As I was meditating the 1 Corinth 12:27-28, God gave me insights to understand more on true apostles.
'Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. ' 1 Corinthians 12:27-28
Evolution of Christian Faith
God created and chose each one of us to full-fill his will in us.
'For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ' Ephesians 1:4-6
When we come to the Christian Faith we get baptised , we become “the body of Christ”, This happen to many of us either thru a situation we go thru or by a Gospel we receive from a preacher or friend or coworker or any other that God choose to use according to his will to meet us.
Once we receive the Baptism we profuse from our mouth “Jesus is the Lord”, we get saved
'If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ' Romans 10:9
'Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. ' 1 Corinthians 12:3
We are made to forget that we also have received the holy spirit from Father and we continue to live a baby life in Christ
'Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. ' 1 Corinthians 3:1
We continue to depend on our pastor or a person who can pray for us, a pastor to tell what we should do in a situation.
We forget the power that God has given to us
The Word says “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
We don’t know how the power of Holy Spirit that's in us, the Spirit can guide us to take and make us to become an apostle or a prophet or preacher or a miracle worker or a helper.
Who is an apostle ?
We perceive the Apostle means ,its only for the pastors / deacons and full time ministers of God and does not apply to common people like us, its totally wrong to say apostleship is only for full-time ministers.
Webster Definition of Apostle is “one sent on a mission”
Anyone who matures to realises that the Holy Spirit dwells inside him and believes it in heart and mind “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” then he has the mindset of Apostle
Example of this is demonstrated in when a demon possessed man was bought to disciples and they were not able to cure him - read Matt 17:14-20
You need to have the Faith that Christ is resurrected, and he is living in you, and he has given you the holy spirit, all that you do is done by the Spirit of God.
How to become a Apostle
Paul explains this to the Corinth very well when we read 1 Corinth 4:1-13
'This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. ' 1 Corinthians 4:1
Four things are needed for us to become apostle
Servant of Christ
What Tools are given
Prove your faithfulness
Be Accountable
Servant of Christ
As we read the first part of 1 Corinth 4:1(a)
'This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ” 1 Corinthians 4:1
What do you mean by Servants of Christ ? does this apply only to pastors / full time ministry people ? No, it applies to all the Christians who are part of Christ.
It applies to each one of us. We are a servants of Christ when we are called to serve Christ with the love of Christ to each other.
As a Servant we must have the “Slave Attitude of Christ”, Slaves depend on their masters we too must depend on Christ in everything we do.
Our sole purpose as a servant of Christ is - full fill the desires of our master.
Servant must obey the master - servant can’t do things of his own, he must take orders from his master daily and obey.
How do we do that daily - We read the word and mediate the word to hear the voice of God and obey what God calls each of us to do.
What tools are Given
As we read the later part of 1 Corinth 4:1(b)
“ as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 1 Corinthians 4:1
“as those entrusted” - Means us the people of God
“with the mysteries God “ - mysteries of God is nothing but the wisdom of God, Paul explains this in 1 Corinth 2:7 - ‘No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. ' 1 Corinthians 2:7
Its revealed thru the holy spirit to us 'these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ' 1 Corinthians 2:10
So, all you do is believe that God is within us, and we will receive his wisdom freely, it does not come from the world it comes only from God 'What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. ' 1 Corinthians 2:12
My life is a good example, when I started mediating, God started speaking to me to give me the thoughts that I need to write and what I need to do, I am academically weak, but God has used my weakness to make his glory come strong.
Jesus determined what kind of Holy spirit that one needs to receive and provide to us as he outlines in 1 Corinth 12:8-10
'For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. ' 1 Corinthians 12:11,13
'To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ' 1 Corinthians 12:8-10
Prove your faithfulness
'Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. ' 1 Corinthians 4:2
As God gives his wisdom and guides you with his holy spirit, We need to prove our faithfulness for the spirit to get to action
How do you prove your faithfulness to God ?
1. Obeying to the call of God, Obey to what God asks you to do.
God may give you a blessing of job, Obey his calling to take the job. Ask God what he wants you do next
He will guide you the next steps in job. He may want to be upright in the job out of all the practices followed in your company, the Glory of God will be exhibited to others thru you
Others will praise God thru your actions.
2. Honour God First
In this path of obedience, we get more blessing, the blessing is given to us to full fill the work of God thru us.
Give all the Glory to God, all that you receive is not by your action, its thru the grace of God
'So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? ' Luke 16:11-12
if the blessings are turning to full fill only your fleshly desires ,God will remove them one day
'If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. ' 1 Corinthians 3:12-13
Be Accountability
As a servant you are accountable to God
'I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. ' 1 Corinthians 4:3-5
As you walk according to his faithfulness, many times it may not please others around you and sometime even your flesh. Keep your conscience clear of what you do is upright with God
Do not judge others actions or do not judge your actions, let God be your judge. if you make mistakes God will rebuke you and correct you on the right time.
Questions to ask yourself to follow the path of an apostle
Are you still a baptised person and living as a Baby in Christ ?
Do you still believe that the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you ?
Do you have the slave attitude to please God in all the actions you do ?
How faithful are you with what God has entrusted ?
What is your accountability on God’s calling ?
Awesome, Praise God