Spiritual Gifts part 365: The temporary gift of Prophet.

Pastor-Teacher
John Farley
Sunday,
February 3, 2013

Spiritual Gifts Part 365:
The temporary gift of Prophet

The Doctrine of Spiritual Gifts

Congratulations!
We are now the owners of the building formerly known as St. John the Theologian church.

Work Day planned for Saturday February 9

Crew needs

1. Dismantling (5-6 +)
Bring your own sledge hammer & wrecking bar

2. Clean out front office (2)
Moving furniture, etc.

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Point 7.
Temporary spiritual gifts

Foundational gifts

The temporary spiritual gifts of apostle and prophet were foundational; Eph 2:20.

a. The gift of apostle.

An apostle is one chosen and sent with a special mission as the fully authorized representative of the sender.

What are the qualifications of an apostle in the Church Age?

What characteristics have to be there?

1. Saw the resurrected Christ.
The apostles had to personally see the resurrected Lord, Act 1:22, 1Co 9:1, 1Co 15:8-9.

2. Selected, called, and appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Authenticating signs: the temporary (and no longer functioning) spiritual gifts of miracles, tongues, & healing.

The apostles had to have at least one of the miraculous gifts, 2Co 12:12; Act 5:15; Act 16:16-18.

4. The apostles authenticated (vouched for) one another.

5. Each apostle is given authority and a commission to do certain foundational things for the young Church.

The spiritual gift of apostleship carried the highest authority God has ever delegated in the Church Age.

a. The formation of the canon of Scripture, the New Testament.

The spiritual gift of apostle was temporary and discontinued after the completion of the Canon of Scripture in 96 AD.

Unless a document purported to be a Gospel or an Epistle and could be traced back to an apostle, either directly or indirectly with apostolic authority, it should not be included.

b. Leadership in the pre-canon period of the Church Age.

the establishment of local churches

the establishment of local church policy

They were given the power to recognize spiritual gifts in others.

They were given the authority to set the order of the churches: they ordained elders.

the training of pastors

The gift also functioned in sending out colonial apostles (super missionaries, the forerunners of the evangelists).

They were given the authority to teach and provide doctrine and establish people in the truth.

the clarification of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age until the Canon was completed

They decided questions when disputes arose.

The apostles claimed they spoke with authority from God and as Christ’s representatives, and so the people should listen to them not as mere men but as men who spoke from God.

There would be no more apostles after the apostle John died, and so any claim of apostleship today is heresy.

Apostles had great authority, but today all local churches should be, by biblical standards, autonomous.

b. the gift of prophecy which was not a national leader like that of the Old Testament prophets.

This gift was second in order of merit:

1CO 12:28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets,

The purpose of the spiritual gift of prophet was to provide an authoritative source of revelation until the canon of Scripture was completed.

The things the prophets revealed had to line up with the teaching from the apostles. The gift of apostle was first in merit and authority.

Other prophets had the responsibility to point out false teaching from a particular “prophet”.

The New Testament often uses the word “prophet” or “Prophets” to refer to the Old Testament prophets.

This gift appears in each of the major lists of spiritual gifts in the New Testament.

 

 


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