Understanding Apostolic Maturity and Rank
Embracing the Apostolic Reformation - Part III
by Dr. John Tetsola

All apostles are not on equal plane or on the same level of maturity. There are five major levels of apostolic maturity and ranks. Each maturity level determines the depth of the anointing, the sphere of placement, the strength of gifting, the measure of blessing, and the measure of rule. It is important that the apostolic men that God is raising understand this concept and be willing to receive from one another. Jesus the Chief Apostle of all apostles went through these five levels of maturation in His ministry. Your level of authority as an apostle moves higher and becomes stronger as you move in maturity and rank. I am not talking about the authority of the believer, or the ability to petition the Father and bind up devils. Anyone on any level can do that if they just believe God and move out by faith. There are certain levels of maturity attained in the development of the apostolic anointing where God puts a certain mantle, cloak, and coat of His presence, anointing, authority, influence, favor and opportunity which comes on your life.

Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.
Isaiah 28:9-10

While the journey and process of maturation in everyone is different, there are certain principles in everyone’s process which are the same. We must not just embrace the prophecy of our destiny, but we must also accept the process of our destiny. If an apostolic man does not accept the process of his destiny, he will never enter into the prophecy of his destiny. In the earth we can make shortcuts, and wear titles and ranks that do not belong to us, but that does not mean we are that title or rank. Isaiah 28:9-10 shows us how God builds in our lives. He builds us bit by bit. We don’t eat the cake all at once in a day. We eat it daily and gently. God serves His cake to us a slice at a time. You don’t just become a mature apostle overnight. Maturity does not come by hands being laid on you, or by any ordination. After the ordination and laying on of hands into the office of the apostle, you will have to go through the ranks of maturity.

Apostolic promotion does not come on the basis of the gifting in an individual’s life, but it is on the basis of their maturity. As he begins the process of maturity, one of the things that evolve in an apostle is his perspective. Your perspective begins to change. At the beginning of his maturity the apostle Paul said, “I labor more than all of the other apostles.” Then in the middle of his apostolic development he said, “I am the least of all of the apostles,” and at the end of his maturity he said, “I am the chief of the sinners.” As he grew and matured in God, his thought of himself did not shoot through the roof, but instead he began to see himself in the light of God’s holiness. That is why Paul was successful. The absence of this growing maturity is the obstacle to the development of most apostles today. This is why most apostles never get developed.

The reasons why some of the great leaders and apostles who were once very victorious and strong in the past were defeated and ruined by their enemies was because of the following: First, the healthy awareness of danger was suppressed by past victories and overconfidence. In other words, the good victories they once had, all the battles they won, and all the mountain tops they previously climbed caused them to become overconfident, and caused them to lose their sense of healthy awareness of danger around them. Secondly, they were sentimentally attached to tactics which were out of touch with their current threat. In other words, the methods used to win past or previous battles no longer met the demands of the current battle. That is the picture of a starchy and rigid leader. Successful leaders are always willing to respond to adjustment and change according to present day paradigms in order to win.

Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
Luke 14:31

A third reason why victorious leaders were defeated was because they trusted inaccurate information about themselves and underestimated the strength of their enemies. In other words, they never looked at the realities of what they were facing to evaluate themselves. The above Scripture says, “Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?” Any wise leader will look at the reality of the shape and level of his maturity and that of his people, their armor, and what they have before committing to battle. But these men believed their own press report, failed to properly evaluate themselves, and magnified the weaknesses of their enemies.

The fourth cause of their defeat was they did not survive the unexpected ambushes. We must plan for the unexpected. The problem with most apostolic men and leaders today is that they fail to include this preparation as part of the baggage of the journey. Because of this, these unexpected ambushes become the very source of the destruction of their ministry. A fifth cause of their defeat was that at the crossroads of life they did not make the right choices, or no choices were made at all. In other words, in those defining moments of their lives where destiny choices had to be made, they made no decisions. Sixth, they missed divine spiritual anointings and appointed opportunities and lost momentum. Be willing to see a God opportunity in front of you and seize it. Finally, the seventh reason why some of the great leaders and apostles who were once very victorious came to ruin was because they forgot their potential for failure. Remember this, no matter what spiritual plain you think you may have reached, there is always a potential for failure. You will never get so close to God that you don’t have a potential for failure.

by Dr. John A. Tetsola