There are many preachers who have gotten themselves into errors concerning the ministry gifts of the apostle and the prophet. The Lord Jesus warned about such errors. He appeared to Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin in 1987 more than 20 years ago regarding this. Such errors can lead many people astray and it has already surfaced.
Testimony of Kenneth E. Hagin:
In 1987 I had a visitation from the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ appeared to me and talked to me. The entire experience lasted two hours fifty minutes. Some of the things the Lord talked to me about in that visitation are found in the book, Plans, Purposes, and Pursuits.
In the visitation, Jesus talked to me about His plan for the New Testament Church, and how His plan for the Church in worship is different under the New Covenant than it was under the Old Covenant.
Then He began to talk to me about some of His plans for the Church concerning ministry. His plan for the Church in ministry is different under the New Covenant than it was under the Old Covenant. And in this discussion, He began to talk to me about the ministry gifts that He has set in the Church.
In this book (He Gave Gifts Unto Men) I’m going to share with you some of the differences in Jesus’ plan for the ministry under the New Covenant, especially regarding the offices of the apostle, prophet, and pastor.
Shortly after the 1987 visitation, it seemed that controversy arose in different parts of the Body of Christ, particularly concerning the offices of the apostle and the prophet. Of course, Jesus knew the doctrinal errors that were about to surface in the Church. I believe He addressed these issues in order to maintain balance and to help keep ministers from getting into a ditch doctrinally.
You see, there is an element of truth in all doctrinal error. Usually the error occurs when the people push biblical truths to the extreme. Actually, there has to be an element of truth involved in these spiritual tangents or no one would believe them; the error would be too obvious.
Many of these errors about the office of an apostle and prophet are due to lack of correct teaching in this area.
In the 1987 visitation, Jesus began to talk about the office of the apostle and prophet. He said, “There are four classes or ranks of apostles. And within these different classes or ranks, apostles can have different degrees or measures of anointing.”
Jesus continued, “There are not different classes of apostles, but there are different classes of prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. And there are different degrees of anointing within these different classes.”
For further study on the subject please read “Plans, Purposes, and Pursuits” and “He Gave Gifts Unto Men”. Both books are by Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin. With correct teaching on the subject, you are able to divide the right from the wrong and hence may be able to help someone from following the false apostles and false prophets as his or her life could be adversely affected by these false offices.
