APOSTLES
AND (New Testament) PROPHETS
There are basically three
categories we have to delve into to understand the spiritual gifts as seen in
the New Testament.
1. The gifted men.
2. The permanent edifying
gifts.
3. The temporary sign
or signifying gifts.
We
will begin by looking at the gifted men, and in specific focus our attention on
Apostles and New Testament Prophets. We see these gifted men
listed in the following passages.
1 Corinthians 12:28, "And God has
appointed in the church, first apostles,
second prophets, third teachers,
then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various
kinds of tongues.”
The term “appointed”
basically means to set or place, but is often used, as in these two verses, to
indicate official appointment to an office (cf. John 15:16; Acts 20:28,
"made"; 2 Tim. 1:11).
God has sovereignly appointed first apostles, second prophets,
third teachers. The other divinely appointed offices are those of
evangelist and pastor, or pastor-teacher (Eph. 4:11).
Ephesians 4:11,
"And He
gave some as apostles,
and some as prophets, and
some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,”
Christ not only gives
gifts to individual believers but to the total Body. To each believer He gives
special gifts of divine enablement, and to the church overall He gives
specially gifted men as leaders (see v. 8,
"He gave gifts to men")—as apostles,… prophets,… evangelists,
and … pastors and teachers.
He gave emphasizes the sovereign choice and authority given
to Christ because of His perfect fulfillment of the Father's will. Not only apostles
and prophets but also evangelists,… pastors and
teachers are divinely called and placed.
These
are New Testament prophets, because as indicated by the facts
that they are listed after the apostles and are part of the building of
the church of Jesus Christ (cf. 3:5; 4:11). Their unique function was to
authoritatively speak the word of God to the church in the years before the New
Testament canon was complete. The fact that they are identified with the
foundation reveals that they were limited to that formative period. As 4:11
shows, they completed their work and gave way to “evangelists, and … pastors
and teachers.”
John MacArthur writes,
“According
to verse 11 He gave the gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teaching
pastors. They are the gifted men given to the church. Verse 7 says that
He has already given individual gifts to the believer and it is the role of the
gifted man to equip the gifted believers to use their gift. Verse 12 says that
the gifted men are given for the maturing of the saints for the work of the
ministry.
The
Lord Jesus Christ has given every believer a gift for the purpose of
manifesting Christ in the church and ultimately in the world. [Summed
up in John 13:34-35 We have already said that the spiritual gifts that God
gives will have as it’s motivation a true love for Christ and a true love for
His body, the church.] In order to allow us the fullest use of those gifts
and to bring them to maturity, God has also given to the church the gifted men.
The result is in verses 12b-13 -- the edifying of the body of Christ
until the church together manifests the stature of the fullness of Christ. That
is a great concept and very basic in identifying the church.
Now,
if the gifted men do not perfect the saints or the saints do not minister their
gifts, the body will not be built up or manifest Christ. One of the
difficulties in the church today is the fact that it is so fractured --
Christians are disobedient in the area of gifts and leaders are failing in
perfecting the saints. The entire body of Christ is crippled, distorted, and
confused. The world cannot see the true manifestation of Jesus Christ. The
gifts are given to the church to the ultimate end that the church is built up
into the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ. Individually and corporately
we should represent Christ.”
The first two classes of
gifted men, apostles and prophets, were given
three basic responsibilities:
The foundation of the
apostles and prophets refers to the divine revelation that they taught, which in its written
form is the New Testament. (Acts 2:42)
3. to give confirmation of
that Word through “signs and wonders and miracles” (2 Cor. 12:12; Acts 3:1-10; Heb. 2:3–4).
By these three
responsibilities alone we can ascertain without any doubt that there are no
longer any individuals holding the offices of apostle or prophet today.
Although even today there are those who say that there are apostles and
prophets just like the apostles and prophets of New Testament times.
One such individual is C.
Peter Wagner one of the founders
of The New
Apostolic Reformation movement, he writes about
the contemporary Apostles and Prophets movement.
