THE END-TIME APOSTLE

 

There is a particular apostle whom the Lord has prepared for His Church to get her ready for His imminent return whether we agree with this statement or not. This apostle is a type of herald and only the Lord will be able to unveil him/her. 

The Church, therefore, will remain subject to this specific apostle God sends – the one who illuminates them with the Truth of God’s endtime Word. God expects His people to remember the Truth the apostle teaches and remain subject to the spiritual heritage of this apostle…Ephesians 2:20 - this is the spiritual heritage given to the end of the time Church depending with the apostolic blueprint given to this apostle. Doing this gives protection against false teachers.

At the end-time prophecy by the Lord Jesus Himself indicates that a very special apostle will be sent to the Church... “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all thing". This individual is destined to restore “All things”… Matthew 17:11. Whatever “all things” may mean, it certainly must include all spiritual foundations the people of God will need at this crucial time. Apostles lay foundations showed or revealed to them – blueprint… 1 Corinthians 3:10. Yet scripture also indicates that the level of false teachers is set to rise disproportionately as satan sees his age drawing to a close… Matthew 24:24. Correct understanding and appreciating the role of this end-time apostle therefore becomes paramount as we are at the end of the age. It will also help each one of us to recognize those prophesied false teachers as we come across them… Matthew 7:20.

The ‘Elijah’ to come

In describing John the Baptist, Christ portrays John as a type of one prophesied to be ‘sent’ just before His second coming. This is indicated when Christ says, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already… “Matthew 17:11, 12. The tenses used here show two separate fulfillments. In addition to being sent (the meaning of the title apostle), Christ also describes the role of John the Baptist as “more than a prophet” Matthew 11:9. It therefore follows that the one fulfilling the future role would also hold a similar office and the only office greater than a prophet is that of an apostle... 1 Corinthians 12:28. A renowned prophet in Africa correctly predicted that a certain president of an East African country must be in place to herald this end-time apostle. 

The primary job of this individual is to prepare the 'elect' people of God as part of the very living Temple to which Christ returns as King of kings... Malachi 3:1. This requires teaching them the specific revelation God restores – illuminating them with the Truth for the first time. If such a people do not exist, God says He will destroy the earth… Malachi 4:6. However, it is clear that an elect people will be present, as Matthew tells us: “for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened” (Matthew 24:22). The fact “the elect” are prophesied to exist indicates that this apostle has appeared on earth already; restoring all things the Lord specifies they will need for their preparation.

When talking of this apostle, please notice that he/she is an individual – male or female as was John the Baptist. There is no indication he/she is linked to someone else such as one of the two witnesses found in Revelation 11. The prophecy also does not talk of a collective church group. God says, “Behold, I will send my messenger [singular not plural… male or female]” Malachi 3:1, and “this is he/she [singular] that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one [singular] crying in the wilderness” Matthew 3:3. What we must look for is an individual, again, man or woman who prepares God’s people, just before the end of this age. The prophecies are very clear.

Viewing Time Correctly

To correctly understand such prophecies, it is important we appreciate the way God views time and then use a similar view ourselves. Peter tells us that to God “a thousand years is as one day” 2 Peter 3:8. We are also told in the same section “there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of his coming?” 2 Peter 3:3-4. The 1,000 years for a day principle seems to be an antidote that God gives us to counteract such sarcasm. The early Church also understood this principle. 

The ancient and popular doctrine of the millennium was intimately connected with the second coming of Christ. As the works of the creation had been finished in six days, their duration, in their present state … was fixed to six thousand years … succeeded by a joyful Sabbath of a thousand years. When we gauge the history of man using this yardstick – with 6,000 years being a working week – a startling picture emerges: Most things of any significance seem to occur during the daylight portion of Friday – the time that corresponds to the preparation day for the Sabbath Millennium. 

Unprecedented Apostasy

When Christ prophesies that “Elijah truly shall first come, and restore all things” Matthew 17:11, He is actually giving us a new prophecy. This restoration of Truth is particularly important as it also lays the groundwork for two other vital prophecies to take place. Both are linked to the revealed Truth the end-time apostle is destined to restore: Within 2 Thessalonians there is prophesied a great apostasy, or falling away from God’s Truth, that must take place just before the end: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away [Greek: apostasia] first” 2 Thessalonians 2:3. This apostasy in question is specifically tied to the end-time verse 1, not an event 2000 years before. Paul tells us that it will be one of two crucial signals indicating that the entire age of man is about to close. Until the apostasy occurs, he tells us, we should not be “soon shaken in mind … that the day of Christ is at hand” verse 2

