In the Kingdom of God there are many different relationships in the divine order which God is establishing. If we can relate correctly to divine order, we will have a key for all of our relationships—in the churches, in the Kingdom businesses, and in the homes. This could be a great factor in the way parents and children, as well as husbands and wives, relate to each other. Divine order must be experienced. It must become a matter of dedication as well as a practical reality in every local church.
We are entering into a period of time in which we will move ahead rapidly in the Lord. Therefore we want to examine all of the factors which could hinder us. Even in churches which have had a pattern of growth, there has been some confusion about how to relate to divine order. This has led to some barrenness in their efforts; however, this barrenness will disappear as God helps them to relate correctly.
No doubt most of us are aware that submission is an important ingredient of divine order. However, we should realize that the most essential ingredient of divine order is faith. Divine order requires faith. Submission will never be what it ought to be until you have faith. You may think that you are being submissive to the authority over you, but in order to be truly submissive, you must also have faith for him. How can the ministries of the Kingdom come forth unless someone exercises faith on their behalf?
In the early days of G. Campbell Morgan’s ministry, he took a pastorate in one of the old seasoned churches of the East, at a time when he was quite young. One day he met with several of the presbyters of the church—good men, some of whom had served that church for as long as fifty years. They had determined not to criticize him because of his inexperience. Instead, they said, “We know that you are young, and that you will face many problems; therefore we purpose to come together every morning to pray for you.” Day after day, year after year, those fine old men met in the church early in the morning to pray for their pastor. It became a way of life for them. They were submissive to him, but they realized that their submission required that they also have a great deal of faith for him. When you are truly submissive to someone, you see him in the light of the commission that God has given him. You also recognize that he will never be able to fulfill his commission unless you believe for him and help him to meet it.
For years we have stood together in faith as God brought forth untrained men to minister in our churches. Very few of them had Bible-school training. (If they did, it usually proved to be a handicap, rather than a blessing.) We have learned to see a brother’s need, and the problems that he faces, without being critical. Instead, we are submissive to him because God has given him a commission. However, our submission is not passive; it is combined with a great deal of faith. Sometimes I think that the people have more faith for me than I have for myself. They reach in to relate objectively to the commission over me, not to me personally.
When the Lord tells you to be submissive to a ministry that He has put over you, you must be careful not to run into the same series of problems that the Corinthian church faced. Some members of that church arbitrarily selected the apostle to whom they wanted to be submissive—the one who was greatest in their opinion. One said, “I am of Apollos”; another, “I am of Cephas”; and another, “I am of Paul.” In their partiality to certain ministries, they were walking as mere men (I Corinthians 3:1–4). We have done that too, in our carnality. But in the days of the Kingdom we will see a definite principle established: No longer will anyone say to an apostle, “I am submissive to you, but I do not want to be submissive to these other men.”
If you are submissive to an apostolic ministry, you will be submissive to everyone who has been commissioned by him. If you reject what God has brought forth under my hand, then you are not truly submissive to me either. I am no different than anyone else. I face the same inadequacy, at the level on which I move, that other ministries face at the level on which they move. No man feels adequate. He always has to serve God in a commission for which he feels unworthy and inadequate. If a man can have faith to do that, you must take faith for him also.
This is the type of teaching that causes a church to mature, because it instills a deep sense of divine order, which is very important. In Ephesians 5:18–21, Paul referred to a way that we must be submissive to one another: … be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
We must be submissive to one another. The brothers whom I have commissioned sense my submission to them; they are aware of it. When I have a part in commissioning other men into the will of God, and they receive that commission by the revelation and authority that God has given me, then my submission to them begins at that moment. My whole life is given to the apostolic commission and to those who have been commissioned under my hand. A ministry of authority labors to be submissive to those who have commissioned him and are over him in the Lord, those who watch over his welfare and over his ministry. Likewise, he finds himself becoming submissive to everyone to whom he has given a Word from God. It becomes a matter of being subject one to another in the fear of Christ (Ephesians 5:21).
