2012 Apostle One 0219: What Is an Apostle?: full transcript and answers

▶ 0:01 Today we’re going to find in 1 Corinthians 9 that apostles are going to be clarified. He’s going to explain what an apostle is, going to be talking about himself being one, going to be talking about the wages of an apostle in 1 Corinthians 9, and he’s going to be talking about a very important subject, or should be a very important subject to all Christians, that is winning the gospel prize. We need to know what the gospel prize is so we can win it, and we need to know how to win it so we can win it. So with that, remember, I’m the microphone: the apostle Paul is talking straight to you about church growth, development, and government. 1 Corinthians 9:1. Paul says, “Am I not an apostle?” He’s saying, “I’m an apostle. I’m an [unclear] of Christ with all the authority of the one who sent me.”

▶ 1:05 And then he says what an apostle is here: “Am I not free?” Now, what he means is, I am freeborn, I’m not a slave, I’m a citizen by birth. I’m free from Moses’s shadow laws. We are not free from civil laws; we are free from the shadow laws, because Christ fulfilled the shadow laws, the examples of what was to come. And, uh, he also, the word means I’m free from obligations, obligations to people, the requirements of people. I am free from Satan’s kingdom, his kingdom of darkness. I’m free from sin’s control. I’m free from my own ways. I am free. An apostle has to be free, ain’t that right? He can’t be playing games in his own life and proclaiming to be an apostle.

▶ 2:09 You will find no record in the Bible or in history recordings that any apostle had a problem with greed, the misuse of money, sexual immorality, abusing their position, extortion, intoxication, losing their temper, idolatry, or being divided. Those apostles were never divided back there. So an apostle is absolutely someone that has reached the prize of the gospel, wouldn’t you say so? Today we got nothing but problems in the churches: financially, sexually, drunkenness, intoxication going on. But you never see it recorded in the Bible with these apostles, and there were more than 12; there were about 15 that’s listed in the New Testament. Nothing. So these guys reached the mark, they lived the mark, and God used them, and so we need to know what that mark is and that prize.

▶ 3:16 He says, “Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?” One of the requirements of an apostle is they got to have an encounter personally with Jesus Christ. Paul had it on the road to Damascus when Jesus appeared to him and spoke to him. The other ones had it by being with Jesus. But there has to be that personal encounter with Jesus Christ, and empowerment by Him, to be an apostle. You can’t just put “apostle” on your name. You’ve got to be free like apostles are free, and you’ve got to get that freedom through a personal encounter and delegation by Jesus Christ.

▶ 4:00 Uh, he said, “Are not you my work in the Lord?” See, another qualification of an apostle is changed lives from their preaching, from their teaching. Lives are changed, and he says you are my work in the Lord. I come out here and I preach the Word, and you have changed your life, that proves I’m an apostle. “I may not be apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you,” because I’m the one that brought the message, and that message changed your life. I brought Christ to you, I brought His Word, I brought His truth, and you are the result. “So I am an apostle, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.” See, the seal is what the king put on a document that he sent out to his leaders or so forth, that this is a message from the king. He said you’re my proof, you’re my seal. Hallelujah. Shouldn’t we have changed lives in America, not just church membership?

▶ 5:11 Now, Acts 5:12: “By the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people.” See, one of the things that sets an apostle apart is they do miracles. I’m not talking about physical healing, I’m talking about being carried from 50 miles from one place to another like Philip, ain’t that right? We’re talking about some supernatural things going on. See, these things, and people call people apostles today, and people take on the name and title of an apostle, and they’re no more an apostle than a man in the moon. And we need to know the job description and the qualification to be an apostle. So people are challenging him about being an apostle, and he’s answering them, and he says, “This is my qualifications,” and they couldn’t renounce that because he backed it up.

