The Office of the Apostle and The Gift of the Apostle

Wednesday, August 7, 2019 Spiritual Gifts: The Making of a Team Part 15 Rev. DJ Breden The Gift Of The Apostleship 1. Description of the gift: a. The gift of Apostle: the special ability that God gives to certain members of the body of Christ which enables them to assume and exercise helpful leadership over a number of churches in spiritual matters which is _________________________ recognized and appreciated by those churches. It is also regarded as a gift that gives the believer the courage and the urgency to express faith in settings where the Gospel is rarely heard. Apostles have a special calling - they are selected by Christ and sent out with a unique commission and divine credentials to act and speak authoritatively on his behalf. These people are called to lead, inspire and develop the Churches of God by the proclamation and the teaching of true doctrine. b. Only the Original 12 were considered apostles??? c. ______________________________ was considered an apostle (1 Cor. 15:7-8). d. Many others were called “apostles” in the New testament: James, the Lord’s brother (Gal. 1:19); Barnabas (Acts 14:4,14); Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25); Silas and Timothy (1 Thess. 1:1, 2:6); Andronicus and Junia (Rom. 16:7). A number of other references are made to the “other brothers” who are clearly acting as apostles in various passages in both letters to the Corinthians. e. A person given the gift of apostle will feel an ___________________ to be a builder of churches for Christ and will most likely be drawn to the ordained ministry, but the building of churches is not the exclusive domain of ordained clergy. Anyone exercising this gift will be involved in starting and strengthening churches or in reaching out to those who may have little other access to the Gospel f. Although the __________________ of Apostle doesn’t exist the ______________ is still at work in the life of believers 2. Scriptures a) 1 Cor. 12:28 In the church God has put all in place: in the first place apostles, in the second place prophets, and in the third place teachers; then those who perform miracles, followed by those who are given the power to heal or to help others or to direct them or to speak in strange tongues. b) Acts 14:21-23New King James Version (NKJV) 21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” 23 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. c) Romans 1:14- 16 – For I have an obligation to all peoples, to the civilized and to the savage, to the educated and to the ignorant. So then, I am eager to preach the Good News to you who live in Rome. 3. Assemblies of God Position on Apostles a) Does the Assemblies of God recognize present-day apostles? (1) The Assemblies of God recognizes ministers as certified, licensed, or ordained. The work of district councils and the General Council is overseen by presbyters and superintendents. Local churches appoint deacons. The Assemblies of God believes this practice is consistent with apostolic practice provided in the pastoral letters of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. The pastoral letters do not make ___________________ for the appointment of apostles. (2) Within the Assemblies of God, persons are not recognized by the title of apostle or prophet. However, many within the church exercise the ministry function of apostles and prophets. Apostolic functions usually occur within the context of breaking new ground in un-evangelized areas or among unreached people. The planting of over 225,000 churches worldwide since 1914 in the Assemblies of God could not have been accomplished unless _______________________ functions had been present. b) The Marks of an Apostle c) Striving to protect the Corinthians from the seduction of “____________________, “ Paul pointed out characteristics (semeion, “sign,” 2 Corinthians 12:12) that identified a genuine apostle. From that context and the larger New Testament background, the following are apparent: (1) The first and most important mark of true apostles of Christ was that they had seen the risen Lord and been personally commissioned by Him as witnesses to His resurrection (Acts 1:21,22; 1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:7,8). They were thus appropriately called “apostles of Christ.” (2) The personal call and commission of the risen Christ had to be consummated in the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1–4 [for Paul, see Acts 9:1–17]), at which time the spiritual gift, or charisma, of apostleship was granted. This understanding is reflected, for example, in Paul’s statements: “It was he who gave some to be apostles . . . ” (Ephesians 4:11) and “I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power” (Ephesians 3:7). The Spirit with His power and anointing set apostles first among the leaders of the church (1 Corinthians 12:28). (3) Apostles were __________________________equipped for prophetic preaching and teaching. To