Last time we talked about what a disciple is. Today we're going to talk about what an apostle is.
The book of Acts in the Bible is also called "The Acts of the Apostles" because it is about everything God did through the men He chose as apostles to continue the work He started of establishing His kingdom.
They did this by spreading the good news of Jesus throughout the world, and bringing people out from the kingdom of the devil and into the kingdom of God.
Because of their faithful obedience to God and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, the apostles grew the church from 120 believers in Jerusalem after Jesus went to heaven, to about 500,000 throughout the world by the end of the first century, according to one estimate. Today there are nearly 3 billion Christians worldwide, proving that the kingdom of God is in fact like yeast working through the entire batch of dough.
So, what is an "apostle"?
The word "Apostle" in the Bible was translated from the Greek word apostolos which means, "a delegate or messenger; one sent with special orders".
Jesus Himself is actually called "the Apostle" in Hebrews 3:1. Jesus was sent with a message and with special orders from God the Father. His message was, "Repent, for the kingdom of God is near" because His special orders were to turn His people to God the Father and provide the way for them to enter His eternal kingdom which Jesus would begin to establish while He was here.
Jesus spent an entire night praying, at which time God gave Him the names of twelve men out of thousands, to disciple to continue the work He had begun.
The Twelve were given special orders by Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations, and to go and be His witnesses to all the world by sharing the message of the good news of Jesus, and what they witnessed in His life, death, resurrection and ascension.
The Twelve were God's messengers, personally trained and discipled by Jesus, to go and turn people to God. As we discussed last time, the twelve apostles were the few who Jesus poured deeply into because of their faithfulness to God.
Most of the men and women who followed Jesus during His ministry were not faithful to Him and they eventually stopped following Him.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John say that the many men and women who followed Jesus were His disciples and that many of them turned back and no longer followed Him because they did not believe.
They also say that the twelve men who Jesus chose and invited to follow Him, and who accepted His invitation, were His disciples. Matthew, Mark and Luke also use the term "apostle" for the Twelve in their gospels, however Luke seems to have used the term more frequently than what Matthew and Mark did.
Luke also describes the Twelve as apostles in Acts. He also said that Barnabas was an apostle. It is possible that when he is describing the apostles and elders at the Jerusalem Counsel, that he was referring to other apostles who were not the Twelve, however, he could have been referring to the Twelve.
In Acts, Luke typically described the believers and the people the apostles were pouring deeply into "disciples".
The apostle John does not use the term "apostle" when describing the Twelve in the Gospel of John. He does not even refer to himself as an apostle in his letters that he wrote which include, 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. He introduces himself as, "The Elder" in 2 John and 3 John.
However, it is believed by many Biblical scholars that the apostle John also wrote the book of Revelation, where the word "apostle" is used three times:
The first time John uses the word "apostle" in Revelation, he is quoting Jesus speaking about liars who call themselves apostles in the church of Ephesus .The second time John is quoting an angel who is calling out to the apostles and prophets to rejoice because God has avenged them, when judgement came or comes upon Babylon. And the third time, John is recording what he saw in his vision of the New Jerusalem, which will stand on the foundation of the twelve apostles.
In the books of 1 and 2 Peter which were written by Peter, who was invited by Jesus to be His disciple while he was fishing, Peter describes himself as "an apostle of Jesus Christ".
So we see by the New Testament writers that the twelve disciples were called apostles. This includes Matthias who the remaining eleven apostles appointed to replace Judas as an apostle, after killing himself.
One of the requirements that the man who was to replace Judas's position as an apostle had to meet, was that he had to have accompanied them the entire time Jesus was with them, from the baptism of John, to the resurrection of Jesus, so he could be a witness of His resurrection as the eleven were.
As we've already seen, there were also others besides the Twelve who were called apostles.
Saul who was also called Paul saw Jesus as he traveled to Damascus to persecute the Christians. After his encounter, he became an apostle of Jesus and introduces himself as being "appointed an apostle of Jesus" in many of the letters that he wrote to the church, which comprise most of the New Testament.
Barnabas who helped take the name of Jesus to other parts of the world, and who traveled with Paul on many of his missions, was called an apostle.
James, Jesus's brother was also called an apostle.
When Jesus appeared to over 500 people after His resurrection, after being seen by the Twelve, He was seen by James and then to all the apostles. Because Jesus had already shown Himself to the Twelve, "all the apostles" indicates there were other members of Christ's body who were apostles.
As I already mentioned, the Jerusalem Counsel who resolved disputes which arose within the newly established church, and that Luke documents in Acts, consisted of apostles and elders, who he may or may not have been referring to as the Twelve.
