Do Apostles Still Exist In Today's Churches?

If we consider the meaning of the word Apostle as one sent forth, a messenger, an ambassador or an envoy, then certainly one could be called an apostle. One could be sent forth by a local church or a denomination; one could be an ambassador and so forth. We might better, however, to prevent confusion, call him a missionary. To equate being sent forth from a local church or a denomination with the New Testament Apostles like Peter or Paul is a stretch indeed! In fact, Barnabas, partner with the Apostle Paul is called an apostle and Paul writes regarding the “messengers of the churches” (2 Corinthians 8:23). The word translated messengers is the same word for apostles. These are sent out by the Apostles, or sent out by the churches. They are sent out but they are not of the Office of Apostles.
                                                                                                          

    The New Testament Apostles were chosen and sent by Jesus Christ, Himself. They were gifted by the Holy Spirit and their ministries were accompanied by “signs and wonders” (Hebrews 2:4). Their words and writings carried authority as “the word of God” as Paul says, “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13) When the Apostles spoke in public discourse their words carried the same weight as their written word does for us today.

    A New Testament Apostle must have been with or seen the Lord Jesus Christ.

Again the Apostle Paul writes, “Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? ” (1 Corinthians 9:1) This is important as it goes along with what our Lord told His Apostles in John’s Gospel. There for instance He said, “Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70) and again, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. ” (John 15:16) These men were chosen as Apostles and were gifted with the Holy Spirit so that they could recall everything the Lord had taught them “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26) This is directed to the 11 present and will be applied to the Apostle Paul as well. Not only so, but Jesus said, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.” (John 15:26,27) These 11 would “bear witness” of the truth as they have been with Jesus “from the beginning”. Even more, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (John 16:12,13) Here we find that the Apostles were also prophets who were gifted with "foretelling". Some speak of themselves as prophets today and some mean as "forth-tellers" but there is a difference between "fore-telling" and "forth-telling" so I maintain that the use of the word prophet is confusing and misleading and should not be used of a modern day preacher!

    Later we find that the Apostles must choose a replacement for Judas who betrayed our Lord and here is what is written: “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.” (Acts 1:21,22) and they chose Matthias for that roll. Note that one of the conditions for this apostleship was that the man had to have “companied with us”. But we should also consider that perhaps Matthias was chosen by men and not by God. The reason I say this is because there is a set number of Apostles in Scripture and that number is 12. We know the original 11, Judas being discounted, but we also know that Paul was of equal rank with the 11 so he would be considered the 12th. In Luke's Gospel we find " Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. " (Luke 22:28-30) and in Revelation 21 we find " And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." (v.14) There are only 12 who own the Office of Apostle. They are the original eleven plus Paul. So while there are others who may be called messengers or apostles, in the sense of being sent ones, there are only 12 Apostles.

      Some will say, “Because Apostles are gifts to the church and we still have the church, we must therefore still have Apostles”. They use Ephesians 4:11-13 as a proof text. Here is what it says, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 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:” But this text does not say that there would always be Apostles but rather that the overall “gifts” would be for the perfecting of the saints. Let’s look at another verse from Paul: “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?  But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.” (1 Corinthians 12:28-31)The Apostle will go on to speak more about “gifts” but here he clearly points out that Apostles are first, then prophets, then teachers (called pastor/teachers) in Ephesians. But he also speaks of miracles, gifts of healings, helps and so on. If one insists that the church must still have Apostles then one must also insist that the church still has prophets (in the foretelling sense) and workers of miracles, healings, etc. and that is simply NOT the case.

                                                                            

      PURPOSE must be considered. What is the purpose for the Apostles? Well they were to be the foundational witnesses for Jesus Christ. They were gifted to recall the very words Jesus said, the things He taught. They were enabled to preach and write “all truth” in Spiritual matters. They were enabled as prophets to write about “things to come”. Paul writes in Ephesians, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22) To anyone even moderately acquainted with building, that the foundation goes at the bottom of a building, not in the middle, and not at the top. The biblical Apostles were foundational, that was their purpose! There are no Apostles; there are no prophets, in the church today. We have the complete word of God and  Peter writes: “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: ” (2 Peter 1:3) God be blessed forever. Amen!

Is Physical Healing Included in the Atonement?

Is pyhsical healing in the atonement? The short answer is “Yes!” But it is not as many espouse. The text usually used is found in Isaiah 53 where it reads, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4,5)

    This text concerns what the Lord Jesus Christ did on behalf of his elect from the foundation of the world, at the cross where he was rejected of men and smitten on account of the transgressions of  His elect, and for our iniquities. The text goes on to say that “by his stripes we are healed”. But does that mean that believers don’t get sick? Does that mean that, as some profess, “If you just have faith, in Jesus’ Name, the sickness will go away?" Well it’s pretty clear from history, the history of the world, and our own individual histories that something is wrong because people die, even good, sound, faithful Christians! Sometimes they die from old age and sometimes they’re afflicted with cancer or some other malady, but they die nonetheless and that’s a fact! And many are chronically ill, fighting such things as diabetes.