Here is the bottom line: The only distinction among us is the commission that is given to each of us. Not long ago, we experienced a spiritual earthquake which could have registered about ten on the Richter scale. The word came that we were all to be “little people.” Pastor after pastor became quite upset about that term “little people,” because they felt that the little people were being arrogant. The real problem was the fact that the ministries could not see their own need for a humbling. However, God began to deal with them until now we have nothing but little people; and because they are all little people we rarely hear the term “little people” anymore. You need not call yourself “little” when there is no one bigger than you. There is no need to say, “He is bigger,” or “He is littler,” when everyone is the same size. God has put us all in His Kingdom together, and there is no distinction among us except our individual commission.
An awareness of this fact will remove any tendency to a spirit of isolation or a feeling of loneliness on the part of a leader. Instead, there will be a blending and a flowing together, which is exactly what the Lord wants. Then the only distinctions among us will be because of our unique commissions.
What makes the elders in a church different from anyone else? In some of our churches, the elders sit on the platform; however, more and more we are becoming dissatisfied with this pattern. The ground is all level at the foot of the cross and before His throne; and there ought to be some way that we can all stand together on the same level in the church also. There must be a recognition of the principle that the only thing which makes a person distinct is his unique commission which has been given to him by God. Then a man will stand and speak a Word from the Lord with an authority to which you are submissive. You will not think of him as being greater than you, or of yourself as being greater than he. You will realize that at best we are all unworthy servants (Luke 17:10).
The only thing that makes us different is the fact that the Lord has given each of us a different commission. We will never interpret that to mean that an apostle has a better walk with God or that he is superior in any way to anyone else. We will say, like Paul, “What do any of us have that we have not received?” (I Corinthians 4:7.) What can any of us do without a commission from the Lord and an impartation of His authority?
The only distinction within the Body of Christ is by virtue of the fact that He makes one person a hand, one a foot, one an ear; but all are members of His Body. Because we are one Body, there must be a leveling of our spirits so that the Holy Spirit’s anointing on our spirits can cause us all to flow together. The leaders must overcome their personal sensitivity and tendency to be easily offended. The sheep must overcome the idea that they do not have to be submissive to their leaders. We must all eliminate the subjective, soulish level and realize that we are truly one Body. When a man is given revelation and authority to lead us, we must and we will listen to him.
At the same time, we must not relate on such a carnal plane that we prefer one ministry over another. People have said to me, “I will listen to you, but I don’t think anyone else has quite the same Word from the Lord.” Yet the Lord may have shown me that a certain man has a Word and wisdom for the people. That man may stumble around a little in expressing himself, but he will speak the Word of the Lord. God has many wonderful ways of revealing Himself. Sometimes He takes one of the humblest little vessels—a little child—and ministers through that child in such a way that the prophecy of Isaiah 11:6 is fulfilled: “A little child shall lead them.”
These principles comprise the basis of a Kingdom church. The Church age has been riddled with hierarchies and men who loved to have titles and degrees bestowed upon them. That type of pomp and splendor may impress some, but isn’t it wonderful that we can simply all be called brethren? We have established a communication center on the West Coast and one in the Midwest in which apostles, prophets, and pastors of the churches come together to give counsel. However, they do not relate to the people as a hierarchy, sitting in an office, giving advice. Instead, they relate as brothers who very humbly are striving to bring confirmation, guidance, and a Word from the Lord. Not one of them is assuming preeminence over another.
There are no distinctions among us except for the commission that God has given each of us. I respect my own commission and you too must respect my commission. I must also respect the commission that you have. When the Lord commissions someone to work with you, be submissive to work with him—even if it is only a matter of helping him bring forth a song. That song might be a simple little tune, but it could be one of the songs that brings forth Zion. Who knows what great things will come forth when we have faith for one another!
This teaching will help you adjust your attitude toward your pastors and elders. Pastors will adjust their attitudes toward each other, until no one defends his place by saying, “This is my responsibility; this is my job. I have an important place and I have to fill it.” Instead, all the ministries will move in a fresh submission to the commission that is over them, and they will also move in a submission to the commission that came over others. All should move in faith to recognize the principle of mutual submission and to work with it.
Those who receive a Word from the Lord ought to be responsible to stand with others who are ministering; the confirming voice is needed, and their faith is also needed. When I stand with a brother who is ministering, I may have a gift that will complement and supplement the revelation that God has already given him. However, if I hold back, the revelation may be incomplete. One man may have a limited revelation, and another may also have a limited revelation; but if they put it together—like pieces of a puzzle—a clear picture will emerge. The picture will be plain and complete if every man is faithful to do what he is supposed to do, and will give what God has anointed and commissioned him to give.
