And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 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 fullness of Christ:
Ephesians 4:11-13
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.
1 Corinthians 12:28
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:20-22
We can go home on this right here. The word is and will forever be enough, sadly, the word is not rightly interpreted(handled), and is not rightly applied in terms of full obedience to it. Now, I am not here to tell you everyone has it all wrong and I’m the only one who has it right, nope, cults do that, I am here to share a perspective in terms of seeing the word in a different way.
I am all about debating so long as we can agree to a few basic rules but that will be a talk for another day. Today we are delving into the Apostle. The Lord asked me years ago what I thought an apostle was. I had no clue, never seen one and couldn’t recognize one if I saw them. Little did I know then that Jesus wasn’t really asking me what I thought, more or less it was an invitation.
The scriptures I posted above share an acute insight to the role of an apostle and tagging along on what we’ve already been discussing previously, this will be an attempt to go deeper. This may also be a part 1, we will see.
The work God is doing now is calling forth an adjustment, a re-alignment of the body of Christ in order for her to function correctly as intended by the Lord. If you are wondering what kind of adjustment I am talking about, in my podcast, I am breaking all that down in some very heavy detail, so please go here to check that out.
As you can see in the scriptures above, the apostle is first and for good reason. Apostle: “The Lord chose the term apóstoloi to indicate the distinctive relation of the Twelve Apostles whom He chose to be His witnesses because in Class. Gr. the word was seldom used (Luke 6:13; Acts 1:2, 26). Therefore, it designates the office as instituted by Christ to witness of Him before the world (John 17:18). It also designates the authority which those called to this office possess.” Complete Word Study Dictionary.
Now, 1. Cor. 12:28 tells us apostle is first because of the authority the office was granted it carries. The Apostle is first in rank, and authority, and governance as well, however, the apostle must also be first in love, service, and humility. Jesus called the disciples first as apostles. (Luke 6:13) Isn’t interesting that Jesus didn’t call any other office first?
Why? And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
Acts 4:33
It stands to reason that the apostle was given power for the purpose of demonstrating Jesus’ grace in the Earth. Doesn’t it make sense if you want to remain hidden, you would take out the one who could do the exposing? Listen to what the apostle Paul has to say about this.
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
The Kingdom of God is in the demonstration of the Spirit of Christ so that your faith may be rooted in the power of God, the life sustaining grace of Christ, and not merely men’s fancy dancy way with words which holds nothing but hot air. You see, we were made for more than just a lukewarm semonette and a few hymns. We were made in God’s image and the apostle is commissioned by Christ to ensure the foundation of the person’s faith was laid correctly in Christ.
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like:
48 He is like a man which built a house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
Luke 6:46-49
Christ is that foundation upon which a person’s belief system is built. The apostle Paul said “that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” In other words, all can witness and win people to Jesus, but only an apostle can solidify it. By solidify, I mean to set it in place, to make it concrete. To make it without a shadow of a doubt firm in the One who is called the Son of God.
Acts 8:4-17 tells of the instance where Phillip, an evangelist was sent by the Holy Ghost to Samaria to preach the gospel. Great signs and wonders were performed, and the Word was heralded with great vigor. However, when the apostles heard of it, they sent two apostles to seal the deal. You can read this instance for yourself.
Lastly, Ephesians 2:20 speaks in reference to this foundation. It roughly translates as revelation given them by Christ who in turn is the revelation from the Father. So, it then reads as this: and are edified by the revelation given to the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ as the One who is the first and last in everything foundational of faith in God.
Again, this is not an exhaustive study by which we can hang our hat and call it a day, it does provide some much-needed clarification in this area of Church history. You can see from a historical perspective the Church is not moving in the power she has been called to move in and why the Apostle must step up and take their rightful place as chief servant only to Christ, and yes, I said servant!
Until the next time, we will delve into the prophetic a bit. Thank you for reading.
Leave a Reply