PART OF THE WORLD WIDE UNITY OF APOSTLES
The object of the Apostolic Church is to bring all to the Grace of Jesus Christ, to reconcile a people again to God and to be led in Childlike faith by the Holy Ghost to be prepared as a bride at his return in power and glory which is near at hand.
Rev. 22 Verse 12 "Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me."
The Apostolic Church of Queensland was established in 1886 as part of the re-establishment which began in England in 1830. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Head of His Church, which He rules and sustains through the Holy Spirit and to which He sent and continues to send His Apostles.
A guide to help obtain an understanding of our faith and beliefs. Printed in 1993 to assist in the mission labour of the Apostolic Church Of Queensland - Northern District.
Source of Contents. This guide is based on the Holy Bible, "Authorised King James Version", and research and publications of the Apostles of the various Apostolic Churches throughout the world.
"ALL HONOUR TO GOD"
Apostle Paul said: "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5,7). in other words, the certainty we have in our faith does not rely alone on observable facts. Roughly speaking, there are three types of security, three ways in which man can attain a feeling of security.
Many things we know with certainty or we think we know with certainty because we have seen or heard for ourselves. Proof of this can be found in statements like "I only believe what I hear", "seeing is believing". But such are not always reliable, for the perceptions of human beings are often very different. Judges are confronted daily by contradictory statements from witnesses who all maintain that they saw or heard something with certainty. Furthermore, our senses often deceive us. These are reasons enough to be wary of such feelings of certainty.
Scientific developments have led to increased knowledge, enabling the doctor to diagnose, the surgeon to carry out operations, the engineer to build bridges or make computers to carry out complicated calculations. However, science has still not developed a perfect method of proving exactly the origin of things. This applies for certainties, which frequently are offered under the label of scientific experiments, but in reality, rely on philosophy.
As far as the meaning and purpose of human existence, science leaves us completely in the lurch. Only the third kind of certainty can then help us. Indeed, when it is a question of belief, the word "certainty" is appropriate.
First of all, it must be said that even belief can lead to rash or false feelings of security. Unhappy is the man who believes everything he is told. Even in the area of religion there are unfortunately many false forms of security the belief in the worship of animals, ancestor worship, reincarnation, or the belief that one particular human being can declare himself to be God. The faith of an Apostolic Christian is based on God, on the redeemer Jesus Christ sent by Him, on the redeeming work of the Holy Spirit which proceeds from the Father and the Son; and further on All God's promises in the Bible, of which some have already been fulfilled and others are still awaiting fulfillment.
This faith is more than just an assertion of truth. It is above all a way of life that comes from our trust in God, from our hope in the fulfillment of His promises and from our steadfast will, to reveal the love of God in our own lives and to repeatedly purify and shape ourselves through His grace and redeeming work. "now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11,1 ).
Faith must be in accordance with our works (James 2,22). Faith must be a positive, unshakeable possession, for "without (firm) faith it is impossible to please him" (Heb. 11,6 also I Cor. 2,5).
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THESE ARTICLES ARE WRITTEN TO GIVE A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF:
"THE TENETS AND FAITH OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH"
AND TO EXPLAIN OUR BELIEFS IN WHY WE CONTINUE WITH THE MISSION OF CHRIST AND SACRAMENTS AS IN THE INFANT CHURCH.
LEADING ON TO THE OBJECTS AND REWARDS OF THESE BLESSINGS.
REVELATIONS CHAPTER 1,8 "I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING, SAITH THE LORD, WHICH IS, AND WHICH WAS, AND WHICH IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY"
"ALL HONOUR TO GOD"
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Let us dwell first of all upon the statement that God is called the creator of heaven and earth. This means that God is the beginning of all things, the primal source, the primal power from which all things were created. John said, "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him" (John 1, 1-3). The allusion is to the origin of all things, namely the eternal word, i.e. the being of God. John did not perceive reality and essence to be in creation, but in God. he considered that there is a relationship between the visible creation and the invisible existence of God; this he termed the eternal Word.
Now at times the expression "Word" is misunderstood. It is clear from the original text that we are not talking about a human spoken or written word, but about the primal power (logos), from which everything has come, a power that is linked with rationality, order and cohesion. By "Word" we therefore understand a creating power which is God Himself.
By "heaven and earth" we mean firstly the material creation of God, i.e. the universe with its constellations, including our solar system, its nebulas (collections of billions of stars or infinite formations of sparse matter), its heavenly bodies (comets, planets and moons). All this is known as the macrocosm.
The microcosm is also a part of this material creation. All matter consists of an endless quantity of molecules that are themselves built from atoms. These atoms appear to us as "solar systems" with atom nuclei encircled by electrons. These atomic nuclei comprise still smaller particles. A thick book would be needed if we were to describe these systems. Suffice it to say that the structure of the microcosm and the macrocosm and the function of all particles is based on sound laws. The universe is not chaotic, even though it may sometimes appear to be so.
Roughly speaking, we can distinguish animate and inanimate matter.
When we survey visible creation, as far as we are able to observe it on our earth, we tend readily to distinguish five ascending levels:
For a person who only sees the corporeal-material world only the first three levels exist inanimate matter, plants and animals. For him man too belongs to the animal kingdom we however see in man the highest form of material and spiritual creation.
When we immerse ourselves in the splendid structure of inanimate and animate matter, when we recognise the wonderful utility and purpose fullness of even the minutest plant and the smallest animal, and when we direct our gaze once again upon the infinite nature of the constellations and the microcosm then we are compelled to believe that behind this unimaginable and confusingly complex and splendid construction of reality dwells an omnipotent creator, a super-intelligence, a supernatural builder and architect, a composer of the never-ending song of life; the WORD, that was, is and will be for evermore.
Ultimately we encounter the gross misunderstanding that holds that we should believe, on the basis of the creation story, that the world came into being in six days (according to our conception of time). The scriptures say nothing about the duration of this development but point to the fact that a planning, loving will stands behind it, which prescribes goals and limits for all living things. The creation story is not a scientific description about the genesis of the world but is the testimony of God's omnipotence.
God is infinite in time and space. Accordingly, His attributes and possibilities are infinitely numerous and vast. To know and to fathom Him in His fullness is impossible for man, limited as he is. It is therefore no surprise that the way in which man observes God is limited and that the image of God, the perception which man has of God, has developed and been enlarged over the centuries. Consequently, God was addressed in the Old Testament mostly as Lord. In this word the recognition of His majesty, His greatness, His kingship, His omnipotence, becomes manifest. Only on the odd occasion in the Old Testament is God called "Father" e.g. in Ps. 89,26: "Thou art my father, my God and the rock of my salvation". In Jer. 3,19-20 God speaks through the mouth of a prophet to the people of Israel: "And I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. But ye dealt treacherously with me, 0 house of Israel..."
With the coming of Jesus, namely in the New Testament, God's being is seen differently. He is now primarily called Father. Many of Jesus' pronouncements indicate this, e.g. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14,9) "For ONE is your Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 23,9)
Naturally, God remains, even for Jesus, God the Lord and Creator of heaven and earth. Consider His saying "I thank Thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth..." (Luke 10,21). The distance between God and man, however, grows smaller, so that Jesus always calls God His Father the Father of man as well (Matt. 6,14 and 32).
The word "Father" expresses different things. First and foremost, a father gives life to his children. Similarly, Jesus bears the life of God his Father perfectly within Himself. That is why He is also termed the Son of God. And those whom the spirit of God moves, are called the children of God (Rom. 8,14). We will see in another context even more clearly that being moved by the spirit of God has its basis in the well established principles of faith.
Jesus as the Son of God came down to earth, that he might reveal the being of the Father, and that He might be crucified to take our sins upon Himself. He rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sent down the Holy Ghost to comfort and to lead mankind. Whoever believes in Christ and is born again is a child of God and is entitled to call God his Father. "Father" indicates that God loves us, that He wishes to lead us, provide for us, and if necessary, to warn and admonish us. Paternal love does not mean having to do everything that complies with the wishes of children or removing every obstacle for them. But it does mean forming children into grown-up adults, helping them on the way to spiritual maturity, rescuing them in their greatest need and giving them experiences, so that they radiate the being of the Father and become like Jesus Christ.
The word "Father" ultimately expresses a state of trust, characterising the relationship between God and man. In this father-child relationship, we speak with God, we pray to Him and He speaks to us. He answers us, He shows us the way, He lets us experience things that take the shape of a reply. For this purpose He also sends people to us.
In a good father-child relationship, the dialogue is not interrupted, or to put it in modern terms: there is continuous communication between both parties.
We have seen that creation has many aspects to it: macrocosm and microcosm, the visible and the invisible, the organic and the inorganic, the material and the spiritual.
This creation had, at a particular point, in time, reached the stage where God was able to say "It is very good." It is said therefore that creation was complete after seven days of creation (periods of time). It was a clear conclusion. Man was created in God's image. However, that does not mean that God did not care for His creation thereafter. Quite the opposite, God is still active in His visible and invisible creation. He still provides for it and develops it. In the universe, for example, new stars and constellations come into being while other stars die.
In its basic structure (i.e. in the lines and principles of its composition), creation is perfect, yet is developing further. To give an example a new-born child is - if all has gone well- a perfect creation, it possesses all life giving organs and is viable but not yet complete, i.e. it has not yet mastered all its bodily functions, cognition and language are not yet developed, and the child cannot yet look after itself etc. - In this respect, it has to be considered that God's action vis-a-vis man and his environment is repeatedly impaired by man himself, in that the latter goes his own way and is disobedient towards God. This disobedience is possible because God gave man a free will at his creation. Man is able to decide for good or for evil.
