Apostleship
Notes
Transcript
Description
Description
The Church sends apostles from the body to plant churches or be missionaries. Apostles motivate the body to look beyond its walls in order to carry out the Great Commission.
And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, leading, various kinds of tongues.
And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
Definition
Definition
Apostle:
Apostle:
Simple: Apostle is someone or something sent. Comes from the Verb - to send out.
In the NT it never refers to “something sent”, only someone. Most often the word refers to a person sent out as an authorized agent of Jesus, or in the work of missions.
The status of being an envoy of Jesus Christ commissioned directly by Him or by other apostles; normally someone who has been taught directly by Jesus and who is invested with the authority to speak on His behalf.
Matthew 10:1–4 (CSB)
Summoning his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
When daylight came, he summoned his disciples, and he chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles:
Summoning the Twelve, he gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. Then he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
“Take nothing for the road,” he told them, “no staff, no traveling bag, no bread, no money; and don’t take an extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. If they do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and traveled from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing everywhere.
For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ.
Summary of Apostle:
The spiritual gift of apostleship is sometimes confused with the office of Apostle. The office of Apostle was held by a limited number of men chosen by Jesus
including the twelve disciples (Mark 3:13-19) and Paul (Romans 1:1). The requirements for the office of Apostle included being a faithful eyewitness of Jesus’ ministry and His resurrection (Acts 1:21-22; 1 Corinthians 9:1) and being personally called by Jesus (Galatians 1:1). The Apostles were given authority by Jesus to do many different things to establish the church, including writing Scripture and performing miracles (John 14:26, 2 Peter 3:15-16, 2 Corinthians 12:12).
Apostleship:
Apostleship:
Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. For it says:
When he ascended on high,
he took the captives captive;
he gave gifts to people.
But what does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower parts of the earth? The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, to fill all things. And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,
There are no more that hold the office of Apostle today, but the gift of apostleship continues in a different sense.
Jesus gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers at His ascension (Ephesians 4:7-12), and these represent a distinct category of apostles. They do not have the authority to write Scripture as the original Apostles did. They also have a different purpose in the sense of establishing the church – the foundation has already been set.
This Jesus is
the stone rejected by you builders,
which has become the cornerstone.
There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”
The Foundation is laid!
Let’s do a quick look back at Scripture to see if we can figure out what Apostles do, and thereby better understand the Spiritual gift.
And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
Without going to deep:
Apostle - Question
Prophets - Proclaim a message to God’s people. The basic ministry of the prophet was to instruct and encourage the people in the local congregation.
evangelist - Works to reach NEW people
pastors and teachers - Help the church grow in maturity.
Interesting the order!
All of those other people work within the local church. So what does someone with the Spiritual Gift of Apostleship do?
Plant churches! They go forth into new places and plant the seed that will become a new group of believers!
The mission for those with the gift of apostleship today is to plant new ministries and churches, go into places where the Gospel is not preached, reach across cultures to establish churches in challenging environments, raise up and develop leaders, call out and lead pastors and shepherds, and much more.
They often have many different gifts that allow them to fulfill their ministry. These are leaders of leaders and ministers of ministers. They are influencers.
They are typically entrepreneurial and are able to take risks and perform difficult tasks.
Missionaries, church planters, certain Christian scholars and institutional leaders, and those leading multiple ministries or churches often have the gift of apostleship. See also Ephesians 4:11, I Corinthians 12:28, Acts 1:21-22, 1 Corinthians 9:1.
