Ephesians 4, 1 through 13, I
therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk
worthy of the vocation wherein you are called, with all lowliness
and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love,
endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace. There is one body, one Spirit,
even as you are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above
all and through all and in you all, but unto every one of us
is given grace according to the measure of Christ. Wherefore,
he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive
and gave gifts unto men. Now, he that ascended, what is
it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth? He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill
all things. Watch verse 11. 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. that 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. Now, let's go back, pick up some
phrases before we move along. For example, look at verse 7. Unto every one of us is given
grace according to the measure of Christ. Look at the end of
verse 8. And he gave gifts unto men. Look at the end of verse 10.
that he might fill all things, and he gave some apostles." Now
before we settle into this most interesting and also biblical
subject, let's emphasize something about it under our prophet. Something that we might have
missed somewhere along the way. At least something that we might
have taken a little bit too lightly. And that being the fact that
under both the old and the new economy, the Lord our God raised
up special servants unto himself which he did teach and exhort
and use them to teach and exhort the people of God. to make known
the mind of the Lord unto the people. And the most notable
of those under the old economy were, of course, those that were
called the prophets. And in Hebrews 1 and verse 1
we read, God who at sundry time, that is in many parts and in
many portions and in divers or in different or many ways, spake
unto the fathers by the prophet. It is certainly true, as John
Owen wrote on Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 1, this refers to
the progress of the revelation which God made under the sons
of men over the course of time. Now, while it is true that God
spoke directly unto men such as Adam, men as Noah, and Abraham,
and to Moses, while it was in the time of Moses that God made
the promise of the institution of the office of the prophet,
that they might speak unto the people, you'll find that in Deuteronomy
chapter 18. And the gist of it is this, what
occurred at Mount Sinai when God gave the law in that awful
manifestation. It so terrified the people when
God, according to Exodus 20 and verse 22, talked with you from
heaven. They feared that they would die
Exodus 20 and verse 19. They said, if we hear the Lord,
the voice of the Lord God one more time, we shall die in Deuteronomy
chapter 5 and verse 25. And so, after the time of Moses
and of Joshua, God did indeed raise up the prophet, and God,
over the course of time, revealed unto them His mind and His will
and His way, that they might in turn speak it unto the people. Now, there were great prophets
of God under the old economy, Prophets like those of Elijah
and Elijah. Then there was Nathan, and Isaiah,
Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and many others that we call the minor
prophets. By these, God made His mind known,
and He spoke unto the people in portion and in weight. things which they received by
divine revelation, by dream or by vision, then they gave those
things unto the people in both orally and written revelation
and instruction. By the way, there was a person
under the old economy that was known as a seer. Maybe study this best from 1
Samuel 9. Samuel, the prophet, is called
a seer who could see, he could advise, he could discern, he
could give good and infallible advice. And according to verse
9 in that chapter, a prophet and a seer were one and the same
thing. This occurred when Saul sought
out the prophet that he might tell him where his father's flocks
were. But then under the new, or the
gospel economy, there came to be known what John Gill called,
or distinguished as, extraordinary and ordinary ministers of the
gospel. Now, these were given as ministers
of Christ, as gifts from Christ unto the churches that they might
minister unto them. We read in Ephesians chapter
4 and verse 10 through 12 about this great work of our Lord. that when He was exalted, He
gave gifts unto men. He poured out gifts and He put,
or really installed in all of their fullness, the apostles
in their office. You can also see 1 Corinthians
12 and verse 28 where Paul writes, and we want to notice the order,
God has set some in the church First, apostles, Paul mentioned. Secondly, prophets, etc., etc. These are said to be gifts from
Christ and are bestowed upon the churches, and it occurred
after the ascension of the Lord and the pouring out of the Spirit
of God. And what was this for? Well,
it was for the benefit, it was for the instruction and the strengthening
and also for the perfection of the churches that they might
walk soundly in the doctrine of Christ. Now, of course, we
read, and that's in Ephesians 2 and verse 20, of the foundation
of the Apostles and Prophets. And again, in Ephesians 3, verse
5, we read these words, His holy Apostles and Prophets. We read in Acts 13 and verse
1, that in the church that was at Antioch there were certain
prophets and teachers and included among that number was the Apostle
Paul. Now, I mentioned John Gill. from
his chapter on ministers, extraordinary and ordinary, who minister to