Through disobedience man turned away from God. A part of perfection was severed. God has, however, promised to send one into the world who shall break the bonds of Satan or who will, as the Bible expresses it, "bruise the head of the serpent (Satan)" (Gen. 3,15).
At the end of God's never ending work of creation, a new heaven and a new earth, will come into being. We are already on this path (Rev. 21). Then every knee shall bow before God (Phil. 2,10). We humans are, until the attainment of this goal, co-responsible as the custodians of creation. We have to ensure that God's creation is not plundered and destroyed. Nature and man should be able to develop unimpeded in both natural and spiritual terms. Our unchanging and Almighty God does not wish, as our Father, to make of the earth an abiding hell, but wishes to bring about the new heaven and the new earth wherein He will be all in all.
Even the human mind should grasp that there is a creator God. The idea that everything must have come into being through chance we reject as impossible and foolish. One only has to point to the purposefulness, the vitality and the dynamism of every individual and the marvelously rational construction of macrocosm and microcosm with their clear goals. This has been stressed down through the ages by numerous scholars, natural scientists, astronomers and biologists of world renown. However, in order to participate in God's new creation, in the new heaven and the new earth, another precondition is necessary: faith in God in the mission of His Son Jesus Christ.
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Jesus Christ came to reconcile us with God the Father, to bridge the gulf that arose through the fall into sin, i.e. through man's disobedience to God's will. The whole of the New Testament bears witness to this.
The first epistle of John says that Jesus Christ is righteous and He is the propitiation for our sins and for the sins of the whole world (I John. 2,1-2). Paul went into the matter deeply "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life" (Rom. 5,8-10). Further explanation of the meaning of this sacrament with regard to reconciliation with God can be found in the chapter about holy baptism.
Jesus Christ has revealed the will of the Father in a way in which no one else has done. Paul expressed this by referring to God's sending of his Son Jesus Christ so that the mystery of His will would be made known to us (Eph. 1.8-9).
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews (the Jewish Christians in Palestine) quotes a saying from the psalms which also tells us that Christ came to reveal God's will: "Lo, I come to do Thy will, 0 God" (Heb. 10,7-9; Ps. 40,7-9).
From the many statements in the New Testament which confirm this, Jesus Himself can be quoted as having said that He realised God's will by bearing the heaviest burdens: "Abba, Father", he said before His crucifixion, "all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me; nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt" (Mark 14,36; Matt. 26,42; Luke 22,42). Jesus Christ therefore came not only to reveal God's will in words, but also - and this above all - to provide an example by His life. He is the great forerunner, the pattern for all mankind. After Jesus had washed the disciples' feet, He said: "For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you" (John 13,15).
Paul exhorted the members of the church in Rome: "... be like minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus" (Rom. 15,5). He wrote to Timothy: "Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting" (I Tim. 1, 16).
The importance of Jesus Christ goes further than this. For all who are Christians in the true sense of the word He is the prophet (proclaimer of God's good news) and the pattern. He is also the one who has, through His death on the cross, reconciled us with God, and He is equally our refuge in times of trouble, our Lord and King. He directs our lives through His Holy Spirit and has promised to come again to finally make everything good. He is therefore also our hope for the future of mankind. In short: He is the Saviour of mankind.
With regard to this, we should note the original meaning of the name Jesus. It is a derivative of Joshua or Jeshua which means "rescue." That is also exactly what the angel Gabriel said in his enunciation to Joseph of the birth of Jesus ". . . thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matt. 1,2 1).
The uniqueness of Jesus Christ lies in the fact that, on the one hand, He was a human being and subject to all the laws of biology and to all human requirements, in short: human in every respect; on the other hand, He was the Son of God who could rise above man's conformity with the laws of nature. According to the Bible, Jesus on more than eighty occasions referred to Himself as "the Son of man," in order to make it clear that He was in every way a real human being, e.g. "... the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" (Matt. 8,20; Luke 9,58); "But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins ..."(Matt. 9,6; Mark 2, 1 0; Luke 5,24).
At the same time, the teachings of Jesus are aimed at developing in His disciples the awareness that He is equally the Son of God. Testimonies before, during and after the earthly life of Jesus attest that He is the Son of God or the Son of the Almighty. Already in the second Psalm, dedicated to the coming of the Messiah, we read God's prophetic assertion: "Thou art my Son . . ., I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utter most parts of the earth for thy possession" (Ps. 2,7-8). At the enunciation of the birth of Jesus the angel said to Mary " . . . and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest" (Luke 1 31-32).
During His earthly life, many people testified that He was the Son of God:
Twice God Himself testified of Jesus that He was His beloved Son. After His baptism in the Jordan. John saw the Spirit of God, descending as a dove and lighting upon Him, and a voice from heaven said: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3,16-17). These words could be heard at Jesus' transfiguration, except that God added" hear ye him" (Matt 17--5).Not only God, Jesus, His friends and enemies, bore witness to His being the Son of God, but also the satanic powers. According to Matt. 8,28-34, Jesus encountered two people who were possessed of unclean spirits (cf. Mark 5,1 -20 and Luke 8,26-39). When they saw Jesus, they called in despair "What do you want of us, son of God?" Jesus commanded the unclean, devilish spirits to depart from the sick people.
Often the expression "Son of God" is understood in a mythological (legendary) sense. According to Greek, Roman and Germanic myths, gods & goddesses married and begat children. Jesus' claim to be the son of God cannot be compared In any way with the legends of the gods. As the "son of man "Jesus was truly human. His soul and mind exhibited however a plenitude of God's power, might, love and righteousness. His spirit was the spirit of God. His power was the power of God. His love was the love of God. His words were the words of God (John 17-8.) It was life from God himself that revealed itself in and through Jesus: "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2,9). Jesus bore the image of His Father in completeness. Therefore He could say, "and he that seeth me seeth the father" (John 12,45 and 14,9).
Herein is expressed the essential quality of the relationship between God and Jesus Christ - a father-son relationship! In concrete terms this means that Jesus received His life from His Father; he was really begotten of His Father. Jesus lived in total obedience towards the will of God. It was a relationship of love and trust, of the certainty of guidance and of surrender to the will and power of God.
Through faith all who have been baptised and have had their being renewed through "the water of rebirth" can become children of God (Gal. 3,26). Here too it is not a question of mythology but of a renewal of soul and mind.
Of all the writers of the books of the New Testament, John is the only one who adds to the phrase "Son of God" the words only begotten. Five times we find this (John 1, 14 and 18; 3,16 and 18; 1 John 4,9) which likewise is contrary to mythological beliefs. Matthew, Mark and Luke described the life of Jesus mainly through reporting facts. John, however, engrossed himself in observations about the facts. He saw them in a wider context. He placed the emphasis upon the fact that the divine life (the incarnation of God in the Son Jesus Christ) was revealed in completeness and had never occurred before to this extent in a human being. Thus John spoke of the only begotten Son, in other words, through no other person can we expect to be saved for eternal life in God. The phrase "only begotten" was an essential at that time, when many princes, for example the Roman emperors who occupied Jewish land, had themselves venerated as "sons of God."
Every true Christian sees in Jesus Christ, his Lord. He knows that he was saved from the death of sin through Jesus Christ's sacrifice. He recognises in Him the fullness of God and is aware that Jesus, in spite of being human, did not sin and therefore never became a slave of sin. For us Jesus is Lord and Master. The first apostles also called and described Him in this manner:
If Christ is our Lord He may do His will by us.
The Bible teaches us that Christ's birth was unique in the history of mankind; a birth from a human mother's womb, however not through the will of a man! Any explanation based on human reason is misplaced. We can only point to two things:
To take up the last point: we repeat, a rational explanation does not answer the question. Miracles remain for us a sign of divine omnipotence, even if we were able to comprehend them after the event.
What does the Bible say about the immaculate conception of Jesus? Luke is the most detailed in his account. He reports that the angel Gabriel appeared to a virgin who was "betrothed" to Joseph of the house of David. The virgin was called Mary (Luke 1,27). Twice in one sentence Luke stresses that Mary was a virgin. The angel announced to Mary that she would bear a son whose name would be Jesus. Mary spoke to the angel: "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" The angel answered: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1,26-35).
Matthew's gospel records too that Mary was "espoused" to Joseph which in our times means being engaged to be married. "When Mary was betrothed to Joseph (other translations: 'when Mary and Joseph were espoused'), it came to pass, before he brought her home that she was found with child of the Holy Spirit". An angel of God had to restrain Joseph from putting her away privily. To him as well the angel spoke: "That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost". Joseph therefore decided to remain with his betrothed and he had no relations with her before she bore a son Jesus (Matt. 1, 18-25).
The records of Luke and Matthew make it clear that the conception of Jesus was effected by the Holy Ghost. This Spirit was placed in Mary as a divine power. Jesus was the seed that grew to become the redeemer of mankind. Jesus means "saviour." He was born man of Mary. His Spirit was and is taken from God's Holy Spirit and was and is, as such, part of God since the beginning of creation (John 1, 1).
With the birth of Jesus, a number of prophecies from the Old Testament were fulfilled, among other things: "Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is God with us" (Isaiah 7,14; Matt. 1,23).
John did not record the birth of Jesus but he did allude to the fact that even people awakened and born in a natural way could be born of God. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of the will of God" (John 1, 12- 13). Here John was already alluding to Jesus' demand for "rebirth by water and the spirit" (John 3,3-5). The begetting of Jesus by the Holy Ghost has made it possible that all who follow Jesus can be born (anew) in the same way from and through the power of this Spirit.
