mlbrokish Posted July 7, 2019 Group: Senior Member Followers: 15 Topic Count: 25 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 532 Content Per Day: 0.29 Reputation: 1,293 Days Won: 0 Joined: 04/26/2019 Status: Offline Birthday: 04/10/1972 Share Posted July 7, 2019 Are there apostles and prophets in our current time, throughout the world? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jostler Posted July 7, 2019 Group: Mars Hill Followers: 25 Topic Count: 6 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 2,679 Content Per Day: 1.39 Reputation: 3 Days Won: 16 Joined: 01/19/2019 Status: Offline Share Posted July 7, 2019 (edited) yes. Ephesians 4 tells us all the ministry/office gifts were given for a purpose, and they will be necessary and present until that purpose is fulfilled. Quote Eph 4:11-13 ¶ And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; Until the corporate Body is matured into a complete representation of ALL He is, apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors and evangelists will have a place in His plans. I don't think we're quite there yet Edited July 7, 2019 by Jostler 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deborah_ Posted July 7, 2019 Group: Senior Member Followers: 6 Topic Count: 13 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 790 Content Per Day: 0.25 Reputation: 878 Days Won: 0 Joined: 07/07/2015 Status: Offline Share Posted July 7, 2019 1 hour ago, mlbrokish said: Are there apostles and prophets in our current time, throughout the world? It depends how you define the terms 'apostle' and 'prophet'. There were twelve Apostles (with a capital A), and they had to be men who had witnessed the whole of Jesus' ministry, including His resurrection (Acts 1:21,22). Obviously there cannot be any Apostles in this sense today. But if you read the New Testament carefully, you will find that there are several other people called 'apostles' (with a small a, if you like) - such as Andronicus and Junia (Romans 16:7), and Barnabas (Acts 14:14). They were what we would call 'missionaries' (both 'apostle' and 'missionary' mean 'someone who is sent'), and there are thousands of them in our current time too. Similarly with prophets. In the Bible we find Prophets (with a capital P, for clarity) such as Elijah, Micah, Isaiah and Haggai. They had a calling to speak God's word to all His people, and many of them (not all) wrote their prophecies down to form a major part of our Bible. When Paul says that the Church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20), he is talking about Apostles and Prophets. Obviously there are no more Prophets of this type today. But there were many other people in both Old and New Testaments who are described as 'prophets', most of them are not named and none of whom gave any prophecies of significance for the whole church. There were the 'companies of prophets', the men who defied Jezebel (I Kings 18:4) and followed Elijah and Elisha (II Kings 2). In the book of Acts we read about Agabus and the daughters of Philip (Acts 21:8-11). There is no reason why there should not be people with a similar gift of prophecy today - and in many churches there are. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jostler Posted July 7, 2019 Group: Mars Hill Followers: 25 Topic Count: 6 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 2,679 Content Per Day: 1.39 Reputation: 3 Days Won: 16 Joined: 01/19/2019 Status: Offline Share Posted July 7, 2019 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Cletus said: yes. and God is calling many right now. and lots of them are in jail too Nasty men ....horrific convicted criminals Gonna be real hard for the Laodiceans to see or accept...as intended. Edited July 7, 2019 by Jostler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Adams Posted July 7, 2019 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 25 Topic Count: 61 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 9,605 Content Per Day: 3.97 Reputation: 7,795 Days Won: 21 Joined: 09/11/2017 Status: Offline Share Posted July 7, 2019 (edited) I have noticed a few that seem to be self proclaimed Prophets and Apostles. They are a movement that has styled itself this way with this terminology. There are acres of TV persons that have also proclaimed similarly. However, in my experience, they are still bound up in the same old RCC and former pagan ideas and doctrines that seems to be the mainstay of Christendom today. Thus I have not come across any such person(s) since they would have to have been Chosen by the Holy Spirit. What I see taught is not completely inspired by Holy Spirit, so I cannot really buy into it. Holy Spirit does NOT make mistakes. Edited July 7, 2019 by Justin Adams 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jostler Posted July 7, 2019 Group: Mars Hill Followers: 25 Topic Count: 6 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 2,679 Content Per Day: 1.39 Reputation: 3 Days Won: 16 Joined: 01/19/2019 Status: Offline Share Posted July 7, 2019 1 minute ago, Justin Adams said: