REGARDING APOSTLES & PROPHETS (and Bishops)!

The Bible (Word of God) says the following:

Ephesians 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

Ephesians 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Ephesians 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

1 Corinthians 12:25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

1 Corinthians 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

1 Corinthians 12:29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?

Who ordained that there are to be Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and teachers? God/Jesus did!

Have the Saints been perfected yet? No,

Has the work of the ministry stopped? NO!

Does the body of Christ still need edification? YES!

Have we all come together into UNITY of faith? With over 40,000 denominations and counting, not by a long shot!

Are people still being tossed to and fro by every wind and doctrine? A resounding YES, thus 40,000 denominations!

Are there still schims in the body of Christ? More than you can wave a stick at!

Who did God set/appoint/ordain to be FIRST in HIS church?  Apostles, then Prophets, then teachers, THEN others.

Now, are ALL Apostles or Prophets? Not God ordained, no - not everyone.  But SOME still are.

So what makes you THINK (key word, think) for one second that Apostles and Prophets are not still being called and chosen and ordained by God today?

Thus why Apostle Paul (and Apostle John) commended the church for using scripture and discerning who are true Apostles and who are false apostles (2Corinthians 11:13; Revelation 2:2).

If the Apostleship was restricted to only a set number of men then it would make no sense for Paul to tell the church to try others who claim to be Apostles because there would be no need if nobody else could be an Apostle aside from a set number.  But there were (and ARE) more Apostles, thus the need for testing.

After the Twelve, and Matthias, we see Paul, Barnabas, Silas, James (brother of Jesus), a group in Romans 16, Titus, Timothy, and many others as Apostles. There are, in fact, 25 Apostles listed by name in the Bible, plus at least another 72-75 not mentioned by name.

Go back to the questions I asked immediately after the scriptures I gave.

Will you find any scripture in the Bible that contradicts what those scriptures said? NO! NEVER!

Will you find any scripture in the Bible saying Apostles and Prophets are no more, but we still have Evangelists and Pastors? We kept some, but not the rest? Again, NO! NEVER!

Will you find scripture in the Bible that says Bishops replaced, succeeded, or are even equal to an Apostle? Not in this lifetime nor in the one to come will you find such a thing in scripture!  

Apostles ordain Bishops, not the other way around.  The qualifications AND authority to ordain Bishops (and/or Elders) was given BY an Apostle - the Apostle Paul - to men such as Timothy and Titus who were ALSO Apostles, and themselves under an Apostle.  Bishops, if you were ordained to the office of Bishop by another Bishop or other Bishops, and not by an Apostle, YOU are an ILLEGITIMATE Bishop.  (Titus 1:1-9)

A Bishop is NOT an Apostle, nor equal to an Apostle. They are ordained by and under the Apostle. Apostles are higher than and supervise Bishops.  Whereas a TRUE Apostle is a Bishop (the Apostles in scripture had bishopricks), AND embodies ALL FIVE of the offices in Ephesians. While the others are individual offices and not equivalent to the Apostle, they are Apostolic; however, the Apostle does all FIVE.  A true Apostle is all of these:  Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor (this is where the Bishop ranks - as a Pastor) and teacher.

With the Apostle being the highest office in the Lord's church, and by example in Scripture,  Apostles both outrank the Bishop and are the ONLY people with God given authority to ordain a Bishop.  Apostles are at the top in the Lord's church.  Apostles are the God-ordained government in His church.  A true Bishop is under an Apostle, not himself nor another Bishop.  God set Apostles as first.

Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

Verse 20 reads 'ARE built', not WERE built.  'ARE' is present-tense or a present-tense verb, meaning the building is still on-going.  The body of Christ is STILL being built and growing.  New members are joining everyday as years go by.  And the building is being done upon God's order.  And that order is that they ARE being built upon Apostles and Prophets as the foundation of each new building.

You do not build a new house or building without laying foundation. And even once the building is set up, you do not remove the foundation. (1) It's not possible to do, and (2) the building would fall and collapse if you then got rid of the foundation.

So, in order for the church to not fall, in order for the Saints to be perfected, in order for us to come into the unity of faith, in order for us to no longer be children tossed to and fro carried about with every wind and doctrine, we MUST have Apostles and Prophets today, tomorrow, and until Christ Jesus returns!  The Bible says Apostles will be here and being chosen & used by God until then.

So, according to the WORD OF GOD (not your insignificant worthless opinion), until the church had come into the unity of faith and its people perfected (in other words, until Judgment Day), we will STILL CONTINUE to have God ordaining people today to not only be Evangelists and Pastors, BUT ALSO Prophets AND Apostles!

As I always say, "If the Bible don't back you up, you need to SHUT UP!" And according to the BIBLE Apostles will continue walking and operating in this world and in the church until Jesus returns.

His Eminence The Most Reverend,

Apostle E. L. Gales​; PhD., D.Div.
Chief Apostle & Presiding Bishop of 'Pentecostal Holiness Church of Christ' ®
Bishop / Senior Pastor of 'The Lord's Tabernacle PHCOC'

http://www.thelordstabernaclephcoc.org/

The Lord's Tabernacle PHCOC on YOUTUBE

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Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

Verse 20 reads 'ARE built', not WERE built.  'ARE' is present-tense or a present-tense verb, meaning the building is still on-going. 

The verb in the original Greek is epoikodomēthentes (ἐποικοδομηθέντες), and its tense is one we are unfamiliar with in English, the aorist. The aorist tense is generally understood to indicate past action, although it may indicate action that continues into the present. That is why some modern bible translations render the word with the past perfect tense in English: 

"having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (NASB)

 

Your critique of Cessationist doctrine is otherwise great, but the tense of the verb in Ephesians 2:20 does not really support your argument. 

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