First he describes this
movement, “The New Apostolic Reformation
is an extraordinary work of God at the close of the twentieth century that is,
to a significant extent, changing the shape of Protestant Christianity around
the world.”
Then he elaborates,
“Apostolic governance
As I mentioned
before, this is probably the most radical change. [In what God is doing in the
church.] I take literally St. Paul’s words that Jesus, at His ascension into
heaven, “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”
(Ephesians 4:11-12). Most of traditional Christianity accepts evangelists,
pastors, and teachers, but not apostles and prophets. I think that all five are
given to be active in churches today. In fact, St. Paul goes on to say, “And
God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third
teachers…” (1 Corinthians 12:28). This does not describe a hierarchy, but a
divine order. Apostles are first in that order.
I strongly
object to journalists using the adjective “self-appointed” or “self-declared”
when referring to apostles. No true apostle is self-appointed. First of all,
they are gifted by God for that ministry. Secondly, the gift and its
fruit are recognized by peers and the apostle is “set in” or
“commissioned” to the office of apostle by other respected and qualified
leaders.
The office of
prophet
Prophets are
prominent in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. As
we just saw above, apostles are first and prophets are second. Every apostle
needs alignment with prophets and every prophet needs apostolic alignment. One
of the reasons why both should be active in our churches today is that the
Bible says, “Surely God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His
servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). And also: “Believe in the Lord your
God and you shall be established; believe His prophets and you shall prosper”
(2 Chronicles 20:20). I want to prosper and I want you to prosper.”
End Quote!
Note: Using the same Scripture (Ephesians 4:11-12 and 1 Corinthians
12:28) C. Peter Wagner seeks to justify the continuation of the offices of
Apostle and Prophet. He also rips text in both Amos and 2 Chronicles out of
their historical context to prove his point. Remember what we said in our
initial document in specific regarding Charismatics and how they interpret the
Bible. We sighted noted Pentecostal scholar Gordon Fee who wrote, “they (Charismatics) are at the same time noted for bad
hermeneutics. First, their attitude toward Scripture regularly has included a
general disregard for scientific exegesis and carefully thought out
hermeneutics. In fact, hermeneutics has simply not been a Pentecostal
thing. In place of scientific hermeneutics they have developed a kind of
pragmatic hermeneutics, and then he says, secondly, “It is probably fair and
important to note that in general the Pentecostals’ experience has preceded
their hermeneutics. In a sense, the Pentecostal tends to exegete his
experience.”
Remember, if we do
not know what the Scripture says, we cannot apply it rightly to our lives, nor
can we teach it rightly to others.
A point of note: Pentacostals, Charismatics, and The Third
Wave Movement
The term
“Charismatic” is very broad. It encompasses millions of people and thousands of
denominations. In fact, according to the International Dictionary of
Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, there are more than twenty thousand distinct
Charismatic and Pentecostal groups or denominations in the world. These groups
are generally subdivided into three different categories or waves.
The first wave-
Pentecostal Movement
The
Pentecostal movement began under the leadership of Charles F. Parham, a
Holiness evangelist and “faith healer”. While serving as the superintendent of
a Bible school in Kansas, Parham challenged his students to read the book of
Acts and to search for the "Biblical evidence" of the baptism of the
Holy Spirit. One of Parham's students, Agnes Ozman, became the catalyst to
introduce the school to speaking in tongues. On New Years day in 1901, Ozman
had Parham convinced that the experience of speaking in tongues was the
initial, physical evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit. This belief later
became the doctrinal signature of the Pentecostal Movement.
The second wave-
The Charismatic Movement
Pentecostalism
spread into the mainline denominations, and became known as the Charismatic
renewal (or movement) It's benchmark organization was the formation of the Full
Gospel Business Men's Fellowship, International, in 1951. It’s president was
Demos Shakarian who was the catalyst for integrating the Pentecostal experience
into both mainline Protestant as well as Catholic churches. He and Oral Roberts
brought together mainline clergy and laity to interact in a non-threatening
setting with white-collar Pentecostals. Initially, the stereotype of
Pentecostal's was that they were poor and uneducated. This changed with the
integration of the two groups, and the introduction of the Pentecostal
experience to Protestant denominations.
