The Ministry of the Apostle by Miki Hardy

A vital ministry in the of the Body of Christ

The Apostolic ministry is one of the five perfecting ministries that we find in Ephesians 4. The word 'Apostle' is translated as 'sent', which means an Apostle is a messenger or an ambassador of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle is not someone who is independent but like the Pastor, the Evangelist, the Prophet, and the Teacher, he forms part of the body of elders in a local church. He is sent by the church on a specific mission, and gives an account of it when he returns. The Apostle, therefore, forms part of the ministry team of the local church; he is submitted to the body of elders and works closely with the other five-fold ministries. According to the administration of God’s grace, each of the five-fold ministry anointings carries a different authority. It is evident from the Bible that the Apostle carries greater spiritual authority than the other ministries, simply because it is part of the anointing he has received.

God-appointed
We have no better example of the Ministry of the Apostle and its anointing in the New Testament Church, than Paul himself. When we study his life and ministry, we see the authority that God Himself had given to him for the edification of the Church. This anointing was felt and acknowledged everywhere he preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, despite the authority he carried, he was not a dictator but a man of relationship. It must be made clear that the Apostolic anointing is something that is recognised firstly by the body of elders, but then also by the people of God. It can’t be fabricated; neither can it be claimed by anybody who wants to appropriate this title for himself.

The Apostolic message
This anointing is first and foremost demonstrated by the revelation of the Gospel the Apostle has received. The Apostolic ministry can’t be separated from the Gospel that Christ revealed to Paul and the other apostles. In Galatians 1:11-12, Paul declares that the revelation of the Gospel he preached came directly from Jesus Christ. It was not something he received from a man, neither was he taught it. And in Ephesians 3, he speaks about his insight into the mystery of the Gospel that had been kept hidden in ages past, but had now been revealed by the Spirit to the Apostles and Prophets.

What did Paul preach? What revelation had he received from the Lord? In 1 Corinthians 2:2, he states: “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified”. In 1 Corinthians 3:10, he writes that by the grace God gave him, he has laid a foundation as an expert builder. The true foundation of Christian life is not just our faith in Christ, but also our identification with Him in His sufferings, His death and His resurrection. This is the heart of Christianity... the Apostolic Gospel, the message of the cross, which he described as “the power of God!” It is therefore not just what we believe that is important, but also what we live. It was obvious to all the churches that Paul lived what he preached. Nothing he said or wrote contradicted the way that he conducted himself.
The revelation of this Gospel is a sure sign of the Apostolic ministry, because it is the essence of God’s entire, and only, plan for His Church, with which Apostles are called to build the Church. That is why when the foundation is laid in a church by an Apostle, Christians receive a clear understanding of what God is asking of their lives, because the call becomes distinct and they have an example that they can follow.
Present-day Apostles must receive and preach the same revelation as Paul did. The Lord Himself will enlighten the men who are called to this ministry and reveal to them the mystery of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ.

A Father of the Church
Another important proof of the ministry of the Apostle is the spiritual relationship between him and the leadership of the church, with which he works, and God’s people. This is clearly seen in the Book of Acts and in Paul's epistles. In 1 Corinthians 4:15, Paul writes: “Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the Gospel.” He is declaring plainly to them that although many others may have come to testify to them about Jesus, it was he who had begotten them in the Gospel. He is not referring to new birth by the Spirit, but of the foundation he has laid in their lives through the revelation of the Gospel. We see Paul stating confidently in 1 Corinthians 16:1 that the church in Corinth should do what he had instructed the Galatian churches to do regarding the collection for God’s people. He was not the pastor of that church, but he was at liberty to speak to them on that subject because of the relationship they had with him in the Spirit. They were submitted to the Apostolic anointing on his life, and this anointing gave him the authority to proclaim the whole will of God to them. We have a further illustration of this in Paul’s relationship with the Christians in Macedonia. This confirms to us that the Apostle is a father to the churches he works with.

Submission and authority
We can see the same submission to the Apostolic authority in the hearts of the servants of God, who had recognised the anointing on Paul’s life and had forged powerful and enduring relationships with him in the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 4:17, he writes, “For this reason I am sending you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.” Paul calls Timothy his son because he had begotten him in the Gospel. He had the liberty and confidence to send Timothy wherever he felt necessary, at any given time, because of their deep relationship in the Spirit. In Acts 20, we read of the spiritual relationship Paul had with the elders of the church of Ephesus. We can sense that their submissive attitude was the direct result of their spiritual relationship. The Apostolic anointing was instrumental in unifying the local churches of the New Testament.

Protector of doctrine
The Apostle is the protector of doctrine. We see how often the Apostle Paul defended the Gospel he received and lived. He also warned the churches repeatedly about the false doctrines to which they were exposed. The lack of true Apostles today is the reason why so much false teaching and emotional manipulation have been able to enter and take root in the Church. The revelation the Apostle imparts, the anointing attached to his ministry, and the example his life is, bring security and stability to God’s people. The Apostle is humble because of his identification with the sufferings and death of Christ. Thus, Paul was able to say: “Follow me as I am a follower of Christ”.