Moses in the Old Testament is a type of an
Apostle due to his foundation role in leading the Israelites out of bondage and
in erecting the tabernacle. Notice what God told Moses when He instructed Him
to set up or establish the tabernacle in the wilderness, "as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the
tabernacle: for, See, saith he (God), that thou make all things
ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN SHEWED TO THEE in the mount" (Heb 8:5). Moses
was instructed to make the tabernacle, a place where God would dwell according
to the pattern shown to him in the mount of God. God never begins anything
without a plan. The plan is not supposed to be formulated by man but by God
Himself. The Holy Spirit revealed to Moses the way in which he should make the
tabernacle. "Our fathers had the
tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto
Moses, that he should make it ACCORDING TO THE FASHION THAT HE HAD SEEN"
(Act 7:44). The fashion that Moses was given did not simply come from his mind,
rather God had to show him through a vision how he was to fashion the
tabernacle. Again we see that Kings in the Old Testament are type or figurative
emblems of Apostles. King David or Apostle David was given a revelation by the
Holy Spirit on how the temple was to be constructed. This was not just an
imagination he had one day upon his bed, rather it was revealed to him by the
Spirit, "Then David presented his
son Solomon with the plans for The Temple complex. He turned over the plans for everything that
GOD'S SPIRIT HAD BROUGHT to his mind. He provided EXACT SPECIFICATIONS. And he
gave him the plan for sculpting the cherubs with their wings outstretched over
the Chest of the Covenant of GOD--the cherubim throne. "Here are the
blueprints for the whole project as GOD gave me to understand it," David
said" (1Ch 28:11a,12,14a,18b,19 MSG). Here again we see the Apostolic
pattern for building the very temple of God, which was given to Solomon by
David who had received it directly from God. The blueprints were presented to
Solomon by King David, whom God did not permit to build it. This is similar to
the joint ministry of Apostle Paul and Apostle Apollos to church at Corinth, "Who then is Paul, and who is
Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
I have PLANTED, Apollos WATERED; but God gave the increase" (1Co
3:5-6). These two Apostles each played their part in the ministry at Corinth.
Paul planted the seed in God's garden and Apollos watered it through anointed
teaching of Apostolic doctrine. This is similar to the way King David received
the revelation from God for the Temple plans, then gathered building materials
and handed the plans and materials over to King Solomon his son to build it.
God's methods of building His house today has not changed. The church is called
the house of God, "But if I tarry
long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the HOUSE OF
GOD, WHICH IS THE CHURCH of the living God, the pillar and ground of the
truth" (1Ti 3:15). God's house till today should be built according to
the pattern revealed by the Holy Spirit in the scriptures, which is the
foundation of the Apostles.
Another reason why every Christian needs the
spiritual covering of an Apostle is because God has given them the ability and
the revelation to impart the foundational doctrine needed to kick-start every
believer in their Christian walk. The early church grew and had multitudes of
ordinary church members operating in signs and wonders because they were established
upon the Apostolic doctrine. "Then
they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were
added unto them about three thousand souls. And they CONTINUED
STEDFASTLY IN THE APOSTLES' DOCTRINE and fellowship, and in breaking of bread,
and in prayers" (Act 2:41-42). The Apostle Peter preached the very
first sermon in the New Covenant and a church of three thousand members was
planted in Jerusalem. These believers rose up from the rank of converts to
disciples because they devoted themselves to the doctrine or teaching of the
Apostles. Notice that receiving the Apostle's teaching and fellowshipping with
the Apostles is listed as an aspect even
more important than Holy Communion and prayer. Some believers think that they
will advance in their spiritual growth simply by spending more overnights
praying or exercising a few more spiritual gymnastics commonly called
sacraments. The writer of the book of Acts, Luke the beloved physician, was
inspired by the Holy Spirit as he wrote this historical account. He never made
a mistake in mentioning the Apostle's doctrine before prayer. Neither was it a
mistake for him to write Apostles’ doctrine and not Pastor's doctrine. These
believers were established because,
"They COMMITTED THEMSELVES to the teaching of the apostles" (Act
2:42 MSG). It is not simply enough to walk everywhere with an apostle or be
near him, it is only when you are committed or devoted to the doctrine or
teaching of that Apostle that you can actually grow and mature as a Christian.
The Understandable Version New Testament brings out this verse splendidly, "And these [new converts] CONTINUED REGULARLY [TO LISTEN] TO THE TEACHING OF THE APOSTLES AND TO SHARE
WITH THEM; they broke bread [in memory of Jesus] and continued praying" (Act 2:42
AUV-NT). These believers went beyond simply having fellowship with one another,
they had constant fellowship with the Apostles, "And every day they continued to meet together in the Temple [i.e., for TEACHING and worship]. They were enjoying their meals and the close
fellowship they shared in the various homes" (Act 2:46 AUV-NT). The
fellowships they had in their homes were led by the Apostles since later on we
discover that the Apostles would move around from house to house preaching and
teaching about Jesus, "And daily in
the temple, and in every house, they (Apostles) ceased not to TEACH and preach
Jesus Christ" (Act 5:42). Even their main enemy, the High Priest
acknowledged that they had totally filled Jerusalem with their doctrine, "Saying, Did not we straitly command
you that ye should not TEACH in this name? and, behold, ye have filled
Jerusalem with YOUR DOCTRINE, and intend to bring this man's blood upon
us" (Act 5:28). The high priest did not say that they had filled
Jerusalem with their preaching, rather he said they had filled Jerusalem, a
very big city, with their teaching. The reason why the devil was so scared of
the Apostles was not because of their big crusades and preaching services but
because the Apostolic doctrine had penetrated every house and believers were
being equipped to do the work of the ministry. Do not misunderstand me,
preaching has it's place and is mainly targeted at the non-believers. However,
when churches are planted and new believers have entered God's family they need
not more preaching but more Apostolic teaching. They do not need more of the
Pastor's doctrine, however important this is. They need to cleave to the
Apostles and receive the true foundational doctrine upon which they will stand
for the rest of their lives. Even the
Apostle Paul made it his custom in the newly planted Church at Ephesus to teach
the believers from house to house,
"And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you,
but have shewed you, and have TAUGHT YOU PUBLICKLY, AND FROM HOUSE TO
HOUSE" (Act 20:20). Apostle Paul was able to deliver the entire
counsel of God to the Ephesian church because of the Apostolic call upon his
life. When you go ahead to compare the epistle of Apostle Paul to the Ephesians
with other letters he wrote, you will notice that he does not rebuke them for
harboring false doctrines and going into excesses as he rebukes the Corinthians
and Galatians. This is because he invested more than two years towards teaching
and equipping the believers or Christians with sound Apostolic doctrine, "And he went into the synagogue, and
spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things
concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened, and believed not,
but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and
separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. And
this continued BY THE SPACE OF TWO YEARS; so that all they which dwelt in Asia
heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks" (Act 19:8-10).
The church at Ephesus grew because the disciples were taught at the feet of an
apostle.
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