Between 26 and 36 A.D. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea. After Jesus had been brought before the council of the elders of the people, high priests and scribes led him to the governor. They found Him guilty because He called Himself "King of the Jews" (Luke 23,3). Pilate considered that Jesus had committed no punishable offence. But he feared the wrath of the people and was apprehensive, lest a complaint be lodged against him with the Roman emperor. The Jewish writer at the time, Philo, noted the existence of a letter from Herod Agrippa I to the emperor, describing Pilate as a cruel, corrupt and unreliable person who often had people executed without trial. Doubtless, Pilate knew that he had to be cautious. He found himself to a certain extent caught between two stools, the emperor and the rebellious people. He himself was convinced of Jesus' innocence, as his own testimonies show: "I have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof you accuse him . . . and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him" (Luke 23,14-15). - "What evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him" (Luke 23,22; see also Matt. 27,11-26; Luke 23,13-25; John 18,28-30; John 19,4-6).
Nevertheless Pilate delivered Jesus up to crucifixion. His fear of the emperor and the rebellious people, or more correctly, his fear of the loss of his own position, got the better of his sense of justice. As a sign of his alleged innocence of Jesus' death, he washed his hands (Matt. 27,24). Water cannot however wash away stains from the soul.
Mention of the fact that Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate and was crucified and buried at that time shows that Jesus' passion took place in full public view as a reliable historical event. We can also see here that courage to be truthful and just is even lacking in those who are appointed by the state to preside over truth and justice. Personal power and status are preferred to selfless surrender to God's justice. This means retreating from God's responsibility (washing one's hands in innocence).
Jesus took the cross upon Himself. His crucifixion was part of God's plan. Jesus knew the will of the Father and was ready to perform it to the very end. Thus He could also predict His passion (Matt. 16,21; 17,22-23; 20,17-19). His submission to the will of God was at its highest point in the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane: " 0 my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matt. 26,39). Jesus as the Son of God had the power to escape His persecutors and to climb down from the cross. As the Son of man, however, He had suffered and struggled and had been obedient from the cradle to the cross. Through this act, He bridged the gap which had arisen between man and God after the Fall. So man was again reconciled with God. Paul stressed this point to the Ephesians: "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ ... that he might reconcile both (Jews and Gentiles) unto God ... by the cross" (Eph. 2,13-16); or to the Colossians: " . . . that in him should all fullness (namely the fullness of God) dwell.... that He made peace through the blood of His cross". In this way God was reconciled unto everything that is in heaven and earth (Col. 1, 19-20).
Through Christ's sacrificial death the cross has become the symbol of passion and overcoming and hence also the symbol for Christianity as a whole. The spiritual height to which Jesus had ascended in His deepest humiliation is attested to by His request on behalf of those who had nailed Him to the cross: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23,34).
Crucifixion, which entailed nailing a villain to a wooden cross, was not a Jewish practice. The Romans, however, reserved this punishment for the worst offences. That the Jews demanded of Pilate that Jesus should be crucified shows that they (above all the high priests and scribes) wanted him to suffer the deepest humiliation and the cruelest of all punishments so greatly did they fear the loss of power and status. Therefore they also sought from Pilate a political motive to condemn Jesus: He calls Himself King (Luke 23,2). The miraculous thing here is that by this very passion, humiliation and death, Jesus was able to say a short time later to his disciples - before his ascension "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matt. 28,18). Thus He was, is, and will always be: the prince of the kings of the earth(King of Kings) (Rev 1,5).
After the death of Jesus, the veil of the temple (that separated the holy of holies) was "rent in twain from the top to the bottom". The earth quaked, and the rocks rent. The graves were opened and many bodies of the saints which slept arose (Matt. 27,51 -53). A rich man, Joseph of Arimathaea, a member of the Sanhedrin (of the highest Jewish court) was a secret follower of Jesus. He asked for Pilate's consent to bury Jesus' body. He laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre (Matt. 27,57-60). With this the prophecy was fulfilled: "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth" (Isaiah 53,9). In this way both Pilate and the Sanhedrin unknowingly helped to prepare the way that was preordained by God.
Frequently the question is raised is there such a thing as Hades? Arguments can be found for and against the existence of an "afterlife". However we will confine ourselves to what the Bible says. First of all, it must be stressed that this question cannot be clarified through reason and science. There are even Christian viewpoints that assert that the Bible has nothing to say about the existence of an afterlife and that there is no continuation of life after earthly existence. Our contradictory view is that the Bible is a continuing testimony to a realm beyond earthly life. We can point to the fact that conceptions of the "realm of the dead" and thoughts about it in the Bible have changed in the course of history. The New Testament gives, for example, a more refined and exact picture than the Old Testament. In the Old Testament we find the idea that the souls of the dead led a ghostly, shadowy existence somewhere under the earth, in the scheol, or in Greek, in hades. There darkness and passivity reigned, and God could not even once be praised (Ps. 6,5). There both good and evil people would live eternally. A miserable and hopeless prospect!
This hell (scheol, hades) was given different names the silence, the underworld, the darkness, etc., (Ps. 115,17; Isaiah 32,18; 2 Peter 2,4).
Isaiah had already said about the resurrection of the dead "Thy dead men shall live . . . Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust!" (Isaiah 26,19). One story above all, the story about King Saul in Endor, clearly proves that the Jews believed in an autonomous existence for the dead. Although Saul had forbidden, on pain of death, the invocation of spirits of the dead, he himself did this. When he and his army were driven into a corner by the Philistines, he went to visit a woman in Endor who could invoke the dead. He summoned the prophet Samuel, who prophesied his fall.
Gradually people came to the view that not all the dead can dwell in the same place. Isaiah 32,17-32 says that the defeated conquerors of Jewish land would be found among the uncircumcised. Thus arose the concept of two different places, one for the circumcised and another for the circumcised unrighteous and the Gentiles who did not belong to the Old Covenant. The latter place was called gehenna (hell). "This name is derived from an infertile valley to the south-east of Jerusalem where during the time of the kings even children were sacrificed to the idol Moloch. Later this served as a burial ground for fallen Jews and for sinners in general and as a place for burning rubbish. This place was seen as the entrance to hell. Later the word gehenna was used to described hell itself (Encyclopaedia of the Bible).
Whenever Jesus referred to the various places, spheres, regions and dwelling places in the next world, he did so with the aim of characterising the different states of the soul. This becomes clear in the parable of the rich man and in the story about poor Lazarus (Luke 16,19-31). There seemed to exist an "unbridgeable chasm" between two places in the next word. The rich man found himself "in a place of agony" (pangs of conscience). Lazarus, however, was "in the bosom of Abraham." "Bosom" means safety, security. Jesus said to the criminal on the cross who came to a recognition of his sins and to a faith in Jesus: "Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23,43).
From these sayings of Jesus the false conclusion was drawn that there would only be two states in the next world, namely heaven and hell. But there are differing spheres of light and darkness, different places, different "dwelling places", depending on the condition of the soul.
Paul wrote to Timothy that Jesus dwelt in the light "which no man can approach unto" (I Tim. 6,16). Consider also Jesus' words "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14,2).
After His crucifixion, Jesus "went and preached unto the spirits in prison: which sometimes were disobedient, when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah . . ." (1 Peter 3,19-20).
Even to the dead, is brought the joyous message of the gospel, salvation and redemption from sin and death. This is why Peter could say "For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit". (I Peter 4,6). God wants all men to be offered the opportunity of salvation, and Christ is Lord over the living and the dead (I Tim. 2,4; Rom. 14,9).
Apostle John in Revelations 1, 18, had this confirmed when the Glorified Christ said to him "I am He that liveth, and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore, Amen, and have the keys of hell and death". With the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross and his gaining the keys of hell and death, a new way dawned for the believer. We find the word Paradise used to indicate the destiny and experience of the redeemed souls (Luke 23,43). Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12,4, speaks of paradise as a place upwards, where he heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for man to utter. This shows us that our minds cannot and should not try to comprehend this place where the soul goes to wait for the return of Christ on that great resurrection day. It should be sufficient for us to believe that as the original Garden of Eden was created "as in Paradise", so then in a like manner be Christ's Paradise.
Several times Jesus announced His passion. He always added to this prophecy the comforting, though hardly understood promise that He would rise again from the dead on the third day (Matt. 16,21; 17,23; 20,19; Mark 8,31; 9,31; 10,34; Luke 9,22; 18,33).
In other conversations with His followers, too, Jesus drew attention to the fact that after His earthly body had been broken, He would be resurrected on the third day. The form in which He communicated this, however, was barely understood: "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2, 19). This utterance was used in evidence against Jesus when He was brought before the Council of the Jews (Mark 14,58). Jesus was even mocked about this as He hung on the cross (Mark 15,29). John made it clear, however, that Jesus meant His body, which, as the earthly temple of the spirit of God, would be broken and would be rebuilt on the third day (John 2,19-21).
All four gospels described the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and the fact that He appeared to many (Matt. 28, 1-10; Mark 16,1-8; Luke 24,1-12; John 20,1-18). The details are not the same in all four gospels, but, as is the case with any eye-witness report, each stressed what impressed him most. Such differences in detail strengthen the very reliability of all the eye-witness accounts. Thus all four gospel writers described the fact that on the third day the stone was rolled away from the tomb, that one or several angels were to be found at the open grave, that the body of Jesus had disappeared and that the Lord appeared to many people there after. Paul gave a summary, reporting that the risen Christ appeared to more than five hundred of his brethren at once, of whom many were still living when Paul wrote this, and could thereby testify that they had seen the risen Lord (I Cor. 15,16) .
