Apostolic Demolition by John Polis

The restoration of apostolic ministry to the church should touch on three areas that we clearly see affected by the apostolic anointing in the early church. The three areas we will discuss in this article are central to the revival that was taking place, and were tools Satan used to try to stop or hinder the move of God to evangelize the world.

1. DISHONESTY

The story in Acts 5:1-5 where Ananias and Sapphira were judged for dishonesty under the apostolic anointing of Peter, should serve as a warning to us in this “second apostolic reformation”. As I interact with many leaders across the land, I find many that still are struggling with this issue of honesty in relation to finances. It is obvious that God judges our real affections by how we view and handle our finances. In fact, God has no greater competition for our affection than money, “how can we love God and money at the same time” (Matthew 6:24).

If there is dishonesty in the pulpit, there will be dishonesty in the pew.

It is amazing that God “nipped it in the bud” early on in the revival so that “others would fear” and the example of these two prominent leaders would not be copied. With something as basic as the tithe being mishandled by so many, we have a serious problem in the church. I spoke with one pastor I was attempting to mentor into apostolic truth, and when I asked him about his tithing practices, his answer was, “I tithe to my wife and she tithes to me”. Their concept was that they were each other’s pastor so they would tithe to each other. This is a nifty way to keep the money in the house and still convince ourselves that we are “tithing”. I could understand people doing something like this in ignorance when they are without relational covering, but after the truth has been revealed we must become “doers”. I could tell many stories depicting the many practices of people in regard to finances that all amount to the same thing, dishonesty. How long will God permit people in leadership to preach one thing to the saints and practice something entirely different.

It was the apostolic anointing on Peter that brought swift judgment to this grievous sin in the hearts of people. I anticipate the same results when the apostolic anointing is in full bloom in today’s church. I believe that apostles should be examples of honesty, preach honesty, and demolish dishonesty with the Word and Spirit of God.

2. IMMORALITY

This is a second tool Satan will use to stop the move of God, and that true apostolic anointing will demolish in the church. The level of immorality in the Corinthian church was so high that incest was even overlooked. The prophets and teachers in Corinth didn’t seem to have the grace to deal with it, they were very busy “flowing in the Spirit” and enjoying the “move of God”. It should be noticed that today’s church is much the same in that as long as the “spirit is moving” and miracles are still happening we just figure God accepts everything that is going on in our midst. The level of immorality in today’s church is getting frightfully close to that of the Corinthians, even including incest among leaders. We understand that prophets are more inclined to activate and identify spiritual gifts, while apostles are more inclined to look at the lives of the people being activated and used in the gifts. This is why we need the team ministry of apostle and prophet working together, so there will be a balance of gifts and character in the church. Apostle Paul, founder of the church, finally stepped in and administered the apostolic grace to correct the situation and bring holiness back into the movement. I firmly believe that a mature apostolic gift will not tolerate a low standard of morality among local church or network leaders, but will require the same level of holiness the early apostles wrote to us about. This is restoration also. We must get back to “ordaining a life” and “not a gift”. The New Testament church ordained “elders”, not “preachers”.

3. SORCERY

A third area that apostles will demolish is in the area of spiritual witchcraft as we find under the ministry of Paul who “smote sorcerers blind” in the Name of Jesus. Apostles have the grace to overcome the Leviathan, Jezebel, and Absalom spirits that attack ministries today. That is why it is so important for independent local church leaders who are not operating in an apostolic gifting to find and connect with an apostolic parenting ministry for a relational covering.

A WARNING

I have watched two things happen as churches connect with a mature apostolic gifting, warfare breaks out and all the demons that were hiding and operating in secret now are screaming because they know they have been detected. Ministries that have been “up and down” due to periodic undermining of these spirits, begin to move forward in peace and productivity. These “ruling spirits” are powerful and won’t yield until they are made to, or as Jesus said “unless as stronger than he comes and spoils his goods”.

I believe the apostolic restoration will result in these three areas being brought into subjection to the King of Kings.

 © John Polis 

“This blog is taken from Dr. John’s book Built Strong”. To obtain your copy of Built Strong click here.