I Cor.4:1, “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and STEWARDS of the mysteries of God.” Paul, an apostle, was referring to himself and that calling as that office which God uses to steward the mysteries of God.

STEWARD: (web.) One who is actively concerned with the direction of the affairs of an organization. One who superintends for another, to have the charge and oversight of; to care for with authority.

It is clear that in order for an apostle to actively direct the affairs of the Church he must be LIVING; in order for the apostles to have the charge and oversight and care of the Church he must be LIVING. The 'care' or 'concern' of the Church is that the believers remain true to Christ.

A dead president can’t lead a nation from the grave. We can’t ask a dead president about the interpretation of any policy that he set. We can only memorialize what we thought they stood for, and often that is debatable because the president, unfortunately, is not present to answer for himself.

This is what we have seen the Church do with the letters that the apostles wrote. They have argued over these epistles and have interpreted them in hundreds of different ways.

In the book of Acts we see that LIVING apostles are given authority from Jesus Himself to oversee the Church (Acts 1:2).

Governmental concern is in the areas of doctrine and christian function. This is how God cares for His people. Government through apostles is first because God's first concern is that the believers be established in the faith through wholesome doctrine. Then through the doctrine and articles of faith, and effectual working of the Holy Ghost, God cares for His people and each believer experiences regeneration and remission of sins as Jesus mediates the covenant. That is also God's concern.

We see God giving structure to the Church through apostles in 2 BASIC AREAS:

• function
• doctrine

FUNCTION: What a christian does to demonstrate faith in God is called function. For example, prayer is a function of christian life. In order to give prayer the same meaning and importance that God does, and in order for a believer to be joined to God through prayer, this function needs the structure, value, and knowledge of truth to tell us ‘how to’ and 'why’ we pray. This is what living apostles do, they give the correct instruction to the Church regarding this activity, this function of their faith.

Every aspect of christian life from prayer to the activity of the assembly requires the structure that Jesus gives through these LIVING stewards called apostles.

How does a believer function with the Holy Ghost to be ‘led of the Spirit’? How does the Holy Ghost function with the believer to conform him or her in the image of Christ? What spiritual tools are provided for the believer to function with? How does a believer function in their spiritual priesthood? What spiritual tools are used by the Spirit to cause regeneration? How does Jesus mediate the covenant? How is our relationship with God made living?

These questions are the focus of christian life; they are the subject of countless books. Each author has a unique perspective on the subject based on personal experience. We read the books and the testimonials hoping to glean something that we can use to be able to discover what these things are and successfully implement them in our christian walk.

But you can never grow beyond the measure of grace given to the one who is instructing you. This is why the ‘herd’ continues to wander. Once the pastor land has been grazed, and there is nothing left to eat, christians move on to ‘greener pastors’.

This is why believers wander from church to church, from teacher to teacher, from one tape ministry to another, from one author to the next, they are in search of the correct example of faith, they want to know how to function as a christian.

They are looking for instruction so that they may know how to grow and mature in Christ; how to overcome themselves, the world, and the devil. They are looking for spiritual government to guide them into understanding what their place is in the Body of Christ, and how to identify false doctrine; how we give back to God, how to love their neighbor as themselves, where accountability lies, and which baptism is the one which cleanses them and seals their faith.

Now we know why we need LIVING apostles. They instruct the Church and teach believers how to function with God and as a Body. Believers in the early Church benefited from LIVING apostles, they were able to conform to ONE standard for the expression of their faith and function as a unified Body.

DOCTRINE: What a christian does to demonstrate faith in God must be in truth because it must represent Jesus Christ perfectly who is truth. If the doctrine is not in truth the operation of God is absent, the mediation of Jesus Christ is absent, and the effectual working of the Holy Spirit is absent.

Truth is made known through doctrine, and represents Jesus Christ perfectly. This is why the apostle John called doctrine, the 'doctrine of Christ' (II Jn.9). Doctrine is made known through the apostles. This is why we read in Acts 2:42, “And they (the believers) continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship,”.

Every function of christian life is regulated and given value through doctrine. These are the Second Covenant commandments which are easy because Christ put these commandments into Himself, and He said, "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Mt.11:29).

The doctrine of baptisms, for example, gives the true value of water baptism and the baptism that Jesus gives through the Holy Spirit. Because the doctrine is in truth, and given through LIVING apostles, a believer is able to know without a doubt which baptism forms the activity of faith that joins them to God. The operation of God, the mediation of Jesus Christ, and the effectual working power of the Holy Spirit is present and faith is made living.

Believers think they have the apostles' doctrine because they have the letters that they wrote. But we must remember that before they wrote these letters they personally instructed the saints. The letters were sent to confirm what the saints already knew.

When we use the epistles of the apostles to establish us in the faith without first being instructed by living apostles, we interpret the truth contained in the epistles on the basis of the truth of our own experience, or the experience of someone else, or the instruction of those who are not apostles, and truth is taken in a different direction and becomes a lie, and faith is made reprobate.

