Ardent American Patriot and Lover of Israel
Posts tagged apostles
Paul was the Last Apostle – debunking latter day rain and end time restoration teachings
Sep 1st
Paul, the last Apostle:
Today, on some occasions, we loosely speak of people as apostles. Usually it is limited to pioneer missionaries, for example, William Carey has been called the apostle to India. The only reason this term is used is that someone was sent to pioneer a new area with the Gospel. This, of course, is never confused with the foundational apostles of the NT era. In NT times, there was also a loose and broad way to use the word apostle, in the sense of someone sent on a mission of some kind. On these occasions, the word simply means “messenger” or “delegate.” In these instances, these delegates (sent ones) are never confused with the special and restricted meaning of a foundational apostle of the church.
apostles were required to be eyewitnesses of the resurrected Jesus.
This is indicated in Acts 1:22 when Peter insisted that the replacement of Judas “must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
Paul (1 Corinthians 9:1) defended his apostleship by saying, “Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen the Lord?” In recounting those to whom Jesus appeared, Paul says:
“After He was seen by James and then by all the apostles, then “last of all” he was seen by me also as one “born out of due time” (I Corinthians 15:8).
Paul was “untimely born” in the sense that Jesus had appeared to the other apostles before his ascension. Paul, converted by a miraculous post-ascension appearance of the resurrected Jesus, also saw the risen Lord, albeit later in time than the other apostles. The phrase “last of all seals the case that Paul was the last apostle. “Last of all” grammatically can only be an adverb describing something that is last in a series. This is even more certain when there is a group of adverbs (then…then…and last of all). In Paul’s mind he was the last of all the apostles. Surely he would be surprised to hear that he wasn’t really ‘last of all.’
apostles were the unique founders of the gospel of Jesus Christ
First there were the initial twelve with Matthias replacing Judas. Second, apparently there were a very few more who had seen Jesus and been commissioned by Him Acts 14:14 calls both Barnabus and Paul apostles. James, the brother of Jesus, is called an apostles in Galatians 1:19. Androicus and Judas were called apostles in Romans 16:7.
Note: Most commentators see them as apostles in a functional and broad meaning. I found no commentators who referred to them as foundational apostles. If, indeed they were foundational Apostles, they could have been among the 500 people who saw the risen Jesus on one occasion (I Cor. 15).
The generation that followed the last biblical apostles never ever considered the continuation of the office of apostle.
Apparently. the word of Paul, the last apostle convinced them. The so-called end time restoration of apostles has no biblical authority.
The only possible authority is “further revelation” given to the prophets of the Latter Rain and those who have taken up “further revelation: beyond the scriptures.
The choice is simple, do we believe Paul was right when he said he was the last apostle or do we believe latter day prophets who have pronounced on their own authority, a restoration of apostles at the end of the age?
For me, Paul settles the question once and for all.
Even Wayne Grudem, a self-styled promoter of prophetic utterances admits, “Since no one today can meet the qualifications of having seen the risen Jesus with his own eyes, there are no apostles today. In the place of living apostles present in the church to teach and govern it, we have instead the writings of the apostles in the books of the NT. Those NT scriptures fulfill, for the church today, the absolutely authoritative teaching and governing functions which were fulfilled by the apostles themselves during the early years of the church.” (Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in the NT today, p. 276).
Related Source: Moriel Ministries
The False Teachings of Spiritual Warfare
Aug 15th
“We know that everyone who has been born of God does not continue to sin, but the one born of God guards himself, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and all the world lies in evil. And we know that the Son of God has come, and He has given us an understanding so that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him that is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and the everlasting life.” I John 5:18-20
Not only is the spiritual warfare movement derived from extra-Biblical sources, but it contradicts much of what the New Testament does tell us about demons. Some examples (Source: 4/95 & 5/95, Southern View Chapel, Gary Gilley, "The Spiritual Warfare Movement, Pts. I & II"):
1) In the epistles there are ten references to demons (mostly relating certain facts), but there are over fifty references to "the flesh" as the primary enemy of the Christian.
The post ascension perspective is that the major area of conflict is in the arena of the flesh, not demonic influence;
2) Some are claiming that demons have names that reflect their influence. Names such as, "lust," "murder," "envy," "gossip," etc. Yet, nowhere in the Bible do we find any support for this teaching. Scripture explicitly says these actions are a product of the flesh:
“Now the works of the flesh are clearly revealed, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, fightings, jealousies, angers, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revelings, and things like these; of which I tell you before, as I also said before, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21
3)
Many false teachers, such as Neil Anderson, claims that when we deal with demons it is a "truth encounter," not a "power encounter." But in the Scriptures whenever Jesus or the Apostles cast out demons it was always a power encounter. Never once did Jesus attempt to reason with a demonized individual. Never once did He call on them to believe the truth. He always forcibly cast demons out of such people.
In addition, not a single person in the Gospels ever came to Jesus for deliverance from demons. The obvious reason being that when a demon controls someone, that person has lost his ability to choose right. Yet the spiritual warfare teachers claim that demonized believers are coming to them for deliverance in great droves.
4) The spiritual warfare leaders do not understand the distinction between Jesus and the Apostles, and the average Christian. Jesus’ encounters with the demons were directly related to His claim to be the Messiah and His offer of the Kingdom.
As for the Apostles, there are three occasions in which they cast out demons after Christ’s ascension (Acts 8:5-8; 16:16-18; 19:11-12). The ability to do this was given to verify their appointments as Apostles (Mk. 16:17; 2 Cor. 12:12).
In the NT, we do not find Christians casting out demons unless they were Apostles. However, even with the Apostles, we do not find the casting out of demons to be a major part of their ministry. Instead, the norm for dealing with the demon-possessed was the presentation of the gospel.
5) It is interesting to realize that it is these very areas — the ones the charismatics and the spiritual warfare people emphasize so heavily — that Jesus singles out as proving nothing concerning one’s relationship to God (Matt. 7:21-23). And later Paul would teach that even satanically inspired people can produce miracles:
“And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, so that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, so that all those who do not believe the truth, but delight in unrighteousness, might be condemned.” II Thessalonians 2:8-12
The bottom line is that this method of sanctification (via the spiritual warfare techniques of binding Satan, rebuking the devil, praying the blood, and breaking inherited curses) is taught nowhere in the Bible.
Related Notes on “Biblical Demonology” (verses to understand Bible’s doctrine of demons):
- Old Testament — Gen. 3; Isa 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:11-15; Job 2,3; 1 Chron. 21; 1 Kings 22; Dan. 10
- Gospels — Matt. 8:16; 12:22,23,28 (to prove Jesus as the Messiah of Israel)
- Acts — Acts 8, 16, 19 (to testify to the Apostles)
- Epistles — None (demonism never addressed in the Epistles to Church on how to deal with sin)
- Revelation — Rev. 2 (Letters to the seven churches — "Be faithful," but no command to "cast-out")
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