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The Apostles
- A Pragmatic Revelation
by Dr. Alan Poyner-Levison
The word Apostle means 'sent one', from the
Greek word 'Apostolos'. Now if they were sent, they must have been sent
by someone; and that someone was Jesus. Their whole purpose and being
was that they were sent to introduce the Gospel to the world, and that
happened like this:
The Apostle had the unparalleled ministry of
introducing the Gospel to the rest of the world, and for that they were
uniquely equipped with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit - something that
no-one else ever has before or since. This is the ultimate test of a
true apostle, and no-one today can truly claim this office. Their
purpose was to be the foundation, and begin the church age (Eph.2:20.)
In the days of Yeshua (Jesus), the Pharisees were the God given
authority with the Sanhedrin, ruling for them from the Temple in
Jerusalem. This is acknowledged in Deut.17:8-12 and by Yeshua in Matthew
23.3. However, because of the constant hypocrisy of some of its members,
Yeshua, Son of the Living God, discredited their authority on earth in
order to give it to another (Matthew 21:43). The others to which it was
given was Peter, James and John (Matthew 16:18-19). However ultimate
authority to belongs to Yeshua only (Matthew 23.8-10) The keys of the
kingdom were the authoritative administration of salvation from on high,
as
prophesied by Isaiah 22:22-25.
In Isaiah 22:22 the prophet speaks of the keys
of the house of David being transferred to Yeshua, also prior to that in
1 Chronicles 9:26-27, there were four chief porters among the Levites
that lodged around the house of God, because the charge was upon them to
look after the four gates in the walls of Jerusalem, and to open them
every morning. Therefore, in like manner, the keys to enter the Kingdom
of Heaven were given to Peter James and John. The fourth key was given
to Rabbi Sha'ul of Tarsus, who himself states in 1 Cor.15.8, that he was
one born out of time.
The keys of the kingdom which were given to
Peter and the apostles were part of the authority given by Yeshua, along
with the ability to bind and loose in Matthew 16.18-19. Binding and
loosing are things which have to do with salvation, and not, as
many would have us believe, a means of disposing of evil spirits.
It is merely the power of God working effectively to usher people into
the Kingdom of Heaven. This is also the reason why Rabbi Sha'ul states
in Romans 1:16. "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Messiah,
for it is the power of God for SALVATION, for everyone who believes, for
the Jew first and also for the Greek or Gentile" (KJV)
The system that God has in place was begun by
the apostles and prophets, since then these two ministries have now been
made obsolete, contrary to popular belief. Their only purpose in God was
first that their ministry should be seen as authentic, and second that
they should release the power of God unto the indigenous people, and
then on a wider scale to the Gentiles. The evidence for this is found in
Ephesians 2:20:
"And are
built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus the Messiah
himself being the chief corner-
stone in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy
temple in the Lord."
This scripture in Ephesians clearly shows the plan of God for the
church. Anyone who knows anything about buildings in those days knows
that first the corner-stone goes in place, then the beginning of the
other walls both left and right form the foundations. Once the
foundations are in, there is no more necessary use for more foundations,
for the building continues to be built without them as the main support
is the chief corner-stone. So it is with the church. There is no longer
the need for either apostles or prophets, the church will continue to be
built on their foundation, through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Now the church is the Body of Messiah, and
entrance into this body is only possible by means of Spirit Baptism.
This is a ministry that the Holy Spirit empowers only in relation to the
church in the church age. Once the church is complete and raptured, he
will no longer be performing the work of Spirit Baptism, for He baptised
no-one in either the Old Testament (Tanach) or in the gospels. Once the
church is removed from the earth, the ministry of Spirit Baptism will
cease and be no more, neither in the Tribulation nor in the Millennial
Kingdom, for Spirit Baptism did not begin until Acts 2.
It is true to say that every believer, without
exception, is part of the Body of Messiah, and he/she was baptised into
that body when they were born again (1Cor.12:13), furthermore Ephesians
3:5 records that this is the only Spirit Baptism which the Bible talks
about, and where it is true that all believers have at least one gift to
enhance the church, there is no reason to suppose that that gift is
speaking in tongues in every case, as is also specified in 1
Cor.12:29-31.
Spirit Baptism in the book of Acts raises
something of a problem in the cases where it appears the Spirit Baptism
is delayed. This seems to contradict the doctrine of the epistles which
state that every believer is baptised by the Spirit the moment he
believes. It is therefore necessary to study the problem of delay of
Spirit baptism in Acts chapters 2. 8, 10, 19.
For us to clearly understand why there was a delay, we must study each
chapter individually on its own merits, but the bottom line is
authentication. The apostles needed to prove, especially to the Jews,
that this was "The Promise of the Father" (Luke 24:49.), that
Yeshua (Jesus) had said would come and that they would receive.
