Apostles & Scripture (12/10/2000)

Okay, I think Otis is getting better because

he came up to me after the sermon this morning and said, well, you mentioned you were going to finish this

afternoon.

He said, what if I was going to teach this afternoon?

I said, well, I said, it'd make a great sermon for next Sunday morning.

Then he kind of laughed and said, well, I don't think I'm quite ready.

We'll wait one more week.

So I think he is getting better every week.

Praise the Lord for that.

Now, his daughter is in grave condition, though, I think, here in the hospital.

And if they don't move her to Dallas, I think it's going to be a

bad situation.

So you might be in prayer about that.

Okay, well, let's start in the book of Revelation.

Chapter 22 is that

I suppose one of the questions we'll

answer this afternoon is, does the Bible have a back cover on it?

Is it complete as far as our dispensation here in the

church age?

And is the written word complete?

I think when we get to heaven, we're going to certainly learn new things, don't you?

So I'm not I'm not talking about that time period or that place in God's

plan.

But on the planet right now, is his word complete or

can mystics still add scriptures?

Now, let's look at Revelation 22.

And right at the end of verse 17, well, let's go ahead and read all of verse 17.

It's a beautiful, beautiful verse.

And the spirit and the bride say come.

That's a good witnessing verse, isn't it?

The Holy Spirit is convicting the world of sin every day, part of his

ministry, convicting the world of sin and of their need for God every day.

And the bride, on the other hand, or I shouldn't say on the other hand, but in conjunction with the Holy Spirit working,

working together with God should say come and let him that heareth say

come.

The new people that get saved, they start out right then starting to tell others to come

and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water

of life freely.

And what a beautiful verse, let him that is a thirst, you know, a person has to

come to the place where he recognizes he's thirsty, doesn't he?

And nobody will be saved if that doesn't happen.

But when they get to that place, they're not far from the kingdom of God when they start getting a little bit thirsty.

And so it's our job to be inviting so that because we never know what stage different people are in as far as

God's work in their life.

And you might happen to be the right one comes along right at the right time and invites them and they come, they come

in.

And that's a wonderful thing in life when that happens.

Now, let's go to verse 18, for I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book,

if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this

book.

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take

away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written

in this book.

Some have said that this these verses apply only to the book of Revelation.

That's their conjecture.

They would have to prove that, I suppose.

There's no reason to believe that, however, because there are similar verses in the Old Testament.

Let me give you just one that's very similar in Proverbs 35.

Every word of God is pure.

He is a shield unto them that put their trust into him.

Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

And there are other places in the Old Testament to say identically the same thing.

It just so happens that this one ends up

right here in the last book of the Bible, in the last chapter of the Bible, in

the last few verses of the Bible.

And we have to understand that the prophecy that's discussed in verse 19 was begun in the book of Daniel.

So it's probably started in Genesis 315, actually.

So I think that it's fairly clear that God is teaching us

not to add or take away books, words from this book.

And I think that as we see this is written right close to AD 100, this is ringing just a

little bit.

Greg, if you'd turn it down just a little bit for me.

It's kind of interesting that the Jewish temple

has already been destroyed at this time.

Jerusalem has been destroyed at this time.

The apostles are all gone except John, and he's not going to

be on the earth too much longer after this point, I suppose.

But at this point is when God gives the exhortation not to add or

take away from this book.

And I think that will come into play a little bit later as we look at this study.

Let me give you a couple of other interesting verses to look at.

First, turn to 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 1, and we're going to look at Jude 3.

Both of these books are written very late.

There are some of the older books of the New Testament.

In fact, I can't find any books written after these other than the

books that John wrote.

So they're coming at the end of what we would call the apostolic age.

And look at chapter 1, verse 1.

Simon Peter, now this is in 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 1.

Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ to them

that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God

and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ.

Now, I want you to look at the phrase like precious faith

and and then turn to Jude 3 and keep that phrase in mind as we read Jude 3.

And it is noticed that the grammar in the Greek and the English says who have obtained, which is past tense

in Jude 3.

OK, let's look at this verse.

It says, beloved, when I gave all diligence to write into you of the common salvation,

it was needful for me to write into you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith

which was once delivered unto the saints.

The phrase the faith is commonly believed refers to the Christian faith,

the true Christian Bible, Christian belief.

And where it says that the faith was once delivered unto the saints, it's interesting to

note that Jude, as I said, is one of the last books written in the Bible.