▶ 6:18 Romans 15:19: “In mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” See, he didn’t just preach grace and faith, he didn’t just preach grace and faith and the second coming. He preached the whole Word of God. Amen. That’s what an apostle does. He just doesn’t give you the Disneyland gospel; he gives you the military code book, the rules of engagement. He gives you the whole counsel of God. That’s what an apostle does. You know, anybody can teach Jesus died on the cross, but someone with this mantle, someone with this position, teaches the full gospel. They leave nothing out. Can I hear an amen? And we need to hear the full gospel, not partial. We don’t need to hear about water baptism, Holy Ghost baptism, salvation every Sunday that we come to church. We need to hear the whole gospel. Amen.

▶ 7:36 Also, 2 Corinthians 12:12: “Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all patience.” You see, an apostle has patience with the people, has patience with God. God doesn’t do things in a popcorn manner, well, all of a sudden, pow, I’m mature, pow, I’ve arrived, pow, this, pow, that. And so we’ve got to have patience with God as He works His ways in people, and we’ve got to have patience with people. They may not get the message till they hear it till the 10th time, then all of a sudden, “Oh, wow!” You don’t go putting them down and all that. They just stay steady. They’re patient with God’s people, and they’re patient with God, because it is God is the one that changes people.

▶ 8:34 Hallelujah. And so they hang in there tenaciously. Patience means you hang in there. You stand there without any bad response, any, uh, uh, bad attitude, while bad things are happening all around you. Hallelujah. How many could say, “I could use some patience”? See, you respond right no matter what’s being said to you, no matter what kind of condition you’re in, you respond right. Why? Because you’re patient. And God’s people can eat you alive, and if you don’t have this attribute, you’re going to quit. You’ve got to be able to hang in there. And, uh, “and signs and wonders and mighty deeds.” So a prominent thing about an apostle is they have signs and wonders, not just physical healings but supernatural things happen.

▶ 9:36 And I’m sorry, just because I got two arms does not mean I am a body, does it? Just because I got two arms and two legs does not mean I’m a body. I need what? Two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head. I got to have everything that qualifies to be a human being, and you’ve got to have it all to be qualified to be an apostle. Amen. And if you’re not doing supernatural things, don’t give me the apostle bit, and if you’re not patient with God’s people, don’t give me that you’re an apostle bit, and if you’re not free yourself, for goodness’ sake, take the title off, because the first thing is the apostle must be free himself, not getting free. Hallelujah.

▶ 10:26 “Now, my defense to those who examine me is this.” See, people are judging him, and if you get into the ministry, let me tell you, you’re on the pinnacle of accusation. They’re going to be accusing you and blaming you and judging you continually, so you might as well, you know, just say, “This is the way this is, this is what comes with the package.” And they are, they’re challenging Paul, the one who brought them to Christ. They’re challenging him, they’re judging him. That’s why he’s answering, and he’s saying, “Yeah, I’m an apostle, and I’m showing you why I am,” and at the same time he’s saying you’re nothing because you got none of this. Now, he’s going to use, as his method, he’s going to use natural illustrations as well as spiritual. He’s really good at this.

▶ 11:24 “Do we not have a right or a choice to eat and drink?” See, he had been preaching the gospel free (we learned that earlier) that he preached the gospel free and did not take any salary from the people. He did it free. He worked, he was a tentmaker, and he supplied his own needs and the needs of his team that was with him by working. Now, isn’t that different than ministers today? Way different. He says, “Can’t we take along a believing wife as do the other apostles?” The other apostles, they’re not traveling without their women. Now, what’s one of the common sense reasons the apostles didn’t travel without their wives? So they wouldn’t be tested with sexual immorality, and no one could say, because their wife was always with them, no one could falsely accuse them, because their wife was there. Are you with me?

▶ 12:38 “And Jesus’s brothers.” So did Mary have children after Jesus was born? Duh. You, the Catholic church is just ridiculous on this subject. Jesus’s brothers, and another thing, see, He won His brothers over to the new covenant. That is something, because where do we have our biggest rejection of the mission field? In our home. So these brothers saw something in Christ from the time they grew up together until He started preaching, didn’t they? They knew He backed it up all His life, and they followed. Very powerful testimony. “And Peter.” Now, Peter took his wife along. “Or is it only Barnabas and I,” and I see Barnabas and him weren’t charging people to preach the gospel, “is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working?” We got to work.

