Transcript
British Railways was looking for a way to test locomotive windshields when they heard about an unusual test cannon at British Airways.
Airways used the cannon to fire birds at great force into the windshields of passenger jets to ensure designs and materials were up to par. They gladly let the railway borrow it.
Just before the test run, British Railways sent someone out to buy a dead chicken for ammunition. The cannon was then loaded, aimed, and fired at the windshield.
The bird smashed through the windshield, broke the engineer’s chair, and made a large dent in the rear wall. British Railways was furious.
They called Airways demanding an explanation. British Airways checked it out. They reported back to Railways, “Next time you buy a chicken, just make sure it isn’t frozen.”
Just like this was a serious oversight and mistake, it’s a mistake to lump the Apostle Paul in with the twelve apostles and say they all taught the same thing and that Paul’s apostleship and ministry was just an extension of the twelve’s.
And it’s also incorrect to say that Paul should have been the twelfth apostle or that he was the thirteenth apostle of the kingdom.
In this message we will look at the unique apostleship of Paul and the reason God called him to be an apostle.
Acts 1:15-26: “And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)
“Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.
“For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.
“And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.
“For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.
“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. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
“And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,
“That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”
Verse 15 begins with “And in those days,” which were the days following the Lord’s ascension to the Father, the days prior to the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, and the days when at that time the apostles, “all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”
After the death of Judas, it was necessary for the apostles to appoint a successor to Judas and to bring their number up to 12 again.
Peter, the leader and spokesman for the eleven, stood up and addressed the disciples and the 120 kingdom believers that were gathered in the upper room.
Peter pointed out that the prophetic Scriptures spoke of Judas, and they mandated the replacement of Judas by another apostle. Peter said that “this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled.”
Before quoting this Scripture, he reminded all those in the upper room that although Judas had been numbered with the twelve and had shared in their apostolic ministry, yet He betrayed the Lord and served as guide to those who came to arrest Christ, leading the arresting party to Him in the Garden of Gethsemane.
After speaking of Judas’s death and the betrayal money being used to purchase a field for burying Gentile strangers in Jerusalem, Peter referred to the prophecies concerning Judas, “For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.”
Peter quoted two Psalms in this verse. Psalm 69:25 states, “Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.” And Psalm 109:8, “Let his days be few; and let another take his office.”
The first quote from Psalm 69:25 refers to the field that was purchased with the betrayal money. The second quote from Psalm 109:8 shows the need for the replacement of Judas’s apostolic office.
A replacement for Judas needed to be appointed to fill his office. The was to be carried out in accordance with and in fulfillment of the Scriptures. This was a matter of great importance and weight since it was done to fulfill God’s Word.
The Lord had also promised that 12 men should occupy 12 thrones in His kingdom. As Matthew 19:28 says, “And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
The apostles were to be given the high position of judging and ruling over the 12 tribes of the supreme nation on earth during the kingdom, and for this reason, their number needed to be raised to twelve and one needed to take the place of Judas.
Peter then laid out the qualifications for one to fill this important position: “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.”
To be a qualified candidate then, that person had to be one who had been with eleven apostles “all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,” or for the entirety of Christ’s earthly ministry.
Peter then gave the exact parameters for this timeframe, “Beginning from the baptism of John,” or when Christ’s ministry began at His baptism by John the Baptist. “Unto the same day that He was taken up from us,” or His ascension from the Mount of Olives.
So to be a qualified candidate, it had to be a man who had accompanied the disciples from Christ’s baptism to Christ’s ascension, from the first day of His ministry to the last day.
It had to be a witness and one who could speak from their own experience of the ministry, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.
And Paul did not qualify to be an apostle under these terms. Paul could not even be considered to be the apostle to replace Judas because he was not saved at the time of Christ’s earthly ministry.
And even if Peter and the other apostles would have waited for Paul to be saved, he would not have been eligible even at that point, because he was never with Christ and the other apostles from the time of Christ’s baptism to Christ’s ascension.
Paul was not a qualified candidate to be the twelfth kingdom apostle, or a thirteenth for that matter. Paul was never meant to be one of the twelve, because the Lord raised Paul up later for a special purpose and ministry after the fall of Israel, to be the Apostle of the Gentiles, the apostle of grace for today.
As we go one here, there were two men who met the qualifications to be a witness to Christ’s resurrection in the office of an apostle and to replace Judas: Joseph who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
The apostles then turned to the Lord and committed the matter and the final choice wholly to Him, “And they prayed.” They asked for a revelation of His choice. They prayed and petitioned the Lord, “shew whether of these two THOU hast chosen.”
The Lord had originally chosen the twelve and so they asked Him if it was Justus or Matthias that should “take part of this ministry and apostleship” with them.
After they prayed, they cast lost, which was a method of discerning God’s will under the law. Proverbs 16:33 states, “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.”
They cast lots “and the lot fell upon Matthias.” Matthias was indicated by the lots to be the proper and chosen successor to Judas.
God chose Matthias to be an apostle, not Peter and the other apostles. The fall of the lot was determined not by chance but by the Lord’s sovereignty. The apostles depended on the Lord in prayer and by the casting of lots for His choice.