Only a couple or three we know that were written, perhaps later, we know Revelation was the last book written,

maybe some 30 years later, and maybe first, second and third John might have been written

between these two.

But other than that, it's one of the older books of the New Testament.

And so by this time, it says that the faith has been delivered and is delivered, once

delivered unto the faith and to the saints.

Now, let's look at the grammar in this verse just a little bit.

The word once found there where it says was once delivered

is the Greek word hapax, which means one

time or once for all.

Now, the emphasis, the way that we know this means once for all is because this word comes from two little Greek

words.

Commonly, that's the way the Greek language is.

They put little words together to get new words.

The first word is hapax, which means absolutely all or every one

of something, absolutely all or every one of something.

And the second little word is ah, which

and alfa, which if it comes to be the first letter of the

alphabet, we we would call it alpha.

So figuratively, it is the first letter of the alphabet, so it means only

or the first.

It is often used in comparison in the sense of privation, which simply means that in the

sense of being the only thing.

So it's the only thing.

So when you put that together, you come out with once delivered, once only

delivered or only once delivered in the meaning of the Greek.

So says that pretty good in the English.

It puts it in the past tense, but it's emphasized in the Greek so that if you read it, it would be this

earnestly contend for the faith, which was only once delivered unto the saints.

Well, that certainly fits a lot of other scripture, but it shows

us that the faith has been delivered and that they had the faith as late as

close to 80, 70, about the same time that Titus and the Roman legions came through to

destroy the nation of Israel.

And so if that is true, that the faith was delivered to them,

these early first century Christians had the faith and it was delivered only once,

then that implies very strongly that God did not continue to deliver it by giving them more scriptures.

Now, Revelation 22, 18, which we just read, certainly closes the book

and says, at this point, we don't add to or take away any more from this book.

In fact, if you do, the curses that are found in this book will be added to you.

Now, that's pretty stern warning.

And a lot of people nowadays don't really seem to care much about that verse.

They're not afraid of what it might mean.

But certainly I would think any true believer would be, would take that as a very stern warning that you

don't continue to add scripture.

Now, I want to go to this for this afternoon with the rest of our time.

There were basically two kinds of people that God used to pin his scripture in the

New Testament, in the sense of the New Testament.

We know in Hebrews chapter one, if we studied last Sunday, verses one and two, it shows us

that there is a slight difference in the way that God gave his word in the Old Testament and the New.

You might want to turn to that in case you weren't all here last Sunday.

So you know what I'm talking about.

Hebrews 1, 1, it does show a comparison, but it also shows a

slight contrast in the fact that the second verse starts with the word hath.

It's almost like it's saying it was this way, but now it's this way.

God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past and to the fathers by the

prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son.

The same son who is anointed, appointed heir of all things, the same son who made the worlds,

the same who is the brightness of his glory and express image of his person.

Uh, that's why he's called the word.

He is the one who can best, uh, transmit the heart and mind of God

to God's people because he is the express image of God and, uh, the brightness of his

glory and so forth.

So we talked about that last time.

So the New Testament, the only sense in which is slightly different is that it is the revelation of Jesus Christ

to God's people.

And Jesus gave a lot of it while he was here.

But if you remember from the message last time, he told the apostles, there's a lot of this.

I can't give you yet because you're not ready, but I'm going to send my Holy spirit and he will cause you to remember

everything I've said.

And he will teach you new things that I hadn't taught you yet because you weren't ready for it.

And that's how God gave the new Testament is through the apostles and what we might

call a new Testament profit, which is identical in my mind to an old Testament profit.

I've done a study on the word profit.

Uh, the grammar itself, meet the word literally means for teller

and, uh, defy you to find one passage in the scripture where the context doesn't show that a

profit that you can find.

Find a profit where the context doesn't show that he can tell the future.

And the reason he can do that is because God tells him of things to come.

No man could do it in and of himself.

So that's what a profit was.

And there are a lot of right reason.

I went to some ends to talk about that as a lot of commentators like to say that the new Testament profits were different

and that they're really just someone who speaks forth God's truth.

And that's not what they were.

I mean, they did do that, but that's, I mean, preachers today do that too, but that's not all they were.

They were a true biblical profit in the sense of a foreteller.

So God used people like that.

And also the apostles to write the new Testament from memory of what they had heard,

Jesse.

