Are There Apostles Today?

 

Sermon Five. Are There Apostles Today?

You can watch the video of this sermon here. 

Introduction

Over the last few weeks we have explored some interesting topics. Have the gifts ceased? Does the Holy Spirit pour out his gifts like the New Testament says he does? Is tongues still a gift for today? Is prophecy still a gift for today? These are all really big topics and we have delved into them and explored in some detail what the Bible says about these gifts. We have concluded so far that the Bible makes a very strong case for these gifts still being necessary until today. In, fact it says it this precise way,

Ephesians 4:11-14 –

“11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”

Until we are fully mature in Christ, we will need the gifts of the Spirit, and the ones whom the Spirit empowers. Because he is our helper as Jesus tells us. I think this point is really significant to be honest. If we don’t see God working in miraculous ways through incredibly gifted people, in a true and genuinely Christ honouring way I think we need to examine ourselves and where we are at and ask why is this the case? Because Paul says we need these gifts for the Church to grow into maturity. I think there may be blessings in the modern Church we are missing out on. This is the heart we are approaching this series with, how do this gifts and their blessings apply to us today?

So today we are going to explore this idea: are there still Apostles today? This is actually a complicated question. Because you will find different Christians have very different answers. So, we are going to explore what the Bible says about Apostle’s and prophets, and see how we should apply this today. Let’s see what the Bible has to say to us on this issue.  

Are All Apostles? What is the highest gift in the Church according to Paul? Apostleship, we read this last week, let’s read it again,

“27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:27-31).

Paul lists apostleship higher than any other gift. Higher than even prophets, which is a pretty big statement. He does the same in Ephesians 4:11, as we read just before. It makes sense that there would be such a big debate about a gift like this, because Apostleship is such a high gift, some may see it as a role to aspire to, and others may see it as so sacred they don’t think others should claim this mantle.

Different views on Apostleship – There are various different views on the Apostles, but there is some basic agreement. All branches of the Church agree on the authority of the Apostles, especially the 11 or 12 Apostles. All branches of the Church would affirm what Ephesians 2:19-22 says,

“19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

All denominations agree that the Church is built on the foundation of the works of the Apostles, who built that foundation around Jesus the guiding stone. However, there is deep disagreement over what this looks like.

Apostolic Succession – Catholics, Anglicans and other high church denominations believe in what is called Apostolic succession. That is that their bishops descend in direct authority from the original Apostles who laid hands on the original bishops. The Apostles ordained bishops, the bishops ordain priests, elders, pastors and this carries on through the line until today. They then draw from this that no one who was not ordained by someone in this line has legitimate authority in the Church. This is the reason that Catholics believe the Church teaching can be held alongside Scripture, because Apostolic authority is contained within the church.

Different high church traditions lay different claims to this apostolic succession. Anglicans say theirs is the genuine claim, Catholics say theirs is, the Orthodox claim trumps them both because it technically existed first. If you take such a claim to be the Biblical standard.

This idea, in my view, comes more from Roman Culture than biblical practice. But it is a widespread view in the church. Passages like this one may be used to support it: “6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim. 1:6-7).

Apostolic Scriptures – Protestants of most varieties take the view that Apostolic authority is passed on through the Apostle’s writings, the New Testament. Even those writings which were not written by Apostles, Luke, James, maybe Hebrews, had to have close association with the Apostles. Or agree, without error, with the Apostle’s writings.

So, if I was to say to some protestants that we need Apostles until the Church reaches maturity, they may respond, “Precisely, and we have them in the writings of the New Testament.”

This view says the Scriptures give us everything we need from the Apostles.

Apostles today – Some Protestants believe that we still have Apostles today. Some believe they are just like the original 12, and just as powerful and authoritative. Some think they are different to the original 12, but are similar. Other thinks we no longer have Apostles of Christ, but we do have Apostles of the Churches, what you could call missionaries. There are many views even amongst close Christians. For example, were there 11, 12, or 13 Apostles? If you wonder what I am referring to, you’ll have to keep listening.

