For the first
time, we see the word "apostle" used by Jesus in
the following scripture.
Luke 6:13
And when it was day, HE called
unto Him His disciples: and of them HE chose twelve, whom
also HE named apostles;
Jesus was
crucified, resurrected, walking on this earth again for a few days which bore physical
witness of the resurrection to the disciples. Then Jesus was lifted into heaven in the sight
of the apostles.
Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus
and hanged himself.
Then Peter
said:
Acts 1:20-26 For it
is written in the book of Psalms, Let his (Judas') habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his
bishoprick let another take.
Wherefore of
these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in
and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that
HE was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of HIS
resurrection.
And they
appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
And they
prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether
of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and
apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his
own place.
And they gave
forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the
eleven apostles.
So they have
twelve apostles again ... so where does the apostle Paul fit in?
***
After Jesus
was crucified and raised from the dead, we read of "gifts" Jesus gave
to the church in the form of ministries, and one of these "gifts" was
that of "apostle", for the work of the ministry.
Ephesians 4:11-15 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: Till we all
come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
That we henceforth
be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in
wait to deceive;
But speaking
the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even
Christ:
***
One of the
things apostles do in the NT church is to deal with church doctrine.
Questions
arise concerning such things as divorce/remarriage, functions of
elders/bishops (the same office), homosexuals/lesbians ... The apostle has
a strong anointing by God concerning church doctrine and will deal with these
issues, setting them into scriptural doctrine in the churches.
Never before
this time in church history is the work of apostle more needed, with all the
twisting we see of doctrines in today's church as antichrist takes over inside
the church itself and false doctrines are set up replacing doctrines of Christ
in the Bible.
***
But it is
ordained by God that the anarchy in the church would take place before Jesus returns for the church.
II Thessalonians 2:3-4 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that
day shall not come, except there come a falling away
first, and that man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition;
Who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing
himself that he is God.
In KJV this
is called "the falling away"
... church groups would fall away from scripture.
In the NASB
this is called "the apostasy."
***
At the end of
the years of his ministry when Paul knew he would see a certain church group no
more, he warned this church group.
Acts 20:25-30 And
now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom
of God, shall see my face no more.
Wherefore I
take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
For I have not
shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Take heed
therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost
hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased
with His own blood.
For I know
this, that after my departing shall
grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Also of your
own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
***
And Paul
warned the church there would be perilous times
inside the church before Jesus returned and men would get worse and worse,
deceiving and being deceived.
II Timothy 3:1-4 This know also, that in the last days perilous
times shall come.
For men shall
be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without
natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,
despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded,
lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form
of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from
such turn away.
(We
see the church would have "a form of godliness" but they would deny
the scripture, the power of God)
6
For of this sort are they which creep
into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers
lusts,
7
Ever learning, and never able to come
to the knowledge of the truth.
...
13 evil men and seducers shall wax worse and
worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
And
Paul told us what to do as we see this.
14-17 But
continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of,
knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
And that from
a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man
of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
***
It is not a
matter of holding to the tradition of the church group as many do today.
It is holding
to scripture by the Spirit of God.
Often we have
to leave the church group to be able to hold onto scripture. For in the end times, church groups set up
churches by their own thinking, departing from portions of scripture.
And we have to
consider the end times began with Jesus' ascent into heaven.
Peter, John,
and Paul often spoke of it being the end times.
John said: I John 2:18-19 Little children,
it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now
are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
They went out
from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no
doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made
manifest that they were not all of us.
They left the
early church and the doctrines of Christ as delivered them by the apostles, and
they set up churches by their own thinking. That is what we see today in all these
denominations.
And Paul said
it would get worse and worse in the churches as the time neared the return of
Jesus.
While the
apostles were recognized in the church, they did the work of apostle, keeping
the perversions out of the church.
Paul said he
knew after his departing perversions in doctrine would enter the church through
men who were just waiting to take over in the church. Acts 20
Then after
Paul, many church groups set up a doctrine saying there are no apostles after
Paul.
The Bible does
not teach this.
Cling to this
truth:
After Jesus
arose, HE gave gifts to the church.
Ephesians 4:11-12 And HE (Jesus) 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:
Paul was not
the last apostle but one of the first of the NT apostles after Jesus arose.