|
This restoration of
ORDER requires something quite obvious. It requires the Body of Christ to
now come together into one DOCTRINE. Doctrinal healing will at last come
to the Body.
This lesson is
devoted to teaching the Church why believers need LIVING
apostles in spiritual government; why the Headship of Christ comes first
through this calling, why this order is important, and
lastly, why apostles are not to be feared.
LIVING APOSTLES
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:
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.
|
When living
apostles give structure to the Body of Christ we see 3 IMPORTANT
INGREDIENTS begin to develop in the Church. We see government,
truth, and spirit.
-
GOVERNMENT: Christ governs the Body through the callings of
the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher. Government
begins with the apostles because a christian must begin his
walk with God in
truth in order to know how to function as a christian.
- TRUTH:
Christ rules over the Body through the doctrine (commandments)
that he issues through the apostles office. The gospel that the
apostles deliver to the Church is the message that the prophets
confirm, the teachers teach, the evangelists preach, and the
pastors oversee in the hearts of the people.
- SPIRIT:
Christ rules in the heart of each believer through the Holy Spirit
which works with government and truth to inspire and effect
salvation in the inner man.
|
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.
DEFINITION OF AN APOSTLE
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).
Jesus gives every
vessel a specific measure of grace to function in the office to which they
are called. This is what we read in
Eph.4:7, "But unto every one of us is given grace according
to the MEASURE of the gift of Christ."
That is why the pastor and teacher, prophet and evangelist cannot stretch
past his calling, because of
the limit of the grace of that
office.
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.
APOSTLE’S 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?
|
God has contained
Christ in a 'mystery'
(Col.1:27; Col.4:3; Eph.1:9; Eph.6:19).
|
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.
This is why we, as a
Church, and we, as individual christians, NEED the grace that God
gave to the apostles, we NEED the measure of understanding given to
that office to know how to walk and please God. We NEED the grace
given to these living stewards of the word of God.
|
1.
2.
3.
4.
