterfeit money is in circulation, we do not stop using money. We just become more careful. As the prophetic ministry grows, false prophets will become more prevalent. We should not reject prophecy but be vigilant. Church leaders should guard against false prophets. The best way to do this is to have a fully developed prophetic ministry in their local church. True prophets are the best antidote to combat false prophets.
An authentic prophet can admit that he may be untrue and therefore wrong in many areas. He knows that his protection from error is within the unity of our Lord’s body. Conversely, the false prophet confuses his anointing with what he thinks in his soul, heart and mind, so that he thinks he cannot be wrong.65
THE MINISTRY GIFT OF PROPHECY IN THE SPIRIT VERSUS THE FLESH
Spirit Flesh
Obedience Rebellion
Honesty Deception
Truthfulness Lies
Virtue Natural
Boldness Timidity
Perseverance Procrastination
Sincerity Selfishness
Power Charm
Meekness Pridefulness
Longsuffering Impatience
Peace Discord
Faith Fear
Temperance Gluttony
Goodness Evil
Joy Dissention
Gentleness Harshness
60 Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus, s.v “presumption.”
61 Bill Hamon, Prophets, Pitfalls, and Principles (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers, 1991), 66.
62 Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus, s.v. “integrity.”
63 Graham Cooke, Developing Your Prophetic Gifting (Grand Rapids, MI: Chosen Books, 2003), 110.
64 Cooke, 87.
65 John and Paula Sandford, The Elijah Task (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2006), 36.
Chapter Thirteen
BIRTHED THROUGH ORDINATION
Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.
—1 TIMOTHY 4:14, NKJV
TIMOTHY WAS A young apostolic leader and elder of the Lord’s assembly. He was admonished and exhorted by Paul to stir up the gift of God that was in him through the laying on of his apostolic hand. Timothy came from a family who understood having faith, which dwelt in his grandmother Lois and was therefore passed down to his mother Eunice. What was in Timothy started in his grandmother and mother. He needed to know that the apostolic calling of an apostle was resident within him. He had the motherly impartation and natural upbringing in the Lord, but Timothy needed apostolic fathering and impartation as well. This was to be transferred through the laying on of Paul’s hands and prophetic words. Paul wanted Timothy to keep the fire burning by stirring up the gift of God that was in him.
The calling of an apostle was in him, and he needed to use that which was imparted by the laying on of hands for ministry purposes. We know that he was considered a spiritual son to Paul, and Paul fathered him in the faith and call of God. Paul did not specify the actual gift of God that Timothy was reminded to stir up, but he used the Greek word charisma, which suggests a distinct manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s bestowment upon Timothy through prayers, laying on of hands, and prophecy. (See 1 Timothy 1:18; 4:14.)
This charisma gift was the apostolic ministry gift that was in Paul and already in Timothy, although he needed it to be activated. It was Timothy’s responsibility to be a steward over that which was imparted. This grace and spiritual equipment should be used for ministry reasons. This isn’t just for those who are called to the fivefold ministry; this principle is for all believers. What is imparted by God and through godly leadership must be used for God’s glory.
Timothy, through ordination and commission, received his apostolic birth certificate to function legally in the earth. This type of New Testament principle of ordination and commissioning transfers spiritual authority and power, and it is especially done through apostles and prophets of God. Apostles were used in the Book of Acts to ordain elders with the laying on of hands and fasting (Acts 14:23).
TIME OF RELEASE
Mark 3:14–15 (NKJV) says, “Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons.” Jesus understood that principle of appointing and sending. He was not just one with authority, but He also delegated His authority to others. We see that His heart was to appoint those who would be with Him, so that He could send them out to have power to heal and cast out devils. Jesus had chosen twelve ordinary men to do great exploits in His name. He gave them authority and power.
When Jesus appointed the Twelve, He was making them into something. Moreover, Jesus gave them authority or power, which comes from the Greek word exousia, which is one of the four “power” words (dunamis, exousia, ischus and kratos). Exousia, pronounced (ex-oo-see-ah) means “the authority or right to act, ability, privilege, capacity, delegated authority.”66 Jesus had the exousia to forgive sin, heal the sick, and cast out demonic spirits. Exousia is the right to use dunamis. For example, a police officer has the exousia (authority which is signified in his badge or seal) to use his dunamis (weapon or gun).
Likewise, Christ Jesus gives His followers exousia to preach, teach, heal, and deliver through the Holy Spirit. Powerless believers and leaders become powerful when they discover the exousia (authority) resident in the name of Jesus and His blood that was shed. Timothy was given delegated authority and power through the Holy Spirit, which was done through the laying on of hands of Paul and prophecy.