The
third wave- The Signs and Wonders Movement
What
is understood in today's time as the new movement of the Holy Spirit, can be
said to be appropriately titled the "Third Wave" or the "Signs
and Wonders" movement. Many evangelicals who do not wish to be labeled as
charismatic or Pentecostal, yet seek to claim the Holy Spirit's power within,
gladly accept this name. Major institutions and figures identified with the
expansion of the Third Wave would be C. Peter Wagner, the Vineyard Church, and
it's founder John Wimber.
Let us continue…..
THEIR
FOUNDATIONAL POSITIONS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
A. Apostles
1. Their Unique Apostleship
The Apostle was the primary gifted man in the history
of the church. The Greek word apostolos,
from which we get apostle, is the simple, common, everyday word for messenger.
Now, there are some people who are confused when they see that word appearing
in the New Testament. They want to elevate everyone who is a messenger to
someone with an official title. So we have to be careful [proper hermeneutics]
to make a distinction between the official Apostles and the simple messengers.
A. The Primary Apostles
There were a few men in the
New Testament who fall into a very special category of Apostles:
a. The Lord Jesus Christ
Hebrews 3:1 says,
"...the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus." He
is the first Messenger -- the first Sent One. He is the APOSTLE!
b.
The Twelve
The Twelve are called
Apostles. There are lists of them in Matthew 10:2-4, Luke 6:13-16. And in Acts 1:25-26 they chose one
to take the place of Judas. The lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with
the eleven Apostles. Here the word messenger takes on a technical meaning.
Before it had a general meaning. Christ gave it a very special technical
meaning; the Twelve gave it a technical meaning as an official title. When
someone says, "Who is an Apostle?" the Twelve are referred to.
You say, "Is that the
limit of its official use?" No. One other man in the New Testament falls
into the category of an official Apostle.
c. Paul
Romans 1:1 says, "Paul,
a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel
of God." Galatians 1:1
says the same thing.
The Twelve and Paul, these
thirteen are the official Apostles. Or to say it another way, only these
thirteen men held the Apostolic office.
B. Their Qualifications
a.
Having been chosen/called directly
by Christ and having witnessed the resurrected Christ (Mark 3:13-14; Acts 1:22–24). Paul was the last to meet
those qualifications (Rom. 1:1; etc.). It is not possible
therefore, as some claim, for there to be apostles in the church today. When
the New Testament was completed, the office of apostle ceased.
b.
An apostle must have been one who could personally
testify to the risen Christ. This was Paul's argument in I Corinthians 9:1
which established his own apostleship: "Have I not seen the Lord?"
This was also one of the requirements stipulated by the eleven for the
replacement of Judas (Acts 1:21-22).
c.
The qualifications of Christ's apostles also included the ability to perform miracles. Jesus Himself gave this power to
the twelve when He commissioned them (Matthew 10:1). Again in defending his
apostleship to the Corinthians Paul mentioned this as something which
identified him as a true apostle: "The signs of a true apostle were done
among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds" (2
Corinthians 12:12).
a. 2 Corinthians 12:12 -- "Truly the signs of a
true apostle were done among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles."
b. Hebrews 2:3-4 -- “For
this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we
do not drift away from it. 2 For if
the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and
disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how
will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first
spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,
4 God also testifying with them,
both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy
Spirit according to His own will.” (see 1 John 1:1-5 and 2 Cor.12:12)
The
primary purpose of miracles has always been to confirm the credentials
of a divinely appointed messenger to establish the credibility of one who
speaks for God, not one who teaches or explains the Word of God.
