Has apostolic ministry ceased?
The bible says that Jesus gave five gifts to men. This means that these five gifts and
attributes can be found in all men. As
children we all experienced the difference between a teacher just doing their
job and one being called. Did the
ministry of the teacher ceased? Certainly not! The same applies to the
shepherds, pastors, counsellors and caretakers amongst us. These people have this inherent calling to
take care, go the second mile, love unconditionally, and heal and restore the
wounded. Prophets has been there since
the beginning, visionaries, seers, forecasters, analysts and judges. These individuals recognise the wrongs of
society and are prepared to speak out against it. The evangelists are the marketers,
salespersons, the public speakers, the movers and shakers who always tries to
convince us of something. Now if these
gifts has not ceased, how can we conclude that apostolic ministry has
ceased? The apostles are the pioneers,
the discoverers and reformers of society.
They start new movements without even knowing it. They are the revolutionaries and civil
servants who keep us focussed on the bigger picture of why we are here on earth
and on what are we doing about it.
You do not have to call yourself an
apostle or even be recognised by others as one, to be one. Apostles are wired differently, so is
prophets, teachers, evangelist and pastors.
Whether they knew it or not, the church was exposed over the last two
centuries to God’s special messengers, who was born with a special assignment
and destiny in them. Some did great and
wonderful things, others fell into disrepute, but they nevertheless managed to
impact society in a drastic way. Declaring the end from the
beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My
counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’ Calling a bird of prey
from the east, The man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I
have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also
do it. (Isaiah 46:10-11) When God has a plan with man, He will fulfill
it.
The fact is; the bible
does refer to apostles outside of the selected twelve whom Jesus chose. Both Paul and Barnabas are seen as apostles.
(Acts 14:4, 14) James the brother of Jesus is clearly recognized as an apostle
by Paul. (Gal 1:19) The same James seemed to have had some preeminence among
the apostles at the meeting in Jerusalem.
(Acts 15:13-19). So we are certain of at least another three apostles.
Mention
is also made of Silas (1 Thes 2:7) Andronicus and Junias (Rom 16:7) but this
may be indirect references and not conclusive.
The fact that a warning is imposed to immanent false apostles is further
proof, because if their were only a closed circle of twelve apostles, who then
were these so-called false apostles? (2 Cor 11:13) Even John refers to certain
false apostles who call themselves apostles but are workers of iniquity. (Rev
2:2) Remember that the book of revelation was written 70-95 AD. Apparently their will be false brothers,
teachers and prophets too (Gal. 2:4; 1 Tim. 1:6; 2 Tim.
3:12–13; 2 Pet. 2:1–3, 10–22; Jude 4, 8–13, 16)
Understand that there are
only twelve apostles, whom Jesus has chosen unto himself, whose names will be
inscribed on the twelve foundations stones of the wall of the New Jerusalem.
(Rev 21:14) But it does not mean that the function or the gift of an apostle
has ceased.
What were the Biblical requirements
for apostleship?
We can list many requirements but they
will mostly be our own opinions and ideas.
Dr. Jack Deere explains this point thoroughly in his book “Surprised by
the Power of the Spirit”. It is interesting that a former Cessationist and
professor in the Old Testament Department of Dallas Theological seminary could
be ‘converted’ so to speak to the other side. According to him you have to
differentiate between the requirements and characteristics of an apostle. This
is an important distinction else we would end up qualifying some who are not
apostles and disqualifying those who truly are apostles. For instance if you make the “signs and
wonders” a requirement it means that Stephen and Phillip were also
apostles.
