The Sent Ones

God does not desire His people to flounder about trying to figure things out on their own. He has given us His Word that reveals His will, nature, character, purpose and plan. The Apostle Peter tells us, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." (2 Peter 1:2-4) The word "knowledge" is a Greek word defined in English as "precise and correct knowledge."

However, this "precise and correct knowledge" does not arise from human intellect. It comes by way of the Holy Spirit, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." (John 16:13) The Apostles and Elders who convened in Jerusalem over the issue of circumcision for Gentiles, was settled by the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:28) and not the opinions, prejudices or intellect of the men of God who were present. Unfortunately, in many sectors of the church is it said that the gift ministries of apostle and prophet are no longer be needed and they have no place or function in the church today. However, in taking a close examination of the scriptures, we will discover what the it says concerning the validity and necessity of these two important gift ministries for church, not only at its beginning, but also for today. We also will discover that there is no scriptural bases for their termination. So, let us look at what the Bible says concerning the function and benefits of the gift ministry of the apostle and the importance of this gift ministry for the Body of Christ until Jesus returns.

"I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars." (Revelation 2:2) First we are to test those who say they are apostles with the Word of God. With that said, there are five characteristics, qualifications or marks revealed in scripture that are the litmus test for those who are apostles. The first thing that will separate the ministry of the apostle from other ministries is, it is marked by signs, wonders and miracles, "Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds." (2 Corinthians 12:12)  The initial sending of Jesus' twelve disciples, which Jesus named apostles, (Luke 6:13), included the commission to "heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out demons." (Matthew 10:8)  There must be this kind of supernatural attestation to the Word of God in the ministry of the apostle.While the apostle is not the only ministry that produces signs, wonder, and miracles, a claim of apostolic ministry is certainly put to the test by this mark.

The second mark of an apostle is, God will reveals this gift ministry to independent witnesses. Every divine fact that the Lord wishes to establish to the Church is validated on the basis of two or three independent witnesses. "Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." (Acts 13:1-2)  It is clear from the language of this passage that Paul and Barnabas already knew their calling as apostles. The Holy Spirit said to the other three men present (independent witnesses) that He had called Paul and Barnabas to the work of the apostle. 

The third qualification is one of the easiest characteristics to identify in the apostolic ministry. God gives apostles other ministers to work with them in team ministry under their authority. One example of this,  "And Sopater of Berea accompanied Paul to Asia, also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia." (Acts 20:4) Whenever you find the ministry of apostle, you should find individuals like the men mentioned here and others whom God is training in ministry by means of the apostle. The apostle will always have individuals God has given to him to train. He will have young prophets, teachers, evangelists, and pastors to encourage and prepare for greater ministry than his own. God will call some of them into apostolic ministry as well. True apostles will allow this to happen. False or immature apostles will resist others growing in their own callings.

The fourth characteristic of and apostle is the seal of apostleship. "If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 9:2) The seal of apostleship, coupled with the three characteristics and qualifications above, puts the immature apostle and the pretender to apostleship apart from the true manifestation of this gift. While an individual may have the calling of an apostle, the Church at large should not recognize or honor him as an apostle until he has the seal of apostleship. This seal is to have fully functioning churches under his authority. These churches will be ruled by elders appointed by the apostle who continue to
recognize his authority even as he proceeds to plant other churches in other locations. One thought to add to this is, there are many persons who pioneer a church apparently successfully and with God's grace. However, this does not necessarily make them apostles without fulfilling all the biblical criteria of an apostle.  

The fifth characteristic of apostolic ministry is easily overlooked and for many misunderstood by the Church. The Church seems to believe that ministries that are unopposed and accepted must be blessed, and that ministries that are opposed by others must have something wrong with them. Quite the contrary is true. Those ministries that lead the way in power and renewal will also find great opposition from the enemy. Apostolic ministry can be identified by the amount of opposition it receives. Given the fulfillment of the previous four characteristics listed hereon, how can we not expect serious demonic warfare against the apostle? The apostle seeking to fulfill his ministry calling will encounter demonic opposition in different forms. "For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries." (1 Corinthians 16:9) 

The enemy will seek to overwhelm the apostle before he even gets started. Nevertheless, the apostle will be given all he needs to defend himself and those associated with him. He will successfully bring the battle back to the enemy. The apostle must be experienced in personal spiritual warfare because the enemy will try to launch attacks in a variety of ways. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (Ephesians 6:10-13)

Serious attacks will come in the form of accusations. "...for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down." (Revelation 12:10) This tactic is used against all of God's servants, and particularly the apostle. If the enemy can get the church to believe his lies about an apostle then he can also prevent the local church from becoming what it should be. 
The enemy has been extremely successful in his attempts to convince many that the gift ministry of apostle is nonexistent today. 

Therefore, the Church must be willing to test apostolic claims. The five identifiable features of the apostolic ministry as we have seen revealed in scripture are the litmus test to prove or disprove the validity of this gift ministry. We must get past the intellectual conclusions of faithless teachers and accept the truth of God's Word concerning the importance of the gift ministry of apostle as being as valid today as it was under the earth ministry of Jesus and the early church. If we carefully study the scriptures we will find that in addition to the original twelve apostles, there are at least twelve more apostles, although some of these are hidden by inconsistent translations in English New Testament versions. I pray that the LORD open our hearts to see His truth so that He can build His church as He sees fit. As Peter said, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."