An Apostle of Christ Jesus

Providence Baptist Church

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160 years ago, on November 19, 1863, a speech was given by the

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U .S. President upon what was very recently a battlefield that resulted in nearly 50 ,000

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American casualties with over 7 ,000 fatalities. The battlefield was located in Pennsylvania in a town called

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Gettysburg. The name of the speech, the Gettysburg Address, a speech that most of us have learned, learned in school, and while I suspect that very few in here can recall the entire speech, most remember the opening line, four score and seven years ago.

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You remember the introduction. As with many other speeches, such as this one, yesterday,

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December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the

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Empire of Japan. That's FDR addressing Pearl Harbor. Great speakers of history have understood the importance of introductions.

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As Christians, too often however, when it comes to our reading of books of the

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Bible, we glaze right over introductions. It's like we think, let's skip the hellos and get right to the good stuff, and we fail to remember that it's all good stuff.

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It's all the Word of God, the introductions, the salutations, and so this evening we're going to look at some of Paul's salutations, primarily his introduction to his second letter to Timothy.

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Last month, I began a preaching through 2nd

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Timothy. We began that with an introduction, or rather an overview, of Paul's final letter written to his son in the faith,

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Timothy. I want to remind you that we find Paul in a Roman jail cell, a

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Roman prison, awaiting his execution, and that Paul has suffered moderately for the gospel, and is writing one last letter of encouragement to Timothy, charging him to continue in the battle for the faith and for the gospel.

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Turn with me this evening to 2nd Timothy, chapter 1. 2nd

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Timothy, chapter 1, and we're going to begin in verse 1, and when you found 2nd

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Timothy, chapter 1, if you would stand as we reverence the reading of God's holy word. 2nd

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Timothy, chapter 1, beginning in verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.

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To Timothy, my beloved child, grace, mercy, and peace from God the

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Father in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let us go, Lord, in prayer. Father God, we are so thankful for your word.

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Lord, we're thankful for every part of it, and I pray, Father God, that we wouldn't glaze over any part of it, that we wouldn't see that any part of your word is unimportant, not worth our time, not worth being preached upon.

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That, Father God, it is all your infallible, inspired word.

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Lord God, I pray for the preaching of the word tonight. I pray that you would strengthen me, Father God, as I may be tired physically,

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Father God. I pray that you would strengthen my voice, strengthen my body, Father God, that I would not rely on my own knowledge or wisdom.

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Father, I have none of any worth that is not of you, and so I pray, Father, that you would strengthen us, that we would learn from your word, that we would learn,

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Lord, this office, Father God, this office of apostle that you called

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Paul to, that we'd learn more about this, that we would learn more of how, Lord, it applies to your gospel and to us.

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I pray, Father God, that your word, Lord, would not return void.

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Father, I pray that you would soften hearts to receive your word tonight.

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Lord and God, if there be, and I know there are, Lord, as far as children, but maybe, maybe even adults here,

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Father God, that have not bowed the knee to Christ, have not trusted in you, I pray, Father, that tonight

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I ask and I pray that you would draw them under repentance, that they would repent of their sins and bow their knee to you.

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Lord, we love you, we praise you, we ask all these things in Christ's name.

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Amen. You may be seated. Paul, I want to read our text again this evening.

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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child, grace, mercy, and peace from God the

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Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. There are three things that I want us to see from this text this afternoon.

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The first one being a particular office, a particular office, an apostle.

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In my life of going to church, for my entire life,

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I don't remember having ever heard a sermon preached on the office of apostle.

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If I have, I don't remember it, and so this will be a little bit different of a sermon tonight from me, but we're going to, the first thing that I want us to see,

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I want us to focus on, is a particular office, and that is the office of apostle.

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Paul introduces himself here as Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. This is not the only place where Paul introduces himself as such.

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Paul introduces himself as an apostle in nine of the thirteen books that are attributed to Paul.

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This is not including, I know some argue that Paul authored Hebrews, while others author, that it was authored by various others, and so not including that, if that is your argument, that Paul wrote

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Hebrews, I'm not trying to not focus on that one, but focusing on the 13 letters that we all agree on that Paul is the author of.

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Nine of the thirteen Paul states that he is an apostle of Christ. Romans 1 .1,

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Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.

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First Corinthians, Paul called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.

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Second Corinthians, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. Galatians, Paul, an apostle, not from man nor through man, but through Christ Jesus and God the

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Father who raised him from the dead. Ephesians, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus.

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Colossians, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. And Timothy, our brother.

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First Timothy, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our

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Savior, of Christ Jesus our hope. Second Timothy, as we just read, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.

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Titus, Paul, a servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness.

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That's nine. You may ask what about the other four? You know, the other four are

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Philippians, Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus to the saints in Christ Jesus are in Philippi.