▶ 13:47 “Who?” Now here’s more common sense. “Whoever goes to war at his own expense?” No, the people who’s being protected by the military sends food and things for them to live by because they’re protecting them. That’s just common sense, isn’t it? We are willing to supply the needs of our soldiers and their families because they are out there keeping us free, and the bandits can’t take our properties and our possessions. So yes, he’s just using common sense, a natural illustration. More common sense, verse 7, 1 Corinthians 9:7: “Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit?” Duh. See, “or who tends the flock and does not drink the milk of the flock,” or the wool of the flock, and, you know, the things that the flock provides. Duh. That’s just common sense that apostles should get paid.

▶ 14:54 “Do I say these things as a mere human man? Or does not the law say the same also?” Okay, now he’s going to scriptural proof. He used common sense, now he’s using Scripture. Deuteronomy 25:4: “You shall not muzzle an ox.” That’s also in 1 Corinthians 9:9: “You shall not muzzle an ox that treads out the grain.” They would use an ox back in those days to walk around this grinder, and the grinder would grind the grain, and, uh, anything that dropped and fell, the ox was allowed to eat. See, you didn’t muzzle him. Now he says, “Is it oxen that God is concerned about?” You know, these animal lovers, they go to such an extreme that they use Scriptures funny. And Paul’s right here: do you think he cares about the ox? I mean, they’re going to feed that ox because that ox is being productive for them, ain’t that right?

▶ 16:03 See, he said God didn’t put this in the Scripture so that, you know, you got to be in love with your oxen. He said He put it in the Scripture for our sakes, that “he who plows should plow in hope,” expectation, “and he who threshes,” threshing is when they separate the wheat from the, uh, wasteful hulk, husk on the side, and the waste they throw it up in the wind, it blows it away, and the good stuff stays there, okay, “in hope should be partaker of the fruit of his work.” Amen. So it’s scriptural to pay apostles. Didn’t he do a good job? Yes, he did. He did.

▶ 16:55 But he also says in verse 11, “If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things?” We’ve given you spiritual stuff, you’re a three-part being, body, soul, and spirit, and we have fed you spiritual things, so isn’t it just common sense that you should supply our natural needs? And that doesn’t mean a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and the penthouse and the hotel. It just means we live like everybody else does, ain’t that right? Yes. Verse 12: “If others are partakers of this right over you...” You see, they were allowing Peter and them to come in, and they paid them, gave them an honorarium, but they never paid Paul anything, because Paul came free, so they wanted him to stay preaching free. “Are we not even more?” “Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things, lest we hinder the gospel of Christ.”

▶ 18:03 See, we have the right, he’s proven we have the right, but he said we didn’t use the right. Now, how many know that’s a good attitude? How many know that’s lacking in America? Oh yeah. In America, if you’re not paying the worship leader and the children’s church worker and the youth leader and a person that’s handling the food bank or whatever, you don’t have anything. Everybody wants money. But here’s an attitude: yes, we have a right to it, but we do it so that the gospel is not hindered. “Do you not know that those who minister the holy things...” here he is using the Scripture again, “eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar?” You say the priest in the Old Testament tabernacle and the temple. Part of the offering that the people brought was given to the priests, part was given to God, and part was given to the people that brought it, and he’s using that example. He’s got them. So he used natural and then he used scriptural, and he’s proven that apostles should be paid. Can I hear an amen?

