AoC-2-Chapter II
Chapter II
Their Authority And Work A WISE Roman centurion argued that work and the authority necessary to its performance, go together; that, in fact, the presence of the one implies also the presence of the other: "For I," said he, "also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers: and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to My servant, Do this, and he doeth it." So, he argued, as Jesus was appointed to do work by God, the authority to command disease would be given Him by the Power under which He was. In like manner we have but to note the work committed to the Apostles by Christ, and that will define the authority they had from Christ. Their work is denoted by the following names applied to them.
I. APOSTLES
We have already observed that Jesus chose for them the designation Apostles. This word, meaning one sent forth, is not confined in the New Testament to the Twelve and Paul. It is in one place applied to Christ Himself as sent by the Father. The word is also applied to messengers sent by churches (2 Corinthians 8:23 R.V. margin); these were Apostles of the Churches. Barnabas was not one of the Twelve, yet is called an Apostle (Acts 14:14), we presume because sent by the Church at Antioch on this evangelistic mission. This word, then, gives only a general idea of the work and authority of the Apostles of Christ. The greatness of any band of Apostles, must be gathered, not from the generic name Apostle, but from the special circumstances of their mission. In estimating the authority of the Apostles of Christ, we consider, First, the One who sends them. Our Lord Himself has been very diligent here that no one should think they can despise His Apostles and yet claim to reverence Him. Even of the seventy He said, He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that rejecteth you rejecteth Me; and he that rejecteth Me rejecteth Him that sent Me." Repeatedly of the Twelve He used similar words, as in the strong asseveration: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth Me; and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me" (John 13:20). Then, secondly, the work given them to do must be held in view in estimating the importance of the Apostles of Christ. It is conceivable that Jesus might send some one to execute a comparatively trivial duty, as when two disciples were sent to bring the colt on which he rode into Jerusalem. But as we examine in detail the work the Twelve and Paul were commissioned to do, and their qualifications and credentials for that work, we shall have reason to conclude that the Apostles of Christ are entitled to the greatest deference, not only because sent by Christ, but also because of the work embraced in their Apostleship.
II. WITNESSES.
One part of this important work is expressed by saying the Apostles were witnesses. That is, it was their function as Apostles to bear witness to the things of Christ they had seen and heard and felt, especially to testify that they had seen Him after He rose from the dead. The reader must carefully observe that this witness-bearing is quite another thing from ordinary preaching of the Gospel, which is sometimes called bearing testimony or witness to Christ. The witness of the Apostles required them to have been "eye-witnesses" (Luke 1:2). The Twelve were called "that they might be with Him." Three of them at least were chosen to be with Him on some specially pregnant occasions, as on the Mount of Transfiguration, and closer than the rest in the Garden of Gethsemane. But all of them beheld His miracles, heard Him teach as never man taught, and saw Him after His Resurrection. This last was the main point, as Divine Wisdom had ordained that the reality of Christ’s claims should be made to rest in a special way on the fact of the Resurrection.
Let us observe the striking proofs that this witness-bearing was a vital and essential part of the office of the Apostleship. In our Lord’s address to them before He suffered He said, "AND YE ALSO BEAR WITNESS, BECAUSE YE HAVE BEEN WITH ME FROM THE BEGINNING" (John 15:27). To them, as the Apostles whom He had chosen, He showed Himself alive after His Passion by many proofs (Acts 1:3). On the day of His Ascension, as he parted from them He said: "Ye shall be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The account of the election of Matthias is very instructive as proving that the Disciples understood witnessing to the Resurrection was an essential function of an Apostle. Peter put it thus: "Of the men therefore which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto the day that he was received up from us, of these must one become a witness with us of his Resurrection" (Acts 1:21-22). The same impression, namely, that witness-bearing is an essential function of the Apostolic office, is produced by the way in which the Apostles in Acts advance their testimony. On Pentecost, Peter for himself and the eleven said, "This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we all are witnesses" (Acts 2:32); in Solomon’s porch he said: "Whom God raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses" (Acts 3:15); to the Council: "We cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard" (Acts 4:20). Luke in a summary of the happy condition of the early Church says: "With great power gave the Apostles their witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 4:33). Note their witness. The evidence is abundant, but we must be content to add the statement of Peter when preaching for the first time to Gentiles: "And we are witnesses of all things that He did. ..... Him God raised up the third day, and gave Him to be made manifest, not to all the people, but unto witnesses that were chosen before of God" (Acts 10:34-43).