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is of fundamental importance for every Christian. Thereby death is vanquished! Then Paul could place the words of the prophet Hosea in a completely new light "O death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy victory?" (1 Cor. 15,55; Hos. 13,14). It is clear from other words of the first apostles that this belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is of fundamental importance. Paul said that without this resurrection, faith would be in vain (1 Cor. 15,14). Peter too wrote to the Christians living in the diaspora that God had begotten them again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (I Peter 1,3).
Jesus appeared to His disciples in his risen body, a body which bore features of an earthly body and of a supernatural kind. On the one hand, the risen Christ ate a piece of fried fish in the presence of the disciples and showed Thomas His wounds. On the other hand, He came through closed doors into the chamber in which the disciples were (Luke 24,42-43, John 20,24-29).
The overcoming of death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ holds open to those who are born again of His Spirit the prospect of attaining eternal life on the day of the first resurrection. This was the firm belief of all the apostles.
Jesus said to Martha, "I am the resurrection, and the life he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11,25-26). Paul expressed it thus: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (I Cor. 15,22). Christ is the first fruit of them that slept (I Cor. 15,20). Paul hoped that he would be able to summon up the strength to endure in suffering so that he might attain resurrection from the dead (Phil. 3, 10-11).
At the end of the Old Testament the belief in a general resurrection of the dead asserts itself. The prophet Daniel testified most clearly to this "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth (in the realm of the dead), shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and ever lasting contempt" (Dan. 12,2). Jesus added to this: "For the hour is coming in the which all that are in the grave shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 5,28-29).
Finally, attention should be drawn to the similarities in the life of every righteous Christian. There are moments in which the new life of Christ is crucified in the human soul. Again and again the stones which hold the heart imprisoned should be rolled away through the power of God, so that man can say: "I will arise and go to my father" (Luke 15,18).
At Easter we remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ and we experience the idea of resurrection not only in its fundamental meaning, but also as a personal resurrection, according to the words: "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Eph. 5,14).
After He had performed His work on earth, Jesus made His apostles missionaries and ordered them to be His witnesses "in Jerusalem and in the whole of Judea and Samaria and unto the ends of the earth". As a comforting promise, He gave them the assurance that He would be with them to the end of the world and that they would be baptised with the Holy Ghost and would receive from it the necessary power to be active witnesses (Acts 1,5-8; Matt. 28,19-20). Then He departed from them and was carried up into heaven (Luke 24,51). Christ's ascension was not only a spiritual ascension but a physical and a spiritual one. That is understandable - miraculous though it may be - when we consider that Jesus had appeared to His disciples in His glorious risen body, in order to make them His missionaries. This act of being borne up into heaven is called the Ascension of Jesus Christ. Luke summarised this occurrence in his gospel, but as a writer of Acts, he went rather more deeply into it (Acts 1,9-11). Mark too summarised it thus: "So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God" (Mark 16,19). Between the lines of the different scriptural accounts, we can read, however, that the ascension of Christ had a place in the beliefs of the first Christians. When for example the empty place left by Judas among the apostles had to be filled, Peter said to a group of 120 people that this gap had to be closed by one who "beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us" had been among them (Acts 1,21-22). Paul wrote to Timothy that Christ had "been seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" (I Tim. 3,16). The ascension of Jesus took place 40 days after His resurrection (Acts 1,3). The Christians commemorate this occurrence exactly 40 days after Easter.
Several times Jesus Himself alluded to His ascension. Many of His disciples grumbled about the fact that He compared Himself with the living bread that came from heaven. Jesus then said: "What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was?" (John 6,62). In other words: can you only believe if you see my ascension into heaven with your own eyes?
In the description of Jesus' ascension, it is recorded that a "cloud" took Him away from their very eyes. Again and again, the writers of the Scriptures were obliged to reproduce, in their own words, facts about God's kingdom which could not be described (because no language has suitable words for them). The Bible therefore needs metaphorical language for such spiritual situations. For example, heavenly Jerusalem is described as consisting of precious metals and stones. The apostles sit on "twelve thrones", etc. Thus the Bible often uses the word "cloud" when mention is being made of the appearance of angels or of the presence of God. Here are some examples:
Obviously a cloud is the symbol, the visible sign, of God's revelation. Furthermore, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews mentions a "cloud of witnesses". This "cloud of witnesses" should be kept in mind when considering the Second Coming.
Mark tells us that after His ascension Jesus sat Himself "on the right hand of God" (Mark 16,19). This pronouncement has the same importance as Matthew's statement that to Jesus is given "all power in heaven and in earth" (Matt. 28,18). In our own language, we are familiar with the expression "the right hand". We use it, for example, for someone who has an important task or who is the boss's representative. Hence the observation that the possession of all power in heaven and on earth is synonymous with being "seated on the right hand of God".
When we look into the derivation of the words "left" and "right", we see that "left" originally had an unfavourable connotation and "right" a favourable meaning. "Left" is connected with "slyness" and "cunning". The Bible therefore also means by "right hand" a good position. Thus Jesus told His disciples that one day all peoples would be gathered before Him and that He would then separate the righteous from the unrighteous, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, "the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left" (Matt. 25,32-33). Our study later teaches of the Second Coming of the Lord and the Last Judgment.
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The word "spirit" is a translation of the Hebrew ruach and of the Greek pneuma. These words do not only mean "spirit" but also "breath" or "wind". It is therefore understandable that in the olden days people felt this spirit in the breath of men. Breath is, after all, something that comes from human beings and is not visible beforehand. The saying "to breathe one's last" is also proverbial.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to fully explain the concept "spirit". However, we often speak of the human spirit and mean by this the non material aspects of human beings. God too is spirit: frequently the Bible talks about the "spirit of God" or the "spirit of the Lord". Right at the beginning of the Bible we read that the spirit of God "moved upon the face of the waters" (Gen. 1,2), and, with regard to the creation of Adam, that "... (God) breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living being" (another translation "a living soul", Gen. 2.7). Hence, in the beginning, man received a soul from the spirit of God: he was filled with God's Holy Spirit. Sin destroyed this divine state. Satan, the original destroyer, at the same time "blew into" man his spirit, so that man was no longer only filled with God's spirit but also took on satanic spiritual characteristics. Man no longer lived in direct and complete communion with God his character, his thinking, his emotions and his conduct were influenced by the spirit of Satan. The paradisiacal state, the high point of creation, no longer existed; trouble, pain, suffering and death came in place of this. God, however, promised that He would send one who would "bruise the serpent's head" (Gen. 3, 15).
This promise was fulfilled in the sending of Jesus Christ. He bridged the gap between God and man and gave us the possibility of new birth. The spirit of man can now be renewed. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (I Cor. 5,17). And in his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature "(Gal. 6,15).
God is spirit. In the Old Testament, this spirit is called "the spirit of God" or the "spirit of the Lord": it is not a holy spirit, but the Holy Spirit. The same applies to Jesus Christ: He is the Holy Spirit: as such He has been among us since Pentecost and desires through our rebirth to dwell in the hearts of men. The holy spirit is therefore the spirit of God which proceeds from both the Father and the Son and acts on, in and through human beings.
This explains why the Christian church speaks of the Trinity of God:
God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, one God to all eternity.
Now it might be thought that only the New Testament speaks of the workings of the Holy Ghost, but that is not correct. As we have already indicated, Genesis 1,2 speaks of the Spirit of God. In numerous places we read that the spirit of God came upon and inspired particular persons, for instance Gideon, Jephthah. Samson (Judges 6,34; 11,29; 13,24-25); or the prophets, judges and kings who were used by God for special service. The big difference between the Old and the New Testament with regard to the workings of the Holy Spirit is that the Old Testament always speaks of occasional workings, whereas the New Testament describes the Holy Spirit as a continuous guiding power. The prophets had referred to this (Ezek. 36,26-27; Joel 2,28-29).
In the chapter on the means of grace, it is argued that God uses visible and often also audible signs for special works. For example, during the outpourings of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost: "the rushing of a mighty wind" and "tongues of fire" (Acts 2,2-3). And when Jesus breathed upon His disciples and said to them: "Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John 20,22), then the breath was the sign of the Holy Ghost, the sign with which Jesus made manifest the invisible.
By the power of the Holy Ghost, the disciples could henceforth remain in close communion with God and His Son. They could no longer speak merely of Jesus from memory but were in a position to speak and act by the power and inspiration of the Holy Ghost and to spread this spirit abroad. In this sense, apostle Paul called the apostolic ministry the ministry of the New Testament, the ministry of the spirit and of reconciliation (2 Cor. 3,4-18; 5,18).
In order to gain more insight into the meaning of the Holy Ghost, let us return to the moment when Jesus spoke for the first time of His suffering, His dying and His sacrificial death. Peter expressed the consternation of the disciples: "Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee" (Matt. 16,21-23). Herein was concealed their anxious question: what will become of us when our master is no longer here? Jesus sensed their anxiety and said: "And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive..." (John 14,16-17) and "But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14,26). After Jesus had given His apostles the commandment of love (John 13,34-35), and had encouraged them to persevere, He continued "It is expedient for you that I go away for if I do not the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you" (John 16,1 - 10).
These words of Christ confirm that the Holy Ghost is a power which emanates, from God and His Son so as to work on, in and through man.
We have drawn attention several times to the fact that we cannot explain and define God and spiritual things fully. We can therefore provide no definition of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, on the basis of the statements cited in this connection, we can name essential features and workings of the Holy Spirit:
The Holy Ghost is, second only to Christ, the greatest healing gift of God that Jesus gave to His church. Without this Spirit, a church or congregation has no strength, no divine life. The gifts and powers of the Holy Ghost are diverse and have differing effects but they all have the same goal, namely the redemption of mankind. Christ was eternally present through the (His) Holy Spirit even unto the end of the world (Matt. 28,20). The Holy Ghost approaches us for example, through the word of Christ's ambassadors and also sacramentally in baptism, sealing and communion (see Article) .
