The Twelve Apostles and Modern Day Claims for Apostleship

There are at least two major religious bodies today who claim apostleship or apostolic like authority for individuals in their religion. The Mormons plainly state that they have living apostles in The Quorum of the Twelve. These, they claim, have apostolic authority just as the apostles of the New Testament. The Catholic church doesn’t claim to have any modern day apostles, per se, but they believe strongly in the principle of apostolic succession which more or less states that they have individuals who are on par with the twelve apostles in the persons of their arch-bishops. There are also a litany of denominational preachers (mostly pentecostal in nature) who claim to be apostles with the same authority Jesus personally gave the twelve. These justify their claims by going to Ephesians 4:11 and saying that God gave some to be “apostles.” Ought we to believe that God has given us apostles today? If so, in what mold ought these apostles to be considered?

The word “apostle” simply means “one who is sent.” There is nothing extraordinary about this word in the Greek language. It was a word used in ancient literature to describe anyone who was sent on a particular mission. The New Testament describes more than just the twelve as apostles. The writer of the book of Hebrews calls Jesus an Apostle (Hebrews 3:1). Barnabas also was called an apostle in Acts 14:4 because he was one of the men sent specifically by the church at Antioch to go to the gentiles (see Acts 13:2-4). But there is also within the New Testament, a specialized sense in which this word is used. As we have come to know, it primarily refers to the office that was held by the twelve apostles given to them specifically by Jesus himself.

Jesus selected the twelve apostles specifically to be eye-witnesses of his life. We find a listing of these men in Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, and Luke 6:13-16. Matthew and Luke specifically use the word “apostle” to describe these men. In the book of Acts also, Luke refers to them as the “apostles whom [Jesus] had chosen” (Acts 1:2) and repeats the list of the now eleven men in Acts 1:13. Acts 1:8 declares Jesus’ specific purpose for these men. He says, “you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The job of the apostles was to testify as eye-witnesses that Jesus was who he claimed to be (see John 21:24 and Acts 8:25).

That this was the primary reason Jesus selected the apostles can be seen in the qualifications for the successor of Judas. We read this story in Acts 1:15-26. We learn from this that when it came to selecting a new apostle, some qualifications had to be met. Peter states in Acts 1:21,22, “Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.” Notice first that Peter chose from among men that had accompanied them at all times during Jesus ministry. Second, they had to witness Jesus’ life from the baptism of John until the day that Jesus ascended into heaven. Finally, the one who qualified would be appointed or ordained a witness of Jesus’ resurrection. We read in Acts 1 that not just one, but two men qualified, Joseph and Matthias. However, the apostles only chose one of those two to fulfill the office of apostle. This information clearly demonstrates that even among those that qualified, not all were selected and shows that the apostleship was a special office that could not be filled by just anyone. Significantly, after Matthias’ appointment, we don’t find any other examples of succession of apostles, though we do find at least one apostle being killed, James (Acts 12:2). After this point, the apostles, as a body of decision makers, begin to fade out and elders begin playing the permanent role of decision making in the church (see Acts 14:23, Acts 15:6, Acts 20:17, Acts 21:18). Why would this be if there were continual successions of apostles to lead and guide the church?

The twelve apostles of Jesus not only served as the leaders of the early church, they also were given special abilities by Jesus in order to carry the gospel to the whole of creation. We note that they were the first individuals who were baptized in the Holy Spirit according to Jesus’ promise in Acts 1:4, 5. This promise was fulfilled in Acts 2:1-4 when the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. That Jesus was the one who administered this baptism is clear from John’s prophecy regarding the Messiah in Matthew 3:11 and parallels. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was not administered by any other.

