Apostles and Prophets Part I
Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow
citizens with saints and members of the household of God, having been built on
the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.
-Ephesians 2:20
Let’s define the apostle, and
what was qualified to be one. The Greek word is apóstolos; means one sent
forth. A compound word. Apo means
“from”, and stello, “to send” .
Jesus is called the Apostle
and High Priest of our confession (Heb 3:1). Why was Jesus called an Apostle?
Because He was sent to the earth by God the Father (John 3:17,34;
5:36-38;6:38-40;8:42;17:3).
The twelve that Jesus handpicked
were apostles along with the apostle Paul whom He chose after He ascended into
heaven (Matt 10:1-4;Mark 6:7; Luke 9:6; Acts 9:15).
There were others that were
called apostles such as: Barnabas (Acts 14:4, 14), Epaphroditus (Phil 2:25), and
others messengers/apostles of the churches that were not mentioned
by name (2 Cor 8:23).
What qualified one to be an Apostle?
1.
They were chosen by Jesus Christ himself;
meaning Jesus did not just speak to them, they saw the Lord bodily (Matt
10:1-4;Mark 6:7; Luke 9:6; Acts 9:15)
2.
They were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ resurrection (I
Cor 15:5-7)
3.
All of them were Hebrews
4.
All of them were men
5.
Had the ability to perform signs, wonders
(miracles) & healings (Acts 2:43; 5:12,16; 2 Cor 12:12)
6. Were the conduits of direct new revelation from
God which they transcribed into holy scripture (2 Pet 1:21; 3:16)
7. They were taught directly by Jesus Christ (Gal
1:12; I Cor 15:3)
The exact power Jesus possessed
the apostles had. The purpose for the ability was for them to perform
miraculous deeds which authenticated
their office, and the message they preached.
The other men who were called
apostles were messengers in a general sense; meaning they were not chosen
directly by Jesus, and did not possess the authority the original apostles did.
There are many in the church that
believe that the office of the apostle
exist today and that they can perform
miraculous signs and wonders like healing the sick or the casting out demons.
The text that they will cite is Mark 16:17-18 where it says, and these signs
shall follow them that believe; in my name they will cast out demons, they will
speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands, and if
they drink and deadly poison it will not hurt them. They will lay hands on the
sick, and they shall recover.[i]
Also very important to note is
the word believe in vs. 16-17 of Mark is what is called the aorist tense
meaning the text is making reference strictly to belief of the apostles of that
time, not to those who would believe
later. They (the apostles) are the ones that would be given these supernatural abilities and some
of their associates such as Stephen and Philip. These men assisted the apostles in ministry. These are also
men the apostles laid their hands on which gave them the ability to do what the
original apostles did – preach the gospel with miraculous signs following (Acts
6:6-8; 8:6-8).Think about, if every Christian could do the miraculous how could
the apostles be identified as God’s special messengers? If there are apostles
today, then we are still at the foundation of the church 2,000 years later (Eph
2:20). Those who had the ability to cast
out demons, heal the sick, be bitten by poisonous snakes and not be harmed
(Acts 28:3-6), speak with new tongues the
writer believes was regulated to the apostolic era. It was a time of
transition from the focus being strictly on Israel on to the church. The Jews
not being forgotten by God, have been temporarily set aside due to unbelief
until the time of the end (Read Romans 11 for a clear explanation of the
current state of the Jews).
In addition we see the importance
of the apostle’s authority when it came to preaching of the gospel to the Jews
bitter enemies, the Samaritans. When Philip preached the gospel to the them,
many believed on Jesus and were baptized. But, not until Peter and John arrived
did the Holy Spirit fall on them and some supernatural way when they laid their
hands on them (Acts 8:18). The text does not say how the Holy Spirit fell, but
He did. The reason Peter and John had to be there was so that they could
witness the actual conversion of the Samaritans that believed otherwise there
would have been no reason to believe they had actually received Christ.
Peter was the one that healed
both Aeneas and Dorcas (Acts 9:34, 40-41). Acts 5:12a says, many signs and
wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles (italics mine).
Scripture says that the sick were
laid out in the streets so that Peter’s shadow could fall on them so that they
could be healed and they were (Acts 5:15-16).
Scripture also tells us that God
was doing extraordinary miracles by the
hands of Paul (italics mine), so
that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away
to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them
(Acts 19:11-12).
It would be safe to say that
there isn’t a person alive that has this type of power. For if they did, I wish
they would use it to heal the sick, diseased, raise the dead, etc.
So, the gift of apostle is operational today; those that are missionaries
and plant churches. Remember definition of the apostle means one that is sent –
a messenger. But, the office of apostle proper was regulated to those chosen by
Jesus Christ Himself. The office no longer exists. It went away once the last apostle
died which history tells us was John.
Those who claim the office of apostle
today do not have it for they cannot meet the above criteria. There are those that
are genuine Christians but are not apostles as some claim they are. There are also
many that claim that office, and our false apostles (2 Cor 11:13; Rev 2:2).
Comments