Acts 2
In discussing the delays spoken of earlier between regeneration and
Spirit baptism, We begin with Acts 2. In Acts 2 we have the account of
the Holy Spirit falling on the twelve only and not the hundred and
twenty, as has been previously taught in some circles. This is born out
in Acts 2.7, where it mentions only the Galileans had only received,
also in Acts 2:14 only Peter and the eleven are mentioned. Peter has the
predominance here, as he was given the keys of the Kingdom (Matthew
15:17-19), and he was given authority to open the door to the Kingdom of
Heaven. Furthermore his was the answer to many prayers prayed in
the upper room for the promise of the Father (Acts 1:4). Those prayers
were answered in Acts 2:1-4 as stated in Acts 2:33.
The reason therefore for the delay was one of waiting on the promise of
the Father. The initial results were
1) The Jews from the Diaspora were able to hear the Gospel in their own
language (Acts 2:8-11.).
2) They fell under the conviction of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:37.1
3) The conversion of three thousand souls (Acts 2.41.).
The culmination of all this is that it was here that the Holy Spirit
began his ministry, and it was here that the apostles, and Peter in
particular who was the keeper of the Keys of the Kingdom, opened the
door to the Jews once and for all.
Acts 8
In this chapter it is clear it was the turn of the Samaritans to have
the door opened to the Kingdom of Heaven. The Samaritans were a people
who were very antagonistic toward the Jews, having set up a rival
religious system. They had their own equivalent of the Mosaic Law, which
deleted anything to do with Jerusalem; they also had a temple on Mount
Gerizim to compete with the Temple in Jerusalem. Into this situation,
Philip, one of the deacons, in Acts 6, was sent to preach with the
result of many Samarians being saved. In the light of the rival system
which the Samaritans had set up, the Jerusalem church sent Peter and
John to investigate the authenticity of the Samaritan experiences. It
became clear that the regeneration of the Samaritans was genuine,
however they had not received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit until Peter
and John had ministered the "laying on of hands" (Acts 8:17.).
The Holy Spirit had therefore waited for Peter to open the door to the
Samaritans. From then on, like the Jews before them, every Samaritan who
believed would receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit at regeneration.
The result of these events was authentication, for since The Samaritans
had put their trust in a rival system, it was necessary for them to come
under apostolic authority and to live in the Truth.
Acts 10
In this third incident the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was received by
Cornelius and his household. It is noteworthy that this is the third
category of people ministered to. The reason for this was that in those
days there were three main groups of people, Jews, Samaritans and
Gentiles. As the first two had already been admitted to the Kingdom of
Heaven, now it was the turn of the Gentiles. It was necessary for Peter
who had the keys of the Kingdom to personally come to admit these
Gentiles. At this point Paul, who dad received faith in Acts 9, had not
yet received his apostleship, for the Holy Spirit would, in Acts 13.
send him out to be the apostle to the Gentiles. There was no need for
Peter to lay hands on the Gentiles as with the Samaritans, for there was
no danger of them setting up a rival church. Therefore the Holy Spirit
Baptism came to them directly, and this also showed the apostles and the
Jerusalem church, had been released into the Kingdom. It also paved the
way for Paul's ministry.
Acts 19
In this final incident in Acts 19, the recipients of the Baptism of the
Holy Spirit were the Jews of the Diaspora (Ephesians). These Ephesians
were the disciples of John the Baptist, who did not know that Messiah
had come in the flesh, and that his name was Yeshua (Jesus). Their only
experience to date was the baptism of John. They had received John's
baptism at the early part of his ministry, and then left to return to
Ephesus, after which John had identified Jesus as Messiah.
However, by this time Paul had received his
commission as an apostle, and it was Paul who met them and filled them
in with necessary details. Then Paul asked 'Did you receive the Spirit
when you believed?' First they had to be baptised in water for
Christian/Messianic baptism is different than John's baptism. This act
showed that they believed in the one of whom John the Baptist
prophesied. Then Paul ministered the laying on of hands, and they
received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Again the laying on of hands was done for authentication, for this would
prevent them from setting up a rival church in the name of John the
Baptist. Although some of these believers in Acts 8,10,19 had received
the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and then spoke in tongues, there is no
evidence to suggest that this would become a general trend. Also, the
book of Acts is a transitional book, for it transcends the dispensation
of law to enter the dispensation of grace, and with it came a different
ministry for the Holy Spirit as through Peter and the apostles the door
is opened to the necessary people groups; first Jews, then Samaritans,
then Gentiles and then the disciples of John the Baptist. There is no
record of any of this happening again to these people groups. The
Biblical norm now-a-days is that when a believer is regenerated and
believes, he is immediately baptised in the Holy Spirit at regeneration,
and thus there is no more need for apostles. Similarly there is no more
need for prophets, for now in the Spirit we have the gift of prophecy to
edify the church.
Dr Alan Poyner-Levison |