Paul, too, recognized this function of the Twelve, and also that the appearance of the Lord to Himself was necessary to him bearing witness, and so to him being an Apostle. Thus at Antioch in Pisidia he said: "But God raised Him (Christ) from the dead. And He was seen for many days of them that came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses unto the people" (Acts 13:30-31). About his own work he informs us that Ananias said to him: "The God of our fathers hath appointed thee to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from His mouth, for thou shalt be a witness for Him unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard" (Acts 22:14-15). We need not pause to point out the transcendent importance of this work. All who have believed in Christ have done so "through their word" (John 17:20). It is sometimes said many of the Twelve were apparently very ordinary men, for we read of no great work they did. We have nothing but necessary portions recorded of the work of the Apostles, and that no record remains is no proof those not mentioned did not great things. But grant they were ordinary men. It does not take a genius to bear faithful witness, and all at least took part in this, and thus enabled others to possess that "precious faith" in Christ as the Son of God which is the basis of Christianity.
III. STEWARDS.
Another word applicable to the Apostles of Christ is steward. On one occasion "Peter said, Speakest Thou this parable unto us, or even unto all?" The result was that Jesus spoke the parable of "the faithful and wise steward, whom His Lord set over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season." In other words He likened Peter and His fellows to stewards entrusted with giving something to others. Now it is true the word steward is applied to elders and to others. Indeed, every one of us is a steward; we have all something entrusted to us that others should profit from. But when we note the teaching given to the Apostles by Christ, and which the Holy Spirit was to bring to their minds; and the revelations made to them of the mysteries of God, we find this word most expressive to describe much of their work, its responsibility, and its value for others. "If so be," wrote Paul, "that ye have heard of the stewardship of that grace of God which was given me to you-ward, how that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery .... which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men, as it hath now been revealed unto His Holy Apostles and Prophets in the Spirit" (Ephesians 3:2-5 R.V. margin). The fullness of revelation which came to men through the Apostles will appear as we proceed, and will increase our conception of the greatness and uniqueness of their stewardship. As the Apostles, in the miracle of feeding the thousands, received from the Master and gave to the people, so the Twelve and Paul dispensed the word of life and communicated the will and promises of the exalted Lord. The thought of their wonderful stewardship might well fill them with a sense of responsibility; and how careful it should make us not to despise or treat lightly what they communicated and instituted in the discharge of their stewardship.
IV. AMBASSADORS.
Perhaps no single word gives a more distinct impression of the peculiar authority and work of the Apostles than the word ambassadors. Paul in asking the saints at Ephesus to pray that he might be able "to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel," adds, "for which I am an ambassador in chains" (Ephesians 6:20). But the most notable use of the word is in that supremely precious passage where Paul expounds the mystery of reconciliation with which the Apostles of Christ had been charged (2 Corinthians 5:11-21). Lest our reader does not turn up and read this beautiful passage, we will secure him and enhance this page by quoting verses 18-21:
“But all things are of God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation. We are ambassadors, therefore, on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us; we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God.”
Now although it is not unusual for preachers today to quote these words, unthinkingly or presumptuously naming themselves ambassadors of Christ, a moment’s consideration of what is meant by the word, will shew that Paul here is either using the words in the plural for himself, associating others with him by courtesy, or for the Apostles as a Body. Dr. Beet, the Wesleyan writer, whose commentary on Corinthians is so universally allowed to be a careful and competent exposition, says under verse 18: "Us: True of all believers; but Paul; thinks specially of himself and colleagues, as the following verses show;" and under verse 20 he adds: "We are ambassadors (Ephesians 6:20): messengers sent formally by a king, especially to make peace. Very appropriate to Apostles sent personally and formally by Christ. John 17:18; John 20:21; Acts 26:17; Galatians 1:1." The word ambassador denotes one sent immediately by a king (or government) to transact business of state on behalf of his king. It thus gives the idea of one who is clothed in the dignity of the king who sends him; and whose word is as authoritative as that of his king - in fact, is the word of his king. See for illustration Luke 14:32, where a king sends an ambassador to ask conditions of peace. This word therefore well defines the authority of Christ’s Apostles in the Kingdom and Church of God. They base no claim on the ground of personal superiority; but as acting and speaking on behalf of Christ they are His plenipotentiaries, commissioned to make known His gracious will, and act as His agents in the establishment and ordering of the Kingdom and Church. Not, of course, to do this in any arbitrary way, or way of their own choice, but, as we shall see, according to instructions received from Him - from Him in person, or through inspiration of the Spirit promised and given to guide them into all the truth.