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First Thessalonians, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians.

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Very same thing in Second Timothy. And Philemon, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus and Timothy, our brother.

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And so we see over and over, I read all of that to make a point that over and over, nine out of the thirteen letters that Paul wrote, we see

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Paul's claim to be an apostle. And so the first part is what we need to understand what is an apostle.

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Paul claims to be an apostle. What is an apostle? And there's two different meanings that we will find for apostle in Scripture and we need to distinguish between those two meanings.

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In its most broad, most general sense, it means it could be applied to a group of men such as Titus that were sent out on a mission to spread the gospel of Christ.

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We see in 2nd Corinthians 8 23, as for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit.

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As for our brother, and as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.

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And so we we see in one sense it is used as messengers sent out by churches, messengers of the churches.

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This is where I believe we get our truest sense of a missionary being sent out from a church.

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And so we have that sense in which an apostle is used. But we also have another sense, one that I believe

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Paul is talking about when he calls himself an apostle, and that is the office of apostle.

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This was used to describe the twelve apostles of Christ, Matthias, not included here instead of Judas, and Paul.

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So you have the twelve and you have Paul. Paul was set aside as an apostle to the

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Gentiles. We learn this in Galatians, Galatians 1 15 and 16. And when he who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace was pleased to reveal me by his grace, and who called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son to me in order that I might preach him among the

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Gentiles. I did not immediately consult with anyone. You go on down to Galatians 2.

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Then after 14 years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking

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Titus along with me. I went up through, because of a revelation, and sat before them, though privately before those who seemed influential, the gospel that I proclaim among the

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Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.

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But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery, to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.

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And from those who seemed to be influential, what they were makes no difference to me, God shows no partiality.

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Those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised, for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised also worked through me for mine to the

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Gentiles. And when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the

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Gentiles and they to the circumcised. I argue based on this, and I believe it to be a biblical argument, that there are none of these following the

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New Testament scriptures. And I believe anyone's claim today that they are in the office of Apostle, I believe that to be wrong and misguided for a few different reasons.

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Number one, I believe this to be an office that is ceased. We have no biblical evidence of the office of Apostle being used for anyone other than the

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Twelve and Paul. Some will say, well these scriptures give way to believing that Barnabas was also ushered into the office of Apostle here in Galatians.

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I want to push back on that. I want to push back on that. I want us to notice a few things in this scripture in Galatians, as well as other places in the

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New Testament. I do apologize for reading quite a bit before we get started, but I think it's very key that we see this in the

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New Testament. First off, we have no place in Scripture where Barnabas is clearly affirmed in the office of Apostle.

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We do with Paul. Not just here in Galatians. In 1st Corinthians 9, Paul writes,

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Am I not free? Am I not an Apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?

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Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an Apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my

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Apostleship in the Lord. 1st Corinthians 15, he says, For I delivered to you as of first importance what

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I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, that he appeared to Cephas, then to the

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Twelve, that he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

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Then he appeared to James, then to all the Apostles. Last of all, as one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

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For I am the least of the Apostles, unworthy to be called an Apostle, because I have persecuted the church of God.

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But by grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain.

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On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that was in me, whether then it was

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I or they, so we preach, and so you believe. So this is

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Paul in two different places, well, in three different places in Galatians, and then twice in 1st

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Corinthians. He was making known why he was in the office of Apostle, that it wasn't just something that he started claiming.

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He was affirmed by the Twelve into the office of Apostle. Was Barnabas, we're talking about Barnabas, bringing us back to Barnabas, was

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Barnabas an Apostle in the sense of being one who was sent? Yes.

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We see this in Acts 14, 14. But when the Apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed down to the crowd, rushed down crying out,

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Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men of like nature with you, and we bring you good news that you should turn from these vain things to a living

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God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. You could make the same case for Timothy, or Silas, or maybe even

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Apollos, but we have no clear biblical evidence of Barnabas being accepted by the

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Twelve as an equal in the office of Apostle, or as some may call it, Chief Apostle.

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And you may say, well, in Galatians, in Galatians, what you read there in Galatians, we see where they give both

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Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. Let's examine, let's examine that in Galatians.

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Go ahead and turn to Galatians 2. Jackson, bring me that water, please.

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Galatians 2, verses 1 -9 that I read earlier, let's examine this and see what distinction

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Paul makes between himself and Barnabas. In Galatians 2, 1 -9,

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Paul confers with James, Peter, and John, and they confirm his apostolic ministry.

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They are only confirming him to the office of Apostle and not Barnabas. They give, why can we say that?

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They give both the right hand of fellowship, but in verse 7, look at verse 7, it says, when they saw that I, verse 7, when they saw that I, verse 8 also worked, verse 8 says, also worked through me for mine, and then in verse 9, perceived the grace given to me.

