No Apostle, No Prophet, No Heaven
Salvation can be compared to a long-distance marathon where each runner must make it to the end of their own race. Each believer will be held accountable according to factors of maturity and knowledge and the level of spirituality they should have attained given their own individual circumstances.
See “Salvation’s Race” for more details.
For example, a person who is mentally handicapped will be held on a level which is much less accountable than someone who has been given full use of their minds. Also, a person who prays to receive Jesus on their death bed (minutes before they die) will still enter heaven in that condition in which they were found during that moment they received salvation. But a person who has been saved for decades and has much bible knowledge will be held accountable on a higher level than others who have no knowledge. Judgment will be according to knowledge and other factors related to their spiritual maturity.
But at the same time, they cannot assume they will remain “willfully” ignorant just so they can escape being held accountable for their knowledge. They will also be judged for this factor as well and for the level of spiritual maturity they should have attained if they were growing normally.
1 Peter 4:5 (NIV)
5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
The Lord will judge those who are living on earth and also those who died and stand before the judgment throne. It will be a perfect judgment taking into account all of the factors of a person’s mental capacity and spiritual age and maturity and where they should have been if they experienced normal spiritual growth.
Hebrews 4:13 (NLT2)
13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.
Nothing is hidden from the Lord and everything will be naked and exposed before his eyes including all secret motives and thoughts of humans. They cannot play games with God or claim ignorance because the Lord will have full-knowledge of every secret motive and thought of their hearts. It will be a perfect judgment and everyone in hell will be fully deserving of their due recompense for what they did or failed to do while alive on earth.
Humans will be held accountable only to the Lord who will determine who enters heaven and who will be rejected and suffer eternal damnation.
Hebrews 4:11-12 (NLT2)
11 So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.
12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
Entering the rest of God is like running a marathon race with each individual runner having to cross their own finish line. God’s word is also like a double-edged sword which can divide between soul and spirit and joints and marrow and exposes the innermost thoughts and desires of humans.
This has application to the ministry of Apostles and Prophets which commonly operate according to revelation gifts. These gifts can expose secret motives and also secret sins and allow the Apostle and Prophet to rebuke disorder and sin and call believers to repentance.
See “Spiritual Gifts” for more details.
The purpose of this the Apostolic and Prophetic ministry is to clean up the people and prepare them to qualify to enter God’s rest in heaven. The expression “enter his rest” speaks of the fact that there is labor (like running a long-distance race) on earth. Believers have to overcome sin and make it to the end of their race in order to enter heaven.
See “Overcoming Christian” for more details.
It is for this reason that God granted the Ministry Gifts of both Apostles and Prophets to the Body of Christ. These gifts work like a right and left-hand punch to knock out disorder and sin within the Church. These are masculine gifts that are not afraid to rebuke disorder and sin. But where the ministry of Apostles and Prophets is absent then there will be carnality and sin and defilement evident among the congregation of believers.
If, however these gifts are not recognized and worse yet are banned from the pulpit then the fruit of these ministries will not be made evident in the church. The fruit of Apostle is divine order and the fruit of Prophet is holiness and fear of the Lord. The Apostle will use the word of God to define and expose disorder while the Prophet will commonly define and expose sin. It is these two ministry gifts that are listed as first and second in importance in the Church.
1 Corinthians 12:28 (NIV2011)
28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers . . .
The first and second positions of importance of the Fivefold Ministry are held by the Apostles and Prophets and third is the bible Teachers. Often men will have a dual gift such as Apostle/Teacher or Prophet/Teacher and as such their teaching will always flow along the same lines. The Apostle/Teacher will give systematic biblical teaching to divine and expose disorder and give directions how to set that disorder back in order according to the divine order of God. The Prophet/Teacher will give biblical teaching along the lines of defining and exposing sin and then rebuking and calling believers to repentance. Both of these gifts are manifest to help believers overcome disorder and sin so they will qualify for heaven.
See “Fivefold Ministry Gifts” for more details.
But if a gift is never recognized or never mentioned then it as if that gift does not exist because believers will have no access to it. If an Apostle or Prophet delivers a rebuke to a church and the pastor’s wife informs her husband that these men are never to speak in the church again, then they have been silenced in the church!