And verse 26 states that Matthias “was numbered with the eleven apostles.” The choice of Matthias was sanctioned by the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and we see that by how the apostles are called “the twelve” after this.
Acts 6:2 states, “Then THE TWELVE called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.”
It is taught by some that Paul was supposed to be the twelfth apostle and that Peter made a mistake, went ahead of the Lord, and was out of the will of God in appointing Matthias. Or some say Paul was the thirteenth apostle of the kingdom.
But when you look at the account of the appointment of Matthias, Peter made no mistake. His actions to have another take the place of Judas was the fulfillment of prophecy and in accord with God’s will. And it was the Lord who made the choice of who was to replace Judas and be the twelfth apostle of the kingdom.
Galatians 1:1 says this, “Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead;).”
The Apostle Paul’s ministry and apostleship is often seen as secondary to the twelve. But as Paul said himself, “for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing” (2 Cor. 12:11).
Paul’s apostleship was not secondary at all to the twelve. He had his own different and unique calling separate from the twelve to which God commissioned him.
In Galatians 1:1, Paul stated that he was “an apostle, not of men…” In other words, Paul’s apostleship did not originate with men.
“Men” is in the plural and refers to a group of men. Paul’s apostleship was not conferred upon him by any group of men. No official church body or group of godly leaders got together and commissioned Paul and called him to be an apostle.
Importantly this shows that the Twelve apostles did not assemble and pray and call Paul to his office as an apostle.
Paul also was “an apostle…neither by man.” “Man” is in the singular and refers to an individual man. Paul’s apostleship was absolutely independent of man.
No godly man or any other single individual conferred apostleship on Paul. Peter, John, and James the Lord’s half-brother, who were the leaders of the kingdom church at Jerusalem, did not appoint Paul to be an apostle.
The twelve apostles together did not commission Paul to his office as an apostle, AND any one apostle of the twelve apostles did not do so either. Paul makes clear that he was not appointed an apostle by any man or any group of men.
Instead, Paul’s apostleship came through the appointment and calling of “Jesus Christ, and God the Father,” the highest authority of all. Paul’s apostleship did not come from men but from God the Son and God the Father.
Just as the twelve apostles were chosen directly by the Lord Jesus Christ, so was Paul. Paul told the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:24 that he received his ministry “of the Lord Jesus.”
And in 1 Corinthians 9:1, Paul wrote, “Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?…” Just like the twelve saw the risen Christ, so did Paul, at his conversion and on multiple other occasions. Just like the twelve were a witness of Christ’s resurrection, so was Paul, but for a different purpose.
Christ commissioned Paul to his apostleship right on the road to Damascus. Before King Agrippa, Paul recounted his conversion and how the Lord had told him,
“But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I SEND thee” (Acts 26:16-17).
The word “send” in Acts 26:17 is the Greek word, “apostello.” The related word “apostle” is the Greek word, “apostolos,” and means he that is sent, or one sent forth with orders. Paul was called, commissioned, and sent by Christ on the Damascus Road.
When the Lord said that He was delivering Paul “from the people, and from the Gentiles” and sending him to them, “the people” refer to Israel and “the Gentiles” refers to everyone else. This means that Christ sent Paul to THE WORLD and to all as an apostle.
Paul was saved on the Damascus Road and personally called as an apostle by the risen, glorified, exalted Lord Jesus Christ from heaven for a very specific purpose.
He had something new to reveal to Paul, and he sent him to the world with a new message that had been kept secret since the world began.
That is why the Lord told Paul that He appeared unto Him, “to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee.”
Christ appeared to Paul to make him “a minister and a witness…of these things which thou hast seen,” which meant all that he saw that day, or the risen Lord in all His glory.
But Christ also appeared to Paul to make him “a minister and a witness…of those things in the which I will appear unto thee.” which meant He would appear to Him to reveal additional truths.
And what Christ appeared later to Paul to reveal to him was as he wrote in Ephesians 3:2,3: “If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: how that by revelation He [Christ] made known unto me the mystery…Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men…”
Paul was called as an apostle that Christ might reveal “the dispensation of grace” to him. With the fall of Israel at the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7, instead of bringing in the prophesied judgment of the Tribulation, God ushered in a previously hidden age and dispensation. Thus, following Stephen’s stoning in Acts 7, Paul was raised up in Acts 9.
And to Paul, Christ revealed a change in His dealings with mankind, as He saved Paul by His grace, and then revealed to him the dispensation of grace. Israel was temporarily set aside and God has turned to the nations to have a program with us by His grace.
And Christ commissioned Paul as an apostle, the apostle of the Gentiles, that he might take God’s message of grace to the nations with authority, power, and wisdom.
Paul was given the instructions and rule of life for the dispensation of grace. Paul’s letters are Christ’s manual of grace for the Church, the Body of Christ, to follow today. It is God’s will that we live by the grace instruction given to the Apostle Paul for this age.
Romans 11:13 says this, “For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office.”
Paul was called by Christ to be an apostle, and as an apostle he was called to be the Apostle of the Gentiles. Paul holds a special position as the messenger to Gentiles today.
