The Apostolic Mission by Frank Dupree
The Mission of an Apostle and, by extension, an Apostolic Church is Fourfold:
- To Advance the Kingdom of God: To conquer and subdue cities, regions and nations placing them under the feet of Jesus
- The 1st Century Apostles were successful because they had a militant mentality… They believed that they had a Mandate for Global Dominion; a continuation of the Genesis Mandate!’
- They were “Kingdom Minded” and had a grasp of “Sentness”. They realized that they are “commissioned” and they had a sense of purpose and destiny!
- To Establish the Church: The Early Church was “Kingdom Minded” and had a militant mindset to “fight the good fight” and “run the race with patience”. They knew that God would “work all things for their good” as they continually trusted and praised Him. They were an Equipping Church
- They instructed & trained the new converts in the culture of the Kingdom of God by making Disciples
- They trained and raised up Fivefold Ministers and Deacons
- The equipped all the Saints for the work of the ministry in their daily life
- To Set up the Governmental System of the Church
- Titus 1:5 says: “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee…”
- This ensures the continuing witness of the Kingdom of God in the Local Church and the area it resides in.
- To “Increase and Multiply”
- The Early Church did not “forsake the assembling of the saints”. We must also be careful to be active members in the Church or we will never walk in the anointing Jesus died to give us and our lives and our families lives will all be negatively affected if we do.
- The Early Church was not “Passive” about sharing their faith! They wanted to reach lost souls and save them from an eternity of hell!
- With the Governmental Structure of the Churches “set in order” the Churches were positioned to “Increase and Multiply” or “Reproduce”
- After the early apostles died, the commission was passed on to the next generation of Apostles. It has yet to be totally fulfilled and will remain in force until the day it is fulfilled. I believe that the Commission and Mandate are still God’s Will today so, we must pattern our Church after the structure of the Early Church.