When the congregation is left with no access to the ministry gifts of Apostle and Prophet then they will have no spiritual food remaining to them except the milk of exhortation and comfort. These are feminine qualities just like a mother breast feeding an infant giving them only comfort. But the gifts of Apostle and Prophet are masculine gifts and they use the rod of correction (of rebuke) to call believers to repent and prepare them for heaven. Without masculine correction (meat teaching) many believers will simply fall away from Christ after having been with the Lord for decades.
See “When Milk Fails” for more details.
Real masculine love does what is right for the long-term benefit. This is like the masculine love of a father who will correct a lazy boy using the end of a hardwood rod of correction welded by a strong arm to discipline a lazy boy to get out of bed. The father knows that if the boy is not disciplined, he will not be able to take care of himself or his future family. No one will give him anything for free in life so he has to learn to take care of himself and be a man. But pampering him like a mother who only spoils boys and these women-raised boys become sissies who demand to be fed for free and pampered as their mother always did for them. The same is true of the masculine gifts of Apostle and Prophet who use the word of God to rebuke and set in order and cause believers to repent and qualify for heaven. What good is it if the congregation only has the feminine exhortation of a pastor who says, “Jesus Loves You!” but never rebukes them of sin. So, there are practicing homosexuals in the church and other people living in sin but they are never rebuked by a pastor who only exhorts them that “Jesus loves them!” even as unrepentant sinners!
Women-raised boys will go to hell the same as “pastor-raised” believers who are only exhorted and never rebuked by the masculine gifts of Apostle and Prophets. Therefore, if there is no ministry of an Apostle or Prophet then they will have no heaven either. The believers cannot progress forward spiritually on a constant diet of sugar candy of exhortation without having the “meat and potatoes” of masculine rebuke provided only by Apostles and Prophets.
Sword of the Word
Exodus 32:26-28 (NIV)
26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.
27 Then he said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.'”
28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died.
God’s people were engaged in immorality and idol-worship and were sinning against God. Moses called those who were for the Lord to come forward and the Levites rallied to him. These men strapped on their swords and put to death all those they saw engaging in immorality and idol-worship within the congregation.
This speaks of the Fivefold Ministry who are serving as the New Testament Levites and this has particular application to the Apostles and Prophets. Instead of a natural sword made of steel the Apostles and Prophets use a sword of the Word of God to correct disorder and sin within the church.
Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
It is God’s word which is a sword and the Apostles and Prophets use this word to define and expose disorder and sin and then rebuke that disorder and sin and set it back in order again according to the divine order of God.
Pastor Gift a Feminine Gift
Exodus 32:25 (NIV)
25 Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies.
In this instance Aaron was like a feminine-type of gift like a pastor who just gave the people whatever they wanted. They wanted some false gods to follow so Aaron gave them what they wanted. These false gods were contrived to demand sexual immorality as a form of worship and so those who burned with lust could be gratified in this new false religion. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he discovered them engaged in sexual immorality and idol-worship and behaving just like the pagans!
Exodus 32:4-6 (NLT2)
4 Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
5 Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the LORD!”
6 The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.
Pagan revelry was noted to include sexual immorality and this is the reason that entire pagan societies were wiped out by venereal disease because of the rampant sexual immorality among them. Syphilis for example leaves pits in the bones giving a mute testimony of what killed these people thousands of years ago. And yet God’s people were behaving like pagans and engaging in idol-worship and pagan revelry.
Numbers 25:1-2 (NIV)
1 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women,
2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods.
Later when the Israelites were in Shittim the men (mostly Simeonites) were indulging in sexual immorality with the pagan Moabite women who invited them to the sacrifices of their gods to eat food offered to idols and commit sexual immorality. It is the way of pagans to mix sexual immorality together with their false religions and idolatry.
Deuteronomy 33:8-10 (NIV)
8 About Levi he said: “Your Thummim and Urim belong to the man you favored. You tested him at Massah; you contended with him at the waters of Meribah.
9 He said of his father and mother, ‘I have no regard for them.’ He did not recognize his brothers or acknowledge his own children, but he watched over your word and guarded your covenant.