Paul sets forth three requirements for
apostleship. The first and most important requirement is the specific call and
commission from the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal 1:1; Rom 1:1, 5; 1 Cor 1:1,2; 2 Cor
1:1). The other two requirements are set forth in (1 Cor 9:1-2). Am I not an apostle? Am I
not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the
Lord? If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are
the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. The second
requirement is that an apostle must have seen the Lord Jesus Christ. In Paul’s
case this requirement was met when he saw the Risen Christ on the Road to Damascus. (Acts 9:1-9)
This requirement is then the most obvious disqualifying criteria for modern-day
apostles. This is also probably the
reason that mention is made of the fact that James the brother of Jesus also
saw the resurrected Christ. (1 Cor 15:7) But what about Barnabas, there is no
evidence that he has seen Jesus? (1 Cor 15:6) says that more than five-hundred
seen the risen Christ does this make them apostles? No. I believe that this is
an important requirement but like in Paul’s case this does not have to be a
physical encounter.
Thirdly he refers to the people who he has ministered to as
his seal of apostleship. The fruit of an
apostle is the disciples and people he ministers to, their life and conduct is
a sign and proof of a true apostle. Do
they reflect the image of Christ?
What are the characteristics of an
apostle?
Our English word "apostle" is derived from the Greek
apóstolos. Apóstolos is a noun and the corresponding verb is apostello, to
send. Another, more common, biblical word meaning "to send" is pempo,
but there is an important difference between the two. Apostello means to be
sent with a particular purpose or with a specified commission from the one who
does the sending. When this is done, "the envoy has full powers and is the
personal representative of the one sending him." The ancient Greeks also
used apostello from time to time to indicate being sent out with divine
authorization. In the Non-Christian
Greek world the word is used in reference to a fleet, or even the admiral of
the fleet. Mostly the word implies
someone with great authority being commissioned to some special purpose and
mission. Today the word has generally
fallen into disrepute because of the erratic and sometimes even immoral conduct
of so called apostles. The Old and New
Apostolic church which is considered by most believing Christians as a sect has
also brought much confusion and misconceptions about apostolic ministry.
1. Apostles are sent ones with a certain
commission, mandate, and mission. (Luk
11:49; 2 Cor 8:23; Phil 2:25) Apostles are not always invited, nor
requested; they come and go because they are send and are commanded. This is a life of an apostle, not to speak or
do anything unless God gives the word.
So David did in His time (he enquired of the Lord), Jesus said I do
nothing unless the Father commands me, and Paul often was either permitted or
sometimes restricted to go.
2. They are master-builders of the church (1 Cor 3:10; Mat 16:18) Apostles are
always concerned with church, ensuring that it remains accurate and healthy
before God. It is interesting that a
Peter Rosa a former priest makes the following comment about the earlier
apostles in his book “vicars of Christ.
There is no record that any of the apostles were ever the Bishop of any
church, not even the churches they planted.
It seems that in the minds of the Christian commentators the apostles
were in a class apart. The apostle’s
belonged to the whole church. A
true apostle’s focus is never to only build a specific church, but to build the
church.
3. Concerned with the things of the Kingdom. (Acts
19:8) Their topic of preaching like Jesus was mostly pertaining to the things
of the Kingdom, which is simply to help people to be right with God with the
resulting benefits of peace and joy. (Mat 6:33; Rom 14:17) They ultimately want
to see God’s Kingdom established on the earth.
This is where the social conscience comes in, apostles does not only
want to see souls saved but society changed for the better. They operate as reformers of society, leaders
who influence governments through people the preaching and manifesting of the
truth.
4. Purposed to bring every believer into the image
of Christ. (Gal 4:19; 2 Cor 11:2; Col
1:28; 2 Pet 1:8) This after all should be the purpose of all ministry in the
church. (Eph 4:13)
5. Eye-witnesses of the person of Christ. (2 Pet 1:16; 1 Joh 1:1-3; Luk 1:1-3; Acts
1:1-3; 1 Cor 15:5-8; Acts 10:39-42; 1 Pet 5:1) Obviously this does not refers
to Jesus physically only, for that would have disqualified Paul, but it refers
to apostles having a personal, first-hand encounter with Christ. No apostle would have any authority if they
speak from the premise of not having seen for themselves. There is a certain conviction and first-hand
experiential account of some kind that is fundamental to apostolic
ministry. They were taught by men and
through books and knowledge, but in some regards they heard and saw for themselves.