Okay.

Let's turn there.

Acts, Acts one, one and two,

the former treatise.

Have I made O Theophilus of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach until the day in which

he was taken up after that he, through the Holy ghost had given commandments and to the apostles

whom he had chosen.

Very good.

In fact, I'm going to put a cross reference with my pen right beside

Hebrew one, one might want

to do that also.

And then also over there where acts one, one is put Hebrews one, one.

All right.

Well, it says there that it was given by the Holy spirit through the apostles.

So I want to take a look at what the Bible says about an apostle for a few moments.

Uh, this afternoon, first of all, um,

the word apostle means, um, and I'm

pretty much similar to the modern word ambassador.

Now, what is an ambassador?

What does he do?

He gets shot at mostly if he's from America, but, uh, what does an ambassador do?

He's a representative from one country to another, one place to another.

And so if we think in terms of the, uh, the outside of time dimension and the end time

dimension, I mean, they're representatives from the other place to here.

And, uh, when you, when you look at, uh, second Peter chapter one, verse one says, you know, that

it says, uh, Simon, Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ.

And so he's a servant, which is Dulos the bond servant, but he's also, uh, an

apostle, which means an ambassador from, uh, it comes from a Greek, uh, root

word, which means to be set apart.

So he is not, the apostles are not like all the rest of us.

They are in the sense that they're saved and they're Christians and they have those responsibilities and duties, but they had an, an,

an additional calling or setting apart.

It means literally to be set apart and sent out, uh,

as ambassadors from one place to another.

So Paul was a bond servant and an ambassador of Jesus Christ set apart and sent out.

So the first question we'll ask is how many apostles were there?

If you look at Matthew chapter 10 in verse two, Luke chapter six,

verse 13, let me slow down a little where you can get these in your notes.

Matthew 10 to Luke six, 13, Luke

nine, one, uh, Luke 22, 14,

Luke one 26, and then, uh, that talks about the 11, all the

rest of those birds talk about the 12, it calls them the 12, the 12, the 12, the 12 references, the 12, all the time,

except for Luke one 26, where it says the 11, because by that time, Jesus was gone.

Judas had fallen and then you go into acts nine 27, you'll see the 12th added back in.

And that, in my view was the apostle Paul.

That's the one God chose to take the place in the one that I think that the old Testament scriptures spoke of.

I don't, I think that is the true case.

Now, uh, it speaks of the 12 in all of those verses.

You have to understand, however, that the word apostle is very similar in the Greek to the word

angel in this sense.

Um, let's take angel, for example, the literal meaning for that word.

If you look at it in the Greek is a messenger, but when we use the English word angel, we

always think that it's an angel with wings or however you picture an angel probably

has more wings than you think they have.

But anyway, that's how we picture it.

But there are some times when the word angel is put into English when it doesn't mean an

angel.

It literally means a messenger, like in Revelation, where it talks about the angel of the churches, I think is

could easily be talking about the pastors.

Uh, it could be talking about an angel, but I think he's talking about the pastors, which means the messengers.

Now, this word apostle is very similar because it can't, if in other words, in the Greek

language, you could use this word simply to mean an ambassador or someone, uh,

sent to give a message so it can have that meaning.

And in that sense, there are more than 12, but there is also a sense in which angel means

an angel.

And there's also a sense in which apostle means one of the 12.

And that's the word that I'm talking about, the sense of the word, the apostle, where it talks about the 12,

uh, in all those scriptures that I gave you.

So there is a special mention of the 12 and since one of them

turned out to be of the devil, Paul took his place.

So there are still 12.

Now let's look in revelation chapter two and verse two.

I give you just a couple of examples.

I know thy works and thy labor and thy patience and how thou canst not bear them, which are evil and

thou has tried them, which say they are apostles and are not, and has found them to be

liars.

So Jesus Christ himself commends the church for condemning

people who claim to be apostles when they are not really apostles.

Now, when we go into revelation 21, 14, getting pretty close to the end of the

Canon, it says, and the wall of the city had 12 foundations

and in them, the names of the 12 apostles of the land.

So there are only 12 apostles.

If you're using the strictest definition of the word to mean what Jesus called, uh, apostles.

Now, secondly, I would, I would follow that with this question.

Once the last one of those 12 died and there were not any more on the earth,

did you have apostles left?

Some people say yes, but I think not.