Different people are not always receptive to the workings of the Holy Spirit in the same way. Sometimes the Holy Spirit can perform nothing more than knocking on the door of the human heart. On the other hand, it is indwelling in the human heart and can bring about splendid spiritual fruits in "love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance" (Gal. 5,22). The extent to which the Holy Spirit is reliant on the disposition of the human soul is demonstrated by Jesus in the parable of the sower. Seed is sown in four different types of ground (in the field of the heart) (Luke 8,11-15). Just as of course no fruits can grow in bad, hard earth, so too the fruits of the Holy Spirit cannot thrive in barren heartland.
God Himself is always waiting with His revelations until a situation in the world and the state of particular souls are ripe for His intervention. Thus we read several times in the Bible: "When the time was fulfilled ..." (Mark 1, 15 or Gal. 4,4). Whoever has received the Holy Spirit, with its gifts and powers, bears a great responsibility. We should always remain aware of the fact that one day every human soul will be asked What have you done with these gifts?
It was already shown how important attitude and disposition are if we are to function as a "channel" of the Holy Spirit. We can also quench this Spirit (I Thess. 5,19). We can try to lie to it (Acts 5,1-4). From this it is also clear that the Holy Ghost is not to be seen beside God but as power from God. We can grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4,30), we can do spite unto the Holy Spirit (Heb. 10,29) and we can resist it (Acts 7,51). All this can be said in relation to Jesus or God. We can grow in Christ, or diminish, or even let Him die in our hearts. That is true as much for every Christian as for the church as a whole, because the church after all consists of people. Growth or regression can span the entire life of an individual Christian or centuries of Christianity. Therefore, every Christian must constantly examine himself and must repeatedly ask for the Holy Spirit, although he has received it. That is also true for the church as a whole. There is comfort in Christ's promise that the powers of Satan will not prevail against the church (Matt. 16,18).
Once Jesus "breathed upon" His disciples and said "Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John 20,22). And yet that was not yet the full indwelling of the Holy Spirit with its gifts and powers, for this only occurred at Pentecost, after Jesus' ascension. Thus we cannot say we possess the Holy Ghost so we require nothing further! - The Holy Spirit is like a fire: even though it may burn, it must be rekindled, it must receive new nourishment and new vitality so as not to go out.
We need to point out again that whether we are speaking about the spirit of God, the spirit of Christ or the spirit of the Holy Ghost, this is always the same spirit which knocks on the door of the human heart and seeks an abode therein (John 14,23; Eph. 3,17). We can sum up by saying that wherever people form a congregation in the name of Jesus and He is present through the Holy Ghost, there is His church, His congregation, His temple, His house (I Cor. 3,16). The church of Jesus Christ is no human institution or organisation; it is a living organism with many organs and Christ as its head (Eph. 1,22; 4,15; 5,23; Col. 1, 18). "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches" (Rev. 2,29).
When Jesus had reached an age at which He was allowed to speak publicly, according to Jewish law, He soon gathered a number of disciple pupils around Him. Although the nucleus comprised twelve men, there were also some women who were faithful adherents and followers of Jesus (Matt. 27,55-56). The Bible reports that several women who had followed Jesus from Galilee brought spices and ointments to the sepulchre (Luke 23,55-56). We come across different names: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome (Mark 16, 1), Mary the wife of Cleophas (John 19,25), Joanna, Susanna (Luke 8,3).
When the apostles following Jesus' command were together in Jerusalem after His ascension, women were found among them, such as the mother of Jesus (Acts 1, 14). We can therefore say with certainty that Jesus formed around Him the first Christian church, a congregation of men and women. For all these male and female followers of Jesus, His words were crucial: "ye have not chosen me, I have chosen you" (John 15,16). He was the Lord and master of all of them, their friend to whom they could come with their anxieties, needs and questions and also with their joys.
When Jesus spoke to the crowd, whether in the synagogues, in the Temple, at the marketplaces, or on the banks of a lake and proclaimed the good news about the present and future kingdom of God, His disciples were with Him and experienced His divine power. They saw how God the Father revealed Himself in and through Him, and came to the realisation that He was the Son of the living God (John 6,69).
He is the central point of His church, the living standard when it comes to the choice between right and wrong, and consequently the measure of all things. He is the mediator through whom God's power and might are revealed. By His clear example, Jesus showed how the members of His church should relate to Him and to each other. Just as the fruits of a vine are organically connected to the vine, so the link between Jesus and His followers must be a living one (John 15,1-8). Only those who draw sustenance from Him and through Him in this way can overcome baseness and evil and produce the splendid fruits of love, which are the sign of true discipleship (John 13,34-35).
Jesus also summons His followers to active service: "As my Father has sent me, even so send I you". He said to His disciples when He appeared to them as the risen Christ (John 20,21). And in the wonderful high priestly prayer, Jesus requested "As Thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world" (John 17,18). Again and again, we remember Jesus' instructions to His apostles to spread the gospel: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matt. 28,19). And: "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1,8).
The above article tells us that Jesus formed a church with His male and female followers, which can be regarded as the basis and example of Christian congregations. Jesus, for example, had no fixed home: He traversed the country with His followers. Thus, a community of Christians may always be "in transit", spreading the gospel on the way to perfection and the ultimate kingdom of God. "For here we have no continuing city but we seek one to come" (Heb. 13,14).
Following the Lord's call to mission, the first apostles traveled into many lands and founded churches there. All the congregations together formed Christ's church. The word "church" is derived from the Greek word kyriake, which literally means "of the Lord". It appears in the original Scriptures mostly in connection with the word oikia (= house) from which we can derive the word "church" as meaning house of the Lord. The word congregation, which we use more commonly, is a translation of the recurring New Testament word ecclesia, which in turn is a translation of the Hebrew words eda and qaheel. Eda means church in the general sense, whereas qaheel refers more to the spiritual nucleus, the congregation itself. The word "congregation" reminds us, first and foremost, not of a building or institution but of a gathering of people. The original meaning of ecclesia is after all a "popular assembly". The word "congregation" appeals to us in our age because it is closely connected to the word community and communal.
The first Christian churches "continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2,42). A community of Christians is not a gathering of like minded people linked solely by common beliefs, but rather a living organism whose limbs interlock and interact, need each other, and live and feel together in joy and suffering (1 Cor. 12,12-28). In such an organism, there is no division. "When one limb suffers, all limbs are affected." The holy Scriptures show us here the ideal image of the congregation of Jesus Christ.
With the founders of the re-established church, the apostles of the Catholic Apostolic Church in England, we profess "The church of Christ is the fellowship of all people, irrespective of time and nation, who are baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and are separated from all other people through baptism". ("The Apostolic Witness", 1836). However, we regret that this body of Christ, this church, consists of different groups, not all of which are characterised by the same degree of recognition of sacred values and the same measure of faith. We see here the whole spectrum from "warm" to "cold", truth to error, spiritual life to rigid adherence. Thus the warnings of Jesus to the seven churches in Asia Minor are not only valid for those times. They are also intense warnings for all churches and congregations of our time (Rev. 2 and 3). But God loves the people of His New Covenant and calls their members His children (I John 3,1), so that we must heed the conditions already mentioned. "For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God", wrote Paul (Rom. 8,14). He thereby indicated that to be a child of God is not one-sided, i.e.. to be interpreted as merely emanating from God, but that it is important to be led by God's Spirit.
It is clear from the letter of apostle Paul to the Ephesians what provision Christ desired for His church: "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 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 fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4,11- 13). Unfortunately this apostolic service in the life of the church that was willed by God could not always fully unfold. The blossoming of the beginning, in all its blessedness, was soon followed by spiritual decline. Different reform movements in church history document the waxing and waning of the church's spiritual life.
At the beginning of the 19th century, there came together in England and Scotland a number of devout men who were suffering from the aridity of spiritual life in the church at the time. Wrestling honestly and sincerely with God, they advocated in their prayer circles a renewal of spiritual life in the church. God responded to this honest searching and struggle. A revivalist movement spread through the world which was characterised by the revelation of the manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit and by the calling of spiritual men to the apostolic ministry of Jesus Christ. The ministry of the New Testament, founded by Christ for His flock, the apostolic ministry, was adopted by the young community which was able to develop a beneficial apostolic service, which persisted and even today is of profound significance for the spiritual life of the Apostolic Church. It must remain the sacred and responsible duty of the apostles to measure their service for God and man by the service of the holy Apostle of our profession, namely Jesus Christ, and to be guided by Him alone. Thus the apostles, as indeed the church itself, see their apostolic task as a selfless, nonpartisan service to their fellow men, their fellow Christians and unbelievers, based on the principles of the gospel and the gospel call of their master (Matt. 28, 18-20; John 20,19-23) and on the purity of the gospel. Only the image of Jesus Christ and the fruits of the Holy Spirit should be allowed to develop through apostolic service in the church.
We are pleased with what other churches and congregations possess in the way of divine and Christian values and do not say that apostolic authority is exclusively at work in our church. God alone oversees all the things of His church. Where and when He wishes to inspire and unfold the full might of His apostolic mission, depends exclusively on His sovereign will, and everywhere where this is the case, the possibility exists to become a first fruit in Christ. Thus we are not Judging or condemning any other Christian churches or congregations. However, we believe that we have the right and the duty to point out that the apostolic ministry is effective as the ministry of reconciliation and ambassadorship of Christ in our church (2 Cor. 5,18-19).