The ministries whom God has raised up have more than a responsibility; they have a measure of the authority of Jesus Christ to reach their whole community. The ministry of the local churches will be increased several hundredfold when we realize this truth. Each ministry is necessary. To stand together and work together requires more than simple cooperation; it requires that you recognize your place, as well as the place that God has given your brother, until everyone contributes wholeheartedly and faithfully to accomplish what God has commissioned him to do! We flow together as each one takes faith for his own and his brother’s ministry! If we heed these truths, most of the problems in the churches will end.
In the days ahead, let there be no arrogance in those who are pastors, overseers, elders, or prophets in the house of God. There must be no arrogance! There must be no carnal assumption of a place. There must be no hierarchy. No ministry will be without significance, and no ministry will be independent of another.
Let us examine the eleven aspects of divine order in the Kingdom, as they pertain to our relationships. These truths are deep, yet very practical. They will help us to walk with God together.
1. Divine order in the Kingdom recognizes commission and the authority of that commission. Whether that commission is upon you or upon someone else, you must recognize that it is a measure of Christ’s authority. When you submit yourself to another person as unto the Lord, it is because you recognize that the Lord has delegated that authority—it is Christ’s authority. When you are submissive to an apostolic ministry, you are not submissive to him as a man; you are submissive to a ministry which came from the Lord Jesus Christ by impartation, by commission, by authority—and with authority. This principle must be recognized, for it is true of every ministry, not just of the apostolic ministry.
2. Divine order in the Kingdom sees an incomplete manifestation in almost every instance. Don’t you wish there were an exception to that truth? It would be wonderful to know one ministry who was a complete, perfect manifestation of what God has commissioned him to do. We wish that we could say that for ourselves! I wish I could say that I am manifesting completely and perfectly what God has commissioned me to do. The fact remains: “We have this treasure in earthen vessels” (II Corinthians 4:7).
3. Divine order in the Kingdom recognizes that faith is necessary for the Lord to complete a commissioning. Even if you are in divine order and you are submissive, you may recognize that the manifestation of a man’s commissioning is incomplete. Nevertheless, you can still exercise faith that the Lord will complete the commission. He is able. He is the author of it, and He is the finisher of it (Hebrews 12:2). He is able to “perfect” that which concerns us (Psalm 138:8).
4. Divine order in the Kingdom recognizes the need for intercession. Have you ever noticed how many times Paul mentioned his intercession for the churches he had established? He recognized that he had started something for which he was responsible, and he wanted God to perfect the work that had been begun in those churches.
I, too, have always felt a spiritual responsibility for every church that has been started under my hand, or under the hand of any of the spiritual sons or ministries whom I have commissioned. I have always felt my heart yearning and crying for them to come forth. Because of that dedication, I rarely seek my own pleasure, an easy time, or even a vacation for a frequently much-needed rest. If a church which has come forth under our hand has a need, we have a responsibility to meet that need. If the burden is too great, we must discover some way to bring in other ministries to meet the need. We should pray for every venture which God has begun through us.
A church in which a Kingdom business comes up should exercise a great deal of faith and real concern for that business. One principal guideline that should be kept very clearly in every person’s mind, and followed without fail, is this: If anyone is going to start a Kingdom business, he should be absolutely dedicated to follow through with it. Do not start a venture unless you feel a responsibility to bring it to fruitfulness. If you let it die, it will bring a reproach upon this entire moving of God in the earth. When a church sees a business started in their midst, they should see to it that those who are involved in that business are prayed for, helped, and ministered to. Anything that God starts by a special commission should not be an object of jealousy; neither should it be neglected or despised. When God is bringing something forth, recognize it and pray for it.
For several years, a small group of dedicated workers have been laboring in the recording and preservation of this Living Word. Others have served as secretaries, without a commission of authority, but with a definite commission to labor, to communicate, and to produce many things. They have worked without enough finances, without enough facilities or equipment, and sometimes without even the good will and cooperation of many members in the churches. Nevertheless, they have continued to work and become responsible for many things. Had it not been for their help and strength, I might have been overwhelmed with the battles I faced, for I do not think that one man could have borne the pressures and battles alone. Do not be jealous of any group of workers like these which come up. Instead, realize that they may be following a simple commission, striving to do the will of God, and trying to be submissive. Do not be jealous of them. Do not ignore them or put them down, but be a participator together with them in their vision.
