Sending and Appointing

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This is Today With Derek Prince. The internationally recognized Bible teacher and author presents to you Keys To Successful Living.

On yesterday’s program Derek Prince shared with us some examples found in the New Testament of the laying on of hands to impart healing and the gift of the Holy Spirit, as well as to commission workers for church service. Today as he continues his theme ‘Transmitting God’s Power’ he will give us other purposes of this practice, to send out apostles and to appoint church elders. Listen at the end of today’s program for our address and this week’s special offer.

Derek Prince:

All right. The next purpose of the laying on of hands is to send out apostles. I don’t know whether some of you think there are only twelve apostles in the New Testament. That is not so. I’ve counted approximately twenty people who were called apostles. There were the twelve foundation apostles, then there were other apostles who were mentioned by name. We’ll look at some of them.

In Acts 13 it speaks about the church at Antioch, which was in many ways a model church. In fact, in some ways it got ahead of the church in Jerusalem which got a little bit stuck in what I would call internal focus. See, that’s one of the big problems with our churches today, most churches are so focused on the internal that they have very little time for the real job which is preaching the gospel to those who have never heard it. But the people at Antioch had a different vision and this is very important. Acts 13, beginning at verse 1:

“Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers, [five of them are named] Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen and Saul who later became Paul.
Now, if you can believe for prophets and teachers then the way if open for apostles. I’ll show you how. As they ministered to the Lord . . .”

And I think the NIV says ‘as they worshiped the Lord.’ It’s so important, I’m going to speak about this later. Worship is the key to so much.

“As they worshiped the Lord the Holy Spirit said, ‘Now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’”

Notice the Holy Spirit was speaking as God. ‘Separate to me these two men.’ How do you think the Holy Spirit said it? Do you think it was a disembodied voice that came or do you think He spoke through one of the five men? You can make your mind up, I believe personally it was probably a prophetic word.

“Then having fasted and prayed . . .”

And I am a great believer in fasting and prayer. I don’t have time to go into it but a lot of things in the church will never happen until people learn to fast and pray. This was the second time they’d fasted. They were already fasting when they got the message.

“Having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them away.”

They sent them off. Please note they didn’t choose the junior youth director, which is what some churches would do. They chose the two top men. They sent out their best. Promotion to the outreach of the ministry is from the top, not from the bottom. There again the church has a tremendous lesson today to learn. The people who are, quote, ‘missionaries’ or whatever you want to call them are not somebody with a minor ministry somewhere down the line, they should be the top people chosen by God. But we have got an altogether wrong emphasis on our internal structure and we are so absorbed with ourselves that we really don’t have the vision of the Lord.

I don’t know if you’ll forgive me for saying this but I say that many people in the current move of the Holy Spirit, in some countries, are like the astronomers in the days of Ptolemy. If you know a little bit about astronomy, and I don’t know much. But Ptolemy was convinced that the sun revolved around the earth. Along came Copernicus and he said, ‘That’s not right, it’s the other way around.’ The earth revolves around the sun. And typically enough, the church wanted to put the man to death for saying that. He just escaped with his life. Why was the church so upset? Because it was contrary to their traditions. I say a lot of Christians are still living in the age of Ptolemy. They still believe that the Son, God, revolves around us. They haven’t yet learned it’s the other way around. We revolve around the Son.

Jesus isn’t here for our benefit, we’re here for His glory. You can see some of the songs that are sung that focus entirely on what Jesus will do for me. That’s wonderful, but it’s less important than what we will do for Jesus. That’s where the emphasis is.

Anyhow, this church sent out its two best. When they were sent out they were prophets and teachers but if you read on in the next chapter of Acts, chapter 14, about the same two men, it says at one point:

“The multitude of the city was divided. Part sided with the Jews and part with the apostles. And then in verse 14 it says:
But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard this . . .”

So they had become apostles. How had they become apostles? By being sent out from a church through the direction of the Holy Spirit. You see, the meaning of the word apostle is ‘one who is sent out.’ If you’ve not been sent out you’re not an apostle. So, here are two men who are not in the original twelve, Paul and Barnabas are now called apostles. How did they become apostles? By the appointment of the Holy Spirit. How did they hear the voice of the Holy Spirit? They were praying, fasting and worshiping God. And when the church leadership does that, then we will see apostles emerging.

OK. Now then, the next use we find in the New Testament of laying on of hands is to appoint elders. Acts 14:23, the chapter we’ve been in, says:

“These two apostles [Barnabas and Paul] appointed elders in every church.
So the appointment of elders initially was from the apostles.”

And then writing to Timothy who was his representative in the city of Ephesus, Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter 5:17 and following, he’s instructing him about the kind of person who should be an elder. He says:

“Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the Word and teaching.”

Now, ‘double honor,’ if you analyze the New Testament, means some kind of financial remuneration. The word honor in the New Testament is not just an empty title, it means you show respect by the way you handle people’s needs. I said sometimes if you double zero you still get zero. So, there is a standard of remuneration and those who give their time fully to the Word of God have to be remunerated by the people whom they serve, according to the amount of time they give.

“Paul goes on about how to deal with elders, verse 19:
Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses.”

Please, that is very important. Do not entertain an accusation against a man who is the position of an elder unless it’s supported by at least two witnesses. I’ve seen so many cases when men of God have been slandered and people have taken up the slander without ever demanding two or three witnesses. Never do that, because one of Satan’s main ways of attacking people in the ministry is to raise false charges against them. Here’s the protection. Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it’s supported by at least two and preferably three eyewitnesses. A great many things in the church would change if we stuck to that rule.

Paul goes on in the same chapter, verse 21:

“I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality which has no place in the kingdom of God.”

Then he says:

“Do not lay hands suddenly or hastily on anyone, nor share in other people’s sins. Keep yourself pure.”

Now this is in the context of dealing with elders so when he says do not lay hands on anyone hastily means don’t hastily appoint an elder. Be very careful that you have God’s mind. Be very careful that the man has the qualifications that are required. Because I’ve said many times it’s much easier to lay hands on than to lay hands off. Once you have appointed an elder it’s an awful problem to get rid of him if you’ve made the wrong appointment. So, Paul says to Timothy be very, very careful. Don’t lay hands as an appointment of eldership on anybody until you’re absolutely sure that it’s God’s choice.

And then he says do not be partaker of other men’s sins because if you appoint, if I appoint, as an elder a man who is not worthy, who maybe will exploit the congregation and the people of God, I have a share in his sins. So, we have to be very, very careful.

I will say in our church in Fort Lauderdale, which is not always a model church, but when they appoint elders, believe me, they go through it. I mean, those men—they appointed three recently—they had to answer questions for two days. Everything was taken into account. I think many problems result in the church from the hasty appointment of elders.

“You see how many lessons come out of all this about laying on of hands? See, it’s not a little thing.”

Announcer:

Tomorrow Derek Prince will conclude his teaching on ‘Transmitting God’s Power,’ by sharing how the New Testament Apostle Timothy received the laying on of hands by church leaders to be set apart for ministry and the effect this had on his life. He then lists dangers to guard against and safeguards to follow in using this practice.

This week’s message is available on audiocassette No. RC4166 and also on video. Our special offer this week is The Spirit-filled Believer’s Handbook an easy to understand guide for new Christians as well as mature believers to develop and maintain a strong balanced spirit filled life. To receive your copy of ‘Transmitting God’s Power’ write today and include a contribution of $5.00 or more for audiocassette RC4166, or $14.95 for the video teaching. Include a gift of $15.00 or more for The Spirit-filled Believer’s Handbook.

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