I asked the Lord when this end-time apostle will be revealed and He answered, “6 p.m.” …it is at six when it begins to get dark. There will have to be a major falling away from the Truth – different to anything that has been seen before – just before Christ returns. For such an apostasy to take place, The Truth must first have been restored. Only then can there subsequently be a falling away from that Truth. So the prophesied apostle – who restores “all things” at the end time – must come prior to this unprecedented, final apostasy. In addition, when we begin to appreciate the implied scale of this apostasy, it also becomes likely that the apostasy will take place when the end-time apostle is alive – this apostle will be in the rapture. The Church herself will reject this end-time apostle unknowingly. Apostasy will be a total rejection of God’s Way by an unprecedented segment within the Church. It is this unprecedented scale – and perhaps the speed – that is indicated, that makes it most likely that the one who restored that Truth is no longer able to protect the Church… and therefore, the Church will be withdrawn [Rapture]. 

Philadelphia and Laodicea

In addition to the above apostasy, we also find a second problem within what remains of the end-time Church. This problem is implied when we examine two of the Churches found within the first few chapters of Revelation. It can be clearly shown that the Seven Churches of Revelation primarily represent not only successive eras of the Church, for the apostle John was told, ”Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand” Revelation 22:10. But also that these 7 churches represents the Church today and the hearts of God’s people – there’s no assembly that is perfect as revealed by Christ. But, He is coming for an apostolic Church… just as He started it. 

The focus of Revelation is the end-time “Day of the Lord” Revelation 1:10. For example, the period of the Church now is Revelation 6:7, 8. As we take these Churches as successive eras, the non-sealing of the overall book then make sense. The first era (Ephesus… Revelation 2:1-7) had information specifically for those in John’s day – making the phrase “for the time is at hand” correct. 

When looking at these successive eras, two end-time Churches come to view – Philadelphia (the faithful Church) and Laodicea (the lukewarm Church) …. Revelation 3:7ff. Within these two groups we can also see evidence of there being an end-time apostle. It is quite clear that Philadelphia exists just before and during the close of this age as Christ not only tells them “behold I come quickly” Revelation 3:11, but also talks of the eminency of “the hour of temptation, which shall come upon the entire world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Revelation 3:10). This era must therefore be concurrent with God’s end-time apostle who is the one through whom God reveals His Truth during this time. In addition, they are told to “… hold fast that which you have…” Revelation 3:11. It follows therefore, that “that which they have,” must have come originally from this individual who was prophesied to “restore all things” Matthew 17:11. Like I said, many in the Church will reject this end-time apostle and the Word of God he/she will be restoring – apostasy. 

In the case of the Laodicea Church, they are described as being LUKEWARM -  “poor, blind and naked” and must therefore “anoint their eyes with eye-salve that that they may see” Revelation 3:17, 18. Comparing this passage with the lesson from the man born blind, in John 9, it allows us to understand not only what it is that Laodicea must do, but also how Laodicea and the previous era (Philadelphia) are tied together. The command to Philadelphia to “hold fast that which they have” Revelation 3:11, also implies part of the antidote Laodicea needs. Both the meaning of Laodicea “the people judge or decide”, and the warning to Philadelphia “that no man take your crown” Revelation 3:11, give strong indications that both the problem, and the solution needed are common to both. The difference is that Philadelphia voluntarily applies the solution, and Laodicea does not.

It appears that those within Laodicea have turned from the source of pure spiritual water that God formerly used to wash away their blindness at conversion. This eye-salve is encapsulated within the very meaning of the word “Siloam” found in John 9 – the enlightenment that came originally via the “apostle,” or the one God “sent” to both Philadelphia and Laodicea with His revealed Truth. The indication is that Laodicea is substituting the teachings of men (Hebrew: adam) whose blind ideas of clay are merely from this earth (Hebrew:  adama). Only by returning to “the pool of Siloam [which means sent or apostle]” – to true spiritual foundations “sent” by God (not men) – can those within Laodicea remove their spiritual blindness. 

The analysis is also reinforced when we read of the foolish virgins within Matthew 25. The missing key ingredient in their case is oil – another symbol for the Spirit of God and the Truth from that Spirit. As we have seen, the Lord gives His Truth at a foundational level through apostles using spiritual grace or gifts. At this end-time, this is a single individual – Jesus’ prophesied apostle who prepares a people for His return [Rapture].

There two alternatives: either God’s end-time apostle has come or not. As we will see, choosing to believe he/she has not, carries with it some profound implication for the people of God today. When we accurately understand the scenario prophesied and is at hand, the implication is truly spine-chilling – Jesus said that not all of those who call Him Lord will enter the Kingdom of God. Do not be Left Behind when He is revealed. 

Apostle Joo Ngare - MoH