There are 12.

And so when 12 are gone, there are no more now, not, not talking about when we get into the

tribulation period and so forth, but at that particular time.

And as far as the true apostles that Jesus chose, there's always only going to be 12 because that verse we just

read in revelation shows that very clearly.

Now, second point, a sign of an apostle is

that they must have been given commandments from Christ after the Ascension or at

some point.

Turn with me to John chapter 16 in verse 12,

John 16, 12.

I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now.

And you have to ask who the you is.

And if you go back and you read the passage, you'll see that he's, that he's speaking to the ones that were, I

believe the ones that were in the upper room.

Certainly you could limit it to that group, but, uh, it's to those who were with him, uh, closely

followed him as apostles and disciples.

How be it when he, the spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth for

he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever.

He shall hear that Shelley speak, and he will show you things to come.

He shall glorify me.

So the Holy spirit is going to glorify Jesus for he shall receive of Jesus's and she'll show it to these

people, these men and all things that the father hath her mind.

Therefore said I, that he shall take of mine and he'll show it to you.

And we studied that last Sunday in detail of how he said very clearly, I'm going to give you what to write

later after I'm gone, I'm going to send the Holy spirit.

He said, I know that you don't want me to leave, but he said, it's expedient for you that I leave because unless I leave the Holy spirit cannot be

sent, but I'm going to send him.

He's going to bring to your remembrance.

Everything I said, he's also going to show you these new things that I didn't tell you because you couldn't bear them at the time.

You couldn't have understood them.

He'll give you those things as well.

And these are the men who ended up writing the scriptures, the new Testament scriptures.

Uh, Ephesians three, five says, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it

is now revealed unto his Holy apostles and prophets by the spirit.

So they were able to write these things because the Holy spirit brought them specifically to their

remembrance or taught them these things.

Uh, and he was only teaching them what Jesus told him to teach him.

It was Jesus's word.

So this is the revelation of Jesus Christ.

So Jesus, the entire new Testament is given to you straight from Jesus.

It is.

Jesus is Jesus is the final revelation of the father.

He said, if you've seen me, you've seen the father, I, and the father are one.

The third thing is that, uh, these must have walked with Jesus acts chapter one

20 for it is written in the book of Psalms.

Let his habitation be desolate.

Let no man dwell there in and his bishopric.

Let another take, he's talking about Judas.

Wherefore of these men, which have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in

and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John and to the same day that he was taken up from us must one be

ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

The thing is these men had to be a witness of Jesus Christ.

These particular men went on to choose a man that I don't think, I mean, I'm just conjecturing.

I don't know.

I've heard people argue about it back and forth.

I used to have a friend that used to just love to talk about this topic.

Maybe it's because it's hard to prove, but you can have your theories on it that this man that they chose when they drew

straws was not the one God chose.

And that Paul was the one that was supposed to be the replacement and they weren't patient enough and they didn't wait.

That is so like us, isn't it?

That we want to jump on in and do something because God's timing doesn't suit us.

We would tend to have done it the way these men did.

I really feel we would.

We want that replacement so we feel comfortable.

But in so doing, they did show a requirement of an apostle that they had to have seen Jesus Christ.

I mean, that's to be one of the twelve.

They had to have seen him while he was here.

John 15, 26 says, but when the comforters come, whom I will send unto you from the father,

even the spirit of truth, which proceeded from the father, he shall testify of me.

And ye also shall bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning.

A fourth idea here is that they saw him after his

death on the cross.

Acts 1, 3 says to whom also he showed himself alive after his

passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them 40 days and speaking of the

things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

And you can see the only exception to this is Paul.

If you want to hold it to walking with him from the beginning, he did not walk with him from the beginning, but

he got to walk with him for the same number of years.

Isn't that interesting?

Do you remember how many years he spent out in the desert of Arabia with Jesus?

Three years.

And so he does fit all of these requirements of an apostle.

And then Acts 1, 13 says, and when they were come in, they went up into the upper room where abode both Peter

and James and John and Andrew.

And it names it actually names the twelve, including Judas in that

particular verse.

Then Acts 4, 33, and when great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the

with great power, they gave witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon

them all with great power gave the apostles witness.

They were a special group of people called to witness of the New

Testament teachings and the revelation of God through Jesus Christ.

And they were they were verified by signs and wonders that followed.

