Acts 3:19-21
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of Restoration of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”
The Lord has promised a complete and full restoration of all those things spoken of by the prophets and we have been seeing that come to pass over the past 500 years! Yes, it is taking a long time but only in our perspective. In The Lord’s eyes it’s only been a few hours!
Full Restoration means a New Wineskin
New Wine cannot be poured into “The Church” as it is today because it has become an old wineskin…
Mark 2:22 (NLT)
“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; for the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.”
Joel 1:1-5 (NKJV)
“The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. 2 Hear this, you elders, And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell your children about it, Let your children tell their children, And their children another generation. 4 What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten. 5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you drinkers of wine, Because of the new wine, For it has been cut off from your mouth.”
In the early Church not only was there a “Fivefold Ministry” of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers but every Christian was a “minister of reconciliation”.
When the Fivefold Ministry was “lost”…
By the year 400AD the great ministries known as “The Fivefold Ministries” were replaced by an ecclesiastical and liturgical “priesthood”.
As Rome exercised more and more control over the Christins, the first Office to be lost was that of the Apostles and after them, the Prophets. It didn’t take long for the Office of the Evangelist and the Teacher to be lost too. And then, finally ,the Office of the Pastor was replaced with the Priest.
When this happened the “New Wineskin of God’s Government” was lost!
The Fivefold Ministry had been devoured, and the New Wine was “cut off” because The Lord would not pour the New Wine into that religious wineskin…
Very soon after that, the whole world entered The Dark Ages and it was destined to stay in darkness until the Promised Restoration.
That “restoration of all things” began in the 16th Century. And now, today, we have seen the restoration of all of The Fivefold Ministry Offices.
The “first shall be last and the last shall be first”.
We see that this happened in the Restoration of the Fivefold Ministries. The Offices were restored in the reverse order that they were lost.
Here is the Office – the Person God used to restore it and the result of its restoration.
The Pastor Martin Luther New Birth
Teacher John Wesley Fruit of the Spirit
Evangelist Edward Whitfield Hunger for Souls
Prophet There was no one person but rather, there were 3 stages over 70 years
1906 Azusa Street The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
1950’s Latter Rain Movement The Gift of Prophecy
1970’s Charismatic Renewal The Gifts of the Spirit
Apostle The same movements were used to restore this Office also
The Greater Purpose of the Fivefold Ministry Offices
The Equipping of the Saints!
Ephesians 4:11–16
”And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and some to be teachers, so that the saints would be fully equipped to do the works of ministry and that the Body of Christ would be built up so that we all come into the fullness of unity in the faith and that we live in the higher knowledge of the Son of God forming a mature man who measures up to the full stature of Christ representing Him here on earth.”
It’s time for The Church to be Equipped!
The problem with this restoration is that it has not yet matured…
Remember the Fig Tree from Matthew 21?
Jesus came up to the Fig Tree and it was full of leaves… But, it had no fruit so He cursed it!
The Fivefold Ministry today is like the Fig Tree… It has lots of leaves calling attention to itself but there is no fruit!!!
If the Fivefold Ministry does not start to Mature it is close to being cursed by The Lord and He will raise up others to do what Ministers are supposed to be doing!
Ministers today are using their gifts, talents and offices to build their own ministries…
Remember Matthew 7:22-23
“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’”
Gifts, Prophesy and Miracles are not PROOF of Solid Ministry!
No, where is the “Taking up of the Cross Daily”?
Why are so many caught in the trap of wanting riches?
Because they have not allowed The Lord to work on the inside… They are enamored with the outside…
Remember those “Ministers” in Matthew 23:27-28
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
There are just too many today who will fall because they have not “humbled themselves before the mighty Hand of The Lord”.
Hebrews 5:12
“You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.”
Lastly, Ministers today have failed to do this: 1 Corinthians 11:31
“Now if we judged ourselves properly, we would not come under judgment.”
Let me say it again: Hebrews 5:11-14
“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
Instead of Fully Mature Ministers too many Churches are led by “Infants”!!!
Isaiah 3:12
“My people — infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths.”
SELAH…
The Fivefold Ministry has been restored and now it must become unified. As that happens The Church will become the “New Wineskin” and The Lord will restore the “Full Outpouring of the New Wine”!
Joel 2:23-30
“Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God… And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.”
Today we in that process of the Church understanding the Full Restoration!
We have seen the Fivefold Ministry Gifts restored and God’s Government is taking shape.
It’s time for The Lord to Fully Equip The Church!
Remember these Scriptures:
Acts 3:19-21?
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”
Ephesians 4:11-16
”And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and some to be teachers, so that the saints would be fully equipped to do the works of ministry and that the Body of Christ would be built up so that we all come into the fullness of unity in the faith and that we live in the higher knowledge of the Son of God forming a mature man who measures up to the full stature of Christ representing Him here on earth.”
Ministers must stop building their own kingdoms!
It’s time to all the Ministries to flow together in Unity and use their giftings to Equip and help to bring the Saints to Maturity.
They need to help the Saints fulfill their purpose and do “The works of the ministries that God has called them to do.”
The New Wineskin is the Equipped Church
God will pour out the New Wine and the waiting will be over…“Until” will is “Now”!
When this takes place, we will enter into The Great End Time Harvest…
Fivefold Ministers must become Mature themselves so they can Equip the Saints…
The Saints need to become “Ministers of Reconciliation”…
No one can allow pride or arrogance to deceive them…
We need to heed the Words of Jesus in Matthew 3:8-10 KJV
“Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
There’s so much that has to take place… It’s going to happen
Because Jesus said so in Matthew 16:18
“I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
I hope this post whet your appetite to want to read more like it.
If this message has blessed you, please leave a comment. I’d love to know what you think about this and your feedback encourages others too.
Please share this post with others so they can see the truth I’m sharing with you.
Honestly, I’ve been involved in National and International organizations that know about 5 Fold ministry and yet the majority of these ministers just give it lip service. They run their churches the old fashioned way… We need to find like minded people and fellowship with them. Check out Steve Porter’s substack. He just wrote some things about this too.
Amen, Amen, Amen…I truly believe this work and the wine of these latter days harvest are upon us…His Church and Bride equipped and being equipped for the work of the Body and it’s Head Christ Jesus!! I have had a glorious glimpse and strong stirring of this, deep inside for some time and have seen this incredibly increasing, as a collective work and collaboration with the Holy Spirit throughout the Church continues in New Wine Skins!!!! That song “New Wine” by Hillsong has been RESONATING WITH ME FOR THE PAST 4 or MORE YEARS NOW!! My Sister’s “third birthday and Exodus” on 2.25.21 brings Joel 2:25 to mind frequently!! I HEAR THE FREQUENCY OF HEAVEN NOW LOUDER THAN EVER BEFORE!! Come Lord Jesus, have Your way in Your Church and Bride!! We have and will continue to make room for the New Wine and Oil!!