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Do You Really Know Your Apostles?

by Dr. Henderson Ward  
10/03/2014 / Christian Living

Today in Christendom, we have a very strange phenomena where certain assemblies are calling their leader "Apostle" and sometimes the title is self conferred; in much the same way as a radio station calling itself "The newsroom of the world" or a television station "The Home of News".

The truth is that pretentious titles do not confer the intended respectability and prestige that so many covet. That is because "titles" should at least have some bearing on reality, they should be more than just a devious public relations gimmick for organisations, or more than an ambitious label for covetous, ego-driven individuals.

In religion, especially in my area of prime interest, i.e., Christianity, we have such a massive abuse of honourable titles that many of us are truly sick of it.

The greatest pride, and therefore the most damning bugbear of the modern clergy, is the striving to elevate humans to the rank of God.

Theologically, this treats to the belief of Gnosticism; the notion that we can elevate ourselves to the realm of the eternal Deity through knowledge (and hence no need of Jesus and salvation).

It goes without saying that Gnosticism, which has many forms, was given the deadly boot by the early church; especially by Paul (for example in Colossians 2:8-9 and Philippians 2:5-10) and John (e.g. John 1:1-18 and 2 John 1:7-11).

Humans have always wanted to be like God, and that was the driving force why the devil was able to fool Eve, "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods..." (Genesis 3:5). Eve wanted to be as God and tried to elevate herself by an act of willful disobedience; modern clergy are following in Eve's footsteps by acquiring inappropriate, pompous titles.

Take the title of HOLY FATHER.

When Jesus prayed the Lord's Prayer, in John chapter 17, he addressed God in an appropriate manner as befitting whom God is: "And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. HOLY FATHER, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are." (John 17:11)

There are some churches that give their clergy titles like FATHER, going against the direct commands of Jesus Christ, "And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." (Matthew 23:9), and even worse, conferring their leadership with the most inappropriate title of all; HOLY FATHER.

In respect of titles generally, Burton Coffman in his Bible Commentary re Matthew 23:9 summed it up beautifully, viz:

"Titles, apart from their religious implications, are not necessarily condemned by Christ; the distinction is seen in the fact that one may refer to his earthly parent as his father without violating the prohibition taught by Christ; but if the very same title, or any other, should be applied in a religious sense and in order to confer dignity and authority upon the conferee, then Christ's law is violated. The consent of long centuries of men to disobey Christ's law on these matters does not change it."

Take the title of REVEREND.

The title of Reverend belongs to God and God only. No matter how some clergy may regard the word, no matter their ignorance or distortion in its use, the Bible makes it clear that the title Reverend belongs to God only.

"He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name" (Psalm 111:9)

No one, for 1800 years, has ever used the word Reverend in connection with the Christian clergy until an American preacher did so about the time of the American civil war, and since then God's title has been distorted and incorporated in the power structures of clergy calling themselves "reverend", "very reverend", "right reverend" and "most reverend".

However the most inappropriate title used, by some modern day clergy, is the title APOSTLE.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, because the abuse of titles is part of the clergy's drift from orthodox, apostolic doctrine to man-made doctrines and philosophy.

When Jesus chose the 12 apostles, it was not just that they were to be "messengers", or "emissaries", although they undoubtedly were; they were to be significantly much more. The apostles, prophets and Jesus Christ were to be the foundation of the Christian church.

The Bible makes this important characteristic very clear:

"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." (Ephesians 2:19-20)

Because the church is an unconditional covenant of God, meaning it could not be stopped from being established, these apostles were given special, divine powers which they could exercise to overcome any, and every, opposition.

This meant that not even supernatural powers, like Satan and his demonic hordes, could prevail against the establishment of the church on earth. 12 ordinary men, the apostles, were given extraordinary powers to ensure this work was accomplished for the benefit of humanity.

Many believers err in thinking that the miracles performed by the apostles can be performed by believing Christians today, but that is not so.

The apostolic powers were special.

"And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these..." (Matthew 10:1-2)

The powers included the ability to raise the dead:

"Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, RAISE THE DEAD, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. " (Matthew 10:1-2)

So if these apostles had all these mighty powers, and Peter demonstrated this power visibly in front of witnesses when dealing with Annanias' wife, (Acts 5:9), how come we have heard nothing of the majority of these apostles?

This we know. All of the apostles were active in bringing people to Jesus Christ, and when they were disputes and conferences all the apostles participated in resolving matters. They all made their contribution, and the only one that was lost was Judas Iscariot; who betrayed Jesus and died a terrible death, as recorded in Matthew 27:3-5.

The Bible has given us details of just a few of the apostles, and their contribution to the written record, and apart from the Apostle Paul, who wrote 13 Epistles (some say he wrote Hebrews, but that is contentious) the others are:

Simon Peter (brother of Andrew) wrote two epistles, 1 & 2 Peter; James (son of Zebedee) Chairman of the Jerusalem Council and Head of the Jerusalem Church, he probably wrote one epistle, the Epistle of James (James could also have been written by James the brother of Jesus or another James), John (son of Zebedee and James' brother) wrote five books; the Gospel of John, 1, 2 & 3 John, and Revelation, Matthew (Levi) wrote one, the Gospel of Matthew; and finally Thaddaeus-Judas (Lebbaeus), wrote one epistle, Jude.

So what about the other apostles? Is it possible that they did nothing of note or did not continue in the fellowship of the apostles?

The plain truth is that every apostle made his contribution, but not all their contributions were written down.

People often forget that the Bible was not always a literary document, that was completed at the end of the first century with the writing of Revelation, but during the apostolic age the Gospel was an exercise in oral presentation. A lot of what Jesus said and did was not recorded in the Bible, as evidenced by John 21:25.

We know, from the evidence available, that all the apostles:
Were men of great courage who stood their ground in the face of great peril (Acts 1:8)
They were busy everywhere bringing people to Jesus Christ as per Acts 10:31-48
They laid the foundation of the church faithful and true, Ephesians 2:19-20.
They were all executed, according to legend, except the Apostle John.
Will have honourable, prominent positions in God's kingdom, as per Revelation 21:14

Christians owe a great deal of thanks to these brave and exemplary apostles, for competently doing the work assigned to them, and for being outstanding examples to the flock, for all time, in how to conduct themselves in humble Christian service. It is because of them that we have ready access to the mind of God as revealed in the New Testament, and know how to plant and organise churches; a truly historic and seminal achievement.

Enough said.

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Dr. Henderson Ward received his Doctor of Divinity in theology, with distinction, from Masters International School of Divinity, USA, where he is currently a post-doctoral fellow. Dr. Ward's career involved pastoring, evangelism, and teaching. Copyright 2017

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