- What does apostle mean?
- Apostle means
a delegate, messenger, one sent
forth with orders, a
special messenger of Jesus
Christ.
- Greek word used is apostolos (ἀπόστολος
- G 652)
- Is apostleship earned by
believers? or Is it a gift?
- No one can earn
this. It is
a gift.
- In general it is also called
as
offices of spiritual leadership.
-
Who
is ordaining/giving this apostleship to the believers?
- Jesus Christ will give this apostleship to some
believers.
- Spiritual gifts are listed
in three different places
1 Cor 12:1-12; Rom
12:3-8; and
Eph 4:11.
This specific gift is listed in
Eph 4:11.
These gifts also called the
gifts
of Jesus Christ:
- Eph 4:7,8,11 - 7
But to each one
of us grace was
given according
to the measure
of Christ's gift.
8
Therefore He
says: "When He
ascended on
high, He led
captivity
captive, And
gave gifts to
men."(Psalm 68:18)
9
(Now this, "He
ascended"--what
does it mean but
that He also
first descended
into the lower
parts of the
earth?
10
He who descended
is also the One
who ascended far
above all the
heavens, that He
might fill all
things.)
11 And
He
Himself gave
some to be
apostles,
some
prophets,
some
evangelists,
and some
pastors
and teachers,
- Application: Why is Jesus Christ giving these gifts?
- Eph 4:12 - 12 for the
equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 that
we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15 but,
speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ--
-
What are the responsibilities of an apostle?
- From the book of Acts and
other epistles we can gather
their responsibilities.
- An apostle of Jesus Christ is a
lifelong messenger of Jesus Christ who has been given the authority
- Preach the
Gospel:
Especially
apostles are the
pioneers to preach the
Gospel in new
territory (Acts
13-28)
- Rom 15:19-21 - 19 in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20 And so
I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man's foundation, 21 but as it is written: "To whom He was not announced, they shall see; And those who have not heard shall understand."
-
Apostles lay
the Foundation
of Christianity:
- Paul was called to lay the foundation:
- 1 Cor 3:5-15 - 5
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but
ministers through whom you believed, as the
Lord gave to each one? 6 I
planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the
increase. 7 So then
neither he who plants is anything, nor he
who waters, but God who gives the increase.
8 Now he who
plants and he who waters are one, and each
one will receive his own reward
according to his own labor. 9
For we are God's fellow workers; you are
God's field, you are God's building.
10 According to the grace of
God which was given to me, as a
wise master builder I have laid the
foundation, and another builds on it.
But let each one take heed how he
builds on it. 11 For
no other foundation can anyone lay
than that which is laid, which is Jesus
Christ. 12 Now if
anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood,
hay, straw, 13
each one's work will become clear;
for the Day will declare it,
because it will be revealed by fire;
and the fire will test each one's
work, of what sort it is.
14 If anyone's work which he has
built on it endures, he will receive a reward.
15
If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer
loss; but he himself will be saved,
yet so as through fire.
- Other apostles are also called to lay the foundation.and rest of the believers are built on the foundation of the apostles:
- Eph 2:20 - 19
Now, therefore,
you are no
longer strangers
and foreigners,
but fellow
citizens with
the saints and
members of the
household of
God,20
having been
built on
the foundation
of the apostles
and prophets,
Jesus Christ
Himself being
the chief corner
stone, 21
in whom the
whole building,
being joined
together, grows
into a holy
temple in the
Lord,22
in whom you also
are being built
together for a
dwelling place
of God in the
Spirit.
- Establish
new churches (1st & 2nd
Corinthians,
Galatians,
Ephesians,
Philippians,
...)
- Oversees the
established
churches
(Romans 16)
- Discipline
the member of
the church
(1
Corinthians 5)
- Equipping the Saints (Titus, Timothy, Eph 4:12)
- Send
or assign
leaders to
pastor the
church (Titus, Timothy)
- Who are called "The Apostles"?
- The initial 12 apostles whom
Jesus choose are called
The Apostles. They are listed in Matt 10:2-4;
Mark 3:14-19; Luke 6:13-16; Acts
1:13
- Simon Peter
- Andrew
- James
- John
- Philip
- Bartholomew
- Thomas
- Matthew
- James (of Alphaeus)
- Thaddaeus
- Simon (the Canaanite)
-
Judas Iscariot
- Who is the 12th
apostle? or Who replaced Judas
Iscariot?
- Is
Paul is 12th apostle in place
of Judas
Iscariot?
- As per
Acts 1:16-26 these 11 apostles selecting 12th apostle in place of Judas Iscariot.
