ARE THERE NOW NEW APOSTLES AND NEW REVELATIONS?

The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), influenced by the Prosperity Ministry, claims to be restoring apostles and prophets to the church. And they call it a reformation, because they say it will completely change the way church is done, and that it will be greater than the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. Consequently, they
expect absolute submission:

•    If you submit to their leadership, then you too will work mighty miracles. You’ll become part of a great end-time army that will bring about a world revival and cleanse the earth of evil by calling down hailstones, fire, and the other judgments of God described in the New Testament book of Revelation. If you do not submit to their leadership then, at the very least, you will miss out on God’s end-time plans. And if you actively oppose the apostles and prophets, then brace yourself for the fallout. Others must be warned that you are the pawn of a powerful demon, known as the “spirit of religion.” (God’s Super-Apostles; Holly Pivec and Douglas Geivett)

However, their demand for absolute submission isn’t Biblical:

•    “So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. (1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭3‬)

As a result, the NAR domination of their followers has often proved destructive:

•    I have personally witnessed the devastation of the many wounded people left in its wake. I’ve watched unsuspecting Christians who are hungry for revival become swept up in a movement that promises unity, renewal, and even miracles only to deliver confusion, empty promises, and manipulation.” (Introduction, Counterfeit Kingdom: The Dangers of New Revelation, New Prophets, and New Age Practices in the Church, Holly Pivec, R. Douglas Geivett)

They also cite the late Apostle C. Peter Wagner, one of the most influential founders:

•     “The responsibility of pastors is to care for, nurture and comfort the flock. Very few pastors have either the gifts or the temperament to mobilize an army for war. Apostles, on the other hand, do.”

The influence of these Apostles invites abuse and the degrading of the “ordinary” brethren, but they also constitute the “royal priesthood”:

•    But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

However, Wagner claimed:

•    “They are convinced that they would not be able to reach their full destiny in serving God apart from the spiritual covering of the apostle.”

However, according to the Scriptures, we all have a special place in building the body of Christ:

•    On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body. (1 Corinthians 12:22–25)

However, according to the NAR, the NAR CEOs are the greater:

•    [Jesus] said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”  (Luke 9:48)

According to Wagner and the NAR, the greatest are the all-powerful and authoritative Apostles, who spell the success or failure of the Church.

However, Jesus taught that the least, the servant, was the greatest:

•    And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)

However, Geivett and Pivec wrote:

Failure to submit to an apostle is seen as defiance against God. They cite prophet-apostle Bill Hamon:

•    “It is almost impossible for individuals to humble themselves under God without humbling themselves in submission and relationship to Christ’s delegated representatives of Him [the Apostles] to His Church.”

Therefore, these new Apostles are just one step beneath God. However, the Bible teaches that , instead, we are servants of the Word and not these alleged Apostles:

•    The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. ‭‭(Romans‬ ‭14‬:‭22‬)

Consequently, our only intermediary is the Word of God and not any ecclesiastical authority. Therefore, loving God is matter of abiding in His Word rather than in a human authority:

•    “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (John‬ ‭15‬:‭7‬-‭10‬)

As the highest authorities, these Apostles are not accountable to anyone but to the Apostles who appoint them. In contrast, the 12 had been appointed by Jesus. Consequently, the NT lists qualifications for the appointment of elders and deacons but never for Apostles. Evidently, it was because there was no further need for more Apostles who had been commissioned to lay the foundation for the Church—the books of the NT:

•    So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:19–20)

From where does the authority of these new Apostles arise if not directly from Jesus or even from the Scriptures? Seemingly, they appropriate this authority from alleged miracles, charisma, motivational speaking, and from the resulting testimonies.