The apostles also had the unique ability to lay their hands on believers so that they could receive the ability to do miracles. In Acts 8, Philip went into Samaria preaching the gospel. Many believed because they saw the signs that Philip perform (Acts 8:6) and they were baptized (Acts 8:12). But they themselves could do no miracle until the apostles Peter and John came and laid their hands on them (Acts 8:14-17). Simon saw this phenomenon and rightly concluded that it was due to the laying on of hands that these miracles were happening. So he offered money for the ability. It wasn’t the ability to do miracles that he was after; it was the ability to lay his hands on someone else so that they might do miracles. This is clear in the words that Simon uses in Acts 8:19. But this ability wasn’t for him, nor was it for anyone else. We know this because not even Philip could lay his hands on individuals so that they could receive the ability to do the miraculous. It was an ability unique to the apostles and when the apostles died, the ability to lay hands on others so that they might do the miraculous was also ended.

The apostles were also given the ability to do special signs which only they could demonstrate. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:12 “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.” What were the signs of an apostle? Laying on hands was one, but there were more. Evidently, only the Apostles had the ability to do most or all of the miraculous gifts that God had provided for the early church. These miraculous gifts are listed in different places throughout scripture, but they included: prophesying, speaking in tongues, interpreting, special knowledge, special faith, revelation, special prayers, special songs, special wisdom, healing, miracles, and special discernment (see 1 Corinthians 12:8-10). These gifts were distributed among the brethren, but only the apostles, evidently, had all or most all of these special abilities.

Why did they have these abilities? What was their purpose? This takes us to Ephesians 4:11 and the question that started our entire study of apostles. Paul states in that verse, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers,” but notice that he gives the explanation for why these offices were created and why the gifts that Jesus gave were given (Ephesians 4:7-9). Verse 12-15 say:

“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.”

The purpose of the miracles was to establish the early church to the point where they could be self sustaining and be a full-grown entity that is capable of surviving without such miraculous aid. The “unity of the faith” was key to being able to accomplish this. Without the revelation of God’s will for the church, they would not be able to continue to sustain themselves as God’s church. Hence, the miraculous gifts were necessary to both reveal to God’s people what God desired for them to do as well as to prove that the message that was spoken was, in fact, God’s message (see Mark 16:20, John 20:30,31 and Hebrews 2:3, 4). There were others besides the apostles who could perform miraculous gifts, yes, but as we’ve noted the apostles were the unique distribution point from which these unique abilities were propagated. Without them, there could be no exercise of the miraculous.

The implication of this is that today we don’t have apostles, at least, in the same sense that these men were specially chosen by Jesus for this particular function in the church. To have such an apostle would mean that they would have the same abilities as these apostles had and the one’s who make such a modern day claim simply don’t have those abilities. This isn’t to say that one can’t be an apostle in the ordinary sense of the word of one who has been sent for a particular job or mission. Certainly we can have apostles in that sense, but that’s clearly not the same as the function and role that the twelve apostles fulfilled in the New Testament.

Moreover, there is no need to have modern day apostles in the same vein as the twelve. The work that the apostles were given to do was accomplished and that work stands before us today in the pages of the New Testament. One might argue and say that all other roles in Ephesians 4:11 wouldn’t be necessary either. Such an argument doesn’t hold true because it is the whole of the individuals in Ephesians 4:11 that were given to accomplish what God desired, not each individual role. Moreover, in saying such, one assumes that the role of the twelve apostles can only be fulfilled while they are alive. Such isn’t the case. The apostles are still fulfilling the function that God gave them to do, even though they, as individuals, have passed on. We still have apostles today in the sense that the influence of these men continues to live.

There are, however, other roles mentioned in this passage which require living individuals in order for these roles to continue to be fulfilled as God would have them. Individuals may still fulfill the role of pastor, teacher, and evangelist today without, of course, the direct aid of miraculous gifts. The bottom line is that just because some roles in Ephesians 4:11 are no longer miraculously filled today doesn’t mean that other roles couldn’t be filled in a non-miraculous way. Remember the various miraculous gifts that were listed from 1 Corinthians 12:8-10? Some of those gifts were knowledge, faith, interpreting, singing, and praying. Can those gifts be practiced today in a non-miraculous way? Absolutely they can, though some of those gifts were uniquely miraculous. So also in the roles that God designed for the church. Some of those roles were uniquely miraculous. Others, however, could be exercised either miraculously or non-miraculously. Hence, we ought not to conclude from Ephesians 4:11 that we must either have all of these roles today or none of them. The role of apostle was designed to end on earth, but have lasting consequences whereas other roles were designed to continue on earth perpetually in the church.