Paul’s heart, I believe, was like Jesus. He wanted those he related with in the faith to learn from him and then to go out in divine power to extend the work of the Lord. It’s God’s appointment, and it’s up to us to know what is on our birth certificate for our own record. Knowing this information, like Isaiah and Jeremiah, is imperative in moving forward in the work of the Lord. Not knowing for what purpose or who, what, where, when, and why we were born is a sad thing, for we all have a purpose, destiny and high calling in the Lord.
These two prophets of God knew without a shadow of a doubt that their calling was connected to the purpose of them being conceived in the first place. We can also see a similar expression used in respect to Paul the Apostle in Galatians 1:15 when he said, “But when it pleased God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb.” The appointment and ordination to a specific work or call was done before he ever came into existence.
I have come into contact with people who pursue public ordination by men to ministry offices, but they lack the grace, integrity, anointing, character, and gifting to walk in such a holy call. It is also disheartening to see people seek man’s approval instead of seeking the approval of God. Some people are very quick to say what man says and not reference what God has said about them. With that in mind, I wholeheartedly believe in public affirmation and prophetic commissioning through the local governing leadership team in a church. Ordinations and public recognition through the local eldership team is important in the earth realm to validate and confirm the will of the Lord in a person’s life. I believe people should not pursue public ordination for selfish ambition and motivations if they have not encountered a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit.
A MINISTRY BIRTH CERTIFICATE
Prophetic ordination is like a birth certificate being given to a person who has been proven and recognized in a particular call. I have seen ordination of men and women who were called to a particular ministry office, but the candidate wanted to be ordained and recognized as something else, so the local church granted their request because they may have been the biggest tither in the church or they may have known this individual for many years. (It�
��s just as counterfeit as the following. Say a person is born a male and the doctor determines, by thorough examination, that the baby is in fact a male. But still the mother says, “No, I wanted a girl,” so she decides that it’s a girl, and that’s final. The mother also wants the doctor to put another gender on the birth certificate to say that it is girl, and the doctor foolishly does what the parent requested. Can you imagine?)
On the other hand, a public commissioning service serves as a vehicle to release people into their God-given calling, which causes them to maximize their godly potential with confidence and reinforcement. Even Jesus had to submit to the baptism by John the baptizer to fulfill all righteousness. While immersed in water the heavens opened up and the Spirit of the Lord descended down on Him like a dove. The voice of the Father affirmed and credentialed the identity of His Son publicly (Matt. 3:13–17).
A DIVINE AFFIRMATION, CONFIRMATION, AND COMMISSIONING
Jesus’ public ordination was at the Jordan River and not in a church. We need divine affirmation by God through men and women called to the church to equip, train, impart, raise up, and send out mature saints via the Holy Spirit’s timing to do the work of the ministry. The prophetic word is the birth certificate that identifies the purpose, will, and plan of God in your life.
To fulfill all righteousness in your own life and to walk in your prophetic fulfillment, ordination can establish you in the earth realm and release you fully into your spiritual careers. But it’s not mandatory in regard to how God calls and releases a person into public service. God calls people and confirms them differently than others.
How do I know this? When the Lord created each of us, He fearfully and wonderfully detailed us and made us uniquely different. I have heard people say that they do not like the way they look because they may be overweight, too skinny, tall or short. Or they may be too light, dark, or they wish they had black, long hair, or wish they were another nationality. Whatever you may call a flaw or imperfection is the very thing that God created wonderfully, which makes you different. I do understand that people are born with birth defects and deformities. Although, just like the man in the Bible who was born blind with his disability that had nothing to do with his parents or from any sin of theirs that was passed down, sometimes God uses what we see as a disability for His glory through a miracle. Everything God creates brings Him glory (John 9:1–41).
We must know that we are called to bring God glory out of our lives and do what He has created us to do. We were born to fulfill God’s will in the earth. In ministry we cannot say, “I do not want to be a prophet, but a pastor instead because it’s better,” or vice versa. One cannot pick and choose when they are going to be promoted and released into ministry by choosing an organization to ordain them or not.
DO IT GOD’S WAY AND NOT MAN’S WAY!
Sadly, I have witnessed young leaders in different types of denominations say, “You have to do it this way”, “Do it that way,” or “Do it our denomination’s way”—and if you do not get ordained their way then they say it’s not God’s order and not an authentic ordination. I believe that it is prideful, sectarian, religious, systematic, and discriminatory to say that a person has to do things a certain religious way or man’s way for God to approve it or not. God is not denominational, organizational, institutional, religious, or racist, but He is covenant relational, multidimensional, and sovereign. We must do things according to God’s ways and not man’s way.
God is spirit and not earthly, carnal, or fleshly. He does things His way. If God affirms you outside the church, like Jesus in the Jordan River, or at several meetings with prophets and apostolic leadership confirming the call through a network, fellowship, and organization, then let God, who is all-knowing, do what He does best.