V. CHRIST’S AGENTS IN ESTABLISHING HIS KINGDOM.
During our Lord’s ministry the Kingdom of God was proclaimed as at hand, and on one occasion Jesus said some were present who should not taste of death till they had seen the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom. That kingdom, no doubt, was fully established when he sat down on God’s right hand, and, being now glorified, sent to the waiting Disciples the Holy Spirit as their Advocate and Guide. To this Kingdom He refers in the great central passage which records Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, and also records Christ’s benediction on Peter. It is important the reader should note that these words are the words of Christ as their being so gives this passage, and indeed all passages where Christ speaks of the work of His Apostles, a decisive bearing on the right meaning of the cry, "Back to Christ." His words are:-
"And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:18-19). The keys here, it is universally allowed, are a figure of speech for the power of shutting and opening. Of course the power would be exercised by Peter as Christ directed and as His agent. Light is thrown on the reality signified in the figurative language of Christ by the history in Acts of Apostles. On the Day of Pentecost, when the Spirit came, it is Peter who advocates the Lordship and Messiahship of Jesus, and who answers the question: Men and brethren, What shall we do? He named the conditions on which those who believed that Jesus was the Christ, that is, the anointed King, should be admitted into the Kingdom. In that way he opened the Kingdom to Jews (Acts 2 :). But for some time no Gentiles were admitted; in fact they were not thought of as eligible. Peter especially seems to have had the Jewish prejudices very strong. But it is he who is Divinely induced to go and preach to Cornelius and his household and admit them, though Gentiles, into the Kingdom as he had previously done the Jews. It is clear that there were many Jewish believers who would not have needed so much inducing to preach to Gentiles as Peter did: and it is no doubt one reason why "God made choice" of Peter, that by his mouth "the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel and believe" (Acts 15:7), that on Peter the keys, that is the privilege of opening the Kingdom of heaven, has been bestowed.
Then note respecting the power of binding and loosing that Matthew 23:4 suggests the right meaning. The Scribes and Pharisees are there described as binding heavy burdens and grievous to be borne and laying them on men’s shoulders. To bind is to make a precept or command obligatory; to loose is to declare a precept or command not binding. Such expressions as this were at the time common: "The School of Shammai bindeth it; the School of Hillel looseth it." The decisions of Peter as a Spirit-led Apostle were to be ratified in Heaven. As we shall see, however, while Peter possessed this power, so did the other Apostles. For later our Lord gave the great commission to all the Apostles in which they are told, to teach the Disciples all things He had commanded them (Matthew 28:18-20). We may say, therefore, that throughout the New Testament what the Apostles command is binding and what they say is not binding is loosed - Christians are freed there from.
Again, Jesus told the Apostles that when He should sit upon the throne of His glory they also should sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28). The word regeneration occurs only once besides this. That instance (Titus 3:5) shows that it denotes that state which is entered by those re-born "through the laver of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit," or, as Christ put it to Nicodemus: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God" (John 3:5). The Regeneration and the Kingdom of God are interchangeable phrases, and we thus see that the citizens of the heavenly Kingdom have been born again. In this New Age, then, the Apostles sit enthroned as law-givers. Hence, after Jesus rose from the dead, He said to the Apostles, "As my Father hath sent Me, even so send I you," and then conferred on them the power of forgiving and retaining sins (John 20:20-23). And in the Great Commission he charged them to go and disciple all nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe all He had commanded them, promising to be with them till the end of the age. The writer of the Acts tells us (1: 3) that in His many appearances to them during the 40 days between His rising and ascension, He was "speaking the things concerning the Kingdom of God." Besides He assured them that the Spirit would guide them into all the truth and bring to their remembrance all he had told them. In accord with all this, the Lord directed the attention of the Jewish people to the Apostles on Pentecost by the outpouring of the Spirit and the extraordinary manifestations. Peter stood up with the eleven and delivered the King’s message, and to the penitent rebels, laid down His conditions of pardon, thus admitting on that day about 3,000 souls to the Kingdom in its present dispensation.