Having studied the various different aspects of what it meant to be an apostle, one can truly understand why we don’t have special apostles today like the twelve. Their role was important, necessary, consequential, yet fulfilled in the men that directly witnessed the life of Christ during His earthly ministry. Paul too was a witness of the resurrected Jesus’ and received the gospel directly from Jesus according to Galatians 1:10-12. He was as much an apostle as the others in that regard and so he is no exception to the rule, but merely one who was “born out of due time” (1 Corinthians 15:28). But once again, the miraculous nature of his apostleship testifies as to its temporal nature. Today the influence of the twelve continues to live on, though, there is no apostolic succession. Their work abides and cannot be improved upon; we have everything we need revealed for us in scripture. Indeed, what would a so called modern day apostle do to improve upon their work? Let us be satisfied with the pattern God has left for the church and not seek to innovate based upon our own perceived inadequacies.

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Is Our Gospel Hid?

We’re all familiar with the VBS tune, “This little light of mine.” We sing this song so as to let our children know that they need to be good examples and positive influences in the world around them. This song also reminds us to practice what we preach and let our light shine too. In addition to letting our light shine, however, we need to be concerned about supplying the appropriate information to those who need the message of the gospel. Paul the apostle was so confident regarding both his example and the efforts that he made at preaching the gospel that he made this statement in 2 Corinthians 4:3, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.” Several lessons come to mind from such a statement.

First, do we hide God’s word from others or do we share it freely? Paul could say that he hadn’t hid God’s word. In fact, he said in Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” What about us? Are we ashamed of the gospel? When the subject comes up do we avert our eyes? Do we look to get out of the conversation? Do we change the subject? Truly, our behavior is revealing as to what we truly think about God’s message. We ought never be guilty of hiding the gospel from others. It is their only hope for salvation!

Second, can such a statement be made regarding our efforts to preach and teach the gospel? Have we so effectively preached God’s word to those around us that we can truly say that no one whom we have encountered is unaware of the truths of the gospel? If we have, then that is truly a wonderful goal to have reached. If we haven’t, then there is work for us to do. Let’s consider Jesus statement to the disciples in John 4:35 “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” God has spread before us a great harvest! Our job is to go into the fields and reap what God has given. Let’s be about the Lord’s work!

Third, perhaps there are some around us with whom we have shared the gospel message and yet, they have rejected it. That would put us in the same situation in which Paul was in. Paul said regarding these individuals, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Yes, there are some who will reject the message. But that’s not really our problem. Jesus never promised that every single person to whom we preach the gospel would respond favorably to it. In fact, He said the opposite, namely, that more would reject it than accept it. In Matthew 7:13 Jesus said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” and more often than not, Jesus would teach and then end with the statement, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” What did that mean? It meant that if you are of a willing and ready mind, then listen to the message and apply it. Otherwise, too bad. It is sad that some will not hear and obey the gospel message, but that’s a fact that we’ve been told about and we must accept it.

So, what category are you in? Are you hiding the gospel? Are you preaching it to those who haven’t receive it yet? Have you preached it and it has been rejected? Regardless, let us realize that there is always someone somewhere who needs to hear the message. If we’ve exhausted the location that we are in, we can move on to other places. If we’ve just started, then let’s get busy watering what’s been planted. If we’re not doing anything, then let’s get out of our comfort zone and do something. We all can do something to further His kingdom. Won’t you start working today?

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The Ubiquity of New Testament Teaching

Recently someone asked, more or less, the following question: “How do we know that the things that were done in one church in the first century were done in the other churches as well?” That’s a good question because if we can’t know that the things practiced, say, in Corinth, were also practiced in Rome, then we can’t really know that we ought to practice the same things that they practiced in religion today. Ultimately, this would mean that we could do whatever we wanted to do in “worship” to God, which many people in the denominational world are doing in our day and age. And that there basically would be no identifying marks of the New Testament church, since the instruction from one congregation wouldn’t necessarily apply to another.