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All of those are singular in referring to Paul alone. Barnabas was an apostle similar to Timothy as he was sent out by the

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Apostles in the churches to spread the gospel of Christ, but only

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Paul, not Barnabas, was accepted as being in the office of Apostle along with the twelve.

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And just a quick note on Timothy, if you remember in Paul's introductions in 2 Corinthians and Colossians, he introduces himself in Timothy.

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In both instances, he recognizes himself as an apostle, but Timothy as brother.

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I think that's important to note. It's also important to note that those who claim, we have in our society today in Christian circles, you could say, we have many that claim apostleship.

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And so it's important to note that those that claim apostleship today could be purposely deceptive in their claims.

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At the very least, it should, a red flag should raise in our minds when we hear someone proclaim,

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I'm an apostle. We should look for further clarification as to their meaning.

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And I agree that their meaning could be okay, but so many false teachers claim the office of apostle, which we believe to be completely unbiblical.

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We see this in many charismatic circles today, though not all, but many. Some of the more famous examples,

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Bill Johnson of Bethel has claimed to be an apostolic and prophetic voice. Currently, there is a deliverance tour that is an offshoot of Charlotte and Greg Locke's movie,

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Come Out in Jesus' Name. One of the ministers of this tour is a self -proclaimed apostle named

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Bible David's. Bible David's. This is what Bible's, not the

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Bible, but Bible David's website had to say about him. A proactive thinker, author, anointed

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Bible expositor, and healing minister, Jesus Christ appeared to apostle

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Bible David's at the age of 10 and anointed him as an apostle to the nations of the earth.

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In that encounter, the Lord said to him, Son, I raise you up as a pillar in my kingdom for the end time to preach the word and power for the deliverance of mankind.

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In over 30 years of impactful ministry, he has committed his life to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, raising an army of supernatural believers who are empowered by the

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Holy Spirit to manifest miracles, signs, wonders, and execute dominion in all the seven mountains of influence.

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This is not only inaccurate and false, but I would argue this is dangerous and deceiving.

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Even those that don't claim to be of this office, when claiming to be an apostle, it could be confusing as to their meaning when they claim to be an apostle.

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And so I believe the term apostle should be used with great caution.

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And if it is used, there should be a great deal of clarity in its use. But we have here clear biblical evidence that Paul was the final man called to the office of the apostle of Christ.

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So I say all of that too, that we can see that Paul was more than just one who was sent out.

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That Paul was in the office of apostle. John MacArthur writes about the office of apostle.

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He writes that apostles had three main responsibilities. And I want to quickly look at these things.

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The first responsibility of the apostles was to lay the foundation for the church.

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Ephesians 2, 19 -21 says, So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,

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Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the

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Lord. The church, the new test of the church was established upon the foundation of Christ and then these apostles and prophets.

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Christ being the chief cornerstone that holds all of this together. We today have the complete and finished

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Word of God spoken by Christ, the prophets and apostles, the latter two which wrote as they were moved upon by the

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Holy Spirit. We have a complete, we have, there's nothing lacking. We have a complete and finished

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Word of God. What we do today, what brother Quatro did this morning, what

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I am doing now, what any of us do when we teach and we preach as pastors or teachers is built upon the foundation that was laid by these men in Christ.

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We build upon that, or we go upon the foundation they have built.

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We don't add to that. The second, they lay a foundation for the church. The second duty or responsibility of the office of apostle was to receive and declare the revelation of God's Word.

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Ephesians 3, 4 through 5, when you read this you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ which was not made known to the sons of men and other generations as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the

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Spirit. The gospel or the mystery of Christ has always been and is present in the

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Old Testament. We see this probably most clearly in places such as Isaiah, but it had never been as clearly made known, explained, and understood as it is in the

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New Testament, as written by His apostles and prophets by the

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Holy Spirit of God. You may say, well, preachers and teachers today, they seek to explain the gospel clearly.

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Amen. Absolutely. They should. We should. However, preachers today who are not false preachers and teachers expound and teach what is already written and recorded in the

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Bible. They do not add new revelation or take away from what is written. So you have the office of apostle responsibilities to lay the foundation for the church to receive and declare the revelation of God's Word and lastly to give confirmation of that Word through the signs and wonders and miracles.

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We see this in a couple of places. 2 Corinthians, for the sake of Christ, when

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I am content, then I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.

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For when I am weak, then I am strong. I have been a fool. You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you.

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For I was not at all inferior to these super apostles, even though I am nothing. The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.

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For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you?

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Forgive me of this wrong. Hebrews 2, 3 through 4. How shall we escape if we neglect such great salvation?