A version of this is the idea of having “Apostolic Anointing”. Some Pentecostals and non-denominational Christians believe that the Apostolic anointing has been passed down, just as the Catholics believe it has, from the early Apostles. But this anointing is not contained in the structure of an organized church, it doesn’t need to be in an unbroken line, but is recognized in gifted leaders. People who have this view will commission other people along the lines of Timothy with the laying on of hands.

So, there are various different views on how Apostolic authority works in the Church today. But, all Christians will believe that not all are Apostles, that this is a rare and unique gifting, and that in some way Apostles are necessary for the Church to function healthily. But what is an Apostle in the Bible, and how does this work?

What is an Apostle? An Apostle is basically a Christian with Jedi Warrior powers who can leap tall buildings, cast out demons with a look, break through arguments with a word and have complete sway over a congregation that will completely do everything they want… or at least they might wish this. Apostles really are messengers, but not just any messengers. The Greek word Apostolos means something akin to “commissioned officer” or “messenger with a commission”, or even “agent”. Apostles are leaders who are sent with a powerful mission to fulfil on behalf of their commanding officer.

The Apostles Are Chosen - We first see this in Matt 10:1-6,

“1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. 5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

These 12 sent ones (vs.2) are being sent out (vs5) to represent Jesus.

This was part of the Apostle’s basic training. I have heard many Christians say over the years that pastors should not need to have a degree to be a minister, because the disciples were unlearned men. But I don’t agree with this, in general, because the Apostles were given about 3 or 3 and half years of intensive theological and practical training with Jesus himself.

In fact, as far as I am concerned they got a degree of education that far surpasses anything that any other generation of ministers has gotten since. Imagine what it was like to be trained by the Lord himself? If you want to be a pastor you have to prove you can devote significant time to preparing yourself, like the Apostles did.

The apostles here are being trained to go out into the world and be the representatives of Christ that Jesus needs them to be. But in this early stage he just wants them to focus on the Israelites.

The Great Commission – Matt 28:18-20 then tells us what these men became once trained –

“16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The framing of this account is done very deliberately to highlight the authority of the 11 Apostles. The Lord and Master of the Apostles is giving his leading men, his generals, their commissioned orders. They have done their training, they have been equipped, and now they are commanded to go out into the world and achieve their mission.

We often use this passage to emphasize the importance of evangelism and discipleship. And it does set the basis for these things. But first and foremost this passage is about the commission given to the Apostles. The commission we continue today, because they fulfilled this role.    

One more passage helps us understand just how significant their roles is, Isaiah 52:7 – “7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” This passage does not use the word Apostle, in fact, it is generally used to describe the evangelist’s role. But the historical context of this passage gives us some insight here.

When an ancient city was under attack, it was the usual practice for them to send their army out into the field far from the city to meet the foreign army, usually to give people in the city a chance to prepare and so the defenders could choose their battlefield. If the foreign army defeated the army of the city, they would then send a “euangelion” an evangelist, or messenger to tell the defeated the “good news” that their new Lord was on his way.

The defeated city may not have seen it as good news, but the victorious king did. This evangelist’s message would give the people time to prepare their hearts for their new king.

John the Baptist fulfilled this role for Jesus. But so too did the Apostles for his coming kingdom. In fact, this is exactly what Jesus is doing when he sends them out to warn the children of Israel. He is telling them that they are defeated, their new King is here, and they should submit to him as their Lord.

This is why some people, including John Calvin, as I showed you a few weeks ago, say that Apostles and Evangelists are the same thing. We don’t think that way. But consider what I have now shown you about the overlap of their roles, and also this:

Who wrote Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? The Apostle Matthew, the Apostle Peter through Mark, the doctor Luke who knew the Apostle Paul, and The Apostle John. We call these books the Gospels and the their writers are often called, the evangelists, though some were apostles.   

An Apostle of Jesus is a “sent one”. What are they sent to do? Jesus tells us, proclaim the gospel, Matt 10:5-7, “5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

They proclaim precisely the same message as the evangelist in Isaiah 52; the kingdom of God is at hand, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, or in other words, “your God reigns” as Isaiah puts it. Repent and turn to him.

So, if we bring all of this information together, what can we say an Apostle is? An Apostle, big “A”, is an evangelist with extra authority and extra gifting. Especially the Apostle’s of Jesus Christ.

