“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)
The word apostle simply means ‘one who is sent.’ However when I use the word apostle in this paper, I am only using it in the context of the office of the 12 apostles. Remember that the word Apostle has many applications being also applied to Jesus himself (Hebrews 3:1), or to people like Barnabus who were also called apostles but weren’t one of the 12, or even to anyone today who is commissioned by a local church to go out and to preach the Gospel. Time has taken away the apostolic office, by this I mean that the office of the 12 apostles, because in order to be a part of this office, one had to have been taught by Christ himself and to have physically have seen the risen Lord (Acts 1:22-23). So because Paul states that he also saw the risen Lord “last of all” (1st Corinthians 15:8), therefore there cannot be anyone who fulfils the apostolic office today, for it has ceased, seeing that Christ’s physical return is still a future event and so nobody has ever physically seen the risen Christ today after the apostle Paul himself was the last to witness his physical resurrection.
However, God the Father confirmed Jesus’ apostleship with signs and wonders, as Christ also then confirmed the apostleship of the 12 apostles with yet more signs and wonders (2nd Corinthians 12:12). However, Yahweh God never promises to anyone outside of these two apostolic offices that their own ministries will be confirmed with similar miracles or healings, even though by the laying on of the apostles hands, signs and wonders could then be transferred onto others (2nd Timothy 1:6), who themselves however were unable to pass the gifts onto others, as these miracles were used by God to confirm the office of the 12 apostles and never other ministries. For examples, note the example of Stephen and Phillip in Acts 8, who had to wait until the arrival of an Apostle from Jerusalem (Peter and John), before spiritual gifts could be transferred onto others, via the hands of the apostles and not of Stephen and Phillip themselves.
However, if there were people living today who still occupied the office of the 12 apostles within the modern twenty-first century Church then I believe that genuine signs and wonders would still be following them today, as signs and wonders were given by God to confirm the apostolic ministry (Mark 16:17-18 re the word ‘eleven’ at verse 14, and also 2nd Corinthians 12:12). However, since the first century, because nobody has seen the risen Christ (Acts 1:22), therefore the apostolic office has ceased and thus God is not going to confirm with signs and wonders, an office which has not existed since the death of his last apostle, namely the death of the apostle John.
The word apostle simply means ‘one who is sent.’ However when I use the word apostle in this paper, I am only using it in the context of the office of the 12 apostles. Remember that the word Apostle has many applications being also applied to Jesus himself (Hebrews 3:1), or to people like Barnabus who were also called apostles but weren’t one of the 12, or even to anyone today who is commissioned by a local church to go out and to preach the Gospel. Time has taken away the apostolic office, by this I mean that the office of the 12 apostles, because in order to be a part of this office, one had to have been taught by Christ himself and to have physically have seen the risen Lord (Acts 1:22-23). So because Paul states that he also saw the risen Lord “last of all” (1st Corinthians 15:8), therefore there cannot be anyone who fulfils the apostolic office today, for it has ceased, seeing that Christ’s physical return is still a future event and so nobody has ever physically seen the risen Christ today after the apostle Paul himself was the last to witness his physical resurrection.
However, God the Father confirmed Jesus’ apostleship with signs and wonders, as Christ also then confirmed the apostleship of the 12 apostles with yet more signs and wonders (2nd Corinthians 12:12). However, Yahweh God never promises to anyone outside of these two apostolic offices that their own ministries will be confirmed with similar miracles or healings, even though by the laying on of the apostles hands, signs and wonders could then be transferred onto others (2nd Timothy 1:6), who themselves however were unable to pass the gifts onto others, as these miracles were used by God to confirm the office of the 12 apostles and never other ministries. For examples, note the example of Stephen and Phillip in Acts 8, who had to wait until the arrival of an Apostle from Jerusalem (Peter and John), before spiritual gifts could be transferred onto others, via the hands of the apostles and not of Stephen and Phillip themselves.
However, if there were people living today who still occupied the office of the 12 apostles within the modern twenty-first century Church then I believe that genuine signs and wonders would still be following them today, as signs and wonders were given by God to confirm the apostolic ministry (Mark 16:17-18 re the word ‘eleven’ at verse 14, and also 2nd Corinthians 12:12). However, since the first century, because nobody has seen the risen Christ (Acts 1:22), therefore the apostolic office has ceased and thus God is not going to confirm with signs and wonders, an office which has not existed since the death of his last apostle, namely the death of the apostle John.