the people of God. He listed the extraordinary minister
as the apostle and the prophet and the evangelist that we read
about in the New Testament. And of course, in the course
of that discussion, he draws a conclusion, Gildas, with which
I find agreement. That is that the office of apostle
is now ceased. The office of a prophet is no
more, and the office of an evangelist is extinct, so said Gale. To which we might add for our
edification that we might note that the Bible knows nothing
of a modern day apostle or a prophet. The Bible knows nothing of a
bishop over an area of several churches as we find in the Methodist. And the Bible knows nothing of
a person called an area or associational missionary as we find practiced
by the Southern Baptist. Nor is there an office in the
Scripture of Pope or Cardinal. Our Lord Bishop, confirming what
a man mighty in the Scripture once wrote, and I'm quoting,
that the Antichrist has introduced a rabble of offices in the Church
which the Scripture knows nothing of. Now, the extraordinary ministers,
apostles, prophets, and evangelists, these called by Christ, given
unto the church, serve their purpose and according to the
will and the purpose of God, did long ago cease to function
toward the churches, giving way to what the Scripture called
pastors, shepherds, bishops, overseers, if you will, elders
as some are wont to call them, pastors who are teachers according
to Ephesians 4, and verse 11, pastors that are apt to teach
1 Timothy 3 and verse 2, to feed the flock of God, that they might
ground God's people in the Word and fortify them against the
corruption of the Gospel. And even as the church at Ephesus,
if you read in Revelation, Chapter 2 and verse 2, tried, that is
literally they tested those that came among them and said they
were apostles and were not. and showed them up to be liars. And the Lord Jesus commends them
for this in that epistle in the second chapter of the book of
Revelation. But our aim today and this morning
is to consider the apostola, the apostle, that group of men
that were chosen by the Lord They were commissioned by the
Lord under their office and during His ministry they were trained
by the Lord to serve as apostles to the early church and to be
the servants of the Lord Christ. And I go further, to oversee
the churches and to guide the people of God and the churches
of God through the transition period from Old Testament Judaism
unto New Testament Christianity. Now, as for the word, and therefore
the office, we have it apostle singular, we have it apostles
plural, and apostle is that word apostille from a root word meaning
one that is set apart and one that is sent or runs in the name
of God. An apostle, therefore, is a sent
one. An apostle is a messenger. One having received apostleship. Romans chapter 1 and verse 5. He is made a delegate or an ambassador
or a spokesman of Christ. And he acts in the call, by the
call, and in the authority of Christ. Now, generally, the apostles
refer to the twelve apostles as in Matthew chapter 10 and
verse 2. The twelve are there named by
name. In fact, they are also called
the twelve. And at times, this is the way
that they are described. Not simply one of the apostles,
but one of the twelve. Or collectively, they are spoken
of as the twelve. Now granted, at times the word
apostle is used in a broader sense. Such as in Acts 14, verses
4 and 14, where Barnabas there is referred to as an apostle. In Romans 16 and verse 7 and
Philippians chapter 2 and verse 25 of some who were not of the
original twelve, but they are called by the name Apostle. Then in Hebrews 3 and verse 1,
where Jesus himself is called the Apostle and High Priest of
our profession. He is the sent one. He was sent from God. Now, just for the sake of impressing
upon us the importance of the apostolate, and then we might
get our mind and our attention focused on the subject, let us
put a couple of Scriptures on the record. First of all, let's
combine Matthew 19, 27 and 28 with Luke chapter 22 and verse
30. Let's draw them together. Where
the Lord is saying that the twelve apostles would sit on twelve
thrones judging the twelve tribes. Now, you have to promise me not
to ask me about this after the service. But Matthew calls it
in the regeneration. In the regeneration, when you
shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel. Second, in Revelation 21 and
verse 14. We read there that the walls
of the city had twelve foundations and in them were the names of
the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Gil sees this as a possible illusion
to builders who build a building and then inscribe their name
on the cornerstone are on the foundation to have in memory
their work. And here the memory of the apostle
as the master builder, being held, as Gil said, in everlasting
remembrance. You can see that in Ephesians
2 and 20, built upon the foundation of the apostle and prophet. Now, a study of the apostolate,
a study of these men and their ministry, gives us the opportunity
to consider some very interesting things about this group of men
called, chosen, and commissioned directly by the Lord. And the first thing I want us
to remember is this group of men. This group of men and disciples
of our Lord who until up until the time of the outpouring of
the Spirit of God seemed more like the Keystone Cops rather
than men who would turn the world upside down for the power of
Christ. At times they were so inept. At times they were so dull of
hearing the things that our Lord said. They were so slow to learn
They seem so shallow at times, so lacking. in understanding,
