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May 2009 Newsletter

APOSTLES TODAY

What is an Apostle?

To understand what is an apostle , we need to first of all understand or 'consider' the apostle, Jesus Christ. Hebrews 3:1 says Therefore holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus Christ." As the apostle, Jesus is building the house of God, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.  v6.

Literally the Greek word apostolos means 'a sent one'. Jesus is the 'sent one' of God. An apostle is sent by someone. The first twelve were sent by Jesus (Jn.17:18). We need to note that the word 'sent' in John 17:18 and in a number of other verses, is the Greek word, apostello, which means to send, to send as a delegate or to set at liberty. An apostle is sent by someone and is meant to represent that one. Jesus was sent by the Father and represented the Father, that is, He made the Father known to men. Whoever received Jesus received the Father (Jn.14:9-10a). In Matthew 10:40 Jesus told the apostles when He was first sending them out, Whoever receives you receives Me and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent me .

In fact when one begins to look for apostle(s) in the New Testament, we find that they are talked about everywhere. It is very surprising that in the church that we are a part of, we mostly only hear of pastors. We do not hear of apostles; we are told that there are no apostles today; yet we automatically assume that there are pastors today. By what authority do we make such decisions? In the New Testament, apostles are referred to many times and at least 26 people are called apostles, and it seems that others are referred to. There are no direct references to pastors except in Ephesians.4:11 He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers". No one person is actually called a pastor.

 

Apostles mentioned by name

The twelve apostles of the Lamb, Matthias replacing Judas.

The twelve in Matt.10:2-4; Matthias in Acts 1:26;

 

Other apostles given by Christ in His ascension Eph.4:11

Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13:2 &14:14;

Andronicus and Junia [and other apostles referred to] in Rom.16:7;

Apollos by inference in 1Cor.1:12 & 4:6; Apollos is spoken of along with Paul & Peter

Titus in 2Cor.8:23, - messenger in KJV is literally apostle.

James, the brother of the Lord in Gal.1:19; The brothers of the Lord in 1Cor.9:5 - they are named in Mark6:3 to be James, Joses, Judas, Simon;

Epaphroditus in Phil.2:25  messenger in KJV is literally apostle, same Greek word apostolos.

Silvanus and Timothy in 1Thess1:1 & 2:6

 

Who sent Paul as an apostle?

Acts 13:2-3 says the Holy Spirit told the leaders at the church in Antioch to separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit & . In Acts 14:4 & 14, Barnabas and Saul, now called Paul, are identified as apostles. They are not apostles of the Lamb (Rev.21:14). There can only ever be 12 of them, and Matthias (Acts 1:25-26) replaced Judas to be the twelfth apostle.

So what sort of apostles are Paul and Barnabas and others referred to in the New Testament? They are apostles according to the ascension gift ministries given by Jesus when He ascended (Eph.4:7-12). Note that the gift ministry of apostle was finally released to the twelve by the Spirit after Jesus had ascended - they were empowered by the gift on the day of Pentecost, but the twelve are always unique because they had been with Jesus from the baptism of John to the time when He was taken up .

 

What is the task of the Apostle?

It has already been mentioned that the task is firstly to represent and to make the sender known. The mission or task of an apostle is then to build the house of God. Jesus declared in Matthew 16:18 that He would build the church. He had already appointed the twelve apostles and it was by training them and preparing them that Jesus knew that the church would be founded according to His will. Then in His ascension He gave the five-fold ministries to build on His behalf.

Paul tells us in 1Corinthians 3:10-11 that as an apostle he is a wise master builder  who is able to lay the right foundation - which is Christ Jesus - and to set the building plan in place so that other ministries can build on that right foundation. The foundational role of the apostles is confirmed in Ephesians 2:19-22 where Paul says that the house of God is built on the foundation of apostles and prophets. Even though the church has ignored the ministries of apostle and prophet for centuries, the Scripture is clear that they are necessary foundation ministries for the building of the church.

 

What is the grace of an apostle?

To be a father

Firstly the apostle is to be a father, bringing up the children to be sons. In 1Corinthians 4:14-16, Paul talks to the Corinthian church as my beloved children . He said You might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel .

Paul writes to the Galatians in a similar way. My little children, for whom I labour in birth again until Christ is formed in you  Gal.4:19. The Galatians are already saved and Paul was the one who preached to them. As an apostle Paul took responsibility to bring up the ones he brought to Christ. He was a father to them and he was concerned that they would grow to maturity in Christ.

Are apostles the only ones to be fathers in the body of Christ? No! All mature ones are to be as fathers, but one of the manifestations of apostolic grace is the fathering spirit.

 

To bring forth revelation

Secondly the grace on the apostle is to bring forth revelation, to make known the mystery (Eph.3:2-8). Paul talks about the grace that God gave him to understand and to explain the mystery of Christ and His church. He refers to this again in Colossians 1:25 I became a minister according to the stewardship which was given to me from God for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery ... . How the church needs accurate preaching and teaching of the word today! How we need the exposition of the Scriptures, not the opinions and concepts of men! How we need the deeper wisdom, the mystery, which God ordained before the ages for our glory  1Cor.2:7.

 

To be a master builder

Thirdly the grace on the apostle enables the apostle to be a master builder (1Cor.3:10); to have the vision to build the church and to facilitate the other ministries to work together to bring the church to maturity (Eph.4:12-13). As we return to the New Testament pattern of ministry, making disciples rather than building churches; as we follow the apostolic example of the apostles and brethren in the Scriptures we will become a pattern for others to follow  (Phil.3:17).