6. Evident suffering. Power usually corrupts, and for apostles to
have the authority which they have they grow and mature through much suffering
and persecution. This is to ensure that
there character equals their authority. (1 Cor 4:9-13; 2 Cor 4:7-12; 6:3-10;
11:23-33) Some modern-day apostles see apostleship as a form of dictatorship
and control, where there lavish lifestyles all but witness of the life Paul
lived. Being the appointed leader of
many churches does not necessarily proof that you are an apostle. Many of these men see suffering as evident
failure to successfully stand in faith, and resisting evil. It is true then what Paul said ‘I consider
myself least of all the apostles’.
7.
Authority. They stand in delegated authority as
ambassadors and representatives of God.
(Mat 10:1; Luk 9:1, 10:19; Acts 5:1-11) Authority is either there or it
is not. When someone has to enforce
their authority they usually have already lost it. This authority is limited to the sphere and
metron of each apostle were he has found favour. (2 Cor 10:13) Authority is
also easily recognised and evident to all.
Authority can be questioned as in Paul’s case, but he is not swayed nor
does he defend himself through fleshly means.
He simply defends his apostleship by reminding the people of what they
have already seen and believed.
8.
Insight in
divine mysteries – Christ (Eph 3:1-6); Godliness (1 Tim 3:16); Isreal (Rom
11:25-32); abundance of revelations (2 Cor 12:1-4,7)
9.
Signs and wonders – (Luk 24:49;
Acts 1;8; 14:3; 15:12; Rom 15:19; 2 Cor 12:12) These are not only miracles of
healing but sometimes even nature submits and reacts to their words. The signs are unique and God’s initiates and
confirms the words of His special messenger in ways that would make sense to
the specific people or crowd the apostle is addressing.
10.
Blameless integrity – Often
paul remarks; “you know how we have
conducted ourselves…” Asking open
questions of this nature, in a letter that would be read in public is
remarkable and proofs their attitude and conduct among the saints. To an
apostle their lifestyle is just as important as their message. Paul even instructs his disciples to imitate
him. (1 Cor 11:1) But we have renounced
the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of
God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to
every man’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Corinthians 4:2) Although their tactics and methods would be
often severely criticized their message and lifestyle was always above
reproach.
11.
Apostles are pioneers and often
have to experience things first before they can even preach about it. Their own frustration with something often
leads to depth and mysteries being explored and revealed to the church. There continual hunger to be fed and
nourished with the true bread of life, becomes the primary goal of their life.
Having tasted Him, nothing else will satisfy anyway. This is how portions of Christ’s nature and
life becomes more visible to us, when we discover Him in the midst of our
problems, circumstances and issues.
12.
Pillars and doctrine – (Acts 2;42,
Acts 15) The purpose behind all their writings was to establish the church in
the truth. To expose and confront false
doctrine and to ensure that the churches remain faithful to the Way. Apostles do not primarily preach revelation,
and broad expository apologetic references of the Bible. They tend to focus on
giving perspective, seeing the whole picture and purposes behind things, giving
understanding so that people will walkout the detail for themselves. The Church is build on their foundation. (Eph
2:20)
13.
Apostles were chosen by Jesus
himself. You cannot be appointed by man
as an apostle for then you would be sent and commissioned by man and not
God. All the gifts mentioned in Ephesians
can be listed under the above criteria.
When we ordain such people in the church today, it is not because we
appoint them but because we recognize the fact that they have been appointed by
God. The only two appointments of man in
the church are Elders and Deacons. You
can not study to become an apostle, prophet or teacher. You are either called as one or not, you
could certainly be further equipped and trained in your office. This also explains the whole issue of
titles. You cannot use the five gifts as
titles, for Jesus actually warns against the use of titles and positions. (Mat 23:8-10) But people need to know who you
are, so there is a certain acknowledgement and reference to the function and
the office in which one stand, but not in the same way that the title Doctor or
Professor is used.