▶ 19:22 If they got the signs of an apostle, if they qualify, if they can preach the gospel. You know, people want to get paid and they can’t preach the gospel, let alone the whole gospel. They can’t even preach the quarter of the gospel. Is Paul good so far? Yes. He’s hit this very good, very good. Told us what an apostle is, and so we need to watch who we’re paying, and we need to pay them. “Even so the Lord,” verse 14, “has commanded that those who preach the gospel should” what? Live from the gospel. Did Jesus Christ live after He started preaching? Did He live off preaching the gospel? Yes. How did He live? Anybody remember? The women would bring Him food. In Luke, I think it’s around chapter 12, they brought, the women, the women kept bringing the apostles and Jesus food. Obviously they washed their clothes and everything, because they appreciated the gospel being preached and the change in their life, and Jesus never made a big issue out of it, did He? You only see it one time in the Bible, one time in the Gospel of Luke, how Jesus took care of Him and His apostles. It was through the women, the people that were touched, bringing food and the necessary things for them. Isn’t that beautiful? And Jesus slept on the ground, and any home that they would take Him into, He didn’t have to be at the Hilton Hotel.

▶ 21:21 Ain’t that right? And is Jesus our example, or is Benny Hinn? Jesus is our example, the right attitude about pay. He’s proven that they should get paid, but he says, “I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done to me.” I’m not writing these things so you start paying me for it. “It would be better for me to die than that anyone should take away my boasting void.” I am telling you of, and I’m showing you by my actions, the right attitude about preaching the gospel and getting paid, and I don’t want it voided, I don’t want it neutralized. This is the right attitude. Yes, I should get paid, but even though I don’t, I preach the gospel. Wow, isn’t that a good attitude? See, he didn’t go to a Bible seminar so he could go out and make it a career. Are you there? He went out and preached because that’s what apostles do, whether they get paid or not, and he kept making tents and working, at least in this area of the gospel, where the area, where city, where he preached.

▶ 22:58 “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” See, he says the bottom line is there’s something in me compelling me to preach the gospel whether I get paid or not. And if I don’t get paid, or I do get paid, and here he worked six days making tents, and then on Saturday he preached the gospel and had a megachurch. Why? Because God backed up the gospel. He wasn’t out on the golf course, uh, having fellowship with the saints like they tell us today. See, is he making this clear to us? He said there’s just something in me that I got to preach the gospel, and this is what a real minister does. An evangelist who preaches the gospel, it’s got to be in them, “I got to preach the gospel.” A teacher of the Word, it’s got to be in them, “I got to teach the Word.” It doesn’t matter if I get paid, it doesn’t matter what, it doesn’t matter if the people reject me or accept me, I got to preach the gospel. That is the compelling thing in a minister. Are you there?

▶ 24:21 Hallelujah. Totally different than the ministers today who drive fancy cars, live in fancy homes, and I told you last week it’s a Ponzi scheme: “You give to us, God will give back to you,” and you just keep giving to us. And they’re the ones on the top getting all the money, living in these mansions, got two or three mansions across the country, got their own private airplane and all this stuff, and their family is on staff, and they make good money, everybody’s rich, but the poor guys, people down at the bottom who are supplying those on the top. And yes, these church seminars and growth, church growth seminars that we go to, don’t teach what Paul taught, because if they did, it would expose them, because their motive is prosperity, not the kingdom of God. Are you with me?

▶ 25:19 But a real minister’s got to preach it. Period. “For if I do this willingly, voluntarily, I have a reward.” So what’s the attitude? Whether I get paid or don’t get paid, I’m going to preach the gospel. I’m going to sing the gospel, I’m going to preach the gospel, I’m going to pray the gospel, I’m going to gospel out. People don’t believe it, people do believe it, people reject it, people accept it, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to preach the gospel. I’m a volunteer to preach the gospel. How many know when you volunteer into the military, you have the same requirements as the ones that were drafted? There isn’t the volunteer group over here that has freedom to do their thing and then the drafted people, they have more restrictions. No. Once you say, “Uh, yes, I’m in,” the same requirements are on everybody. And he says, “I volunteered to do this. No one obligated me, no one made me do it. I chose to do it.” Hallelujah.

▶ 26:28 Now, this is good stuff. “But if against my will, I’m just an entrusted stewardship.” A steward was one over the whole household, and he got paid by the owner of the house to carry out the household’s necessities, obligations, responsibilities. He says, “I’m nothing but a paid employee. I don’t own the house. I don’t care, I’m just doing my job, and if I don’t get paid, I’m moving on.” Isn’t that a good illustration?