Dear One,
The ministry of an apostle is one of the key ministries in the whole body of Christ. They are sent ones, with a specific commission to fulfil. There were OT apostles (Luke 11:49) and there were and are women apostles (Romans 16:7). Apostles are called to an extremely hard life, and much is demanded of them. Like being a prophet, if you knew what was involved in being one, you would never want that calling. You and I may not be apostles (or maybe we are!), but there are apostles among us, and we need to recognize them, support them, and encourage them. Amen?
Love you! KRP
APOSTLE NOTES
…for I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake…1 Cor. 4:9 NKJV
We want to look at two great sections of the Word dealing with and addressed to apostles – Jesus’ discourse at the commissioning of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb in Matthew Ten, and Paul’s defense of his apostleship in 1 Corinthians Nine. So please, grab a cup of coffee and settle in…
10 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these…
First, they were disciples, then they were commissioned as apostles. There is an order here that you must be rooted and grounded as a disciple before you can be commissioned to a ministry. If you aren’t discipled, then it is possible that you can be disqualified from the ministry of an apostle, or indeed any ministry, as we shall see. Paul was a bondservant first, then called to be an apostle (Romans 1:1).
5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
See? A very specific calling. As they are faithful to this calling, then later after His resurrection He sends them to the world (Mt.28:19,20). As you are faithful in what you are called to do now, then you are positioned for the Lord to promote and release you into a greater calling later. Bloom where you are planted!
7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.
He says to go and preach God’s Word regarding Me as the Messiah and demonstrate the power of My presence here in Israel. There was a point in Jesus’ ministry where Israel could have accepted Him as the Messiah. The first two phases of Jesus’ ministry involved the proclamation of the Kingdom and the proclamation of the King which, unfortunately were followed by the rejection of the King and the rejection of the Kingdom – at His passion, the chief priests shouted, “We have no king but Caesar!” (Jn 19:15). The apostle’s calling today is to preach the resurrected Christ and demonstrate the power of His resurrection. He also says that He is going to provide for their needs. Most of us have God meet our needs by getting us a job, but we will see when we get to 1 Corinthians Nine that the needs of the apostles are to be supplied by the Church so that they can minister without distraction.
11 “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. 12 And when you go into a household, greet it. 13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!
The greeting, as my friend Henry has pointed out, was a conversation, first with cultural courtesies but then with extended conversation usually over a meal. It had more of a formal construction rather than a few casual words. In that greeting then you discerned the hearts of others and whether they were a blessing to be associated with, and you acted accordingly. It’s interesting to note that even cities and perhaps nations will be judged by how they receive apostles. The Lord has your back, dear apostles!
Now this is where things get serious…
16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. 18 You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
The apostles are compared to three animals – sheep, serpents and doves – sheep because sheep are practically blind, but they have great hearing and they discern the voice of their Master, serpents because they never get cornered, always with a way to escape (1Cor.10:13) and doves because they have no gall bladder, no bitterness. How do you feel about suffering? Apostles have the grace to rejoice in suffering for His name (Acts 5:41). Are you sure you want to be one of these guys?
Finally, apostles are called to speak in God’s name to the governors and kings of this world with Kingdom authority. Holy Spirit promises to give them the words to speak, and He does! We use this verse among others to teach the general gift of prophecy, but in specific application this is to the ministry of apostles as they confront world leaders.
21 “Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Apostles will be hated by all for His name’s sake. The devil hates those with greater authority than he has. He must fight them, because they ‘rock the boat,’ they bring down his kingdom. This is why Paul said to the Thessalonians to encircle him and his team in prayer (1Th.5:25 ‘for’ means to ‘encircle’). Salvation under the gospel administration required them to remain faithful, but today after Pentecost it is an immutable gift to those who receive. ‘Before the Son of Man comes’ is shared in light of that hopeful season where Israel could have accepted Jesus as Messiah. Had they accepted Him, then He would have come to all Israel. But they didn’t…so that time is still in the future.
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! 26 Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Apostles are tempted with fear, with cowardice, because of the withering assault that comes against them, but Jesus says three times, Do Not Fear. If they throw you in the fiery furnace, the Fourth Man will be there. The Lord fights for His sons and daughters. Apostles are of more value than many sparrows. Our fear, our reverence, our worship and our fidelity is only to One, our ABBA, our Father God.
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. 34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
These are words rich with commitment. Peter said, “We have left all and followed You…” (Mt.19:27). This is what’s required of an apostle. Jesus didn’t expect every believer to leave all to follow Him. He would have had thousands literally following Him daily if that were true. This is one reason why the apostle is a hard calling. By the way, I believe the apostles become the ‘sword’ of the Lord through which He sets a man against his father, etc. The apostles preach the Word; and the sword of the Spirit separates the wheat from the chaff. Apostles – hard but tender men and women!
40 “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” Matt 10:1-42 NKJV
When we receive apostles, it’s like receiving Jesus and ABBA. ABBA rewards us for taking care of His apostles. Apostles desperately need to be loved by the Church because they are hated by the world. They need to be supported, prayed for, lifted up and encouraged, because for real apostles the world outside is many times like hell, and they march into hell for a heavenly cause – to find you and I!
But Paul shows us that many times apostles are even rejected by the Church!
Please get your second cup of fresh hot deliciousness and let’s see what happened to Paul…
Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2 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.
Heartbreaking, isn’t it? That the man of God must defend his apostleship even to those he won to the Lord! But you must play the hand you are dealt. EROTESIS is the figure of speech where it is the asking of questions with an implied answer, much like a rhetorical question.
3 My defense to those who examine me is this: 4 Do we have no right to eat and drink? 5 Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? 7 Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?
The enemy’s strategy is this – if you can’t discredit the message, then discredit the messenger. They attack Paul’s personal conduct and imply evil without evidence. But in the court of public opinion, which is what this is all about, evidence isn’t necessary…only accusations, then you encourage people to use their imagination. All the sudden then apostles aren’t received like receiving Jesus, and the whole church suffers. If you attack a man’s character successfully, then what happens? The money, the prayers, the support, stop. The apostle’s ministry collapses…
8 Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about? 10 Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. 11 If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? 12 If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more?
Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. 13 Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? 14 Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.
15 But I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me; for it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void. 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel.
Paul says in effect, “I have the right to receive your financial support, but if in your weakness you make money an issue, then I will refrain from my right in order to keep you in the family.” That’s love! That’s sacrifice! That is the ministry of an apostle…
19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 20 and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 22 to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.
The apostle makes himself a servant to all, like Jesus who said He didn’t come to be served but to serve. I have a wonderful friend named Joe who to me is an excellent example of an apostle. Joe is full of joy and always available. I’ve never called him except he picks up the phone by the second ring joyfully, except if he is under the house fixing a pipe for someone. Joe has learned to reach Muslims by ‘becoming’ a Muslim, using their own holy book to convince them of Jesus. He’s learned to reach Afghanis, Pakistanis, Rwandese, and hillbillies; and with his beard he can pass for a tribal elder. He reminds me of my spiritual father, apostle Dr. Jack Tuls, who loved everyone and easily made friends wherever he went…
Finally, Paul spells out the discipline and drive of the apostle, and why they persevere in the face of all the hatred, anger and opposition. Without that discipline and drive, the apostle may be disqualified from the glorious crown that the Lord has for him in heaven, because to whom much is given, much is required. Don’t you see it?
24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. 1 Cor 9:1-27 NKJV
Apostles are among us, dear ones, and they need to be received and loved and treasured because when you receive a true apostle, you are receiving Jesus and ABBA. Amen? Love you!
Remember dear one, we must be about our Father’s business…