I have noticed a few that seem to be self proclaimed Prophets and Apostles. They are a movement that has styled itself this way with this terminology. There are acres of TV persons that have also proclaimed similarly. However, I my experience, they are still bound up in the same old RCC and former pagan ideas that seems to be the mainstay of Christendom today. Thus I have not come across any such persons since they would have to have been Chosen by the Holy Spirit. What I see taught is not completely inspired by Holy Spirit, so I cannot really buy into it. Satan always tries to thrust counterfeits forward to confuse and discredit what God is doing....we should expect no less, and definitely be on guard for it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayne Posted July 7, 2019 Group: Royal Member Followers: 16 Topic Count: 107 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 3,820 Content Per Day: 1.30 Reputation: 4,806 Days Won: 2 Joined: 03/31/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted July 7, 2019 This is not a hill that I am willing to die on, so if someone disagrees with me....meh....whatever. We can still be friends. LOL! I do not believe that there are "A"postles today as.... their role was a foundational role of the church in starting the church with Jesus as the cornerstone - Ephesians 2 their authority could not be questioned - the mystery of the gospels for a time was revealed only to them - God spoke directly through them to the churches - Ephesians 2 they had to have witnessed the ministry of Jesus live and in person and his resurrection - Acts 1 There is no man or woman alive today whose Christian leadership cannot be questioned. Nor were they the founders of Christianity and the church with Jesus as the cornerstone nor were they alive 2,000 years ago to have witnessed the ministry of Christ. The foundational work is done. There may well be men and women who give their lives in church planting across the world and I suppose you could call that an "apostolic" work, but they are not Apostles and should not call themselves as such. As for "P"rophets? Well, yes and no. No, there is no one who brings forth a new revelation from God. The canon of scripture is closed and God has revealed to us in this mortal plan all that we need to know until we see him face to face. Yes, there are those who "proclaim" the already existent Word of God, teaching it to those who don't know it and/or won't obey it. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jostler Posted July 7, 2019 Group: Mars Hill Followers: 25 Topic Count: 6 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 2,679 Content Per Day: 1.39 Reputation: 3 Days Won: 16 Joined: 01/19/2019 Status: Offline Share Posted July 7, 2019 37 minutes ago, Deborah_ said: It depends how you define the terms 'apostle' and 'prophet'. We don't get to decide what that definition is. The Bible does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Adams Posted July 7, 2019 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 25 Topic Count: 61 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 9,605 Content Per Day: 3.97 Reputation: 7,795 Days Won: 21 Joined: 09/11/2017 Status: Offline Share Posted July 7, 2019 Generally I agree with Jayne, except the 'closed canon' idea. Since Qumran and other text discoveries, newer translations have clarified and added important information. Considering all that the earlier translators had to work with they did a great job with the 1611 and earlier renditions. But I see nowhere except in 'doctrine' and certain 'bodies of bishops' (Mostly forerunners of the RCC) that the 'canon' is closed. Thus, if the Lord wishes to impart something new, thru something old that is freshly discovered (like at Qumran) who are we to disallow it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deborah_ Posted July 7, 2019 Group: Senior Member Followers: 6 Topic Count: 13 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 790 Content Per Day: 0.25 Reputation: 878 Days Won: 0 Joined: 07/07/2015 Status: Offline Share Posted July 7, 2019 50 minutes ago, Jayne said: I do not believe that there are "A"postles today as.... their role was a foundational role of the church in starting the church with Jesus as the cornerstone - Ephesians 2 their authority could not be questioned - the mystery of the gospels for a time was revealed only to them - God spoke directly through them to the churches - Ephesians 2 they had to have witnessed the ministry of Jesus live and in person and his resurrection - Acts 1 50 minutes ago, Jayne said: No, there is no one who brings forth a new revelation from God. The canon of scripture is closed and God has revealed to us in this mortal plan all that we need to know until we see him face to face. I absolutely agree. The question is whether there are also other, lesser, non-foundational ways of being apostles and prophets - and I believe we do have examples of such in the Bible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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