This re-establishment of the full four fold ministry, or latter day rain of the Holy Ghost, as it is often called in the Bible, was already foretold by the Prophet Joel 2,21-32, and seen by the Apostle John in Revelations 4,4 where the four and twenty elders were seen before the throne and in their midst the four beasts signifying the full four fold ministry in two separate periods of time. Also we can read in Revelations 10, 11, "And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues and Kings". This was an instruction to the Apostle Ministry at a later time. This time we believe, began again with this revival and must continue until Christ's return.
In the Bible the members of the first Christian congregations are often addressed as "holy man". They formed a community of "saints". It should be added that the word in this context has a different meaning than in the vernacular, where "holy men" refer to those who have completely withdrawn from the world, tower far above the crowd by virtue of a high degree of perfection and sinlessness, and perhaps even lead a hermit's existence.
In the original Scriptures, the Hebrew word kadosch and the Greek word bagios were used. The meaning of these words is very close to every day usage. They mean illustriousness, purity, grandeur, majesty - i.e.. that which is awe-inspiring. Holy in this meaning of the word is God alone in His threefold revelation as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts", the prophet Isaiah heard the angels call (Isaiah 6,3), and exclamation which recurs in the Revelation of John (Rev. 4,8). King David too exalted the holiness of God (Psalm 99, 9), and Revelations (15-4) ascribes holiness (or rather: this holiness) expressly to God: "For you alone art the holy one".
Mankind is not holy in this sense. Since the Fall, man has, through his disobedience towards God, distanced himself from his maker (Gen. 3). Man lives apart from God and is to a large extent profaned, defiled and robbed of his majesty and his dignity. Mankind has no longer any direct fellowship with God. It was and is God's will to restore this original fellowship. Thus Moses was commanded to say to the Jewish people: "Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy" (Lev. 19,2). Therefore Paul spurred his congregations on to a holy way of life (dedicated to God): "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification" ( I Thess. 4,3).
Everything in the history of God's plan of salvation, all His revelations, and all prophecies are directed to this goal the salvation of mankind so that the kingdom of God will grow in prominence. Through the coming of Christ, the way was paved by which man may attain complete purification and sanctification (Heb. 10, 10). Jesus, in a high priestly prayer, said "Sanctify them (the disciples) through thy truth ... I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth" (John 17,17 and 19). In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul wrote that Christ loved His church to such an extent that He had died for it in order to sanctify it (Eph. 5,25-26), and according to I Cor. 1,30, the members of the church received from Jesus Christ, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. This sanctification occurs through the power of the Holy Spirit, as sent by God. God has chosen as his first fruits those who have accepted Christ., and has called them to blessedness in the sanctification of the spirit (2 Thess. 2,13). Peter too referred to this sanctification through the Holy Spirit ( I Peter 1,2). Whoever allows himself to be sanctified in this way and to be guided on the path to the fulfillment of the kingdom of God, has communion with God, with Jesus Christ, and with the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. 1,9; 2 Cor. 13,13; 1 John 1 3).
This brings us to the meaning of the word "holy" in the truly Christian sense: to be apart and to possess a specific destiny. "Holy men" are people who have set themselves apart from the world (from base, ignoble and diabolical things), in order to fulfil their special destiny, namely to be a child of God, a first fruit, a bride of Christ and consequently, a bearer of a regal, priestly disposition (I Peter 2,9; Rev. 21,9). This disposition should grow out of the Holy Spirit through its renewing power and should be accompanied by an increasing sense of responsibility. Thus the apostles in the New Testament addressed the members of the congregation as Saints. This was not because they had lived on the threshold of perfection. They had been called through baptism and laying on of hands (sealing) to a special destiny. Here are some examples:
We have seen that "saints" are in no way perfect, sinless human beings. All people, be they Christian or non-Christian, have their faults, their failings, their inadequacies, their weakness and their sinful desires, etc. As every sin separates man anew from God, impairs fellowship with Christ and also threatens communion with fellow believers and fellow Christians, every person repeatedly needs forgiveness of guilt and sin. Forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God is, however, only possible through the merits of Christ. This fundamental truth for Apostolic Christians is explained in Article, "Holy Communion". Suffice it to say that already in the Old Covenant the possibility existed for a forgiveness of sins that saved from punishment - as a consequence of breaking the laws (Lev. 16,20-34; 2 Sam. 12,13). Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ there exists in the New Covenant, however, not only the possibility of remission of sins, but also the possibility of reconciliation with God. Jesus said to His disciples: "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life as a ransom (the possibility of redemption) for many"(Matt. 20,28). Paul wrote to Timothy, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all" (I Tim. 2,5). And furthermore to the Ephesians "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Eph. 1,7; similarly, Col. 1, 14). Through the institution of communion shortly before His death, Jesus made bread and wine the symbols of His atonement (Matt. 26,26-28). Through the celebration of this communion, which is performed at His command in remembrance of Him, the unity of His followers with Him and among them selves is revived and assumes new form and content. Whoever receives justification through the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God and is accepted by God through grace, is separated from the world and can be led along the path to his final destiny. In the Biblical sense, he is "holy".
To enlarge on the relevant explanation of Article 2 and to complete our exposition about Article 3 - we should say more about the concept of "eternal life". Later we cover the resurrection.
We pointed out that the Bible constantly attests to a life after earthly existence, also called the "next world". According to John 6, Jesus said that He was the bread of 1ife, the heavenly manna, and that whoever ate thereof (took the life of Christ into himself would live in eternity. We might also recall the story of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well who at His bidding gave him something to drink. The woman was astonished that Jesus addressed her at all because the inhabitants of Judea, the Jews, did not mix with Samaritans, as they considered them unclean (John 4,1-15). Jesus then said: "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give Him shall never thirst ... it shall be in him a well of water springing up into ever lasting life".
It is difficult to imagine life after this existence and we must emphasise that every conception, every image of the next world, stems from human imagination. On the basis of the Bible, and above all the sayings of Jesus Himself, we believe in a continuing existence. However, we are reluctant to have definite conceptions thrust upon us or to fantasise about it ourselves. We adhere to the words: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Cor. 2,9). In other words, what is not seen and never heard (not in the realm of the imagination either) will then be reality. Paul tells of a man who was vouchsafed a glance into paradise, "into the third heaven", and heard there the unspeakable words "which it is not lawful for a man to utter" (2 Cor. 12,2-4).
We have looked at the concept "eternal life" from a Biblical stand point. It was mentioned that men can obtain certainty in three different ways: through experience, through scientific evidence, or through faith.. Whereas earlier attention was only drawn to the certainty which comes from faith alone, let us now consider the two other aspects - experience and science. We must remember though that Apostolic Christians in particular form a living community of faith. We should not overlook the fact that many are firmly convinced of a life after death on the basis of experience. However subjective these experiences may be, we must nevertheless acknowledge that they frequently emanate from reliable people. Dream accounts in which the departed appear, appearances of or contact with the dead, can be often interpreted in a variety of ways, for example as an unconscious image making, as ideas arising from the subconscious or even as the ramblings of the imagination etc. However there are many cases which cannot be explained in this way, because, for example, utterances by the spirits of the departed have been fulfilled. This occurs above all with so called prophecies of death, for example in the case of Brutus, Henry IV of France, Napoleon, President Lincoln of the USA. St. Augustine stated in sermon No. 233 that his own spiritual body had been seen repeatedly. Such experiences occur again and again. However they mostly have a personal significance because others, who are told such things, ask whether one of the explanations mentioned before could apply. Anyone who has had an experience like this, has a feeling of certitude which weakens all other arguments.
A further thought with regard to certainty through scientific knowledge. A scientific proof for continuing life has never been produced and probably never will be. However, through responsible, logical thinking, we can argue for the improbability of the assertion that the soul would cease to exist after death. Scientists have proven that no material not even an atom, can vanish. Undoubtedly, material can be converted into energy, in part or wholly, as is the case with the splitting of the atom. In principle, this is also possible in reverse. The sum of energy and material remains the same. Nothing is lost!
In the universe, in the whole of creation, there is nothing that has "gone" that could simply have disappeared. When, for example, a candle has burnt down, no molecule, no atom has disappeared. They have only become invisible. The atoms of the candle have combined with other atoms (in part) producing new molecules which move invisibly in the air. But everything is still there.
It is therefore difficult to see why spiritual creation should contain elements, such as the human soul, that could completely disappear.
Another piece of Scripture which is often wrongly interpreted: "The soul that sinneth, It shall die" (Ezek. 18,4, according to the old translation). This passage must often serve as proof that a soul can die. But that is incorrect because the word "soul" means here nothing more than "living being, humankind." The Bible uses the word soul often in this sense. Thus we read in Gen. 46,27: "... all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were three score and ten." If we continue to read the chapters relating to this in the book of Ezekiel, it becomes clear that reference here is to the death sentence which offenders could expect according to Jewish law. In the new translation (1956) Ezek. 18,4 uses the word "human" instead of "soul."
Another of Jesus' sayings to believers sheds light upon the immortality of the soul: "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10,28).
Revelations 21,4 - "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there by any more pain, for the former things are passed away." Mark 10,30 - "And in the world to come eternal life."
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In the Explanation to Article 2, we explained that Jesus Christ came to earth as the Son of man and the Son of God, that He is for every Christian the great redeemer, the saviour of mankind, a refuge for everyone in search of help and all who are heavy-laden, and that at the same time He became, through His way of life, the great model for each human being.
But as well as this, He is the head of His church (congregation). Paul compared the congregation with a physical body, in which Christ is the head and every member of the congregation is an organ or part of the body ( 1 Cor. 12,12-27). The congregation is Christ's body, and without Christ it would not be viable. A physical body can probably continue to live without one or the other limb or without particular organs, but it cannot survive without a head. Besides, the head is the centre of the physical and spiritual life of a human being. All the organs and limbs receive their "commands" from this centre. The head is responsible for the organs in their contact with the outside world and as well determines how we must respond to the impulses of our environment and our innermost being. The head directs!
