Apostles Open Doors to New Territory

 How Can Apostles Help Churches?

“An apostle is a Christian leader called and supernaturally gifted by God to open new spiritual and geographical territory for the gospel, lay foundations, equip believers, and serve as catalyst and coordinator for churches and ministries.”

Notice, apostles are those who open new spiritual . . . territory for the gospel.”  Click here to find a fuller explanation of apostle. We are speaking here of modern day apostles as well as those closer to the time of the Apostles Creed.

So how do apostles open up new territory? And what is new territory?

One example is evangelism. Evangelism is not new, of course, but almost non-existent in the lives of most Christians. Five percent or less of all church members share their faith with non-believers. Frankly, evangelism needs to become “new” to the church.

Another prime example  of new territory is the ability for believers to hear God’s voice. Many Christians still doubt that God talks to them or if He does, they don’t hear. Let’s look more closely.

The study of a matter is termed “ology.” When “ology” is coupled with a noun we often find a specific category for study or investigation. For example, the study of the church is ecclesiology, from ekklesia (the Greek word for church). The study of the Holy Spirit is pneumatology, from pneuma (the Greek word for spirit). The study of living things is zoology, from zoe (the Greek word for living things).

The Greek word for “hearing” is akouw. I propose a field of study called “akouology,” the study of hearing and following the voice of God. The Bible says, “My sheep hear My voice” (John 10:27).  God expects every believer to hear Him in some way or another.

What follows is a PROPOSED INTRODUCTION to akouolgy, the study of hearing God and doing what He says.

God speaks primarily through the Bible. Other ways God speaks are through people, prophecy, dreams, visions, trances, circumstances, finances, impressions, nature, angels, etc.

All extra-Biblical speech should be tested by Scripture; no word from God will contradict the Bible.

God talks a lot (John 16:13-17). Some people call Him a “chatterbox.” His speech often focuses on natural, small, seemingly unimportant, or mundane matters.

We can and should all learn to hear God’s voice. This requires practice and experimentation.

Hearing from God may not mean “voice” of even words; rather, feeling, motivation, “whispers”, slight impressions, strange coincidences, etc. may all be a part of God’s voice.

God has chosen to speak in symbols, parables, puzzles, etc. He wants us to seek Him for meaning and interpretation.

God gives dreams (Acts 2:17, Matt 2:12, 19, Numbers 12:6, Job 33:14-18).

Not all dreams are from God (Eccles 5:3, 7).

The initial response to dreams is generally meditation and intercession (Dan 7:2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 13).

God’s voice, i.e., dreams and visions, etc. precipitate faith (Roma 10:17) and require a faith response. His rhema words are not automatically fulfilled but depend on our faith and obedience.

Dreams, like prophecy, are only one part of a larger picture (1 Cor 13: 9)

Don’t “marry” your dream or vision. Things often turn our somewhat differently than expected (Compare Acts 16:9 with Acts 16:13).

Don’t “bury” your word from God. Some words are multi-generational in fulfillment (Gen 12:7). Some words require “death of a vision” before completion (Gen 22).

There are many different types of dreams, e.g. healing, self-help, telling the future, warning, confirming, etc.

When a word form God involves a major decision or a group of people, there should be confirmation.

God speaks to unbelievers as well as believers (Dan 4:4-5).

Speaking in tongues and personal prayer requests can precipitate God’s voice (1 Cor. 2:9ff)

To ignore God’s voice involves consequences (Heb 3:7-19).

Conclusion: Apostles Need to Open Up the Study of Akouolgy in Churches Today

What I have written is a proposed introduction to the study of hearing and acting on God’s voice. I’m calling it akouology and suggest this is an area of utmost importance for believers and the church of God in general. If the church on earth is be what God called us to be, we must learn to hear God and do what He says. This is what it means to be the church.

Apostles and prophets need to advance this study– akouology, hearing God and doing what He says–in order to liberate the churches and people they influence.

For an extensive study of how churches related to apostles in the New Testament era, get a copy of my book Local Churches Global Apostles.