VI. THEIR PLACE IN THE CHURCH. The Church is here regarded as an institution within the Kingdom, but practically what is here said is a continuation of the subject of last section, the Apostles as agents in the Kingdom of God. We prefer Church here because in the Acts and the Epistles the more specific word Church is more largely used than the more general term Kingdom. In two lists of the officers in the Church, the Apostles are placed first: "And God hath set some in the Church, first Apostles, secondly Prophets" (1 Corinthians 12:28): "And He" (the ascended Christ) "gave some to be Apostles; and some, Prophets" (Ephesians 4:11). In Ephesians 2:19-22, where the Church is figuratively spoken of as a building, the believers who compose it are said to be "of the household of faith, being built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone." This can mean no less than that their teaching and commands are regarded as the rule of faith and practice in the Church.
Accordingly we everywhere find the Apostles as claiming and having conceded to them the place of first authority. In the Great Commission Jesus gave them this place; indeed that Commission may be said to involve, directly or indirectly, all that is here said as to the apostles as agents of Christ in His Kingdom and Church. In another of the booklets of this series (No. III.) this Great Commission is fully dealt with, therefore it is here enough to quote it:-
"And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, "All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." (Matthew 28:18-20).
It will be seen that this infers that the Disciples made and baptized, to the Apostles for teaching - to learn from them the will of the Master whose School they have entered. Hence as soon as the first converts are made - three thousand of them - we are told that "They continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). the Apostles were regarded with awe and as men apart: "of the rest durst no man join himself to them: howbeit the people magnified them" (Acts 5:13). In Acts 6 : we see the Apostles legislating as to the internal order of the Church. They command seven men to be chosen to take charge of the finances of the Church, which command is obeyed. We see the same legislative power exercised by the Apostle Paul in Acts 14:21-24; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Timothy 3:1-13. When the Apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word they sent two of their number to impart unto them the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14; Acts 8:17). Again we find them appealed to to settle a question affecting the salvation of Gentile Christians (Acts 15 :)
There is a general air of authority throughout Apostolic Epistles which shows the place of authority conceded to the Apostles. Here and there the authority is very marked, thus in 1 Corinthians 4:14-21, Paul says, "as I teach everywhere in every Church," and warns some that if he comes and finds them unrepentant He will come with a rod to punish. In the next Chapter He commands a fornicator to be excommunicated. Similar commands are not uncommon in his writings, and Peter speaks of "the commandment of the Lord and Saviour through your Apostles" (2 Peter 3:2). Interesting are the references to the instructions of the Apostles as a body of traditions, things to be handed on to others. Paul commends the Corinthians for holding fast the traditions as he delivered them to them (1 Corinthians 11:2); of these traditions, verses 26 and 27 give an example - Paul had received of the Lord instructions relating to the Lord’s Supper which instructions he had given to them. Again the same Apostle says to the Philippians: "The things which he both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of peace shall be with you." And to the Thessalonians: "So then, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye were taught, whether by word or epistle or ours (Php 4:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:15).
VII. THE AUTHORITY AND INSPIRATION OF THEIRWRITINGS. The passage just quoted is one of several which show that authority and inspiration were claimed from the beginning for Apostolic writings.
Paul distinctly claimed for himself and other inspired teachers, that through the Spirit they had revealed to them "things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, and which entered not into the heart of man;" that they spoke these things, not in words which man’s wisdom taught, but which the Spirit taught; and in short, that they had "the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:6-16). He required every prophet and spiritual (inspired) man to admit that the things he wrote were "the commandments of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 14:37). He solemnly commanded the reading of his epistles to the Churches (Colossians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:27). He exhorted the brethren to stand fast in the things he taught them: "Whether by word, or by epistles of ours" (2 Thessalonians 2:15). And he commanded the Churches to enforce obedience to his written injunctions, even to the exclusion of the disobedient from fellowship. See also 1 Timothy 6:3-5. Peter refers to Paul’s Epistles and classes them with "the other Scriptures" (2 Peter 3:15-16). He also undertakes to make such provision that the brethren should be able after his decease, "to call these things to remembrance;" claims to have "the word of prophecy made more sure" (2 Peter 1:15-21), and exhorts to the remembrance of the "words spoken before by the holy prophets, and the Commandment of the Lord and Saviour through your Apostles" (2 Peter 3:1-2). John affirms that those who are of God will hear the Apostles (1 John 4:6), and forbids Christians to receive or countenance those who bring different teaching (2 John 1:9-11; see also 3 John 1:9-10). The transcendent authority and all-important work of the Apostles is, we hope, fairly outlined in the above, but to deal fully with the subject would require a volume. Special care should be taken to note that, great as is the place accorded to the Apostles in Acts and in the epistles, it is nowhere greater than in the words addressed to the Apostles by the Lord Jesus Himself.