The Gifts & the Body 8: The Gifts of Spiritual Leadership Part 3

Prophecy

"Prophecy is the ability to speak for God. It’s not merely foretelling, though some of that is included; it is forth-telling. It is speaking the Word of God." 

-Adrian Rogers

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PASTORS/TEACHERS

Prescriptive

"Forth-telling"

Exposition of God's already-revealed Word for the growth of the Church

PROPHETS

Predictive

"Foretelling"

Future Events,

God's Will,

Possible Judgment

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Prophet- prophetes- "a proclaimer or expounder of divine matters or concerns that could not ordinarily be known except by special revelation." -BDAG

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"Prophets," in partnership with "Apostles"

"Foundation" - Eph. 2:20

Revealers of Church Doctrine - Eph. 3:5

Gifts to the Body of Christ - Eph. 4:11

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"The Biblical category of prophecy seems to me to involve inerrancy and trustworthy authority, which modern-day prophets do not have and rarely even claim. When they do claim prophetic status, it seems to me that they often want the authority of the prophetic category without the corresponding responsibility."

Gerry Breshears, “The Body of Christ: Prophet, Priest or King,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 37, no. 1 (1994): 20

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"Grudem argues that the apostles and prophets are identical here. This is important to his view of NT prophecy: on the one hand, he holds to a high view of scripture, viz., that the autographs are inerrant; on the other hand, he believes that non-apostolic prophets both in the early church and today mixed error with truth." 

Grudem defines "prophecy as "an unreliable human speech act in response to a revelation from the Holy Spirit." 

-Wayne Grudem, The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament and Today (Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1988), 95.

Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), 284–285.

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The very nature of the Bible's accuracy shows that prophecy must be inerrant. Otherwise, we cannot trust the Scriptures.

"Historical data set forth in the original writings are inerrant, and prophecy not only discloses the oncoming events of the future, but provides unfailing assurance that all that is predicted will be executed by the sovereign and therefore irresistible competency of God. Thus has the divine authority of the Scriptures been demonstrated in the grand array of predictions already fulfilled, and thus it will be demonstrated in the plenary realization of all that is yet unfulfilled."

Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1993), 103.

The Gifts & The Body 7: The Gift of Leadership Part 2

Apostles- apostolos

"sent forth with orders" -Thayer, "delegate"- Unger

Secular Use- A fleet of ships sent out on a mission.

"sent one"- John 13:16

"messengers"- 2 Cor 8:23; Phil 2:25

68 out of 79 times in Luke/Acts & Paul

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"Apostles," in partnership with "Prophets"

"Foundation" - Eph. 2:20

Revealers of Church Doctrine - Eph. 3:5

Gifts to the Body of Christ - Eph. 4:11

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Qualification #1

From John's Baptism to Jesus' Ascension

Acts 1:20-26

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Qualification #2

Eyewitness of the Resurrected Lord Jesus

1 Corinthians 9:1

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Qualification #3

Gifted to Perform Signs & Wonders

2 Corinthians 12:12

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FALSE APOSTLES

Overview for "Apostles Today" 

by C. Peter Wagner

"Transformation of the city was the battle cry in the 1990s. What’s happening on the streets today? How far have we come since then? How do apostles fit into the urban landscape? How do they fit into God’s plans?

C. Peter Wagner, our generation’s greatest authority on the apostolic realm, has been writing on these subjects for a number of years. He now brings these topics together in one volume for an insightful look at the spheres of authority that are all around us. Wagner’s most authoritative book yet on apostles, Apostles Today looks at the progress of the New Apostolic Reformation begun in the beginning of the 1990s and continuing today.

This book is a call for apostles to assume their rightful place of work with God to see his will accomplished here on earth. Wagner relates his decades of experiences and those of others, which show the role of apostles not only in the traditional church, but also in the extended church. Apostles Today offers fresh vision for the role of apostles in healthy churches, workplaces, and cities."

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"The apostles were agents of God’s revelation of the truths that would become the Christian rule of faith and life. As such, and through Christ’s appointment of them as his authorized representatives (2 Cor 10:8; 13:10), the apostles exercised a unique and functional authority in the infant church. 

There are no apostles today, though some Christians fulfill ministries that are in particular ways apostolic in style. No new canonical revelation is currently being given; apostolic teaching authority resides in the canonical Scriptures, of which the apostles’ own writings are the core and the key. "

J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1993), 197.

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"The canon of the New Testament, by implication from the factors that formed it, should be viewed as closed. It is a reasonable view that the New Testament canon was completed by the first century AD, by which time all the apostles had died. On dealing with this issue, it is important to consider the passage in Hebrews 1:1-2, which states that God has spoken through Christ as final revelation."

Joseph M. Holden and Norman Geisler, The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House, 2013), p. 176.

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"One thing must be emphatically stated. The New Testament books did not become authoritative for the Church because they were formally included in a canonical list; on the contrary, the Church included them in her canon because she already regarded them as divinely inspired, recognizing their innate worth and generally apostolic authority, direct or indirect. 

The first ecclesiastical councils to classify the canonical books were both held in North Africa- at Hippo Regius in 393 and at Carthage in 397- but what these councils did was not to impose something new upon the Christian communities but to codify what was already the general practice of those communities."

F.F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? (Bottom of the Hill Publishing, 2013), p. 25.

The Gifts & The Body 6: The Gift of Leadership

The Gifts & The Body 5: Grace, Gifts & Victory Part 2

Spiritual Forces of This Present Darkness

Ephesians 1:21

“Rule”- arche- ⑥ “an authority figure who initiates activity or process… Also of angelic or transcendent powers, since they were thought of as having a political organization.”

 Translated: “principalities”- Rom 8:38

Also 1 Cor 15:24; Eph 3:10; 6:12; Col 1:16; 2:10, 15- word is used to describe dark spiritual forces.

“Authority”- exousia- ⑤ “bearer of ruling authority… ⓑ of transcendent rulers and functionaries: powers of the spirit world.” 

Also 1 Cor 15:24; Col 2:10; 1 Pet 3:22.

“Power”- dunamis- ⑤ “an entity or being, whether human or transcendent, that functions in a remarkable manner, power as a personal transcendent spirit or heavenly agent/angel.” Also Rom 8:38; 1 Cor 15:24; Eph 1:21; 1 Pt 3:22.

“Dominion”- kuriotes- ③ “a special class of angelic powers, bearers of the ruling power, dominions.” Also Col 1:16.

Colossians 1:16

“Thrones”- thronos- ③ name of a class of powerful beings, earthly or transcendent, the enthroned, plural… perhaps of transcendent beings Col 1:16… but in view of the reference to things ‘seen and unseen’ in the same verse it is probable that the author thinks also of earthly rulers.”