Now, the fifth point, in fact, talks about the fact that there were manifested signs that these

apostles must have to be a genuine apostle.

We can show this because Paul had to argue for his

own apostlehood, I guess you would call it.

Some people doubted it.

And so in giving proof of it, we see these things in Acts 2, 43, it says that fear came upon every soul

and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles in Acts 5, 12.

And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people.

And they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch in Acts 8, 18.

And when Simon saw that through laying on the apostles hands, the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money.

In 2 Corinthians 12, 12, Paul says, truly, the signs of an apostle were wrought among you

in all patience and signs and wonders and mighty deeds.

He's defending his own self as an apostle by saying, truly, the signs of an apostle were wrought

among you.

Now, that teaches us there are signs of an apostle.

And Paul says, I have them and it proves I'm an apostle.

And the question I would ask you is, if any Christian could have those signs, then how would that prove Paul was an apostle?

If everybody at any time could or any given person could have these same signs and powers, it certainly would have been a very

weak argument to prove that he was an apostle.

But if these were signs of power that only the apostles had and Paul demonstrated that he also had them,

it would be a good sound argument that he is an apostle.

So I believe that's ample proof that there were things called signs of an apostle that were wrought in

power, signs and wonders and mighty deeds that authenticated that these were God's ambassadors.

And Paul was also one of them.

He was the replacement for Judas.

And then we see it was the highest calling.

1 Corinthians 12, 28, this apostleship is the highest calling.

And God had sent some in the church, first apostles, second prophets,

third teachers.

And then miracles and then gifts of healings and helps and governments and

diversities of tongues.

And the highest calling was this office of being one of the apostles

first here, where it says he has sent some of the church first apostles is the word proton.

Which means first in place, time or order, it means before.

And so this is this is the first gift, the first highest calling of the

church.

And when we look in Ephesians chapter four, 10 through 11, he that descended is the same also that ascended up

far above all heavens that he might fill all things.

And he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers.

And so we see the mentioning of this calling.

Now, another thing about an apostle is he had to be of Jesus Christ.

He had to be chosen by Jesus himself.

Luke 6, 13 says, and when it was day, he called unto him his disciples and of them he

chose 12 whom also he named apostles.

So they had to be chosen by Jesus.

And of course, Paul was chosen on the road to Damascus, as we know.

Acts one, two, until the day in which he was taken up after that, he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the

apostles whom he had chosen.

So we're talking about the 12.

And I do know that the word apostle can be used to mean an ambassador.

And there are others than these 12.

But when we're talking about these apostles that had this special calling, there were only 12.

Acts 1, 25, that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by

transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

So there was going to be a replacement so that there will be 12.

And it is it is Paul, we believe.

Romans 1, 1 says Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle.

So there had to be a special calling by Jesus to be an apostle separated into the gospel of God.

Verse five says, by whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all

nations for his name.

And 1 Corinthians 1, 1 says Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God.

Now, there's another interesting verse about apostles, and it's in 1 Corinthians.

Turn to chapter four and look at verse nine.

It says very clearly that these men were set forth last.

And the word last in the Greek is eschatos, which the word eschatology comes from, which is what

the scholars call the study of the last things.

So it means the last set forth eschatos, last final.

And it says in 1 Corinthians 4, 9, for I think that God hath eschatos or

set forth last us, the apostles, as it

were appointed to death.

For we are made a spectacle unto the world and to angels and to men, it shows very clearly there was an end to

the apostolic age.

There are a lot of groups that don't believe that, and I'm not trying to knock them at all, but I'm just saying I don't

agree with them on this.

I think that 1 Corinthians 4, 9 and many other verses that we've discussed today prove that there were the 12

and that they were called out last final.

They were the final authenticated spokesman for God

in this age.

And another indication of it is that they were called the foundation of the church.

Look at Ephesians 4, 11.

Now, when we think of a building, can you take, can you build a foundation and

then go ahead and put some studs in and frame it in?

Go ahead, put up some drywall and put the roof on and then put another foundation on the roof.

What would happen if you poured the concrete up there?

Some smart Alex is going to say that's what they do in Dallas every day, 21 stories.

We're not talking about that kind of building.

This is a first century building.

You see my point?

You don't take the foundation, lay it back on top because it would crush the whole thing.

And yet those who believe there are still apostles who can give scriptures or give authoritative speakings for the

church, they're just simply putting the foundation back on top of what God had already built.