The
term apostle is used in a more general
sense of other men in the early church, such as Barnabas (Acts 14:4), Silas and Timothy (1 Thess. 2:6), and a few other
outstanding leaders (Rom. 16:7; 2 Cor. 8:23; Phil. 2:25). The true apostles in the second group were called
“messengers (apostoloi) of the churches” (2 Cor. 8:23), whereas the thirteen were apostles of
Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:1; etc.).
C. Their Importance
What was their duty? First John 1:1-3 says, "That which was from the beginning [Christ], which we have
heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled, of the Word of life (For the life was manifested, and we
have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was
with the Father, and was manifested unto us)--That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you...." Who is this collective "we" that John
is talking about? It is the apostles. He is speaking as an apostle, saying that
an apostle is someone who heard and saw
the manifestation of Jesus Christ and declares Him to others.
From
its inception at Pentecost the church has been indebted to the apostles,
through whom Christ established the fullness of New Testament doctrine. Those
uniquely called and empowered men recorded God’s final revelation as He
revealed it to them. (see references above) So the Apostles are still
equipping and perfecting the saints through the word that they left us. (Acts
4:42, cf. Matthew 28:19-20)
Now, the second
foundational office in the New Testament of gifted men is the office of...
B. Prophets
1. The Definition
Who are the prophets? The
Greek word prophetes means "one
who speaks out." We think of a prophet as somebody who says, "Next
year at this time, the Lord will do this…." It actually wasn't until
medieval times that the word prophet even came to be connected with the idea of
prediction in the English language. It was always connected with the idea of
speaking forth. The prophet was someone who gave God a voice in the world.
Prophets
were also appointed by God as specially gifted men, and differ from those
believers who have the gift of prophecy (1 Cor. 12:10). Not all such believers
could be called prophets. It seems that the office of prophet was exclusively
for work within a local congregation, whereas that of apostleship was a much
broader ministry, not confined to any area, as implied in the word apostolos
(“one who is sent on a mission”). Paul, for example, is referred to as a
prophet when he ministered locally in the Antioch church (Acts 13:1), but elsewhere is always called an apostle.
This is an office, not the gift. The office has
passed away, but the gift of proclamation is still here.
As with the apostles the
prophets were distinguished by certain unmistakable marks. The pattern
of these marks of a prophet of God is seen in Moses, God’s first prophet.
Look at Moses’ call in
Exodus 4-6.
a.
A true prophet of
God was appointed/chosen by God. (see also Jeremiah 1:5)
b.
A true prophet of
God was validated by signs, wonders, and miracles. (1 Kings 17;
c.
A true prophet of
God maintained Biblical integrity. (Deuteronomy 13:1-5)
d.
A true prophet of
God was 100% accurate in his prediction/proclamation from/for God. His prophecy
was infallible because of its source but the prophet himself was NOT
infallible. (18:17-21)
e. A true prophet of God is characterized by personal
holiness. (Jeremiah 23:14-16, Matthew 7:15-23)
An Important Note: Jesus Christ was designated an Apostle Hebrews 3:1.
And He is the fulfillment of Moses’ prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15. See John
6:14, Matthew 21:11. So He was also a Prophet. He spoke the words given to Him
by the Father, (John 7:16; 12:49-50; 17:7-8) and He also was confirmed as a
spokesman for God by signs, wonders, and miracles. John 5:36
2. The Difference
You say, "What was the
difference between a prophet and an apostle?" In some cases, there wasn't
a difference. Paul was both. Peter was both. We know Paul was both because Acts
13:1 calls him a prophet, while
everywhere else he is called an apostle. There really isn't much difference
between the two, but there is some. They...
a. Remained in a Local
Ministry
The apostle had a
broad-base ministry to the worldwide church. The prophet had a ministry to a
local congregation. The only time Paul is ever called a prophet was when he was
one of the five pastors at the church at Antioch (Ac.