 

To recognise the calling of others to ministry

Fourthly the grace of the apostle is to discern and recognise the calling upon individuals' lives to become ministers; to raise them up in the ministry; and finally to send them out to do the work of the ministry. Timothy in the Scripture is a marvelous example of this. It is recorded in Acts 16 that Timothy was a disciple "well spoken of by the brethren" (v3). Paul wanted Timothy to go with him, and he did. Paul trained Timothy for the ministry and in due time was able to send Timothy out in ministry as a beloved and faithful son in the Lord  (1Cor.4:15). Even when Timothy is operating autonomously in ministry, Paul writes to him, exhorting him to stir up the gift that is in you .

 

To love the church

Fifthly, the grace of the apostle is to love the body of Christ. Paul loved the church dearly. He said to the Corinthians "My affection toward you has not changed". In another place he talks of the all-consuming burden of the churches that he carried.

 

The reality of Apostleship!

The word apostleship is used four times in the New Testament. It is the Greek word apostole. This word means 'commission'. We call the instructions that Jesus gave to the apostles in Matthew 28:19-20 the Great Commission. The Great Commission is to go to nations to make disciples. Notice that in the making of disciples, bringing them to faith and baptism is only the first part of discipleship; and yet, worldwide, the church only concentrates on "getting people saved" so they can go to heaven and fails to teach them the word of God so that they can be effective disciples in the world, demonstrating the reality of Christ and His kingdom.

1) Apostleship is mentioned in Acts 1:25, and refers specifically to one of the disciples becoming the 'twelfth apostle of the Lamb'; in general apostleship here refers to the specific calling of a person to be an apostle. Two men qualified to become the twelfth apostle but one was chosen - this was his predestination based on God's calling and choice, not on man's qualifications or choosing.

 

2) Apostleship is mentioned in Romans 1:5, and here Paul tells us that grace and apostleship  are the means whereby nations are brought to the obedience of faith . Grace and apostleship are the means God gives to fulfill the Great Commission. The Great Commission is to make disciples of all nations. We can have a vision to reach a certain people or to plant so many churches, but God has commissioned us to reach all nations by making disciples and it is the grace He gives and the gift and ministry of apostleship that enables us to reach whole nations. This is done not primarily by preaching the gospel nor planting churches but by making disciples, which includes preaching, baptizing and teaching. Making disciples is the means to multiplication, and thus fulfilling the Great Commission.

That is a very powerful statement as to how to reach nations. In our ministry to the nations as the teams go out from SHILOH, we are seeing nations being reached. An example of this has taken place in Kenya. A brother who was the presiding bishop of the largest Pentecostal denomination [4000 churches] in that nation, came to Australia in late 2006. In Australia he met some disciples who gave him some of my teaching material that opens up the apostles' doctrine. When I went to Kenya in 07, he asked to come and teach his pastors the apostles' doctrine. We did this as a team in a small way in 2007 and then in 2008 I spent two and a half weeks serving with the bishop in a number of seminars for pastors of that denomination. The leader of another denomination in Kenya [2700 pastors] is a personal friend who has received revelation of the apostolic and openly makes teaching available to the pastors of that denomination. It is not a Pentecostal denomination.

 

3) Apostleship is mentioned in 1Corinthians 9:2, You are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord . This refers to the home-based fruit of the individual apostle. Paul is saying that the Corinthians are the proof of his apostleship. Each apostle who is truly ministering as an apostle will be able to develop a home base or a number of churches who are the fruit of the ministry and thereby the certification of apostleship. An apostle or apostles or an apostolic delegate such as Barnabas in Acts 11 being sent to the new church in Antioch (v22), are then sent out from the base. There needs to be someone to send an a base to be sent from! Apostleship is much more than being a successful itinerant minister.

 

4) Apostleship is mentioned in Galatians 2:8 and here it refers to the sphere of ministry of particular apostles. Peter was recognised as the one responsible to take the gospel to the 'circumcised', and Paul to the 'uncircumcised'. These were very large spheres of responsibility and we know that many other apostles were involved in both spheres. Thomas, one of the twelve, took the gospel to India. Recently we were ministering in India and found that the legacy of Thomas is still a reality today.

 

It is important to understand apostles, the ministry of an apostle and apostleship in these days of restoration. Many are called apostles or are calling themselves apostles in these days. Many are asking how do we know who is an apostle? I trust this short teaching helps us recognize and receive the ministry gift of the apostle.                                                           Paul Galligan

 

CALENDAR

Please note date change for May community weekend

May: Fri 8^th  Worship and waiting on Holy Spirit 7pm

           Sat. 9^th  Training day at SHILOH: sessions  10.30-12.30; 1.30  4pm

           Sun. 10^th  COMMUNITY SUNDAY at SHILOH  9.30am Teaching

                 10.30am Worship/Communion/Preaching followed by fellowship lunch

May  June:

Africa Trip  Team  Paul, Janet, Nick and Don Pitkin, depart 4^th May for Ghana & Liberia; travel to Kenya on 18^th May. Seminars in Kenya, Uganda & Tanzania. Robyn Wright joins team on 20^th in Kenya. We all arrive home 10^th June.

 

June: Fri 12^th, 13th & 14^th  Program as per May.

 

MID YEAR TRAINING SCHOOL SHILOH SCHOOL OF MINISTRY

Monday 29^th June  Saturday 18^th July 2009 [three weeks]

Venue: SHILOH CENTRE, 19 Russell St TOOWOOMBA QLD 4350

For Pastors, Leaders and those called to minister in the body of Christ

The length of the school is three weeks. We plan to start each day at 10am with prayer & worship. There will be three teaching sessions per day, finishing at 4pm. We want to promote the opportunity for fellowship amongst the attendees which can happen freely in homes in the evenings.

 

TRAINING SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN & YOUTH, ages 4 to 13

Monday 6^th July to Friday 10^th July