The same principle applies if ventures are started in a local church. What should you do if you do not have the burden for a certain project? At least have the burden for those who do have a burden. There ought to be real faith for it. It may not be your major interest; nevertheless, it is of the Lord and He is placing the concern on someone to do it. Thank God for that, and have a burden for those who have a burden. Do not put them down; instead, hold them up! There will be a great variety of ministries, and we will learn how to labor together, without being critical of one another, without putting one another down in any way.
5. The divine order in the Kingdom recognizes the carnality of preferring one ministry above another. One of our underlying problems is that we still tend to be “preacher samplers” or “leader samplers,” looking around to see to whom we will be submissive, to whom we will not be submissive, with what we will be involved, and with what we will not be involved. However, a person who takes that attitude is losing the battle, because the war is always over His Word. If a Word from God has come over a man, follow that Word! Become submissive to it! Do not pick and choose the ministries to whom you will submit. Without partiality, obey that full commission, whatever it is, in the line of authority that God has raised up. Work with it.
There must be this diligence on the part of everyone. The people should not prefer certain ministries, and those in authority should not allow themselves to be put in that position—it reacts both ways. If you are a ministry of authority, it is easy to minister your revelation to an individual who comes to you. However, this may set you in a place of preference in that person’s thinking, and you should not want that. It would be better to draw two or three others into the counsel so that there is not that carnality of preferring one ministry above another. Keep reminding yourself of this safeguard. Make it your way of life.
It is not at all flattering to me when someone says, “I recognize your ministry and I only want the word you have.” If a person will not recognize the authority of other brethren who are the product of my ministry, and who have come up under my hand, then he is not truly recognizing my authority either. When one ministry is preferred above another, it is an evidence of carnality. In talking to pastor after pastor, I have said, “I don’t put you down. You will not find me talking against you. I’m for you, because you are a product of the authority and the ministry that God has raised up. I will back you up.” Suppose they make mistakes or use poor judgment. That does not make any difference. If you believe that we always have perfect judgment in all things, you are making a big mistake. It will be a while before our thinking and our revelation are perfect, for as yet we know only in part, and prophesy in part. We need not worry about perfection at this point, because we will all arrive at it eventually.
6. Divine order in the Kingdom recognizes the need for submission to those commissioned by an apostle. There is the commissioner and there is the commissioned one; and if you recognize one, you must recognize the other. John strongly emphasized this in his first Epistle: “If you love God, you will love those who are begotten of Him” (I John 5:1). This is like the old saying, “If you love me, you will have to love my dog.” If you love God, then you must love what He brings forth. When you see what He brings forth, you may think that it does not look like much—the “dog” may be cross-eyed and bowlegged, limping along like the runt of the litter. That is all right. Remember that the smallest one in Jesse’s family was David, who later became the king. God bestows more abundant honor upon the part which lacks, so that there is no schism in the Body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:23–25). Do not judge by what anybody is at the present time; instead, look at what God says he is going to be! Do not look at any present stumbling. Make this attitude a part of your thinking.
God is the great commissioner, and we must realize that divine order recognizes His Lordship and His authority. When we challenge an apostle to whom He has given authority, we are challenging the authority of Christ. When we challenge the authority of a pastor, we are again challenging the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, if we remove this from a personal level or personal considerations in our judgment, we will come to the place of perfect love, perfect submission, and perfect faith. We will say, “O God, we believe for that fullness to come down and manifest itself in every one of us.” Then the Body of Christ can reach its perfection, by making increase of itself in love, through that which every joint supplies (Ephesians 4:16). There will be then a heavenly spiritual flow.
7. Divine order recognizes that the submission of those under a minister is dependent upon his personal submission to the Lord. This is a principle which every leader must learn. A pastor can get into serious trouble in this area. With reluctance and a great deal of rebellion in his own spirit, a pastor may submit, under pressure, to the words of his brethren; but if true submission to the Lord is not in his spirit, his people will not be truly submissive to him either. They may try to find an excuse to move away. The more perfectly we come into submission, the more the Lord will bring us through these times of testing victoriously.