though the Lord had taught and spoken very clearly. And yet,
according to the promise of the Lord, they would receive power. They would be witnesses unto
the Lord, and they would do many mighty works in His name and
authority. Paul called them pillars in Galatians
chapter 2 and verse 9. Let us further broach the subject
of the apostolate by asking some pertinent questions. We might
not get them all answered, but let's raise some points. Number
one, what and who were the apostles? What was the purpose of having
apostles in that early church? Are there apostles today? Should we expect or believe? Is the office yet open or was
it a closed circle? And then thirdly, what about
Judas? Why would a betrayer, a liar,
a thief, a devil and deceiver be among the twelve? Fourthly,
what about what was done in Acts chapter 1? As you read that very
interesting account, when Peter, quoting Scripture all of the
while, led that group of believers to choose one to take the part
of Judas, who fell from the ministry and apostleship. This they did
by casting lots. And Matthias was numbered with
the 11, Acts chapter 1 and verse 26. And thus their number rises
again on the 12th. Question number five. What about
Paul? who in every epistle almost,
every epistle from his hand, whether to a church or to a friend,
stakes his claim as an apostle divinely called, an apostle not
of men, an apostle of God and the apostle unto the Gentiles. And then six, what kind of qualification
must an apostle have? What credentials must he carry? What authority does he act in
and by? What authority? Now, the first
question. What and who were the twelve
original apostles and what was the purpose of having apostles? What function would they serve
both before and after the ascension of Christ? Well, first and foremost,
the Twelve Apostles were chosen directly, personally by Christ. We have read in Ephesians chapter
4 and verse 11, some to be apostles, some as
apostles, as a gift unto the churches. Now in this, apostleship
resembles the priesthood, in that no one takes this honor
unto himself. No one can appoint or anoint
himself as an apostle, and none can declare himself to be an
apostle. It is a direct call from the
Lord. In Luke 6, verse 13, we read
that after the Lord had spent the night in prayer. That's in verse 12. When it was
day, he called his disciples together, and out of that number
He chose twelve to whom He named apostles. That is, He designated
them, He commissioned them, He ordained them, He constituted
them to be His and the church's twelve apostles. John 6 and 70. Have not I chosen you twelve? By the way, I guess now is the
time that we might make this point. that their number seems
always to be fixed at twelve. Matthew 10, 1 and 2. The twelve. Matthew 20 and 17,
Matthew 26 and verse 14, referring under the twelve, which is that
body of twelve men. Now, we know from the Scripture
that twelve is a prominent number in the Word of God, particularly
in the Old Testament. that the number 12 keeps popping
up at us out of the scripture. For example, there were 12 tribes
in Israel. There were 12 spies that were
sent out into the land. There are said to be twelve gates
of that holy city. There were twelve stones in the
memorial that was made at the crossing of Jordan. There were
twelve baskets of fragments that were taken up after the Lord
fed the multitude. There are twelve foundations
of the city. And on and on we might go in
the Scripture. Now the apostles, twelve in number,
as Abraham Kuyper wrote, were ambassadors extraordinary, different
from the prophet, different from the present ministers of the
Word." John Eady said in our passage in Ephesians 4 and verse
11, the apostles were the first and highest order of office bearers
and were the gifts of Christ under the churchhood. John Gill
wrote, quote, these apostles had the first and the chief place
in the church, and the signs of the apostle were found with
them. They had their call and commission
from Christ, end quote. Now, one problem with today,
such as they who say they are apostles and are not, but are
liars, is that they try to claim the same gifts, the same ability,
the same power, the same authority as belonged exclusively to the
Apostles of the Lamb and the early extraordinary ministers
of the Gospel of Christ. but which was never meant to
continue beyond its appointed time when the purpose of it had
been served or fulfilled. Now, when we hear, or rather
when they hear us speak this way and take this kind of a position,
sometimes they object back unto us. that it is just that kind
of unbelief and resistance that hinders the operation of the
gifts and the miraculous among the people of God today. They say, it's your unbelief
and your fighting and your rejection. Well, how shall we reply? Well, just this way, that unbelief
and resistant, we're talking strong resistance, did not stop
the sign of an apostle from being in Paul as we read in 2 Corinthians
12 and verse 12. Great works were done by them,
by Paul, by Peter and others in the face of great opposition. Let's confirm something said
a minute ago. That is that the apostles were
the first and the highest officer in the churches. Paul in 1 Corinthians
chapter 12 and verse 28, as we said, set them in order. God or Christ has appointed some
in the Church, 1st Apostle, 2nd Prophet, 3rd Teacher, and so
on. Thus the Apostles held an office
extraordinary in the Lord's early churches. And as Goodwin, that
is, Thomas Goodwin, the Puritan wrote, appointed for a time for
the first rearing and governing of the church in the New Testament."