The word “ubiquitous” isn’t a common word, but it is a current word. It is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as meaning, “Being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time.” The idea of the word is that if something is ubiquitous, then it is common to all places. That’s the idea that we are examining in relationship to New Testament teaching. Was it common in all churches? Was it something that was taught not merely to one congregation, but to all of them? Let’s see if we can find a scriptural answer.

First, we must understand that Jesus intended the message of the gospel to be ubiquitous. In Matthew 28:19, Luke 24:47, and Mark 16:15, Jesus made it clear that he wanted the message of the gospel preached to all nations. This included the message related to the kingdom of God (the church, Matthew 16:18,19) because the teaching and preaching regarding the kingdom was part of the gospel message (see Matthew 4:23, 9:35). In fact, Jesus expected this teaching to go to all nations prior to the destruction of Jerusalem. He said in Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations�.” Jesus certainly expected the teaching and preaching of the gospel to be ubiquitous.

Secondly, we must note that Paul said that his message was ubiquitous. In 1 Corinthians 4:17, Paul wrote, “For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.” Paul told the church at Corinth that he was sending Timothy to them so that Timothy could teach them the same things that Paul had taught in every other church in which he had preached. It should be clear from this that the message that Paul took to each congregation was the same message. That means that when he instructed the church at Corinth to take up a collection upon the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:1,2) he also instructed all of the other congregations to do the same. This means that Paul’s observance of the Lord’s Supper at Troas upon the first day of the week (Acts 20:7) was also observed by every other congregation at which he had preached upon the first day of the week as well. Paul certainly believed that his preaching and teaching was ubiquitous.

Finally, we must apply this same message ubiquitously today. Paul told the elders at Ephesus in Acts 20:27, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” Paul didn’t refuse to preach the entire message of the gospel and neither should we. We cannot afford to hold back part of the gospel message. We must be willing to teach all of it. That means we learn lessons from all of the churches in the New Testament and we can apply those lessons to our congregations today just as they were originally applied to the churches in the first century. Paul told Timothy, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” The scriptures certainly present the message within them as being ubiquitous.

Because the message of the gospel is ubiquitous, we have everything today that we need to be the kind of person that God wants us to be. We have all of the information we need to be the kind of church that God wants us to be. Let’s apply all of it appropriately (2 Timothy 2:15) and remember the counsel of the Psalmist in Psalm 119:160 “The sum of thy word is truth�” and the counsel of Jesus in Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” The teaching of the New Testament is ubiquitous in its application!

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The Greatest American

Some of you may know that the Discovery Channel is doing a series of television shows on “The Greatest American.” Through some process they have selected 100 different nominees for this title and through the month of June they will be airing a program that discusses these individuals. They will also be narrowing the focus down to twenty-five “finalists” and ultimately select “The Greatest American,” at least, according to their perspective.

Who would you select to be the “Greatest American?” Someone recently wrote and said they would select their mother and father because to them, those individuals are the greatest Americans that he has known. That’s pretty good thinking.

Often what we think of as the “greatest” isn’t based upon what truly has affected us as great, but what society as a whole pressures us to think of as “great.” The “great” must be someone who has achieved fame, is above average, esteemed highly, accomplished some great achievement, or attained special academic status. And while some may attain such levels in this life, the majority of the earth’s population simply won’t measure up, at least, according to the world’s standard.

How comforting then is it to know that God doesn’t have the same standard as the world. There was one occasion in the life of Jesus when his disciples took up this very question: “Who is the greatest?” (Matthew 18:1). The next few verses read: “And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:2-4).

At another opportunity, some disciples were arguing over who would sit on the right hand and left of Jesus in the kingdom. We read Jesus response in Matthew 20:25-28 “But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

It’s not the “great” who will be the “greatest” in God’s kingdom, but the one who humbles himself and becomes everyone else’s servant.

I’ve heard some ask, “Well, who might that ‘great’ one be? Who is the most humble? Who serves the most?” This is missing the point. It is just getting back to the same question the disciples had already asked, just in a different form. The point Jesus is making is that there is no one person who is “the greatest.” At the same time there may be many who are the “greatest.” How is that so?