    The truth of the matter is that healing IS in the atonement…but physical healing is not, here and now included. When the text says that “by his stripes we are healed” there are two events in mind. First, when Christ died on the cross he took the sins and burdens of those He redeemed, His elect. But though we have been regenerated “made spiritually alive” and our souls have been redeemed, we are still awaiting the redemption of our bodies. Look what the Apostle Paul writes, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” (Romans 8:22, 23)  So our souls have been redeemed yes, but our bodies are awaiting the fulfillment of that redemption promised. Not to fear though because every Christian is given the “earnest of the Spirit” to show that God’s promise will come to pass as is written: “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13, 14)

     THEN, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:4) I believe in healing here and now because God has a will for each of our lives and we ought to pray with His will  in mind. Sometimes He heals and sometimes he does not, and that is all a matter of his will. One thing we can be assured of is that the “healing” found in the atonement has “spiritually” taken place with every Christian and will eventually be “Physically” realized as well.

    Yet someone will say, “You just don’t have faith!”  Well, did the Apostle Paul have faith regarding his “thorn in the flesh”, regarding his eye problem? Why did he tell Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach’s sake? How about poor Trophimus who had to remain behind because he was sick? No, people get sick. Sometimes they get sick by disobedience and sometimes they are in full compliance and still get sick. Sometimes God uses sickness and even physical death as chastisement! We see this for instance in regards to those who partook of the Lord’s Supper without discernment of the Lord’s body and in pride and selfishness, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” (1 Cor.11:30)

     Sometimes God allows disease or sickness or some physical limitations for His glory. Do you remember that man in John’s Gospel who was born blind? Look at this: “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

     And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” (John 9:1-3)

    I believe what the Bible teaches but it does not teach “physical” healing, in the atonement, for this age of grace! We are waiting for our physical healing. In fact, I was just at a funeral today for a man who loved the Lord. He got sick; he died! One day his body will be caught up to glory and it will be eternally healed! Someday, all of my aches and pains will be gone, I’ll never shed a tear again, and I won’t have to wear glasses.

   If I get sick, pray for me, that’s part of God’s program. But don’t “name it and claim it” on my behalf, to me that’s presumptuous sin. Pray according to God’s will. After all, isn’t that the way we should be praying about all things?

And please don’t quote verses like Matthew 10: 6 “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give” Because I will probably ask you how many dead people you have raised up lately! Rightly divide the word of truth and you will not find yourself caught up in this sinful, presumptuous, and sometimes willful misuse of the word of God.

True Spirituality

"If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." (1 Corinthians 14:37)
   I've been hearing and seeing a lot of claims regarding spirituality from people who claim to be spiritual but also claim to be "free spirits" who are working toward getting in touch with their "divine self". Whenever I see these kind of claims I cringe because I know the person speaking is still lost and filled with the same Satanic foolishness as were Adam and Even when Satan told them, "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:5) They desired to be "as gods" and no wonder because all Satan's children seek the same thing. Satan himself wanted to be God, for he said, "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." (Isaiah 14:14)
     Now there is a difference between our natural human spirit, which all human beings own, and that spirit which has been restored to communion with God. We all share a like human spirit which is why we can identify with one another. But this human spirit can never become divine! We do not seek to be gods, though we do seek godliness. Being godly is to be obedient to God's truth and God's will, it is not to seek its own apart from God. Paul tells us, "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." (1 Corinthians 2:11) So, yes, we can intimately know the things of men because we have the spirit of man, but only the Spirit (Holy Spirit) knows the things of God. But Paul goes on to say, "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." (1 Corinthians 2:12) Though Paul is speaking directly of himself and those traveling with him, this applies to all Christians because we are the habitation of the Holy Spirit-- "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16)
    True Spirituality can only be found through faith in Jesus Christ! It is He who has opened the way for our human spirits to undergo a miraculous and radical change administered by the Holy Spirit! To claim spirituality by any other means is sheer foolishness! The Bible says, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Proverbs 14:12) If you are one of those who believes you are spiritual outside the saving truth of Christianity you THINK you are right, but the end is not good!
    Let me take this a step farther. Even all Christians are not truly spiritual in their behavior. Positionally they have become spiritual beings but practically they are anything but... Paul wrote, "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ." (1 Corinthians 3:1) Here the Apostle is addressing a church that was filled with carnality. They were made positionally spiritual, but they were not acting like Christians should act. They were saved but they were not honoring God.
    The point is there is only one way to be spiritual. First, one has to be MADE SPIRITUAL through God's work of regeneration, bringing the soul that is "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesian 2:1) to life "quickened" (Ephesians 2:5) at which time the individual can exercise the "gift" of faith (Ephesians 2:8) and believe the message of the Gospel unto eternal life. Then, through the power of the indwelling Spirit of God, "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." (Galatians 5:25) 
    No doubt there will be some who think themselves spiritual who will pay no heed to what I have just told you and continue in your vanity. I can only say, the word of God is true; advance at your own peril!