People recognize submission in their overseers. As people submit to a leader who is also submissive to the Lord, it seems as if everything goes well with them. At that level, they are not being merely submissive to an individual; they are submissive to what the Lord has brought forth in him by a commission. Every ministry must strive to be submissive to the Lord. The more submissive he is to the Lord, the more the people will be submissive to him. If he becomes rebellious to the Lord, the people will rebel against him too, because the divine order has been broken.
If a husband and wife are filled with rebellion, their children will be contentious also. The rebellion will be manifested right down the line. On the other hand, submission brings a covering. You may make mistakes and stumble in many ways, but if you are earnestly trying to be submissive, you will have a spiritual covering. As you receive love and give love, you find that love covers a multitude of sins. Love covers them over so that God can deal with them, and yet you will not be exposed to that which is disastrous in judgment to you. However, if you do not have this submission and covering, it will seem as if you must suffer the consequences for every mistake you make. When that happens, look to your heart, because somewhere there probably has been a break in the chain of submission.
Not only does submission breed submission, but as you submit to the Lord, He becomes your covering. That same anointing becomes the covering for all the brethren who are submissive to you also. When there is rebellion and a break, then the covering disappears. A woman who leaves the protection and covering of her husband will find God dealing with her directly. Even when she displays only a limited measure of submission to her husband, she still has a covering; but if she becomes rebellious to him, there is no covering for her. Man is to be the covering for his wife.
When children obey their parents, their obedience provides a covering—it is a protection. The command for children to honor and obey their parents is the first commandment with a promise (Ephesians 6:1–2). Whenever submission exists, there is a covering and a protection. Even when you find yourself in a difficult situation, submission is still a key. Don’t you wish that you were more submissive?
Submitting to divine order can bring about a slow but persistent perfection of everyone involved in it. When a little child in a Kingdom school is submissive to those over him, and the teachers are submissive to the Lord, that child will advance much faster than he would in the average public school. He is under protection. In that climate of divine order, he will flourish and come up like a tender plant before the face of the Lord. That is why Satan fights the Kingdom schools so much.
8. All ministries of authority who are involved in a church, a Kingdom business, or any other situation should minister and communicate without bypassing or circumventing. Independent action creates difficulties. True submission does not know any evasion.
Suppose you receive a confirmed word from the pastors or elders over you, and you are not pleased with it. Does this mean that you can “shop around” until you get a word that you like better? If you do, you are circumventing and bypassing authority. Suppose you decide, “I’m not going to my pastors for counsel. I will go to these brothers in this Kingdom business and let them counsel me.” Sometimes this happens and we can understand why: The brothers in authority in a Kingdom business have a commission and real authority and wisdom to give counsel in Kingdom-business matters. However, in the process of doing that, they must confer with the pastors over the individual who is seeking counsel so that there is never a bypassing or a circumventing in the divine order of things.
Do not come to me and bypass your pastor. If you do, you can be assured that I will do my best to see that it is communicated to your pastor, as well as to other proper channels of authority. I refuse to be a ministry whom anyone can use to bypass the authority over him; nor will I bypass the pastors and elders over a church when ministering to an individual. Even when someone is commissioned to minister to you, he should not bypass the other ministries who are over you in the Lord. This is a principle which we should follow very carefully.
If you do not like the counsel you receive at your own local church, you may wish to go to another church. Perhaps you are moving into that area, or you should be transferred, but do not just run off. Go to the pastor who is over you and receive a release. Each church has its own unique place, and sometimes other pastors and elders might be especially able to meet your need. Sometimes, people must wait because their pastors are reluctant to let them go, but sooner or later (usually sooner), any pastor will recognize when someone needs to make a change. We have seen many people move from one church to another, and in most instances it was good. If our churches follow this pattern, God will start moving people into them, not for numbers sake, but in order to supplement and complement the ministries.
Every church needs about five or six more Shiloh-style Timothys, but they also need some more men of authority to come up out of their own ranks. Many churches already have some older, mature men of experience and wisdom who ought to be used more often. Some of them have a commission on them, as well as a fabulous amount of wisdom from God. Some have a deep understanding of the Scriptures, and yet they are not used to the fullest extent that they should be used. The pastor ministries could obtain a great deal more fruitfulness from the people by drawing in these men, by involving them in difficult situations. The pastor could have a spiritual administration over the ministries that would keep more of them active in the affairs of the church. If you are not active, perhaps it is because you have not presented yourself in the divine order of things.