- Acts 1:16-26 - 16 "Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus (Ps 41:5); 17 for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry." 18 (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. 19 And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 "For it is written in the book of Psalms: 'Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it';(Ps 69:25) and, 'Let another take his office.' (Ps 109:8) 21 "Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection." 23 And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, "You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen 25 to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place." 26 And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
- But some strongly believe that
these apostles are not yet baptized/anointed with the Holy Spirit
(which happens in Acts 2) so like Sarah they came up with this fleshly idea and selected
12th apostle. They didn't realize if God promised then He will fulfill.
- God's promise to Abraham is Isaac but Sara couldn't wait so she come up with plan with Abraham to have baby through Hagar. Ismail is product/fruit of human plan but Isaac is product/fruit of God's promise. Similar to this Matthias might be eleven apostle's choice but Jesus replacement for Judas Iscariot might be Paul.
- So, some of them strongly believe
Paul is Jesus replacement for Judas Iscariot.
- We will definitely
see the 12th apostle name in the foundation
of New
Jerusalem.
- Rev 21:14
- Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were
the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
- Is
it important
that Paul needs
to be the 12th
apostle?
- As per
Eph
2:20
and
1 Cor 3:5-14
apostles
lay the
foundation of
Christianity.
Apostle Paul is
one among them
because
his epistles
play a big role
in New Testament
part of the
Bible.
So, some believe
that
there are only
twelve apostles
Jesus ordained
to lay the
foundation of
Christianity and
they
insist to keep
Paul in initial
twelve apostle
("The Apostle")
list. They do
this for
the authenticity
of the books in
the Bible.
- Some never
mind and and
they believe
that Paul may be either 12th apostle or later.
- But
some
legalist out there try to throw Paul away from the apostleship. In fact they tag him as
a false apostle/prophet.
- Why they make Paul's
apostleship a big deal? or Why
some want to
deny the
apostleship of
Paul?
- The main reason for this is to get rid of all Paul's epistles from the Bible.
- Why
they want to get
rid of Paul's
epistles?
- Because they are legalist they do not want Paul's
detail teaching about Grace and Faith alone we will be saved.
- Since they are legalist
they want to keep the law legally by their works and earn the salvation.
- Especially they hate this book of Romans because it expounds or unveils the Gospel in detail.
- Is the apostle gift
is ceased after this initial twelve
"The Apostles"?
- No.
- In addition
to
twelve apostles
we can see in
Gal
1:19
Paul refers
James as
an apostle.
- NLT:
Gal 1:19
- And the only other apostle I met at that time was James, our Lord's brother.
- Gal 1:19 - 15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace,
16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,
17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days.
19 But
I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother.
- The resurrected Jesus
appeared to
all the
twelve apostles, then He appeared to
James, then to all the apostles,"
which
suggests a wider
group of
apostles than
the original
twelve
- 1 Cor 15:5,7 - 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
- Very
important thing
is that Paul is an
apostle as he
claims and other
apostles recognized him:
- Paul
faced lot of
challenges
including the
circumcision
issue. He
presented this
to other
apostles and got
approved by
other apostles:
- Acts 15:1-2 - 1 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.
- Acts 15:22,25,26 - 22 Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren. 23 They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. 24 Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law"--to whom we gave no such commandment-- 25 it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.
- The
apostle Peter Even
Paul's
apostleship was
recognized by
.
- 2 Peter 3:15,16 - 14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also
our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
- Do we need apostles now? Does Jesus
still ordaining apostles now?
- Some believe that
Jesus stopped ordaining the
apostles now because
laying the foundation of
Christianity responsibility is
already fulfilled through the
core apostles. We can
read this from
Apostles lay
the Foundation
of Christianity.
- But some believe that
Jesus still ordain
apostles now because
the core apostles only fulfilled
this laying the foundation of
Christianity responsibility but
rest of the
responsibilities of apostles are
still valid and apostle
office/gift are still necessary
even now.
- Let us Find answers from reality or
existence of apostles available in present day:
- Can you name few
evangelist around your area serving
our Lord?
- Billy
Graham, Luis
Palau, Greg
Laurie, ...
- Can you name few
apostles around your area serving
our Lord?
- No. There
are many evangelist,
pastor-teachers
but not
the apostles.
- Why?
Following
question answer
us.
- Is there any modern
or different name available for apostle?
- What is the modern
name for apostle?
- The modern name for apostle
is Missionary.
- From where did this
modern name come from?
- (WW) Missionary is the Latin form of "apostle—one who is sent."
- In India FMPB, ICGM, GFA and many other
missionary organizations are sending
missionaries as pioneers to spread the
gospel in new places where unreached
people groups exist in
India.
- Malto (Santhali), Santal
(Santhali), Gond (Gondi), ...
- Following taken from
Joshua Project
website:
https://joshuaproject.net/countries/IN
- Number of People Groups
2,533 - People Groups Unreached
2,276 (89.9%)
- Total
Population
1,335,627,000 (1.3 billion) - Population in Unreached
1,272,711,000 (1.2 billion i.e. 95.3%)
- What are the responsibilities of a
missionary?
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