In his persecution of kingdom saints, Paul called himself the chief of sinners and on the road to Damascus, he was struck down and he was saved by the grace of God.
Paul’s salvation marked the beginning of the dispensation of grace. He was the first member of the Church, the Body of Christ.
First Timothy 1:16 tells us that Paul’s salvation is a pattern for all who are saved after him in this dispensation. Like Paul, each person who is saved today is saved by grace through faith alone in Christ. That is how God is saving people from all nations in this age.
And Paul’s conversion gives testimony to the riches of God’s grace, the power of God unto salvation, and enemies reconciled to God through the death of His Son, all things revealed in Paul’s message.
Paul is the pattern of salvation for all nations, and he is the apostle of the nations, or the Gentiles. Paul makes this fact abundantly clear throughout his epistles.
In Romans 15:15,16, Paul says, “Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God, That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the GENTILES…”
In Galatians 2:8, he said, “For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision [the Jews], the same was mighty in me toward the GENTILES.”
In I Timothy 2:7, he wrote, “Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the GENTILES in faith and verity.”
In Paul’s epistles, he often had to speak under oath, and say things like, “I speak the truth in Christ and lie not” and call Christ as his witness as to his ministry as an apostle, because his apostleship was new and unique, according to a program and message that was never made known in time past.
Paul was specially chosen by God for the specific purpose that he might be the Apostle to the Gentiles, to the nations. God has turned to the nations today to have a program with us, and in accordance with this new program, He raised up a new apostle.
Paul wrote of his apostleship, “I magnify mine office.” Paul was not magnifying himself, but his office, his apostleship. And this is divinely-inspired emphasis. This is God the Holy Spirit emphasizing and magnifying Paul’s apostleship.
Paul’s epistles are not instruction for Israel under the law, but instead it is the instruction for the Gentiles, or the nations, under grace. And that’s us!
We are not under the law, but under grace, Romans 6:14 says. And we are not Israel, we are members of the Church, the Body of Christ today.
No one but Paul ever mentions the Church, the Body of Christ. It’s only found in Paul’s writings, because the Body of Christ is the Church of the current dispensation of grace and it was never revealed prior to Paul.
Paul is the Apostle of the Gentiles with the teachings of grace for the Church, the Body of Christ. This being so, Paul is our apostle.
Today God has magnified Paul’s office. And like Pastor Cornelius Stam has said, “We should not be guilty of minimizing of what God has magnified.”
The Holy Spirit magnifies Paul’s office and apostleship to us Gentiles under grace, and therefore it is right for the Church to emphasize it today too.
But instead, most choose to magnify the apostleship of Peter and the twelve. Their apostleship was authoritative at one time within God’s program for Israel. But Israel fell and has been temporarily set aside today.
And thus, God raised up Paul and has magnified His apostleship today, and Paul’s apostleship is authoritative over the Church, the Body of Christ, within the present dispensation of Grace.
There are numerous contrasts to be made from God’s Word between the ministries of the twelve and Paul which highlight the uniqueness of Paul’s apostleship to us today, and demonstrate the difference between Paul and the Twelve.
Such as, Paul is God’s ONE apostle today, representing the number one which concerns the message for God’s program with the nations.
Ephesians 4:4-6 says that today there is one Body, one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.
The twelve apostles represented the number twelve which is stamped throughout Israel’s prophetic program. In the earthly kingdom, the twelve apostles would “sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt. 19:28).
The future new Jerusalem will have 12 gates with 12 angels at those gates and 12 foundations with the names of the 12 apostles inscribed on them.
The Apostle Paul was chosen to be an apostle by Christ from HEAVEN, when He appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus. This appearance from heaven is in accordance with the heavenly ministry of Christ taking place today.
By contrast, the twelve apostles were chosen by Christ from EARTH in Israel. This was in accordance with His earthly ministry to and through Israel.
Paul ministered as an apostle according to the commission of reconciliation. The twelve ministered as apostles according to the great commission.
Paul’s message had a worldwide scope but apart from Israel due to her fall. The twelve had a message with a worldwide scope, but it was through Israel and her rise.
The Apostle Paul made known the gospel of the grace of God which provides the believer with a heavenly inheritance and hope. The twelve made known the gospel of the kingdom that provided the believer an earthly inheritance and hope.
Paul’s message had been “kept secret since the world began” (Rom. 16:25). The Twelve’s message had been “spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21).
Paul preached Christ as “the Head of the Church: and He is the Savior of the Body.” The twelve preached Christ according to His identity that “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Paul’s apostleship and message was based on the grace of God toward the nations. The apostleship and message of the twelve was based on prophecy, covenants, and promises for Israel.
Paul’s apostleship had authority within and gave instruction to the Church, the Body of Christ. The apostleship of the twelve had authority within and gave instruction to Israel and the Kingdom Church.
Paul is the apostle of grace and the one apostle for the current dispensation of grace. As we magnify his office and recognize his important place in God’s dealings today, we can then rightly divide the Word of truth, make known a clear gospel, and live and serve the Lord by His grace truth for the Church in this current age.