13:1). The prophet apparently stayed
in a more localized ministry.
b. Spoke Revelation from
God
The prophets were a
distinct, unique group. Their message was revelation from God. In the Old
Testament, the prophet spoke revelation from God. In the pages of the New
Testament, Paul, Peter, John the Baptist, and Agabus, to name a few, spoke
revelation from God (Jn. 3:27-36;
Ac. 2:14-40;
11:27-28; 13:1). They spoke the word of God.
c. Taught Apostles'
Doctrine
Every time they opened
their mouths, it wasn't always revelation. They might preach and proclaim as
did the five pastors in Antioch (Ac.
13:1). Every time they opened their
mouths they didn't predict the future, and every time they opened their mouths
they didn't give revelation. They spoke for God sometimes by direct revelation,
and sometimes based on what they had learned from the Apostles.
3. The Duty
What was the prophets'
function? Their function was to give revelation to a local group of believers.
That is why the pastors at Antioch were called prophets. That is why Agabus had
the very unique ministry of prophecy concerning what was going to happen to the
church in Jerusalem. Acts 15:32
says, "And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the
brethren with many words, and confirmed them." So, they had a ministry of
exhortation as well. "Confirmed them" probably means that they
confirmed their word with miracles.
The
prophets sometimes spoke revelation from God (Acts 11:21–28) and sometimes simply
expounded revelation already given (as implied in Acts 13:1, where they are connected with teachers). They
always spoke for God but did not always give a newly revealed message from God.
The prophets were second to the apostles, and their message was to be judged by
that of the apostles (1 Cor. 14:37). Another distinction
between the two offices may have been that the apostolic message was more
general and doctrinal, whereas that of the prophets was more personal and
practical.
4. The Distinction
A prophet was geared to a
local congregation. First Corinthians 14:29 says, "Let the prophets speak two or three, and
let the others judge." Verse 32 says, "And the spirits of the
prophets are subject to the prophets." There is no indication of Apostles
in Corinth, but there were prophets. This, again, corroborates the idea of a
localized ministry. So, the Apostles had a general, broad, widespread
responsibility; the prophets had a localized responsibility.
a. Regarding Revelation
Revelation given to the
Apostles was doctrinal, revelation given to the prophets was practical. That is
a general distinction. The Apostles
laid the doctrinal basis -- the Word of God, whereas the prophets gave
practical advice to the church. Why? The church was an infant church. They didn't
have the composite Word and needed to extract practical principles. They didn't
know what was coming in the future. They were little babies. The prophets had
the vital ministry of communicating God's truth to them, in order to preserve
the church in its infancy, until such a time as the Word of God was finished
and they had their standards. Once that was accomplished, the Apostles and
prophets ceased to have any purpose.
b. Regarding Subjection
One more distinction is
found in 1 Corinthians 14:37: "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him
acknowledge that the things that I write to you are the commandments of the
Lord." Paul says, "If anyone claims to be a prophet, make sure that
what he says agrees with what the Apostles wrote." So, the prophets were
subject to the Apostles.
The Old Testament prophets
were a temporary group. They were around only until the close of the Old
Testament canon. Then the prophets don't appear in the four-hundred-year period
after the Old Testament. When the New Testament is to be written, prophets
appear again. But as soon as the New Testament is completed, the prophets
disappear again. There aren't any
prophets today because the Word of God gives us all we need.
Remember, the Apostles and
prophets had three functions:
1. Foundation
Ephesians 2:20
says that the church is "built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone." They had the
responsibility of laying the foundation.
2. Revelation
They were God's mouthpiece
to reveal His truth...both doctrinally and practically. Ephesians 3:5 says,
"Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now
revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit."
3. Confirmation
They had gifts and
abilities to do miracles to confirm their revelation.
What can we conclude….
If revelation is complete,
then that part of their function is finished. If that part of their function is
finished, then there is no need for any confirming signs. And if the church
foundation is already laid, it doesn't have to be laid again. So, the ministry of laying the foundation is
gone, the ministry of revelation is gone, and the confirmation of that
revelation is gone. When those ministries ceased, the Apostles and prophets
ceased with them.