Because of private interpretation of scripture, the letters of the apostles are valued differently by different groups of people. The early Church did not follow this pattern.

Without government functioning properly in the Body, people become disorderly with doctrine, and in so doing they offend the Spirit, and the Spirit of God will not work with him who transgresses the doctrine of Christ.

II Jn.9, “Whosoever transgresses, and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, has not God. He that abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.”

When all of the offices of God’s government are structured in function and doctrine because of what LIVING apostles provide for the Church through the Headship and mediation of Jesus Christ, then Christ is ruling the Church; the government is truly on His shoulders and we see that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are represented as ONE, and the Record and the Witness agree.  

We have already partially described an apostle as the living steward of the mysteries of God. But when we ask the Church, “What is the definition for an apostle,” the most common definition we hear is: An apostle is ‘a sent one’. Jesus said to His apostles, “GO into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,” Mk.16:15.

So is everyone who is ‘sent’ an apostle? No. We see that evangelists, prophets, and teachers can be sent, yet this does not make them apostles. In Acts 8:26 we read that Philip the evangelist was SENT by divine revelation into the wilderness to minister to a man, yet his ‘being sent’ did not change his calling from evangelist to apostle (Acts 21:8).

Philip, although he was sent to preach the gospel, did not DO what the other apostles did, he did not possess the measure of grace to structure the Church in truth and doctrine, and in function.

The function of the apostle's office is deeper than this surface definition. Moses in the Hebrew means ‘drawn from’, but Moses’ calling was deeper than this surface definition.

What Moses DID was much more than what his name suggests. He was the deliverer, the law giver; he was the one chosen of God to lead his people out of bondage and into the promised land. This is what he was drawn from the river to DO.

Even so the apostles DID much more than what their name initially suggests. Apostles brought doctrine and truth to the Church through the Headship and mediation of Jesus Christ, they brought structure to the Body of Christ with Jesus Himself as the chief corner stone. This is what they were ‘sent’ into the world to DO. God uses people to establish government, He does not use articles (such as the Bible).

When we see pastors and teachers trying to provide the doctrine and function for believers, we see why the Church is malfunctioning and why the Church is so severely crippled. God did not gives these callings the measure of grace to do what apostles do. When men and women of these callings read the Bible, they interpret scripture, and map out the christian strategy that they think is in line with the will of God. These are not called as stewards of the mystery of Christ.

The fact that christians are disappointed with these ministers can no longer be denied, hidden, or written off. The fact that pastors and teachers face 'burn out' because they are trying to stretch past the measure of grace they were given can no longer be denied, hidden, or written off.

Believers are understandably disappointed with these ministries who are trying to steward the mystery of Christ without the grace that God gives to apostles. Believers were NOT looking for another plausible answer to the questions they have about God and His salvation, they are looking for someone who, at last, has the right answer ..... they are looking for TRUTH. We should not marvel that God has put it in the heart of the Church to again accept the stewardship of the Word of God through apostles.

Pastors and teachers DON’T have the right answers, they have a ‘reasonable’ answer, a ‘best guess’ answer based on the conclusions drawn from their investigations into biblical text and the skills gained through the study of the syntax of the Greek and Hebrew language.

This is the best that these offices have to offer in the areas of understanding doctrine and truth, and the function of the Church. They cannot give what they do not possess; they cannot provide for the Church in the areas that are beyond the measure of grace that the Lord has given to them.

We have said that it is the apostles office that Jesus set in the government of the Church to oversee the Church in the areas of function and doctrine. And for this service God provided the measure of grace necessary to fulfill this purpose.

This is why the ‘form of doctrine’ that the apostles delivered to the Church must be obeyed (Rom.6:17); the ‘doctrine of Christ’ must be learned (Rom.16:17). Living apostles must be present to deliver this doctrine and oversee its function in the heart of the believer.

When we begin to see what the apostles provided for the Church then we begin to realize what apostles DO and what we, as believers, and as a Body, are MISSING, and we can begin to understand what it is that the Lord gave to these very ordinary vessels to enable them to become the ‘living stewards of the grace of God’.

When the Church tries to define what an apostle is from the standpoint of their own experience or religiosity, they think of what THEY WANT an apostle to do for them to promote their idea of christianity. They want someone to go out into the four corners of the world and bring the multitudes into their church so that they can institutionalize them. Therefore they will readily accept an apostle who will labor for them in that field. This requires no responsibility on their part concerning doctrine and function.

Today we see certain ones who are trying to ‘fill the shoes’ of an apostle by defining what they think their Church lacks, and appointing someone to pick up the slack for them in that area.

We see that believers are trying to discern the apostles office from the standpoint of their institution and not by the measure of grace.

We have already talked about the ‘measure’ of grace given to each office in Eph.4:7. When we see what the apostles DO we can easily identify the measure of the apostle’s grace as: The measure of understanding God gives to this office to make known the mystery of the gospel.

