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In every generation which the Lord has released supernatural activity and interventions of His Spirit in the earth, He has always raised up a “forerunner” person or people who will prepare the way of His coming. In Scripture, individuals such as Moses, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elijah and John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord’s divine interventions. Yet, the forerunner group most mentioned in the Bible is the company identified in Joel 2 who will receive the outpouring of the Spirit just prior to the great and terrible Day of the Lord. This forerunner company will be entrusted with “preparing the way of the Lord” just prior to His 2nd coming.

Joel 2:28-32 says “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour our My Spirit in those days… Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Similar to John the Baptist and Elijah, this forerunner group will proclaim the unprecedented activity of the Lord in the earth just prior to His return. They will operate in a “sons of Issachar” anointing with understanding of the times and seasons in which they live. They will declare in their own generation the activity of the Lord in the earth. They will also give clarity as to God’s plan and the necessary response of the human heart to God during the hour of the greatest power upon the church and the greatest crisis this world has ever seen.

Not only will they make proclamation, but they will also live out the message they declare. The message of the coming of the Lord will be exemplified through prophetic demonstrations as well as through the authentic New Testament lifestyles this company gives themselves to in the end of the age. As such, the messengers and the message they proclaim will become one reality. In addition, these messengers will operate in a spirit of intimacy with Jesus the Bridegroom, in unity with the Holy Spirit and with one another. With one voice, they will fulfill the prophetic scripture in Revelation 22:17 and cry out “The Spirit and the Bride say come.” They will give themselves in love to serving, giving, fasting, prayer, humility, forgiveness and simplicity just as the early Church did (Matt 5:43-6:21). They will in no way be given to spiritual elitism in religious pride, for the very calling that they embrace will be a reproach to them, demanding them to embrace spiritual poverty in a lifestyle of meekness before God and men (Mat 5:3-5).

Redefining Apostolic
It is essential for forerunners at the end of the age to rediscover the path of the apostles as demonstrated in the New Testament. The forerunner company of believers at the end of the age must embrace apostolic Christianity as it was modeled by the first century Church. Often times the term “Apostolic Christianity” is misappropriated. For our purposes here, when we speak of that which is “apostolic” we are not particularly speaking of only those who are called to be Apostles. We are speaking of that manner of life and model of Christianity that the early Apostles lived. Art Katz in Apostolic Foundations defines apostolic as a “…seeking out and restoring of all that was once authentic, all that was held dear, all that was believed, all that was understood, and all that was vital in the first church.” Therefore, a basic definition of apostolic is that which is authentic.

We must, as the Bride of Christ, become jealous for the life path that is truly authentic, truly apostolic. We must embrace the apostolic path. Simply put, embracing the apostolic path is embracing all that the early church embraced. It seems that anything less would be inauthentic. This includes living in love and true fellowship, embracing humility, servanthood and suffering, as well as manifesting authentic kingdom power and authority. Living authentically is crucial to who the Bride is to be at the end of the age. The apostolic path is the ancient path, the path that the fathers of the faith and the prophets walked. Though we live in the 20th century in a culture that is deluged with perversity and pleasure and predicated on the immediate gratification of the flesh, will we be ones who will rediscover and walk the ancient path and embrace apostolic Christianity without excuse in our generation?
Let’s consider Jeremiah’s prophetic cry in regard to the ancient paths.
Rediscovering the Ancient Paths

Jeremiah 6:13 “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.

In Jeremiah’s day corruption had possessed the nation of Israel, including the religious establishment, from the prophet to the priesthood. They were all given to greed because of their desire for personal gain. They dealt with people in deceptive ways in order to ensure their own prosperity. They had changed the message that they were preaching to please the people. Instead of sounding a clear alarm from the heart of the Lord and calling the people to turn from their idolatry in view of the impending judgment of God, they were declaring a false, but comforting message of peace. As a result, the Lord declared, “They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious.” The NASB says, “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially.” The message of comfort they proclaimed did not give the people a true revelation of their spiritual state nor did it prepare the people for the dramatic activity of God that was about to break in upon the nation. As a result the nation had no inclination that in a matter of a few years, God would bring about its destruction at the hands of the Babylonian army. The entire nation was comfortable, but fearfully unprepared for the catastrophic events that were just around the corner. Is it possible that our current spiritual state is similar to that of the nation of Israel in that day?

The Lord identified the remedy to this spiritual decline as a five-fold process of rediscovering the ways of the Lord outlined by the prophet Jeremiah

Jeremiah 6:16 “Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.’ But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”

Let us consider this five-fold process:

1. Stand in the ways – this speaks of the voluntary seeking out of the ways that others who have walked with God in the past have walked. It is embracing the writer of Hebrews’ admonition to “Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.” (Hebrews 13:7, NASB)
2. And see – this is coming to the revelation that there is a stark contrast between the lifestyle and journey, the manner and method of the fathers in comparison to modern practices. It is ruthlessly dealing with the incongruity in our own hearts and among us as a community of believers.
3. Ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is – this is acknowledging with sincerity that coming to the ancient way is far better than the modern mutation we call Christianity today and in this light asking God to restore us and to grant us the grace to live a life which walks the “narrow path” (Matthew 7:14).
4. Walk in it – this is embracing the lifestyle of apostolic Christianity by the grace of God. Though the world continually tries to pull us off course with the desire to please the flesh, we must push against this desire for immediate gratification and chose to walk in paths of righteousness by saying “yes” to His grace. We must realize that it is a narrow way that leads to the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14).
5. Then you will find rest for your souls – When we walk the ancient path our soul experiences true rest in God. Jeremiah identifies that rest for the soul is more than an inner feeling of peace; it is entering into the reality of eternal life. Conversely, there is no rest for the soul of those who choose to walk in the broad path. All that is left for them is judgment because they have refused to heed the word of the Lord.

Matthew 11:28-29 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

In these verses, Jesus actually quotes Jeremiah and gives clearer definition to walking in the ancient paths and attaining rest for the soul. Consider the facets that He identifies as part of this process: Come to Me – It is Jesus alone who is our path: He is the door and the Way itself. Coming to Jesus means abiding in Christ. As we truly abide in Him, we will walk the ancient path and enter the narrow doors. Take My Yoke – The essential feature to walking the ancient paths is taking the very yoke or way of life of Christ as our own. To embrace Jesus’ yoke means to embrace the yoke of meekness. Jesus modeled this for us while on earth.

Philippians 2:5-8 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus was God Himself, yet He made himself of “no reputation,” taking on the form of a bondservant, being obedient unto death, and as a result was “highly exalted.” This is the same path we are to walk if we are to find the ancient path, the narrow way and truly live apostolic Christianity.

Conclusion
We must recognize our great need for an authentic expression of Christianity in our day. We must get jealous to rediscover the apostolic path, the ancient way. Those who would walk the apostolic path must embrace the meek yoke and reject the sway of the spirit of this age, which compels them to attain to a platform in order to ascend above others in position. We must give ourselves in love to become the slave of all, just as the Lord Jesus. The prerequisite for following Christ is to bear the cross, to embrace a certain death to one’s own personal pursuits and passions. For authentic authority to come upon our lives, it must be precipitated by the pain and humiliation of the cross. This is the meek yoke. This is the apostolic path. Let us stand in the way and see and ask for the ancient paths, the good way and walk in it.