Now as apostles, they had authority. They had jurisdiction given unto
them. in any church wherever the providence
of God might cast them. Listen to Paul, 1 Corinthians
7, verse 17, saying this, So ordain I in all of the churches. I ordain this as an apostle in
all of the churches. Again, in 2 Corinthians 11 and
verse 28, Paul talks about him having the care of all of the
churches. Having the care of all of the
churches. Now, speaking of these apostles,
they had a unique relationship unto Christ, and we want to look
at some of those that qualified them and that set them apart
as apostles of God and of Christ unto the church. Let's look at
a few as we go along. Number one, it was necessary
that an apostle have his commission directly and personally from
Jesus Christ. He named them apostles. He gave some apostles. He chose them. From this fact
alone, we make the argument that there are no apostles today. We might reinforce it by saying
the Holy Spirit calls not apostles as He does common minister of
the gospel. But Christ The Incarnate Son
personally, in the flesh, chose the Apostle. Now, this restricts
the time frame when Apostles are found and are operative. An Apostle had direct fellowship
with Christ. For example, 1 John 1, that which
was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have
seen with our eyes, which we have handled, we look upon and
our hands have handled of the word of life. And then in 1 Peter
1, verse 16 through verse 18. because it is written. 1 Peter 1, 16-18. Be holy, for I am holy. And if you call on the Father,
who without respect to person judgeth according to every man's
work, passing the time of your sojourning here in fear. For
as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things such as silver and of gold, received by vain tradition
from your Father. Then in 2 Peter chapter 1 and
verse 16 through 18, For we have not followed cunningly devised
fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received
from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a
voice to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from
heaven we heard when we were with him in the Holy Mount. By the way, you may notice at
times in the Scripture that the Apostles use the word we, referring
to the body of Apostle, also the word we in referring to the
body of Christian. But then there's a second thing.
Not only were they chosen by Christ, they saw Him in the flesh,
But the apostles saw the Lord after his resurrection from the
dead. and 22. Peter makes this a necessary
qualification for the man that is chosen in the place of Judas. You have it in Acts 1, 21 and
22. I won't turn there. But in Acts
2 and 32, this same Jesus has God raised up whereof we are
witnessing. Acts 4, 33. And with great power. gave the apostles witness of
the resurrection of the Lord, and great grace was upon them
all. You remember that Jesus, after
his resurrection, appeared to his twelve apostles, or the eleven,
in John chapter 20, showed them his hand, showed them His side. Now, concerning these two points,
number one, that Christ in person chose the apostles, they accompanied
with Him, and they were personally trained by Him. Number two, they
were witnesses of His resurrection, having seen Him when He was alive
again. And by the way, in the wisdom
of God, The resurrection of the Lord was very well attested. Do you remember what Paul writes
in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 5 through verse 8? All of those who saw
the Lord after He was alive from the dead. Now the question is,
how do we square this with Paul's contention of claims to being
an apostle of Christ. For he did not personally accompany
with Christ while he were in the flesh, nor did he see him
between the resurrection and the ascension. And yet here is
Paul claiming to be an apostle on equal footing with Peter and
James and John and the other. did some question and oppose
the apostleship of Paul on these grounds. You did not company
with the Lord, nor see Him between His resurrection and ascension,
causing Him to write, as He does in Ephesians 1 and 1, an apostle
of Jesus Christ by the will of God. Again in Galatians 1.1,
an apostle not of men, neither by men, but by Jesus Christ. Let me say this, here is the
explanation under the situation of Paul. That is that Christ
in his sovereignty, made a wonderful exception with Paul. In that,
he deferred Paul's call until after the Lord was risen, ascended,
and glorified. While others were made apostles
by Christ in the flesh, Christ personally came from heaven to
convert Paul and to commission him as an apostle. While the
others received the gospel from Christ in the flesh, Paul received
the gospel by an inward, immediate revelation. Galatians 1, verse
11, Thus Paul could say, as in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 8,
and last of all, he was seen of me also as one born out of