14.
They are doers, manifesting the
truth. (1 Cor 2:4; 4:20; 2 Cor 4:2) They
do not only speak about the answer, but they also show you the answer. They discern a problem and through the
weapons of the spirit confront it and overcome it. A good example of this is where Paul
summarizes his suffering and persecution and how he has overcome; by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering,
by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the
power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet
true. (2 Corinthians 6:6-8)
What is the so-called five-fold
ministry?
Jesus
embodied al the five gifts given to the church.
But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of
Christ’s gift… and He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some
evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for
the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:7-12)
·
Apostle - Therefore, holy
brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High
Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus. (Hebrews 3:1)
·
Pastor - “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the
sheep. (John 10:11)
·
Evangelist - for the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)
·
Teacher - But you, do not be
called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.
Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in
heaven.
And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. (Matthew
23:8-10)
·
Prophet
- So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet
from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:11)
For the Church
to be complete in Christ it has to be exposed and receive the grace that is
locked up in each of these five gifts.
Every gift is
unique in its function, focus, passion, personality and approach.
According to
Rick Warren you get five different kind of churches.
The Soul
Winning church. The terms you’re most likely to hear in this church is;
witnessing, evangelism, salvation and decisions for Christ. Everything else is
secondary to the desire to see the lost being saved. (Evangelist)
The
experiencing God church. The focus of
this church is experiencing the presence and power of God in worship. Key terms
in this kind of church is: praise, prayer, worship, music, spiritual gifts,
spirit, power and revival. (Prophet)
The family
reunion church. This church focuses primarily on fellowship and
relationships. Key terms for this church
is; love, belonging, fellowship, caring, relationships, small-groups and fun. (Pastor)
The classroom
church – the emphasis is an preaching and teaching. People come to church with notebooks and
pens. Key terms are; expository
preaching, bible study, Greek and Hebrew, doctrine, knowledge, truth and
discipleship. (Teacher)
The social
conscience church. The focus in this church is to see the community changed.
They are doers of the word, practical, no-nonsense approach. Key terms are; needs, serve, share, minister,
take a stand and do something, get involved. (Apostle)
The point is
that a healthy church should be all the above.
Because the abovementioned list of churches is basically presenting and
divining the scope of the various five-fold anointings.
It is
interesting that the Purpose-driven model is based on five point purpose
statement.
Magnify – we
celebrate god’s presence in worship. (Prophetic)
Mission – we
communicate God’s word through evangelism. (Evangelistic)
Membership – we
incorporate God’s family into our fellowship. (Pastoral)
Maturity – We
educate God’s people through discipleship (Teacher)
Ministry – We
demonstrate God’s love through service. (Apostolic)
Although the
fivefold ministry is never mentioned and acknowledge as such, yet it forms the
basis of the whole model. It is evident
that for the church to be healthy and balanced care should be taken that
members are exposed to all five areas and scope of ministry. Members who are part of such churches will
experience accelerated personal spiritual growth within an atmosphere of
corporate growth and change. Usually
when one of these aspects is over emphasized it leads to error and ultimately a
misrepresentation of Christ.
Do we still need apostles?
The church has
not outgrown the need of apostles. Apostles
are present in the Church today as they were in the early days of the Church in
the Book of Acts. The signature scripture indicating this is Ephesians 4: 7 -
16. Several truths are clearly indicated here as follows:
After His resurrection Jesus ascended to heaven and gave gifts to men.
These gifts are not the charismatic gifts of 1 Corinthians 12. The gifts are
indicated in verse 11: apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists and teachers.
These are ministry gifts that are given not on a limited basis to the Church
only but instead are given to 'men', that is to the entire earth to bring an
impact of the Kingdom
of God to the world of
men. All the gifts are given to:
·
equip the
saints for the work of the ministry
·
cause the
edifying or building up of the Body of Christ (the Church)
·
function
UNTIL the Church comes to the unity of the faith
·
bring
saints from childhood to maturity in the things of the Lord
·
bring
saints from childhood to maturity in the things of the Lord
·
cause the
global Church to arrive at the expression of the full measure of the Christ
anointing in the earth.