Gal.1:11,12, "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the REVELATION of Jesus Christ." God was not setting the standard for each christian to know truth through revelation, but was setting the standard for apostles.

Eph. 3:2,3, “If you have heard of the dispensation (measure) of the grace of God which is given to me for you; how that by REVELATION He MADE KNOWN unto me the MYSTERY...”

Eph.3:9, “And to make all men see (understand) what is the fellowship of the MYSTERY, which from the beginning of the world has been had in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.”

Phil.1:7, “...you all are partakers of my grace.”

Eph.1:9, “Having MADE KNOWN unto us (apostles) the MYSTERY OF HIS WILL, according to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself.”

I Tim.1:12,14, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me (measure of grace), for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry....And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.”

Rom.16:25, “Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to MY GOSPEL, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the REVELATION of the MYSTERY, which was kept secret since the world began.”

I Cor.3:10 - 12, “According to the GRACE of God given to me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds thereon. But let every man take heed how he builds thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

All christians are aware that Jesus Christ is the foundation of truth (John 14:6). Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone (Eph.2: 20). The cornerstone of the foundation of our faith is Jesus Christ, His life, the blood He shed through His death to provide the covenant, and His resurrection.

The original apostles built the foundation of truth within the hearts of the believers, and christians knew how to serve God, and then Satan sowed the Tares in among the Wheat. The cornerstone never moved, the truth never changed, but faith was defiled because error was added to truth. There is nothing wrong with Jesus Christ. There is nothing wrong with the truth that He originally set through His apostles. There is something wrong with the gospel which has become perverted, and there is something wrong with the spiritual government that replaced the Headship of Christ, and there is something wrong with the priesthood of the believer who serve themselves and not each other.

The apostle Paul calls himself, or that office the ‘master builder’ . The master builder has the blueprints of truth, and directs the other workers (offices) according to what God put in these blueprints.

The blueprint is the mystery of the gospel and the understanding of how to work with God in our salvation. Paul was actively teaching and ministering to the Church at Ephesus for three years before he wrote his letter to them. What he wrote was just a fraction of what he taught. He did not write an epistle to establish them in the faith. He did not write an epistle as a means of setting the foundation of truth in them. These believers that he instructed understood what he wrote because they were familiar with the function and doctrines which the master builder set within them.

You can understand this by looking at a student who goes to university to study medicine. It is the years of personal instruction and hands on experience that prepares this student to function as a doctor. AFTER students graduate they continue to read the periodicals that center on their field of study. The periodicals did not prepare them to practice medicine, the personal training prepared them.

Even so today, the Church wants to learn how to function as a christian by reading the periodicals (the epistles) and have missed the one on one training that takes place when apostles lay the foundation of truth in the heart (Acts 19:9).

When living apostles lay the foundation of truth in the hearts of believers, they in turn can then lay that same foundation of truth in other. I Tim.2:2, "And the things that you have heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."

God set apostles in the Church to continue to oversee the purity of the doctrine of Christ; they were living to rebuke those who stepped outside of the boundaries of truth God has set through their stewardship (III Jn.9,10).

Today the Church is without that living steward and the measure of grace given to that office to ‘make known’ the mystery of Christ. Today each church has its own blueprints, each one different, each one adapted and taken directly from the writings of the apostles, each one said to be God-inspired.

If the blueprint is interpreted to be ‘that which is written’ then why is it so hard to follow? Why are believers tripping over each other in their understanding of the blueprint if it is merely ‘that which is written’? Why not just read the Bible and apply what you have read?

Everyone who buys the same kit to put together a picnic table can follow the same basic steps of 'how to put it together' and the picnic tables all look the same in everyone's backyard.

If the Bible is the 'handbook', the 'how to' of the christian walk, why is it that each christian can read the same Bible (with the aide of the Holy Spirit as they say) and come up with opposing views concerning christianity?

The word MYSTERY means: That which is hidden, the secret things of God. God hid the meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the intellect and pride of man. Believers can 'say', "I know that Jesus died for my sins and rose again from the dead, there is nothing 'mysterious' about that." Yes, one can believe that, one can acknowledge those facts, but that WORK is not unfolded to us and in us through carnal reasoning. We cannot discover the meaning of Christ, it must be granted to us by the grace of God.

If the mystery of Christ is merely that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world, and that He rose from the dead, what are pastors and teachers continually trying to unfold to you? We know that mankind has a need to confess Christ as Saviour, repenting of sin, calling upon Him for salvation, but what are the pastors and teachers continually trying to unfold to you?

They are trying to unfold that meaning of Christ to you, how the life of Christ has a bearing on YOUR life. They are trying to unfold to you how you 'walk' in this holy knowledge of Christ, how you embrace it with faith in your heart.

This mystery of how Christ lives through you cannot be discovered by your research into scripture. God chose to hide Himself from the pride, reason, principle, and aspiration of man and to make Himself known through the inspiration of grace.