The apostle Paul frequently describes himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ in the many letters that he wrote to the churches, but he also writes that apostles are important members of Christ's body, the church.
In 1 Corinthians 12:27-31, Paul wrote to the Church of Corinth, telling them that they are individual members of the Christ's body, and that God has given them different gifts and has appointed them to different positions in the church, with the first being apostles.
Paul said in his letter to the church of Ephesus that God gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.
The purpose that he gives for providing these gifts and appointing men with these gifts is for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ - Ephesians 4:12-13.
Anyone who calls themselves an apostle but this is not their purpose, is a false apostle, who Jesus and Paul warn of.
Listen to what Paul says about false apostles in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15:
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works."
As we have already seen, Jesus said to the church of Ephesus in Revelation, that He is pleased with them for "testing those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars".
So, to recap, an apostle is someone who is sent on a special mission to give a specific message. Both Jesus and the Twelve fit this description.
Also, when the writer of Hebrews said that Jesus is the Apostle, He said that Jesus was appointed by God and that He was faithful to God during His mission here on earth.
The apostle Paul said that he was also "appointed by God to be an apostle". The apostle Peter does not say that he was "appointed by God" in his books, 1 and 2 Peter, but we know that he was chosen by God and invited by Jesus to be His disciple, which ultimately led to him becoming an apostle.
The Twelve were also faithful to finish the mission Jesus had given them, by sharing the message of their witness of His life, death, resurrection and ascension. They were chosen by God to be Jesus's disciples after Jesus spent the night praying about it.
As we saw in the account of Matthias, a requirement to become one of the Twelve apostles was that he had to have been a witness of Jesus's life, death, resurrection and ascension.
The Twelve apostles went to the nations, beginning with their own community, making disciples wherever they went, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded them.
The apostles went to different places and made disciples. Disciples in these places would gather together in their homes, which we would call a house church.
We also see that the apostles taught the new believers doctrine, and they fellowshipped and ate with them. Many signs and wonders were performed through the apostles, and there was fear of God among the believers and the people who lived among them.
Their duties also included equipping the saints for the work of ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ, to help all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Besides the Twelve, apostles of the early church seem to have been men who were appointed by God for all of the same reasons that Jesus and the Twelve were.
Apostle is a gift given to some members of Christ's body for use within Christ's church, for the growth of God's kingdom., and from what we see from the Twelve is that an apostle is very similar to what Christians call a missionary today, although the term "missionary" is not in the Bible. One element that seems to be key regarding what a Biblical apostle is, is that they take the gospel into areas where Christ is not known, just as the apostles of the early church did.
While worshipping the Lord and fasting at the church of Antioch, the Holy Spirit said,
“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off." - Acts 13:2-3
Paul and Barnabas were sent to the island of Cyprus and into the region of Galatia, places where Jesus was not yet known. While Paul was explaining that he was a minister to the Gentiles in his letter to the church of Rome, he said:
"So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain."
This was the case for many of the apostles. According to tradition, several of the apostles took the gospel to various parts of the world:
• James the son of Zebedee - to Spain
• Philip - to what is today France and Hierapolis in western Turkey
• Matthew - to Ethiopia
• James the son of Alphaeus - to Syria
• Peter - to Babylon and Rome
• Paul - to Syria, Cilicia, Galatia, Pamphylia, Asia, Macedonia, Achaia, Cyprus, Rome and possibly Spain, Arabia, and the British Isles.
• Matthias - to Sebastopol
• Andrew - to Scythia (southern Russia), Ephesus, Patras
• Judas Thaddeus - possibly India, and Armenia
• Batholomew Nathanael - possibly India, and Armenia
• Thomas - to Babylon, Persia, India, Portugal
• Simon the Zealot - to Northern Africa, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Spain, Britain, Carthage, Alexandria, Persia
The New Testament
The New Testament was written by the Twelve apostles or men who were very close to them.
• Matthew - written by the apostle Matthew, a disciple of Jesus
• Mark - written by "John" Mark, who traveled with the apostles Paul and Barnabas as they shared the gospel and made disciples. Mark is also called the "gospel of Peter" by some, because according to early church fathers, Mark was the apostle Peter's interpreter, and wrote what Peter had told him about Jesus.
• Luke, Acts - written by Luke who traveled with the apostle Paul as he shared the gospel and made disciples.
• John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Revelation - written by the apostle John, a disciple of Jesus
• Romans, Galatians, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon and possibly Hebrews - written by the apostle Paul
• James - written by James the brother of Jesus and the leader of the Jerusalem Counsel
• 1 Peter, 2 Peter - written by the apostle Peter, a disciple of Jesus
• Jude - written by either the apostle Judas the son of James, or Judas the brother of Jesus
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