APOSTOLIC DEVOTION

by Jim Wies

Prophetic Encouragement

We have arrived at a new day in God's eternal purposes. We are in the time of the restoration of all things spoken by the prophets of old. (See Acts 3:19-21 below.) He has said He would again restore the house of David that had fallen down as prophesied by Amos: "On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old" (Amos 9:11). The quote of that prophecy in Acts 15:17 goes on to say: “that the remnant of men may seek the Lord”. This “restoration” is clearly connected to a time of “end-time” harvest. This is "that day."

He has His prepared vessels who are arising to the task and will see the plans of God through, to the perfecting of a glorious Church - a "Bride without spot or wrinkle" - in preparation for His return. These are people of faith, who have confidence in the Holy Spirit's ability to do what He intends to do...to prepare the Bride for the Bridegroom. Jesus did not say He was coming back for a shriveled-up, emaciated bride to whom He will have to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the way up to heaven. I think He's going to have a bride who is prepared and glorious. Many Scriptures show us a victorious eschatology for the church at the end of the age. Here are a few:

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish... This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church." (Ephesians 5:25-27,32) (Also note Revelation 21:2,9-1)

"But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, "and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, "whom heaven must receive UNTIL the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." (Acts 3:18-21)

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, UNTIL we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-- Christ-- from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." (Ephesians 4:11-16)
God has declared He WILL have a glorious end-time Church. God WILL have a latter house more glorious than the former. God WILL cause His glory to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. God WILL raise up the fallen tabernacle of David and cause the ends of the earth to come to the glory of its rising. Great boldness, faith and optimism will arise in our hearts when we realize we have inherited a prophetic mission in accordance with God's inexorable purposes.

God plans to have a fully functioning apostolic/prophetic church in order to execute an unprecedented harvest at the end of the age...AND WE'RE IT! We are His plan. We cannot expect the angels to do it. We cannot expect another generation to do it. God has appointed you and me to be here, now -- for such a time as this.

This season we are in is often called a time of “Apostolic Reformation.” In fact, one well-known missiologist and church growth expert wrote, "The greatest change in the way of doing church since the Protestant Reformation is taking place before our very eyes." If that is true, there are a number of implications. It means renovation. It means moving forward into new things. It means we need to be not only open to, but pursuing, transition and change. But if we want to partake of an Apostolic Reformation we must also embrace what I would call an Apostolic Devotion. The early church was “devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to meals together and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42)

Devotional Teaching

Lessons about Apostolic Devotion from the life of Josiah

The setting was during one of the lowest points in Israel's history. King Manasseh had already been in power for 50 years during which time he had led Judah into the worse condition of paganism and idol worship they had ever experienced. Not only did he do all manner of evil, which the Lord called an abomination in His sight, he also led Judah into all manner of sin as well; such as child sacrifice, witchcraft, divination, as well as several kinds of sexually perverse idol worship. (II Kings 21)

Into this wicked culture came Josiah, who typically would have followed in the footsteps of His father Amon and his grandfather Manasseh, but God had a prophetic destiny that included Josiah. In fact, Josiah had been prophesied by name almost 300 years earlier, and it was said of him that he would be a great reformer. (I Kings 13:1-3)

Josiah inherited the throne at the tender age of 8 years old. At the age of 16, Josiah began radically seeking the Lord after the manner of his ancestor King David. "For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David..." (II Chronicles 34:3), and David's manner of seeking God was total commitment. Note his words in Psalms 63:1-2, "O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.”

Because of this zeal for God David displayed, and because of his desire to see the house of God built, God made a covenant with David that his house would stand forever. Josiah found himself serving the purposes of God in his generation, according to God's covenant promises to David. The zeal for God's house is the backbone of apostolic reformation.

Josiah went against the tide of the popular culture of his day, and became one of the great kings of Judah and engineered a major reformation in his generation. He also stands as an example to the youth of our day that God is raising a generation who will serve the Lord from their youth.

There are several keys to reformation we can learn from the reign of Josiah and the reformation he brought to the nation, but before we look at them we must understand that the Body of Christ has arrived at a similar time in God's prophetic purposes. In the midst of wickedness on every side, God has a chosen people envisioned with prophetic destiny, who will arise and become instruments of reformation at this critical time in history.

Keys to Reformation

Josiah was devoted to seeking God.

Josiah was a seeker - he discovered that the rewards go to the diligent seekers. "For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David". (II Chronicles 34:3) We know David was an avid seeker of God. Just one of many samples from the Psalms show his heart. "O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory." (Psalm 63:1-2) And Hebrews11:6 states, "...for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Josiah was Devoted to "the Book."

"..Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given by Moses. Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD…So Shaphan carried the book to the king ...Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it before the king. Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes". (II Chronicles 34:14-19) Josiah took the words of “the Book” to heart. A return to "the Book" is always a part of reform. It happened as well in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah's reform. (See Nehemiah 8:5-10)

Josiah's was not disillusioned by the dis-repair of the House of the Lord, but gave himself to the repair of it.

"Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God...Then they put it in the hand of the foremen who had the oversight of the house of the LORD; and they gave it to the workmen who worked in the house of the LORD, to repair and restore the house." (II Chronicles 34:8,10) There are many who would criticize the church as we know it, but we need a people who are committed to building the kind of end-time version of the Church that God wants. Note: Josiah was willing to build a “team ministry” - entrust the work to faithful others who shared the vision of the work.

Josiah understood the prophetic significance and purpose of worship.

"...Others of the Levites, all of whom were skillful with instruments of music, were over the burden bearers and were overseers of all who did work in any kind of service." (II Chronicles 34:12-13) "And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their places, according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer." (II Chronicles 35:15)

In every restoration movement, music was of great importance. In David's day, we see the initial pattern for the last day’s restoration of apostolic authority (tabernacle of David). David made a radical departure from Moses' form of worship and established 24-hour worship around the presence of God. From that time on, whenever there was reformation it always included restoration of the Davidic pattern of prophetic praise, worship and warfare. In Nehemiah's day, the completion of the walls and the implementation of the new society was inaugurated with two massive choirs so large they circled the city and were able to be heard from afar. (Nehemiah 12)

The same thing was characteristic of Ezra's reform - a return to the Davidic pattern of worship. "When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: "For He is good, for His mercy endures forever toward Israel." Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid." (Ezra 3:10-11)

Josiah led by example and called for a commitment.

"Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up to the house of the LORD, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem--the priests and the Levites, and all the people, great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the LORD. Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. Thus, Josiah removed all the abominations from all the country that belonged to the children of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel diligently serve the LORD their God. All his days they did not depart from following the LORD God of their fathers." (II Chronicles 34:29-33)

Josiah led the people forth into a major reformation during his reign. He reestablished the rule of God through his righteous rule. Therefore, he serves today as a model of an apostolic reformer.

His devotion to God and His word changed a generation. When Josiah re-discovered "the Book,” it changed his life. It caused him to re-evaluate the traditions of the day and go back to the patterns and purposes of God. He sought God, reached back to the Biblical pattern in God's Word and God's pattern of worship; and true reformation took place throughout His realm. His devotion can serve as an example for us during THESE times of apostolic reformation according to God's predestined purposes.

Weekly Scripture Meditation

Week ONE - 2 Chronicles 34

Week TWO - Psalm 119

Week THREE - Nehemiah 12:22-47

Week FOUR - Acts 2:14-4

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