Concerning the work of the ministry, Ephesians 4:12-13 says that it is to minister Christ to men for the building up of the Body of Christ, the church, until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. This is God’s work in His New Testament economy. This is the focus of God’s work in the New Testament, which especially stresses the building up of the Body of Christ.
For such a building work of the Body of Christ, God has particularly separated a group of people and given them as gifts to the church. Ephesians 4:8 says, “Having ascended to the height, He led captive those taken captive and gave gifts to men.” “Gifts” here does not refer to the gifts given by the Holy Spirit to the individuals (Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:8-11); it refers to the gifted persons—apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherd-teachers. After rescuing men from Satan and death through His death and resurrection, Christ in His ascension, with His resurrection life and through the Holy Spirit, gave spiritual abilities to His rescued ones that they might build up His Body; He also separated some from among them and gave them as gifts to the church to perfect the saints for the building up of His Body. Ephesians 4:11 tells us that the ascended Christ gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some shepherd-teachers to the church.
“Apostle” in Greek means the sent one. An apostle of the Lord is a believer who is called and sent out by God through the will of God (1 Cor. 1:1; Eph. 1:1) and according to the command of God and of Christ (1 Tim. 1:1), with the authority of God to preach the gospel of God, to teach the divine truths, and to establish churches. Apostles are the greatest gifts given by Christ to the church, and they are also placed by God in the highest office in the universal church (1 Cor. 12:28; Rom. 1:5). They are not ordained by man, but appointed by God Himself; not sent out by man, but sent out directly by God. God appoints the apostles in particular and sends them out to work for God in different places and establish churches (Acts 8:14, 25; 13:2; 14:21-23).
While the Lord Jesus worked on earth to fulfill His ministry, He chose twelve disciples to continue His work and called them apostles (Luke 6:13; Mark 3:13-14; 6:30). They occupied a special place in God’s economy. The Bible refers to them not only as apostles, but also as the twelve apostles (Rev. 21:14). Concerning them, the Lord said, “That you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom; and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:30). Thus, they occupied a special place which is not shared by the other workers of God. Christ has a particular throne, and they also have their twelve thrones. Judas lost his apostleship due to his betrayal of the Lord; therefore, God chose Matthias to rank with the other eleven (Acts 1:25-26). In eternity the names of the twelve apostles will be written on the foundations of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:14), indicating that they will occupy a special place among the redeemed even unto eternity.
Many people think that only the Twelve were apostles. Actually, besides the Twelve there were many other apostles. Ephesians 4 tells us clearly that the Lord Jesus in His ascension gave some apostles as gifts to the church. These clearly were not the original Twelve, for they were appointed when the Lord Jesus was still on earth.
Immediately following the descending of the Spirit, the twelve apostles carried on the work from Acts chapter two to chapter twelve. Then in chapter thirteen we are told that there were in the church in Antioch prophets and teachers and as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:1-2). This was the Holy Spirit sending men out for the work; He sent Paul and Barnabas out from Antioch. Then in Acts 14:4, when they were in Iconium, they were referred to as apostles. This shows us that the workers sent out by the Holy Spirit were apostles. Although they were not among the Twelve, Paul and Barnabas were also apostles. Aside from the Twelve, the Holy Spirit is still sending out apostles for the accomplishment of God’s New Testament economy.
In the New Testament, not only Barnabas and Paul were apostles, but many others also were raised up by the Holy Spirit to become such apostles. Silas and Timothy (1 Thes. 1:1; 2:6) were referred to as apostles; the two brothers sent by Paul to deliver the donations to the needy brothers in Judea were called apostles of churches (2 Cor. 8:23); Andronicus and Junia were notable among the apostles (Rom. 16:7); and James, the brother of the Lord, was also an apostle (Gal. 1:19). All these were apostles in addition to the Twelve. Because there were many other apostles besides the Twelve, it was possible for the false apostles to call themselves apostles (2 Cor. 11:13; Rev. 2:2).
Although apostleship is the highest office set up by God, the apostles are not a group of extraordinary people. They are simply a group of workers sent out by God to preach the gospel and establish the churches. Therefore, as long as one is sent out by God to preach the gospel so that men may be saved and may receive the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 11:4-5), and to convey God’s word to men (2 Pet. 3:2), whether in the past or at the present time, he is an apostle. The proof of one’s apostleship is found in the fruitful result of his work (1 Cor. 9:1-2) and in his power, which includes life power in all endurance and miraculous power in doing signs and wonders (2 Cor. 12:11-12).