What matters is our attitude. Even when we have served all that we can serve, we must still admit that we are unprofitable servants according to Luke 17:10. In that regard, we can never be the greatest. At the same time, we can be the greatest that we can be in the eyes of the Lord if we seek to love him with all of our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). In this way, God sees us as His children, each being what they can be to be pleasing to their father. So each of us can be the “greatest” and at the same time none of us will be “the greatest.”

In this regard, Micah 6:8 comes to mind. The people in Micah’s day were kind of asking this same question. They wanted to know what they could do to be the greatest. Would thousands of burnt offerings do it? How about 10,000 rivers of oil? What about sacrificing my firstborn? None of those things would have made them great, so far as God was concerned. Instead the reply is: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Indeed, that’s what it takes to be the greatest.

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Sacred vs. Profane

In Leviticus 10:10,11 God, after the fiery death of Nadab and Abihu, teaches an important lesson to Aaron regarding coming before God. We read, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean. The prohibition against alcoholic beverages was for a specific reason so that Aaron and his sons would know how to tell the difference between the holy and the profane. Ezekiel instructs the priests in his day to observe this same distinction. We read in Ezekiel 44:23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. God was concerned that the people understand the difference between the holy and the unholy, between the sacred and the profane.

The New Testament reflects this teaching as well, although not couched in such specific words. In the Greek New Testament the adjective holy and the verb sanctify are all from the same stem-word, �h�g�� which has the idea of being set apart for a special purpose. When God sets something apart for a special purpose, it is divinely sanctified divinely holy.

God spells out some things that are holy that are sanctified. In Romans 1:2 we see that the scriptures are holy; they are set apart by God for a special purpose (see also 2 Timothy 3:15). In Ephesians 5:27 we read that the church is holy. In Hebrews 7:26 we read that we have a holy High Priest. And in the epistles of Peter, we read that Christians are to be holy and that they are a holy nation (1 Peter 1:15, 16 and 1 Peter 2:9). God is still concerned about holiness in His people today.

God is still concerned with those who profane holy things. We read in 1 Timothy 1:9 and 2 Timothy 3:2 that there are some men who are unholy. We also read in Hebrews 10:29 that holy people can profane themselves and regard the blood of Christ profane by rejecting it. God still maintains the distinction between the holy and the unholy between the sacred and the profane.

Having these things in mind, we ask the question, what does God think about those who profane holy things today? We hear the reply loud and clear it is unacceptable! It is wrong! It is evil to take that which is sacred and turn it into something that is profane! To which we give a resounding, Amen! Now, let’s make application of this principle.

The name of God is holy and sacred. Yet, there are some who profane it by bringing it down to every day ordinary use. We profane God’s name when we use it in an unholy way. The church that Christ built and for which he died (Acts 20:38) is a holy and sacred thing. Yet, when people regard the church as merely a social club or fraternity setting; when people ignore the call to assembly as if it were just an optional matter, they profane that which is holy. The worship of the church is a holy and sacred thing. When men bring in additions to the worship; when they neglect the specified aspects of worship; when men do not worship in spirit and in truth, they profane that which is holy.

But just as it is wrong to make profane that which is holy, it is equally as wrong to attempt to make holy that which is profane. Some today take ordinary every day water and try to make it holy. Some take ordinary buildings and houses which are profane and try to make them holy. Some take profane words (words uttered by men) and try to make them holy (1 Corinthians 1:18- 31). Some even take profane music (instrumental music) and try to make it holy (by singing holy words). Now, it is not wrong to drink water, live in a house, study men’s words, or to listen to music. These things are all GOOD in their context. However, to attempt to make any of these profane things holy, is an affront to God. All such attempts to make holy the profane fail, and show a disrespect and irreverence toward things that God HAS made holy.

God is a holy God and we are to be holy people. Let us respect the holy as holy and let us leave the profane as profane. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty (2 Corinthians 6:17, 18).

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