He is the head, we are the limbs. He teaches us to assess the value or the lack of value of all that we come into contact with, and how we must respond. He teaches us how we can live according to the will of God, how we as members of the congregation should behave toward each other, and that we may lay all our problems before Him (Matt. 11,28). Paul said
Therefore no church leader, no apostle or congregational head may call himself "head" of the church or of the congregation. "Christ's representative", "Christ in our time", or "Christ come again". Well may they, if they are true servants, lead those entrusted to them, but they may only lead, by showing that it is Christ who works through them. They must constantly be aware that they are only servants of Christ (1 Tim. 4,6).
The Apostolic Church is guided by apostles. The word apostle is derived from the Greek word apostolos, which means ambassador. It is a translation of the Hebrew word sjaliach. Such a sjaliach had the commission and authority to represent and to act in the interest of the one who had sent him. Comparable, for example, are a nation's ambassadors who in another country represent the interests of their own government. An ambassador, a sjaliach, may, despite his clear task and full authority, never take the place of the one who sent him. In this way, Christ's apostles have indeed full authority to carry out certain tasks, but, at the same time, Christ remains the head of the church and consequently also the leader of the apostles.
No Christian church has trouble recognising that Jesus in His time appointed apostles. The Bible says so expressly and also several times names the first twelve apostles (Matt. 10,2-4; Mk. 3,13-19; Luke 6,13-16; Acts 1,13). However, many find it a difficult matter to determine whether these were the only apostles recognised in the Bible. Sometimes the number of apostles is limited to these 12, which assumes in all probability that Matthias was destined to take the place of Judas the betrayer (Acts 1,23-26). But then Paul too later can be added, since he must be seen as a true apostle, a fact made clear both by his life and from numerous Biblical texts. Almost all his letters begin with the words "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle ..." (Rom. 1,1.5; 1 Cor. 9,2). In other places too he spoke repeatedly of his apostleship. Most Christians then limit the number of apostles to 12 (including Matthias) or 13 (including Paul). But there are also those who consider every ambassador called to ministry in the earliest period of Christianity to be an apostle. They use, as the starting point, the meaning of the word apostle, without considering that apostleship also includes full authority, as can be shown from the following facts.
Now the Bible gives no clear indication of such authority in the case of many of the persons named in Acts or in the letters of the apostles. It is therefore hard to determine whether, for example, Titus, Timothy, Apollos or Epaphroditus were apostles. But we can be certain that during the time of the apostle Paul there were some men who had the complete commission and authority of an apostle. Thus Luke writes in Acts (in which the travels and works of the apostles are described) that Paul and Barnabas healed a lame person in Lystra and that the people then called them Jupiter and Mercurius, thus regarding them as Greek gods (Acts 14,12). Luke then continues: "which when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of, they rent their clothes...... In his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes that he once came to Jerusalem to visit Peter, "but other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother" (Gal. 1, 18-19). This did not refer therefore to James, the brother of John and the son of Zebedaeus, but to a natural brother of Jesus. Indeed John reports that the brothers of Jesus had not believed in Him (John 7,5). James, called "the righteous one", became an apostle only after Jesus' resurrection. As a witness to the resurrection, he then bore testimony of his experience to his own brothers who had previously not believed in Jesus, so that they came to have faith in Jesus. Paul calls James a pillar among the apostles and in the church at Jerusalem, of which he was the head. From him comes the epistle of James (possibly the earliest writing of the New Testament). Because of his influence in Jewish circles, James was accused of straying from the old laws and he was thrown off the eastern ledge of the temple precincts.
The writer of the epistle of Jude is seen by many as an apostle. This is not Judas Iscariot the betrayer, nor Judas Thaddaeus, the son of Jacob. Probably it is that Judas whom Matthew and Mark also call the brother of the Lord (Matt. 13,55 and Mark 6,3). It is therefore not clearly demonstrated that he functioned as an apostle, although it is not out of the question. In short, we can say that in the beginning there were more than 12 apostles. Of Paul, Barnabas, and James the brother of the Lord, we can say with certainty that they were generally acknowledged as apostles. (In other Bibles, Andronicus and Junia are also called apostles - Rom. 16,7).
As already stated, there are also Christians who think that everyone who has a gospel-call in Christendom is an apostle, simply because apostle means "ambassador". Many even feel that every Christian is an apostle, for every Christian has a gospel-call. Now this is certainly true but it is clear from the following that Christ only entrusted the apostleship to individual men. The cause of the error, namely that every Christian could be an apostle, lies in the fact that the gospel-call only makes us a Christian, not an apostle. Every evangelist, for example, has a commission, but this does not mean that he is an apostle. The crux of the matter is: not only the commission, but in particular, the spiritual authority of Jesus Christ will have to be recognisable as a sign of apostleship. Ralf Luther (a former clergyman in Dorpat), writes in his "Dictionary of the New Testament": "Christ not only had 12 apostles. Christianity always needs men who are empowered to maintain existing relations between Christ and the churches or to establish these ties in new places. In this sense, apostleship Is not only an extraordinary institution which was necessary at a particular time, but a veritable service which is always required (even if the 12 apostles have a unique significance). If there are no apostles and no empowered ambassadors any longer, relations between heaven and earth are ruptured".
Dr. A.A. van Ruler, Professor of Theology at the University of Utrecht, writes accordingly about the position of an apostle (original book title: "Obgezag van een apostel"): "This body (namely the church as Christ's body) not only has a head but also a skeleton. The backbone is the apostolate. The ribs are the ministries. Through the skeleton the body is held upright and gets its shape and strength; it is therefore not only flesh. Thus we only experience our full joy in the church when we have recognised in it the "skeleton" of the apostolic offices".
"He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth Me receiveth him that sent Me" (Matt. 10,40);
"As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world" (from the high priestly prayer that Jesus prayed for His disciples before His capture - John 17,18);
"As my Father hath sent me even so send I you" (John 20,21).
"Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 18,18);
Paul expressed this authority in this way;
"And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation ... Now then we are ambassadors for Christ ... ; We pray you in Christ's stead., be ye reconciled with God" (2 Cor. 5,18-20).
As well as these authorities, the apostles have the commission to bear witness to all people in order to bring mankind to Christ, the great mediator between God and men; for, as Jesus said, "no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14,6). This commission is expressed above all in the so-called gospel call which Jesus gave His Apostles shortly before His ascension "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matt. 28, 19-20). According to Acts 1,8, Jesus' last words before His ascension were; "... and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth".
Considering the confusion that always comes in relation to the concept "apostle", we believe it important to bear in mind that Jesus directed both His first and His last call to mission only to the twelve apostles He had chosen. Even the above-mentioned authorities he gave exclusively to these twelve - and after the resurrection when Judas was no longer with Him - and to the other eleven. These twelve (later eleven) formed the nucleus of his successors. On one occasion when the multitude that had listened to Him dispersed again, Jesus gave His disciples a more detailed explanation (Matt. 13, 36-43). He also imparted to them the signs of the end of the world (Matt. 24). To impart the last call to mission, He ordered his remaining eleven disciples to go to a mountain from where He ascended into heaven.
The view that every Christian is an apostle is therefore arguable. Apostleship is the highest ministry in the church. Jesus said to His disciples; "Have not I chosen you twelve?" (John 6, 70). He spoke these words although He had many other followers. Paul differentiated between, "brethren" and "apostles" "After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once. ... after that he was seen of James; then of all the apostles" (I Cor. 15, 6-7).
The fact that Jesus first of all chose twelve apostles and not eleven or thirteen has a deeper, symbolic meaning. The Jewish people consisted of 12 tribes. Jesus desired by His choice of twelve apostles to make clear that His divine message was meant for the whole populace. The entire New Testament bears witness to the fact that the apostles - and not the prophets, evangelists, or pastors - were the responsible leaders of the church. They were to give the teaching to the church. In Jerusalem the proceeds of houses or lands that had been sold were brought and laid "at the apostles feet" (Acts 4, 34-35; 5,2). Apostle Paul makes this particularly plain in his first letter to the first Corinthians (12, 28); "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers... ". And in his letter to the Ephesians (4, 11-12) he puts it this way "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ".
Several Biblical passages could give the impression that the apostles were only necessary to establish the church. Thus we read in Ephesians (2, 20), that the church is built "upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone". And Revelations (21, 14) says that the wall of holy Jerusalem had twelve foundations "and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb". The texts quoted above (I Cor. 12, 28 and Eph. 4, 11-12), however, make it clear that apostles are necessary to prepare the body of Christ and to shape the members of the church into perfect successors of Christ. But this does not detract from the fact that the first twelve apostles have a special place in the history of Christianity. They will for all time be called the first after Christ to lay the foundations of holy Jerusalem.
However, It is hard to understand why the blessings of the apostle office should have been destined only for the generation at that time. That would mean that all following generations would no longer have needed or would no longer need from the apostles, leadership, proclamation of sins, instruction and baptism by the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, it is particularly in our time, a period in which many signs point to the approach of the Second Coming, that the world is more than ever in need of apostles commissioned and authorised by Christ. Moreover the first apostles were only able to work in a small part of the world. However, Christ in His much quoted gospel call was concerned with all nations (Matt. 28, 19-20). This too proves that in later times apostles must work just as diligently, so that not a single nation remains excluded from the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. Whenever priestly service is needed, it is logical that the priestly office has been bestowed upon the church. Whenever the service of bishops is needed, then the service (office) of a bishop is quite natural. If the church is apostolic in principle, why then should the service of apostles no longer be necessary?!
