Hebrews 3:1 “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus.”
We stated earlier that there are five main ministry gifts which we would examine in this teaching, i.e. apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. And so in order of importance, the first ministry gift which we will examine is that of the apostle. Within each ministry gift there are different classes, and there are four classes within the ministry gift of the apostle. The Lord Jesus Christ heads up each ministry gift category, and in each category He is in a class of His own. The above quoted passage of scripture calls Jesus an apostle, and as such, Jesus Christ is the pre-eminent apostle in the church. God called Him to stand in that office, and no one else can stand in the fullness of the anointing that Jesus has for that office. And so the first class of apostle in the church is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation 21:14 “Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
The second class in the ministry gift of the apostle are the twelve apostles of the Lamb. As revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, there are only twelve individuals who have been appointed by God to stand in this class of apostle. Our Lord Jesus revealed that in the regeneration, that these men will sit with Him on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28).
Luke 6:13-16 “And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: (14) Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; (15) Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; (16) Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.”
The above quoted passage of scripture reveals the original list of the twelve apostles of the Lamb as being; Simon, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot.
Acts 1:15-22 “And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples … and said, (16) "Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; (17) for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry." … (20) "For it is written in the Book of Psalms: 'Let his dwelling place be desolate, and let no one live in it'; and, 'Let another take his office.' (21) "Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, (22) beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
As we all know, among the original twelve apostles of the Lamb, Judas Iscariot became the traitor, and he therefore fell from that office. In choosing his replacement, as quoted in the above quoted passage of scripture, Peter reveals to us certain qualifications that one had to have in order to be classified as one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And so we see that in order to qualify for this office one would have had to have been a disciple of the Lord Jesus from the time that Jesus was baptized by John, all through His public ministry, and been an eyewitness of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. We know from scripture that two of the Lord’s disciples, Joseph and Matthias, met those conditions, and that God chose Matthias by lot to replace Judas as one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Acts 1:26). Some have taught erroneously that the disciples missed God by appointing Matthias, because God had actually chosen Paul as the replacement for Judas. Paul however, could not meet the requirements as specified in scripture to become an apostle of the Lamb, and he himself acknowledged that he was not one of the twelve (1 Corinthians 15:5). These twelve individuals also fulfilled all of the functions that all apostles are called to. But they are the only individuals that could stand in the office that the Lord had called them to, as apostles of the Lamb.
Michael E.B. Maher
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