illustrate, when the Spirit fell at Pentecost, the disciples spoke “in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:4). Confronted with the confused and contradictory opinions of the watching crowd, Peter “stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed” them (2:14) in a masterful explanation resulting in 3,000 conversions. The Greek verb apophthengomai is used to denote prophetic inspiration, which in this context is the immediate result of the Spirit’s enablement.15 Paul reflected much of the same awareness: “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:4). d) The apostles were the _________________________ teachers of the Early Church in both belief and practice. They were charged above all with the accuracy and purity of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Paul wrote, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4; cf. Acts 2:42; Romans 16:17; Galatians 1:8; Titus 1:9). The intent of their preaching and teaching is expressed in Ephesians 4:12,13: “so that the body of Christ may be built up . . . and become mature.” The apostolic doctrine became the content of the New Testament canon. The apostles were understood either to have written the canonical books or to have been the primary sources and guarantors of their inspired character. e) Apostles were commissioned as______________________ and church builders. Those the New Testament speaks about did this successfully. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16–20) was given specifically to the Eleven, perhaps in the company of the “more than five hundred” (1 Corinthians 15:6). The missionary impulse breathes through the accounts of apostolic commissioning (cf. Luke 24:47; John 20:21; Acts 1:8; 9:15; 22:15; 26:17,18; Galatians 1:15–17; et al.). f) _________________________ for Christ’s sake seems to have been a major mark of the apostolic office. Paul validated his ministry and armed the Corinthian church against the seduction of false apostles with a lengthy personal history of sufferings on behalf of the gospel. “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body which is the church” (Colossians 1:24). g) Apostles were _______________________ and ____________________. Paul’s love for his parishioners and his ministry associates flows through his letters. The warm and extended greetings at the conclusion of Romans are striking (16:1–16). He repeatedly uses parenting language (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:15; 2 Corinthians 12:14,15). On behalf of the Corinthians, he is “jealous . . . with a godly jealousy” (2 Corinthians 11:2). To the Thessalonians, Paul wrote that he loved and cared for them gently as “a mother caring for her little children” (1 Thessalonians 2:7). The language in the letters of Peter (1 Peter 4:12; 2 Peter 3:1, NRSV) and John (1 John 2:7, NRSV, et al.) emphasizes the same pastoral instincts. 4. Determining the Gift in Your Personal Life a) Do you have a sense that Christ has ___________________ you to build up his church? b) Is there within you an ____________________ to take the Gospel to settings where it is rarely heard? c) Are you compelled to find new ways of communicating God’s love to people that have not been reached by traditional means? d) Do you feel that God is ____________________you out on a mission to reach a people in need of hearing the Gospel? 5. Growing Your Gift a) The roots of the word “apostle” reveal the full meaning of this gift: “stello” means “to send” and “apo” means “off from;” thus an apostle is sent off someplace to speak for Christ. A good place to begin understanding how this gift might be applied in your life might be to ____________________ just where God might be urging you to go - in the language of the Shepherd, what sheep to feed. Prayer will be the chief means for this enlightenment. b) Any call into the ordained ministry will need to be met with consideration for theological training in a seminary or in a special instructional program (such as a ____________________________). c) Read and study about the structure of the church and learn about the dynamics within congregations to better understand what is involved in building and growing a healthy body of Christ. 6. Growing Your Gift i) Look for ways to improve your ability to express your faith. You will need to tell both the Gospel story as it is found in scripture and your own Gospel story, witnessing to Christ in your own life. Listen to audio and video accounts by other Gospel storytellers, not in an effort to copy their style, but to sense their passion and build courage watching their joy in delivering the message. Your own story, in your own style, delivered from the heart will become God’s_______________________ from within to reach those he wants to touch. ii) Within the church: 1. Give your _______________________________ 2. Within the wider community: ▪ take the Gospel message to those who cannot come to ______________________ - the sick, the lonely and those in prison