due time. That is, abnormally or we might
render it an untimely birth. As me, untimely born. but an apostle of the Lord. Again, in 1 Corinthians 9, verse
1, He asked the Corinthian in the face of his enemy, Am I not
an apostle? Have not I seen Jesus Christ
our Lord? Thus Christ bestowed upon Paul
a full and complete apostleship. Number three, as proof of their
apostleship, they were given power and authority to work miracles,
many of them of the same nature and essence as the miracles of
the Lord. And these were credentials of
their office. And as the Lord promised them
that they would, so we read in Acts 5, verse 12, by the hands
of the Apostle were many signs and wonders wrought among the
people." Acts 2.43, Acts 14 and verse 3. The Lord granted signs,
miracles and wonder to be done by their hand. We should remember
that both the Apostle Peter in Acts 9, 40 and 41. And the apostle Paul, in Acts
chapter 20, raised one from the dead. Our Lord raised some, so
did Peter and Paul. Paul tells the Corinthians, 2
Corinthians 11 and verse 5, I suppose that I am not a wit, The word
wit usually means nothing. We could say not even one. Paul says, I suppose I'm not
even once. In the New Testament, it's usually
translated, no man. I'm not behind no man. I'm not
behind the very chief or the super apostle. He is as much
an apostle as any other. And again he tells them, 2 Corinthians
12 and verse 12, the signs of an apostle were wrought among
you in signs and wonders and in mighty deed. I think this
bears repeating that the gift and the power to work great miracles
were in a sense their apostolic credential. Look at that thought
in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 4. By these God bore witness
to their testimony of Christ confirming the Christian revelation
and also the Apostle as the duly appointed overseers in establishing
the Church and in guiding the doctrine of Christianity. By the way, God thought it meek. God thought it good and necessary
that a special apostle be appointed to oversee the admission of the
Gentile into the full gospel privileges and the churches. And that special apostle was
none other than Paul. Romans 11 and verse 13. 2 Timothy
chapter 2 and verse 11. Thus the apostolate, as Abraham
Kuyper said, were set apart for the service of God's holy kingdom. They were qualified by that calling,
by the call and the service and the work of the Holy Spirit. John Eady put it in stronger
terms, quote, Their authority was supreme. The churches were
under their instituted authority and administration. Their word
was law and of obligation under the churches." An apostle of
the Lord. They were uniquely guided. They
wrote inspired epistles that we have in our Bible even today. In fact, when we think about
the apostles, they have served a double usefulness. to the churches and to the people
of God. First of all, to those that they
personally minister to in the flesh. Because upon the earth,
after Christ sent the Spirit, they preached the gospel in their
day, they gave eyewitness testimony of Christ and His glory, and
words they received directly from the lips of our Lord, and
they formed churches, guided them, oversaw them, and directed
them. But secondly, don't forget another
usefulness of the Apostle. They have given us the apostolic
Scripture. Look at the New Testament. Rip
out those apostolic writings. And what would we have left?
They have given us the inspired, infallible Word of God, whereby
they, like Abel, being dead or yet speaking, have given us a
written record of the revelation of Jesus Christ. One man I was
reading called this, and I'm quoting, their epistolary labor,
unquote. When we consider the brevity,
the shortness of the time of their personal ministry, we are
then apt to consider the latter their most extensive work unto
the church. They might have influenced more
after their death by their writing than they did in their life and
in the flesh. Consider Paul's personal ministry. If you would, then consider the
impact of the epistles of Romans. and Galatians, and Ephesians,
and such forth. But Paul went many places, preached
the gospel in many places to many people, and churches were
raised up. But think, oh think, my Christian
friend this morning, of the impact of the epistle of Paul in our
New Testament on the kingdom of Christ and on the church. What would we lose if we lost
the Pauline writings out of our Scripture? It was therefore better
for us and for the church when Christ went away. It was better
for the apostle. Now it is better for us. that
they have gone away, for they have blessed us after their decease
with the great writings we have in the New Testament. And to
close it down this morning, I want to repeat again for emphasis,
they have no successors. Their office ceased when they
died. It cannot and must not be revived. among the people of God, they
were a special ministers unto the Lord's people.