There is a clear time-frame of operation indicated here. Apostles, like
the other gifts, are given to the Church in the earth UNTIL the Church arrives
at a predetermined state of maturity in expression and development of power in
the earth. Since we manifestly have not yet arrived at this place apostles
continue to function in the Church.
Have Apostles Always Been Present Or Have They Recently Re-Appeared
Apostles have always been in the Church though they have not always
functioned in the reality of their calling because of the following reasons:
Those called by God to be apostles were ignorant of the identity of
their ministry therefore causing the function to be restricted and not released
There was ignorance in the wider Church of the existence of apostolic
ministry so that the ministry could not be recognised and accepted as valid in
the Church. . The condition of corporate acceptance indicated in Titus 1:1
could not be fulfilled:
Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according
to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgement of the truth which
accords with godliness Titus 1:1
There was wrong teaching in many theological schools that the apostolic
ministry ended with the Book of Acts thereby destroying faith for the release
of the ministry gift in the Church
Destruction and limitation of the operation of the gift by designating
all church-based ministry as a 'pastor' and thus limiting and imprisoning many
church-based apostolic ministries to the function of the administrator of a
local church.
The principle for function is in Deuteronomy 29:29.
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are
revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words
of this law. Deuteronomy
29:29
Things that are unrevealed belong to God. But things that are revealed
belong to us that we might function in them and teach them to the next
generation.
Are There Different Kinds Of Apostles Today?
Yes most definitely, just as there are pastors with different callings
and ministry operations and just as there are evangelists with diverse
anointings and operations in the Kingdom. A great mistake has been made in
simplifying the operations of the apostle because of the carnal desire in men
to categorise the activity of the Spirit of God in the Church and force it into
formulas. God continually breaks out of man's formulas.
John 3:8 says:
"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but
cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born
of the Spirit." John 3:8
It is impossible to force the operation of any ministry gift into a
fixed formula. The best that we can do is to identify broad general guidelines
for the operations of ministries and learn to spiritually discern the identity
of different gifts to the Body of Christ.
Some have said an apostle is one who plants churches, or an apostle is
one who gathers pastors around them in a association or a network. The truth is
that many pastors and evangelists have planted many churches but still are not
apostles called by God. Many men have gathered pastors through their maturity,
seniority in the work or because of a powerful fathering dimension to their
anointing but still are not called by God to be an apostle. Let's look at the
scriptural evidence:
James was a mighty apostle of God but as far as we know he was not an
itinerant preacher, did not plant churches and released no great revelation to
the Body of Christ as Paul did. He was local church based in Jerusalem
and was the senior elder of Jerusalem
assembly.
Peter was a mighty apostle of God. He was an itinerant preacher with a
powerful healing ministry. He was known to raise people from the dead. He was
not a great church planter, only wrote two small epistles in the New Testament
and was not a powerful revelator of the Word of God. He even struggled to
understand some things revealed by Paul (2 Peter 3: 15 - 16).
Barnabas was an apostle (Acts 14:14), yet he wrote no scripture, was not
the releaser of great revelation, planted no churches, operated as the second
fiddle in a powerful apostolic team. He was a behind-the-scenes shaper of the
destiny of ministry for the future (Acts 15:39).
Paul was a great apostle who was a giant of fresh revelation in the
faith, was an itinerant preacher yet at times pastored local churches for years
at a time. He was a prolific church planter, manifested great miracles in his
ministry, taught for two years in the bible school of Tyrannus
(Acts 19: 9 -10) and seemed to live with the constant threat of sharp
persecution.
All these men are genuine bible-validated apostles of the church and yet
they are so sharply different in the manifestation of their ministries. A
person is an apostle because he is called by God Himself to be an apostle
(Colossians 1:1) and may manifest the function of his calling in many diverse
and unique ways.