The Lord will affirm you first as a faithful, pleasing son and daughter by saying, “This is my beloved in whom I am well pleased.” Allow the fruit, anointing, and grace of the Holy Spirit on your life to speak for you. Only time will tell if one has been called to a particular office or not. There are people all over the world who have never been licensed, ordained, or credentialed by a religious organization, but heaven has validated them, affirming their calling with much fruit, signs, wonders, and the supernatural following them.
There are also remote places around the world where men and women are being raised up in obscurity and released by God into holy service. Many of these leaders in those nations have not had the opportunity to be identified, confirmed, and released in their calling by prophets and a prophetic presbytery of a local assembly, but they are doing tremendous work in the kingdom. So that being said, if God had called you and appointed you, know that you have been created and equipped with the necessary tools, intellect, ability, talent, and grace to fulfill it with or without a public ordination from men. Just know that you have been born to do this. We must understand that our birth is connected to our purpose. Jesus said for this purpose or reason was the Son of Man made manifest, that He may destroy the works of darkness.
BIRTHED INTO SOMETHING NEW
Jesus was born and sent on an assignment to destroy the works of sin and Satan. I can remember when I first got baptized in water in 1988. I was given a baptism certificate that gave public record of that historical day in my life. It was a public declaration and death of the old nature being and a birth into something new as a new creation. Even though I understood that the birth certificate was spiritual, it was a practice that was done publicly before the church so that my repentance and salvation were sincere and honest. Every time I think about the first time I was baptized it causes me to encounter the same anointing and new beginning.
Likewise, when a person receives a prophecy or receives prophetic ministry, it births a person into something new and unfamiliar. Ordinations with prophetic utterances can birth leaders as well as whole churches, ministries, and congregations into new realms, authority, dimension, and power. Some people have never encountered and are unfamiliar with the prophetic, prophets, baptism by the Spirit, ordinations, healing, miracles, gifts of the Spirit, deliverance, and laying-on of hands.
A public ordination, for example, can be a person being singled out several times in a meeting among other believers, whereby prophets and/or the leadership team can confirm your calling with the laying-on of hands and with prophetic utterances following. This has happened to me several times by the way of leaders who had no prior knowledge of who I was or any awareness of my ministerial background. But they were used by the Lord to identify the apostolic and prophetic call and grace on my life. They spontaneously laid their hands on me while in strong intercessory prayer and prophetic worship, and they imparted gifts into my life. Notice that I did not say that this was my local church, network, fellowship, or ministry that I was a part of, but it was God working through the local body of believers and prophetic presbytery confirming and releasing me into my calling. (See Acts 6:3, 6; 13:1–3; 14:21–23; and Titus 1:5.)
GOD ORDAINS THE ORDINARY TO BECOME EXTRAORDINARY!
God is the God of the new. He will do something new and outside the human mind-set and religious paradigms. Ordination is a biblical function and should be practiced in the twenty-first-century church for releasing leaders into their callings and spiritual positions. Jesus Himself also ordained the original twelve apostles of the Lamb in Mark 3:14 and even sent out seventy other unnamed apostolic leaders to do what He has sent them to do.
When a person is being ordained they are receiving godly honor through the laying on of hands and with prophecy, at which time gifts can be transferred and imparted. (See 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:16.) The words ordain and ordination come from the Latin word ordinare, which means “to arrange, to place in order or to appoint, to establish and put in order.”67 I like the Latin word ordinare because God uses “ordinary” people to do extraordinary things for His kingdom and for His eternal purposes.
For myself, in the Lord’s timing, He used several local governing churches over the cour
se of my life that I was not an active member of to set me apart, to place me in order, and to appoint me and establish me in the earth realm to the office of prophet. God had already done that before I was formed in my mother’s womb. In addition, I never had to go tell the pastor of a local church what my calling was because the church was a prophetic church who believed in releasing and sending leaders. I believe apostles, prophets, and marketplace leaders should be identified and released into society to impact and transform it for the kingdom of God. Typically, your gift will always make room for you and bring you in the presence of those of great influence. Regardless, if people do not believe in modern-day prophets and apostles, just know that your gift has the ability to create doors of opportunity for you.
GROWING IN THE PROPHETIC STARTS AT HOME
Let’s take a look at 1 Samuel 3:19–21, where it says, “And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD. And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.” This passage of Scripture is interesting to me because none of Samuel’s prophecies fell to the ground, or failed to come to pass, because it was the Lord that did not allow them to fall. The prophet Samuel was flawless in the prophetic, which gained him attention and recognition of the public (the cities of Dan and Beersheba)—and not through an organization or network.
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