What Do Apostles Do? Well, we have established so far that Apostles are sent out to tell people the good news, just as evangelists are. But it is clear there is more to their role, and they are gifted in a way that is well beyond the ordinary evangelist. So what do they do?  

They wield unique authority - The Apostles, and especially some of them, were given unique authority. An example of this is the Apostle Peter. We read in Matthew 16:15-20 –

“15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.”

What is the rock upon which Christ is going to build the Church? Is it Peter? Is it something else?

Peter? Some say it is Peter, that he is the rock, and not just Catholics say this. Remember in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit is poured out on Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles, who was there? Peter. God built the church through the ministry of Peter, in those chapters more than any other Apostle.

But then after that he does not become the pope, he fades aways and we then follow Paul, who had every bit as much authority. But still, one way to read it is that Peter is the rock.

Another way to read it, and how most Protestants would read it, is that the statement that “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” is the rock upon which the church is built. This is a good argument, and I probably agree myself with this.

But still note what it says next: Matthew 16:19, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” This is an interesting passage, that shows that Peter has an authority you and I do not have.

But is it not just him, we read in John 20:21-23,

“21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

This is directed to all the Apostles in this passage, in fact, when Jesus said he was sent by God, the word he uses is Apostellow, which means, he was God’s Apostle. As God’s Apostle he is equipping his Apostles.

So, it is clear that they wield authority, unique authority. Not like the authority we have. In fact, we have to rely on their authority for what we believe.

Even Paul acknowledges the 12 authority, or at least their primacy, 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 –

“3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”

However, Paul himself is among their midst: 1 Corinthians 15:9 – “9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” Though he accounts himself as one who is unworthy of the calling. And he was, but then, who is worth of any calling in Christ?

They Lay The Church’s Foundation – We have already looked at this passage, but let’s look at it again: Ephesians 2:19-22 –

“19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

How do they lay this foundation?

-        Well God used Peter to bring the Holy Spirit to Jews (Acts 2), Samaritans (Acts 8) and Gentiles (Acts 10).

-        The early church devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching, it was therefore built on the Apostles words (Acts 2:42)

-        When there was a dispute about whether or not Gentiles should be placed under the Old Testament law, Paul and Barnabas went to the Apostles to sort it out (Acts 15:1-2).

-        In many ways we see they were the guiding authorities making sure the church got set up according to Jesus’ commands and teachings.

They Expand On The Scriptures – The Apostles had authority to expand on the Scriptures. The New Testament is either their work, or associated with someone who was a known and trusted colleague of the Apostles. As Peter 2 Peter 3:15-16 says –

“15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”

Paul’s words were already Scriptures in Peter’s day. The Apostles had the authority to determine the Orthodox teaching of the Church. Which is why their writings often begin “Peter, an Apostle”, “Paul an Apostle” of Jesus Christ.  

They Performed Remarkable Miracles – And I mean remarkable. Not the kind of things that people can fake, not the kind of things that people can debate, but the kind of things that even unbelievers found remarkable. When Peter and John encounter a lame man this this happens Acts 3:6-8 –

“6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.”

This is a miracle. There are many fake miracle workers in our world. If you want to convince me you have the same kind of anointing as Peter then do something like this. Something undeniable.  

Every time I see someone who is disabled, or injured badly, I wish I could do this. I even think of this passage, and I often quietly pray for that person to be healed. It breaks my heart to see people like this lame beggar. What a gift to have to be able to heal such a person.

Paul had this same kind of Holy Spirit power, we see later on in Acts that people are healed just by handkerchiefs that had touched him (Acts 19:11-12). Apostles did miracles that arguably surpassed Moses, and probably even Elijah and Elisha. They were not run of the mill workers for the gospel, but uniquely gifted and empowered leaders.

They were with Jesus – Most importantly, they had unique time with Jesus. Acts 1:21-22 –

“21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”

Matthias only qualified because he was there from the beginning with Jesus.

You might then ask, well how does Paul qualify? Because as he tells us, “12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:12). Paul spent time with Jesus.

So what do Apostles do? Incredible things. Now we should ask, who can be an Apostle? This is an interesting question, and it is here where we might not fully agree.

Who Can Be Apostles? Well first we need to ask the question, how many Apostles were there? 11, 12, 13 or more?

