For though I am free from all [men], yet I have made myself a servant to all, that I might gain more. And to the Jews I became like a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to those that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those that are under the law;

To those that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to  God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain those that are without law. 

To the weak I became as a weak one, that I might gain the weak: I have been made all things to all [men], that I might by all means save some. 1 Corinthians 9:19-22

Diverse Training

In this chapter, we are going to be looking at the apostolic preparation. For those of you who have been through the Prophet School the word 'preparation' probably strikes fear into your heart. You remember only too well what happened when you went through the lecture on the Prophetic Preparation, and those famous words "Die Already" became imprinted into you.

You have heard me say that the apostolic preparation is far more severe, and that the prophetic preparation was a walk in the park by comparison. So now we come to this famous apostolic preparation and your knees are probably shaking here as to what is going to come. You are probably saying, "I'm not sure whether I should read this. When I went through the prophetic I went through death immediately. What's going to happen when I tackle this one? I'm going to get vaporized!" Well, I have good news for you here. This is not a 'Die Already' message. The apostolic preparation is very different to the prophetic. The reason it is so intense is that firstly it includes the prophetic preparation, and what you learned in the prophetic preparation the apostle must go through as well. But the apostle goes through far more than that. It is the other part that I will be dealing with here.

The apostolic preparation needs to be strenuous because God is raising up the apostle to be the leader in the Body of Christ. The Apostolic Office is the highest leadership office, and the apostle needs to coordinate all other ministries together. In order to do this the apostle has to go through a training mechanism that enables him or her to function and to understand and interact with and coordinate all of the fivefold ministries. Now it does not necessarily mean that the apostle has to have all five ministries. It does mean though, that the apostle should have had sufficient exposure and experience concerning each of the ministries to be able to, at times, function in every one of them and to work with them, and to understand exactly how they work. So part of the apostolic preparation is to make the apostle aware of how each ministry works.

The apostle also needs to be able to relate to all different kinds of people. The apostle is never phased by temperamental differences. He should be able to relate to and to function in any of the four major temperaments. I am not going to discuss temperaments in detail here, because we have a study for that elsewhere. But I will mention them as we go through it . The apostle is not to be phased in any way by a person's social status and position. The apostle must be able to work with and function in the midst of people of all different social standings, backgrounds and experiences - every different kind of person. The apostle must be able to relate to every different kind of group and understand and work with them. Therefore the apostolic preparation is involved in bringing a person to exposure and experience in all of these realms. It is so as  o bring this budding leader in the Body of Christ to a place where he or she can relate and function in every single area of the Body of Christ.

Understands All Ministries

I have shared elsewhere that the apostle is like an entrepreneur. He is like the owner of the company. He is like the highest authority in a business, but he is such a one as an employee who started on the bottom rung on the lowest level in the company and has worked their way through, up the ranks, and now has reached the top. Now, looking down from the top this managing director, this leader and owner of the company can look down through the company and can identify with every single person and every single employee. He can not only identify to the point of knowing what the person does and knowing how the person should function, but he should still be able to step into that person's shoes and do the job himself, if he needs to, because he has been there. That is how the apostle must be in the Body of Christ. The apostle must  be able to step into the shoes of any single person in the Body of Christ, to be able to understand and fully identify exactly what that person is doing, what they are supposed to be doing, how they should function, how they should not function. Because if you cannot do this, then how can you coordinate them together? How can you bring the Body together and build the building of God, if you do not understand how each one works?

Let's go on and look at how God prepares his apostles. As I share here on the principles I am going to be transparent with you again as I was when I shared on the Prophetic Ministry. I am going to throw the curtain back a bit for you and I am going to speak about my own experiences in this. I am going to try and identify with you and give you an opportunity to identify with me in some of the experiences that I went through. It does not mean that I am setting myself up as a standard. I would just like to share with you how God took these principles and applied them in my life. And perhaps somewhere along the line you will be able to identify with me. Perhaps somewhere along as I am sharing you will be nodding your head and saying, "Oh yes, I remember that . Oh, so that's what's been happening! Now I know why."

You will be able to identify and understand what God is doing in your life as you see how He prepares His apostles. Perhaps He is working differently in your life, but the principles will remain the same. What He is going to do in you will be the exact same sort of things that he wrought in me, and on any other person that He is training and raising up to a position in the Body of Christ.

Ministry Preparation

I would like to therefore begin first with preparation for ministry. This is the apostolic preparation which equips the apostle to be able to function in and identify with every single ministry in the Body of Christ. How does it happen?...