9. In divine order, we recognize that unity is maintained by mutual participation and by communication. Suppose a person in authority is involved with a project and was even responsible for initiating it, and yet no one consults him concerning crucial decisions. It is difficult to maintain unity with him if he is not informed of important incidents and decisions with which he should have been closely involved, until he hears second-hand rumors six months later. Communication is the best way to prevent misunderstandings. You will regret it if you do not communicate. It could result in severe problems.
Unity is not maintained unless there is a mutual participation. This means that we participate together and we communicate. Doing a thing secretively and on your own is one of the surest ways to break your unity with the rest of the Body. Sometimes a brother will strive for three or four days to communicate with me, because five minutes of communication could reinforce our unity. He may feel a need to talk to me, even though there are no world-shaking problems that he cannot solve by himself. When there is a flow of communication and mutual participation, every problem is dispelled. Try it! It really works. Try it with one another.
10. Submission involves faith, trust, and revelation. It is difficult to be submissive to a brother if you do not have any revelation of his authority. If you have a problem with submission, seek God for a revelation about it. The last thing I want to do is impose submission upon a man who does not have a revelation of the commission God has given me. A man cannot be submissive until he has the ingredients of faith, trust, and revelation in his life. However, that man and I will walk together if he sees by revelation that God has given me a commission, if he has faith for it, and if he trusts God to bring it forth. He will enter into intercession for me, and we will walk together. Submission will be no problem, for he will not constantly examine me, questioning the validity of the authority and commission.
Paul wrote that the apostles were looked upon as the offscouring of the earth; they were made spectacles of men and of angels (I Corinthians 4:9, 13). There will be days in which every man who is called to be an apostle or a prophet or a man of God will find the enemy giving him a base lying image, if possible, while Satan disguises his own ministers as ministers of righteousness. He himself comes as an angel of light (II Corinthians 11:13–15).
If you judge by appearances, you can easily drop by the wayside. You might become a Judas, a betrayer—one who turns away to persecute what God is doing. However, if this walk with God is a revelation to you, if you have faith and a trust in what God is doing, then you will not be shaken—even if Satan or a lying spirit should present a false image of it.
When Peter said to Jesus, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” the Lord replied to that confession of faith, “Flesh and blood did not reveal that to you, but My Father. Upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it” (Matthew 16:16–18). Whenever you have a revelation of who Christ is, and you have a revelation of His commissioned ones—the ones in whom He is coming forth—then you have the key to the Kingdom, and you will never be shaken.
11. A ministry of revelation who ministers alone and without a confirming voice is usually uncertain of his own revelation; therefore he is unwilling to lay it before the brethren. A Scripture in the book of Galatians shows how Paul applied this principle. Paul was not exactly a loner, for he fathered many ministries who traveled with him. However, at the beginning of his ministry, the Lord did not lead him to consult with others.
In Galatians 1:15–17 he wrote: But when He who had set me apart, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.
Then, after three years, Paul went up to Jerusalem. He did not have much contact with the apostles, but he did stay with Peter for fifteen days, and also met briefly with James, the brother of the Lord. However, he did not immediately consult with flesh and blood.
In Galatians 2:1–2 Paul wrote: Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. And it was because of a revelation that I went up (God gave him a revelation to go); and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain. Regardless of the fact that Paul had had a great revelation, God told him to go up to Jerusalem and submit it to the apostolic company. At that point, it was a one-man revelation; it had not been confirmed. His revelation was not confirmed until God gave a confirmation through the brethren. From that time on, however, his submission to the other apostles became a force in his life, an evidence of authority and of commission.
God will not allow any individual to be a one-man show. The ministry of revelation who ministers alone or without a confirming voice is usually uncertain of his revelation. While Paul may have been alone with God in the deserts of Arabia, doing many things, God still gave him a revelation to go and submit it to the brethren. Then it became a confirmed revelation and commission within divine order—and then authority took over.
These truths will be paramount in the days to come. We are not individuals. We function in divine order and submit one to another as unto the Lord.