Who are the 12? First, who are the 12 Apostles? Are they the 12 from Matthew that we read earlier? Matthew 10:2-4 –

“2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”

Well, it cannot be, because Judas was disqualified when he betrayed Jesus. So, we are left with eleven. How do we then get 12?  

As we saw above, before the disciples received the Holy Spirit they replaced Judas with Matthias, Acts 1:23-26 –

“23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”

Some debate whether Matthias actually replaced Judas, because he was chosen by lot and not a direct command of Jesus. They would argue that Jesus chose Paul to be the 12^th Apostle.

I was leaning this way, until I saw that Paul says this, 1 Corinthians 15:3-9 –

“3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”

Paul refers to the 12, this has to include Matthias, not Judas. Paul also distinguishes himself from the 12, he is the least of the Apostles. So, there were definitely more than 12 Apostles, because Paul is every bit the Apostle that the 12 were, does anyone disagree?

But then note what Paul says in verse 7, “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.”  Why is James now listed next to all the “all the Apostles”, and who are these other Apostles?

Other Apostles – Are there other Apostles? Well, let me read you some Scriptures and I’ll let you be the judges.

Barnabas – Acts 14:14, “But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out,…” Clearly Barnabas was, this passage is unambiguous.

Paul’s Team – In 1 Thessalonians 2:6, Paul notes he has an Apostolic team, “6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.” Paul notes that his whole ministry teams to the Thessalonians were Apostles, and this included men like Titus, Timothy, Silas, etc, etc.

In fact in 2 Corinthians 8:23-24 he notes that there are other apostles as well, “23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. 24 So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men.” The Greek word for messenger here is “apostolos”. These men here are, “apostles of the churches.”

That is, they are messengers of these churches. Authorized to represent them. We might call them delegates or missionaries.

Paul may refer to other apostles in Romans 16 too. Romans 16:7 - “Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me” (KJV). This passage is hotly debated. Is Junia a man or woman. Junia was usually a woman’s name, but not always. Does notable mean they are notable as apostles or notable to the apostles? There is too much debate on this passage to draw any conclusions, unless you want to prove a point you have already decided on, either way.

So, now that we have this gathered information, we can answer the question: who can be Apostles?

-        Well to be like the 12, you must have walked with Jesus from John until Jesus left the earth. So, no one living can be among the 12.

-        To be like Paul, you need to have a direct visit from Jesus and be given a commission so powerful and so clear, many will recognize it and support your ministry. If these people exist outside the New Testament they are rare. I think it is possible this could happen today. Still, I am hesitant to say this, because I can’t think of anyone in history like this who is not disputed. But it is up to God, not us.  

-        To be an “apostle of the churches” or a “messenger of the churches” is a high calling, and I think any Christian of suitable character can aspire to this calling. We call these people “apostles with a little “a” missionaries, or representatives of the churches. To this day we send out male and female missionaries. They can be married teams, or single men and single women, and God uses such people to expand the Church. Let me encourage you to consider this call, because it is a high call. It is a needed call. We need to send more missionaries to the world. We need more missionaries in Australia. I would like our church to be a church which raises up missionaries for the work of the gospel.  

Application – So how do we apply this?

-        We are not all Apostles, because it is a rare and special gift. But in a sense anyone who is sent out to share the gospel is a messenger of Jesus Christ. We may be far lower in rank than the 12, or Paul. But let’s emulate their desire to reach people.

-        Let’s also emulate their desire to give their all for Christ. We will do this differently, as husbands, mothers, employees, volunteers, etc, etc. But we can be just as willing to live for Christ as Paul or Peter.

-        Let the Apostle’s teachings, the word of God, be the guide for your life. Let the foundation they laid be the foundation of how you live. It will make a difference in your life.

-        If someone ever claims to be an apostle “big A” if they can’t match it with Peter or Paul in word or deed, you can safely just smile, nod and head the other way.

Conclusion – I have covered this topic in such detail because it is a controversial topic. It is likely that we do not all agree, and that is fine. The question we need to ask ourselves is this: who did the Apostles want people to know about the most? Jesus. Who should we want people to know about the most? Jesus. Let’s imitate their love for our Lord and share the gospel they handed down to us with everyone we can.