In Ephesians 4, 11, and he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some

pastor teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of

Christ.

And you go back to chapter three, turn a page back to chapter three and verse three,

how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery as I wrote a four and few words

whereby when we read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other

ages was not known, not made known unto the sons of men.

As it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit that the

Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body.

This was a mystery.

None of the Old Testament saints could understand at all and partakers.

And even the, even the apostles, while Jesus was on the earth with them, this is one of the things he couldn't share with them.

I mean, they couldn't understand it yet, but now he revealed it to Paul out in that desert and they would

be partakers of the promised in Christ by the gospel.

The Jews don't believe that Gentiles can be partakers of the, of the promise, but it's in Christ because Jesus

is the seed and in Ephesians two 19 is where it shows that they are the

foundation.

How therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints

and of the household of God and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus

Christ himself, the chief cornerstone.

And, uh, whom all the building fit the frame together, groweth into unholy temple, et cetera, et cetera.

So it shows that you've got the, you got the Old Testament prophets who gave us the Old Testament.

You've got the apostles in the new Testament prophets who gave us the new Testament.

They are the foundation.

And now we have the faith, which has already been delivered.

Remember the, the Greek language, the tense, I mean, of, of, of the verbs has been given, has

been once delivered, has been once and only delivered.

Well, this is the, this is how it was delivered.

It was given by the foundational, uh, aspects of the apostles

and these prophets.

Okay.

Uh, so the apostles and the prophets were the foundation.

Um, it says they are built on these things and we don't have to go

into a word study of the word foundation.

I've got it here, but I mean, the foundation is a foundation.

It makes, it makes perfect sense, uh, to us, I believe.

So what I want to do next Sunday, um, we'll stop here with this

next Sunday today.

Pretty much what the goal of this afternoon was is to show that there are, that the apostles that were called

the 12 by Jesus, when the last one died, the apostolic age was over.

The giving of revelation from Jesus through the Holy spirit to these people was

done.

And that's why the book of revelation says, don't add to it anymore.

Don't take away from it.

Don't add to it.

Uh, what I want to discuss next Sunday, and I, I, I don't know if, if Otis is, is

fits better for an afternoon session.

So we'll just have to see, but I would like to discuss, uh, today we talk about the apostles.

Is that age over?

I'd like to discuss the prophets next Sunday, and I think you'll find it a lot.

This, this was pretty much just going through and giving the points of an apostle, but the study on rather the prophets,

the gift of prophecy is still here.

You will find fascinating because there's a lot of controversy on it, but, uh, I want to show you, I want to go into the book of

Joel.

I want to go into some different areas and talk to you about what a prophet is and, and, uh, it will

relate to the giving of the old Testament, but also portions of the new Testament.

And if we can show that the apostles are gone and that the gift, uh, this type of prophet

is not here anymore, then I think that clearly, uh, puts a back end or a back cover to the Bible.

And you have God's word and it is mature.

It is perfect in that sense.

Uh, the Bible word perfect in the Greek use of it throughout the new Testament always means complete and mature.

And so as of the writing of the book of revelation by the apostle John in 80, 90, the

Bible was mature.

Not everybody had a copy of the whole thing yet.

I guess that was, what would you say, Russ, another 200 years or 300 years before

the whole book was canonized.

And, uh, but it was on the planet.

God had given it.

And, uh, what an amazing thing.

So we'll talk about the prophet next Sunday.

Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you that you've given us the word of God and it is

objective.

It's there for us.

It's black and white.

We don't always see it that way because we certainly don't have the wisdom that we

need and the knowledge that we need to know everything about you and about the word.

But we thank you that you've given us the Holy spirit to be our teacher and you guide us into

things we've never seen before in your word every day as we study.

And we can see from the miracle of the way you enlighten the written words so that it goes into all

areas of our life, even though it's a finite book between two covers.

It's infinite in its ability to meet our daily needs and to answer to

every issue in our life because of your Holy spirit.

And so father, we pray that you would be with us as we continue this study on the word of God so that we

can clearly understand what we have.

And the fact that we have an eternal book that you've given us in time speaks of your heart

and your mind and your will speaks of you and tells us about ourselves.

And so may we cherish it and spend a little bit more time in it this week, perhaps, than we had in previous weeks.

And we ask it in Jesus name.

Amen.