10 He teaches your precepts to Jacob and your law to Israel. He offers incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.
The Levites gathered to Moses and they put to death all those who were engaging in idolatry and immorality. Moses blessed them and spoke of their Thummim and Urim which were used to discern God’s will and to receive God’s direction. Also, the Levites showed no regard for next of kin but destroyed mother or father or brothers or even own children without mercy if these people were breaking God’s laws.
This has application to the New Testament Levites with particular emphasis on the Apostles and Prophets who will put anyone to the sword of God’s word to rebuke them for disorder and sin. They do not care if they are near relatives or not but apply the sword of God’s word to anyone without discrimination!
See “Sword of Division” for more details.
Acts 5:9-11 (NLT2)
9 And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.”
10 Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
11 Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.
During the time of Apostle Peter, the Spirit of God revealed by the operation of “Discerning of spirits” and “Word of Knowledge” that several believers were deceitful regarding church offering and were pretending to be more sacrificial than they really were only to harvest human praises. These liars were given a chance to repent but they did not and so both of them dropped dead instantly at the feet of Apostle Peter!
After these two liars dropped dead in the church (which was run by Apostles) then everyone else were gripped with great fear! This is the fear of the Lord which causes people to repent of secret sins lest they be judged in the same manner as those who dropped dead and went to hell for their unconfessed sin!
Acts 5:13 (NLT2)
13 But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them.
In those days there was holiness in the early church and no sinners dared to join them because they feared they would also drop dead for unconfessed sin! This was an age when the church was run by Apostles and Prophets and they had the Gifts of the Spirit in operation.
See “Spiritual Gifts” for more details.
In the present-day carnal church, they do not even acknowledge that any such gifts exist (of Apostle or Prophet) and if such a man with these gifts delivered a rebuke to the congregation, then the women running the church would immediately put an end to them ever having access to the pulpit again! Typically, women will label an Apostle or Prophet as a “sheep-beater” because they are not giving exhortation and love and comfort like a mother! They think that a rod of correct is “child abuse” even if it brings the good fruit of eternal life when those disciplined by it who are able to qualify for heaven. A woman-run church typically has weak male pastors controlled by their own wives just like Jezebel ran the whole country under her weak and passive husband Ahab. Jezebel used his signet ring to write letters and give commands of her own invention so it was she who was running the country. The same thing happens when weak puppet pastors are giving male endorsement to “Jezebel-type” wives who run the church through their weak and passive husbands. It is these types of women who block any Apostle or Prophet from ever preaching in the church as soon as they hear them deliver a rebuke of the sword of God’s word. By controlling the pulpit, they effectively eliminate the Apostles and Prophets from the church and in fact this results in eliminating most of the congregation from ever entering heaven! Then such a woman-ruled church has nothing left except the pathetic milk of exhortation and comfort that tells unrepentant sinners “Jesus loves you!” even while they are living in habitual and continual sin!
See “When Milk Fails” for more details.
The problem with the carnal church is that they give nothing except the milk of exhortation and comfort of a pastor but they have eliminated any “meat-teaching” from Apostles and Prophets by banning them from the pulpit and refusing to acknowledge these gifts exist. This is a tragedy when the top two Ministry Gifts for the church are not even recognized and worse yet banned from the pulpit as if they were “sheep-beaters” for delivering God’s rebukes by the sword of God’s word. These rebukes can correct disorder and bring believers to repentance so that they can qualify for heaven. Without the ministry gifts of both Apostle and Prophets most of the believers are not going to finish their race on earth.
Hebrews 12:14 (NIV)
14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
Apostle Paul made it clear that without holiness no believer will see the Lord. Holiness is part of the fruit of both Apostles and Prophets who bring both divine order and holiness to the lives of believers. If these gifts are banned from the pulpit, then the congregation will not have the fruit of divine order and holiness needed to qualify for heaven.
It is for this reason that we can confidently assert that No Apostles and No Prophets Equals No Heaven for so many carnal Christians who receive nothing in church but the milk of exhortation and comfort while being deprived of the masculine rod of correction of Apostles and Prophets needed to purify them and prepare them entrance into heaven. No Apostles and No Prophet Equals No Heaven for carnal Christians for this reason.