APOSTLE EDWARD SSEWANYANA: THE APOSTLES TODAY: PART 1 (A)

Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior is referred to as our Apostle. Jesus operated in each of the five ministry offices listed in Ephesians 4:11, namely Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher. It is interesting to note that the word apostle (apostolos) appears 81 times, prophet (prophetes) appears 149 times, evangelist (euaggelistes) appears 3 times, pastor (poimen) appears 18 times and teacher (didaskalos) appears 58 times in the New Testament. From the above statistics it would appear that New Testament Prophets are the most prominently appearing ministry office, however the number is greater for apostles because most of the references to prophet are in reference to Old Testament quotations from the books of the prophets in the Old Covenant. God can not go to all the trouble of establishing the all important office of apostle without describing its function and relevance to the church throughout all ages. Notice that we do not have a book describing the Acts of the Pastors, however we do have a book inspired by the Holy Ghost called the Acts of the Apostles. This reveals the emphasis God places upon this office and how important it is to Him and to the fulfillment of His work upon the earth.

The Greek word translated Apostle is "apostolos" and it means a delegate, messenger or one sent forth with special orders. In the King James Version this word is variously translated as apostle, "he that is sent" and messenger. This word is derived from "apostello" which means to "order one to go to a place appointed". The Roman empire used to have delegates called apostles who were sent forth to a province or kingdom to ask them to surrender to the Roman power. These delagates came with the full backing of the Roman government and anyone who would trouble them faced the wrath of Rome. They simply came to announce the Roman empire's dominion over a specific nation or kingdom, they never came to play games or waste time. These were men on a mission who were focused upon their target and knew what the Roman Emperor required of them. It was either Caesar’s dominion peacefully or Caesar’s dominion forcefully. The Jewish Senate or Sanhedrin had special messengers called apostles, these were given specific assignments to fulfill on their behalf. These delegates would travel as far as the Jews in the diaspora or the dispersion and fulfill assignments commissioned by the Jewish Council or the High Priest.

When we come to the New Testament the apostles are those sent forth by God to fulfill specific assignments for God and bear his undisputed approval and backing. God expects the Apostles to continue functioning until the body of Christ has reached the unity of the faith, is fully mature and resembles Jesus in every way. Since this has not yet been fulfilled and does not look like it will be fulfilled in the near future before Jesus' return, then the apostles are still as relevant as ever.

(11) And he gave some, APOSTLES; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

(12) For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

(13) Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:

The only time when the apostles will be done away with will be in heaven, since by that time no one will need to be equipped, and no one will need to be edified or built up. In heaven we shall all believe the same thing, will be perfect and will fully resemble Jesus. This means that only at the coming of Jesus Christ will this ministry be done away with. Notice that in the ministry of Jesus, throughout his 3 years of ministry He did not ordain 12 pastors or 12 evangelists to be with Him and continue His ministry after the resurrection. Rather, Jesus chose 12 apostles. "And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named APOSTLES" (Luk 6:13), these 12 were the foundation upon which Jesus chose to build the church. The Lord's foundation has never changed and even through the Apostle Paul, the Holy Ghost made it very plain that the foundation is still Apostolic. This is what Apostle Paul said to the church at Ephesus, "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens 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" (Eph 2:19-20). The Contemporary English Version makes it even clearer, "You are like a building with the APOSTLES and prophets as the foundation and with Christ as the most important stone" (Eph 2:20 CEV). The ministry of the Apostles even extends to heaven, since that is where we find the New Jerusalem, God's city which has foundations bearing the names of the 12 apostles, "And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve APOSTLES of the Lamb" (Rev 21:14). Jesus even gave a promise to the 12 Apostles that they would sit on twelve thrones to judge the 12 tribes of Israel, "And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Mat 19:28). From the emphasis Jesus places on the ministry of the Apostles, it is obvious that their work did not simply cease when the last of the 12 original Apostles died. Notice that God does not change, "For I am the LORD, I CHANGE NOT" (Mal 3:6), implying that if the original foundation was established upon the Apostles, the latter foundation will be no different. "The thing that HATH BEEN, it is that which shall be; and THAT WHICH IS DONE IS THAT WHICH SHALL BE DONE: and there is no new thing under the sun" (Ecc 1:9), if Apostles have been necessary for the fulfillment of God's work yesterday, then they are still relevant today. Without a proper foundation, the entire building will collapse, that is why the body of Christ needs to know and utilize the ministry office of the Apostle.