In building the Church, Christ is described as the
first Apostle. Did that mean He was the
only Apostle? No, he even named the
twelve as Apostles. Does that mean the
Twelve disciples were the only Apostles?
No, because the Lord called, and sent another, named Paul. When Paul was describing the GIFTS Christ gave to the church, he
listed five ministries, of which we are somehow eager to throw away one,
possibly two, but we’re willing to keep the three that we can fulfill in our
own strength. So, here we are in this
modern church age, dealing with the issue of whether the Apostolic is needed
today. So, to keep this blog safe for
children, we’ll talk about Jesus being our Apostle. At least, that’s what we talked about this morning.
Let’s begin with how Jesus is the first Apostle. In Hebrews 3:1, the author asks us to
consider the Apostle, and High Priest of our faith. (Dave’s paraphrase) We look at him for a reason; to discover the
power of being a faithful servant.
It is in the position of Apostle, that our Lord is able to
bless us. He brings the Kingdom to us.
It is in His authority as a messenger from the heavenly Kingdom that we are
able to lay hold of the promises of the sovereign God. It is because of His faithfulness, that we
are able to lay hold of faithfulness.
It is because of His victory over sin, that we have victory over
sin. It is because he is the author of
life, and light, that we are given the same to shed abroad. Because He is righteous, we are
righteous. Because He is alive, we are
alive. Our Apostle, the one who
appointed Apostles, has, and still is giving Apostles to the Church today so that we can be faithful servants (mature.)
“So what?” you might ask.
HERE’S WHAT! We live
in the favor of God. In submission to
Christ, our greatest strength is in what we gain from Him. I can go to the finest Christian University,
take all the theological courses, and graduate with highest honors, but it is
all useless if I rely on what is in me.
John chapter 15 makes that abundantly clear. Christ chose the most uneducated, most cantankerous,
ornery, and stubborn men he could find, infused them with the power of the Holy
Spirit, and set them as examples for us to emulate. Even as he spoke to them that night before his death, they were
still arguing over who would be the greatest.
Yet, in the midst of their ‘human’ nature, He revealed to them their
need for what he could give them. He
pointed them to another source of strength that would empower them to be LIKE
Him. You see, this ‘vine’ of John 15,
is the source of the branches, but the branches give life to the vine. The fruit of the vine, is what nourishes
others. The vine doesn’t eat it’s own
fruit. The fruit is for others. The Apostolic anointing will always be about
others. What was God’s business for
Christ, is our business today. Healing, deliverance, compassion, love, justice,
hope, life, truth, goodness, patience, words of life, words of joy, words of
peace, these are all fruit that we should be producing. These things haven’t changed from the
beginning. So, what is the big deal about the Apostolic? Why do those who claim to live within its
anointing make an issue of it? Aren’t
we simply talking about living as Christ lived? What is so important about the Apostolic? This are questions we are going to answer,
but for right now, I don’t want to limit ANY expression of the divine nature
that is at work in me. The infilling,
or baptism in the Holy Spirit doesn’t make us perfect. If it did, the Apostle Paul wouldn’t have
had run ins with James, and Peter. If
the Apostolic anointing meant that the Apostle was perfect, then Paul wouldn’t
have had a set to with John Mark. To
bring this into our present day, the Apostolic doesn’t guarantee the Apostle
will behave any better or worse.
The other day, I stumbled upon a website that was trying to
use moral failures as proof that the modern apostles were fakes. As I read through their laundry list, I
wondered where the list of fallen preachers from old world denominations
was. Then I was slapped by the Holy Spirit
and brought back to reality. It is
‘MEN’ who lift men up, and make them into something they are not. While I am no longer a sinner, I am saved by
grace. My eyes are ever fixed on the
Christ of my salvation, and while “I” may stumble and fall, He who lives within
me, the Apostle of my faith, the messenger of my salvation, the one who said I
would do greater things than He, the one who left me with HIS Spirit to live
inside me, the one who calls me to live for Him, has assured me that he will
keep me to the day when I would be given a room in His house.
No comments:
Post a Comment