Two further misunderstandings that we encounter need to be explained:
The name "apostle" should be used for the followers of Christ only from the moment when the great call to mission took place or after the out pouring of the Holy Spirit. Luke reports however that Jesus once summoned all His disciples and selected twelve of them whom He called apostles (Luke 6, 12-16). (It is clear from this too that not every disciple of Jesus was an apostle.) Mark, too, wrote at the beginning of his gospel about apostles (Mark 6, 30).
Apostles are only those who have walked with Christ. This assumption rests on the words of Peter with which he encouraged his brethren to fill Judas' place: "Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us. Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that He was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of His resurrection" (Acts 1, 21-22). But if that were a permanent sign of apostleship, the Bible would incorrectly identify Paul and Barnabas and others as apostles. In Paul's case, it could be said that he saw Christ in a rather special way (Acts 9, 1-19). Luke however, calls Barnabas too an apostle (Acts 14.14). The sign of having walked with- Christ can therefore be no permanent one; it is, at best, temporal.
We presented in Article 3 our stance regarding the "Holy Apostolic Church". The spiritual revival of the Apostolic Church which saw its genesis in England and Scotland produced the apostleship which at that time in the church possessed only an historical and theological significance. Now however men were called to this ministry who were filled with the spirit, so that they might breathe new life into it.
This is not to say that in the church the title of office, "apostle", recurs; rather, that a spiritual order was accomplished which Jesus Himself gave to His church. By virtue of apostolic service the church is destined to experience the missionary power of our Lord, indeed in such a way that Jesus Christ Himself can be active in the full truth and clarity of His gospel and thus remains above all the head of His church. It must not bow down before secular or ecclesiastical heads!
For the simple reason that the apostleship is of such significance for the church, it has become the centre of controversy in Christendom from the beginnings to the present day. Right from the outset, false brethren insinuated themselves; "which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars" (Rev. 2, 2). Jesus, too, pointed to the danger of a false Christ and false prophets appearing, who might even deceive the very elect (Matt. 24, 24).
All these warnings are to be taken seriously! But how do we recognise whether we are dealing with honest, truly empowered apostles of Christ? In all spiritual situations, it is important even here to try the spirit to determine whether the spirit is of God (I John 4, 1). Jesus said: "ye shall know them by their fruits" (Matt. 7, 16). Where there is true apostolic service, there can be found the typical attributes and missionary characteristics evident among the first apostles. It is indisputable that the first apostles who laid the foundations of the church are extremely important. Their attitude of heart which was uncorrupted, accessible to God, humble and studious, was certainly the precondition for their selection as disciples and apostles of Christ. Because these simple people aspired to neither wealth, power or status and were in no way egocentric in their thoughts and actions, Jesus could use them for such an important service. Thus the study of theology in particular or the realisation of a professional goal are not necessarily the criteria for the authority to spread the gospel, but the fact that Christ imparts to a person a vocation and charisma (gifts of the Holy Spirit). It is the objective of apostolic service to lead to Christ an adorned bride (church) which is recognisable by the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Through their thoughts and humble immersion in the being and commission of their Lord, the apostles must repeatedly make sure that nothing but the work of Christ is sought and accomplished. The apostles themselves, indeed all believers or seekers, have to ask themselves in the most conscientious manner, in whose commission and inspired by which attitude, apostolic service is performed.
Apostles are not super-human and they are not infallible, either in their works or in their teachings. The history of the first apostles shows that. However, they must be totally devoted to Christ and His church. They must exist in a state of dependency upon their Lord. Their service must be free of maneuvering of power-mongering in a human or institutional sense. It must be there their desire to bring people closer to the love of God in Jesus, that they might have life in truth. The apostles are not masters over the faith of the church, but assistants who lead us to the joy of the gospel (2 Cor. 1, 24). They must obey God more than man (Acts 5, 29) and must ultimately devote their life to Christ.
The question as to whether apostolic authority is in effect only in our church has already been explored previously. The following could be
Let us recall the apostolic gathering in Jerusalem at which Paul was present for the first time. It is understandable that he, the feared persecutor of Christians before the time of his conversion, was not acknowledged immediately as an apostle by the other apostles. Mistrust and perhaps even fear were understandable. On occasions false brethren insinuated themselves into the church in order to undermine the work of the apostles (Gal. 2, 4). When the apostles noted however the extent of the grace that had been imparted to Paul and the content of his preaching, they greeted him as a brother and acknowledged him from then on as an apostle (Gal. 2, 2-9). This story teaches us to be humble and modest. The profound recognition that Christ had led us on a path on which we are escorted by His ambassadors should not allow us to form the arrogant opinion that God does not care for other people, nations and churches.
The question as to whether other apostles are active outside the Apostolic Churches must always relate, as mentioned earlier, to the properties of a true apostolic service.
Wherever the apostolic mission is at work and Is accepted, the life of the first Christians is the model for the members of the church "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2, 4 2) . Apostolic service win be necessary until all "kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord" (Rev. 11, 15) .
One of the tests applied to determine whether an Apostle Is valid or not, we find in Revelations 4, 10- 11. "The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou has created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created". We see that although this is a high office created by Christ, true Apostles are always prepared to take the crown off and cast them before the Throne and always give All Honour to God.
ITEM 6.
As stated previously our whole hope is contained in words written in The Holy Bible. We believe implicitly that it is the written word of God, revealed by the Holy Ghost down through the ages, through the men of God. Recent computer programmes have been developed which shows that all the books of the Bible have the one and same Author. We believe this Author to be the Holy Ghost. Scripture itself confirms It to be the book of all ages. (1 Peter 1, 25), "But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this Is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you".
Refers to it as food for the soul. (Deut. 8, 3), "And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know, that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live".
It is divinely Inspired. (2 Tim. 3, 16), "All Scripture Is given by Inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness".
These words must find their way to our hearts by searching, preaching and teaching. (Col. 3, 16), "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord".
The words show us a way in light. (Psalm 1 19, 105), "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path".
The Bible's words should be loved by All. (Psalm 119, 140), "Thy word is very pure, therefore thy Servant loveth it".
These words can become our defence. (Eph. 6, 17), "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God".
It purifies our lives. (John 15, 3), "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you".
All Scripture has purpose. (John 20, 31), "But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name". (Rom. 15, 4). "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope".
They are sacred and must not be altered. (Prov. 30, 6), "Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar".
We should always be searching them. (Isaiah 34, 16), "Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read; no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded and his Spirit it hath gathered them". (John 5, 39), "Search the Scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me".
It is necessary and vital to be used in mission work and all teaching. (Mark 4, 14-15), "The sower soweth the word, and these are they by the way side, where the word is sown but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the words that were sown in their hearts."
These words are absolutely trustworthy. (Luke 21, 33), "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away".
It is dangerous for us to be ignorant of these. (Matt. 22, 29), "Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God."
All servants that labour in the Apostolic Church must vow that the Bible will be the foundation of their teaching.
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We now move to the object of the Church. "To be saved by Grace"
When we look closely at living nature, we discover that it is "driven", as it were, by a power which is inherent in every creature, namely the power to aspire to a goal. Here are some examples of thousands of possibilities children would like to be grown up; in the spring the birds strive to build their nests, because preservation and the increase of the species are their instinctive goal. In the same way, plants "strive" to obtain as much light as possible so that they can produce a sufficient number of seeds at the right time. If necessary, they have the capacity to bend in the appropriate direction.
In plants, animals or humans, every part of the body, every organ, has a specific task, for example nourishment, locomotion, perception. When I walk I do so to reach a goal, or for recreation or for training.
This striving is called the purposefulness of nature, the autonomy of life. Living creatures are usually not aware of these directed powers.
Now and then we gain the impression that someone is doing some thing without a clear objective. And yet, everything has a definite goal. Let us take a visit, for example. Some people converse, while others sit in silence, ostensibly indifferent and bored, as they feel it idle talk. Is every thing really without a purpose? No, the conversationalists' intention could be passing away the time, hearing themselves speak, or simply making contact with others. The intention of those who are tired of conversing may be to refrain from small talk because they consider it boring. They may wish to follow the passage of their own thoughts or indicate through their presence that they came out of politeness.
Everything we do has a definite aim!
But there is a path to every goal. A person who has set his sights on becoming a doctor, for example, must use the university as his "path".
Several paths may lead to a goal. They do not need to be equally direct. There are straight paths, detours, twisting, winding and pernicious paths, as well as good ones.
To reach a goal we use specific means. Such means are, for instance, a ship and a compass, when we wish to reach an overseas destination. If we have set ourselves the goal of learning something, we need to consult books or use a teacher's instruction as support systems.
Thus we always have to differentiate between the goal to be attained, the path or paths which lead to the goal, and the means which are at our disposal and can help us reach the objective.
It is perhaps unconsciously that every person has the intention of finding happiness. Even to attain this goal it is necessary to embark on a specific route, using - in our context - God-given means.
God has a goal for creation. It would however be presumptuous to provide a precise description of this divine objective. That would place man on a par with God Himself. Nevertheless it is possible for us on the basis of the Scriptures to fill in the significant details.
The Bible describes how after the so-called days of creation on earth a period followed in which the first humans created in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1,27), lived in complete peace and happiness and in perfect harmony with their creator, in a condition and environment for which the word "paradise" was used (Gen. 2,8-15).
This condition was forfeited through the disobedience of the first humans towards God's command (Gen. 2 and 3). God's plan for humans was that they might live on earth and in heaven in accordance with His will and intentions and live accordingly in an eternally paradisiacal state. Thus God promised after the Fall a time in which "the head of the