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It was declared at first by the Lord and was attested to us by those who heard, while God, who bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the

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Holy Spirit, distributed according to His will. So they were, the office of apostle, three main responsibilities.

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To lay the foundation of the church, to receive and declare the revelation of God's Word, and to give confirmation of that Word through signs, wonders, and miracles.

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The message of the Gospel was confirmed in the New Testament by these signs and wonders mentioned.

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So we have an office, we have a particular office, the office of apostle.

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We see that Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, and this second point, the second thing

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I want us to see in this text, is we have, not only do we have a particular office, but we have a specific design.

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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God. By the will of God.

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By the will of God. Two things that I want us to note. By the will of God. Both an apostle by the will of God, meaning of the above scriptures that we've read,

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Paul called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, 1st Corinthians 1 .1.

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Paul is not a self -proclaimed apostle as we see today.

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He was not a man -made apostle. He was not an apostle by the will of man.

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I know he was affirmed by the apostles, but he was not made an apostle by the will of man, himself, or anybody else.

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He was called by the will of God and affirmed by the disciples.

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Calvin calls God the author and defender of Paul's apostleship.

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His apostleship is beyond being disputed. He was an apostle called by the will of God.

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Both an apostle by the will of God, as well as writing by the will of God. Paul is not speaking here of his own accord.

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When we read the letters of Paul, we can have faith that Paul is not writing according to Paul.

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This is what I think. These are my opinions. These are my beliefs. Paul is not speaking here of his own accord.

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Paul is not about to give his own opinions and thoughts to Timothy. We see this in a couple of different places.

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Galatians 1 .11, for I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.

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For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

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Paul, he is not only an apostle by the will of God, he is writing by the will of God.

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Peter affirmed this. Peter affirmed it and said, I count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother

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Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him.

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So he's writing, he is an apostle by the will of God. He is writing by the will of God. You say, well what's the application?

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How does the office of apostle apply to us? It's very important to understand and for us to know the office of apostle in contrast to apostles being sent out by other by the apostles and by the churches.

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Why the office of apostle existed is important for us to know and what set these men apart.

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That they were called by the will of God. Their writings were done by the will of God.

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We can trust what they say to be true because it was done by the will of God.

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We don't need signs and wonders to believe the gospel. We have the very

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Word of God written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God by men who were called by Christ.

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We have that and it's important to understand why can we trust the words of Paul because he was not a man -made apostle.

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He was not a self -proclaimed apostle. He was an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.

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So when we read the words of Paul, when we read the words of Peter, when we read the words of these apostles, we can be sure that we are reading men who were called not by so and so down the road, not by the

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Catholic Church where they weren't called by the Pope. They weren't called by the

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Jewish government of the Roman government. They were called, they were apostles of Christ Jesus by the will of God.

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And this God -appointed apostle, apostle by the will of God, writes according to a promise.

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He says Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.

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This God -appointed apostle by the will of God writes according to a promise.

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A promise that is very much applicable to the church.

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We have a particular office. We have a specific design. And then lastly, what

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I want us to note is an extraordinary guarantee. Paul, he was an apostle.

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He was a true apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and it was according to the promise.

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The promise. What promise? Well, fulfillment. He was writing in fulfillment of the promise of God to give

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Christ the nations. In Isaiah 49, Isaiah writes, he talks about, and now the

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Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be a servant to bring Jacob back to him and that Israel might be gathered to him for I am honored in the eyes of the

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Lord and my God has become my strength. He says, it is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel.

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I will make you as a light for the nations and my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

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Paul quotes this scripture in Acts. In the next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the

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Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul reviling him.

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And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly saying, it was necessary that the Word of God be spoken first to you since you thrusted aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life.

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Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles for so the Lord has commanded us. And he quotes

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Isaiah saying, I have made you a light for the Gentiles so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

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God was using Paul. He was using Paul to fulfill his promise.

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He was using Paul to fulfill the Great Commission. Paul was taking the gospel to the ends of the earth.

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Friends, we are not apostles in the sense of what Paul was.

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We may not be missionaries sent out by a local church. Some may be one day.

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But we are commanded to take the gospel out into the world to our family, to our friends, to our neighbors, to our community, to our jobs.

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Why? Because of this promise. Promise of what? He says according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.

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Promise of what? Of life. What life? Eternal life. A promise of eternal life by our sovereign

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God that is in Christ Jesus. Promise of the

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Messiah, the Christ. As Paul Washer once put it, the Apostle Paul is sent by the most important person, thing, idea in redemptive history to tell of the eternal life that is promised.

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Is this eternal life promised for everyone? You people in churches today, eternal life sounds great.

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I'll take it. So many want eternal life, but they don't want the giver of eternal life.

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Who is this promise for? Who is this promise for? According to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.

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Who is this promise for? This promise is for those who are in Christ. For those, the life that is in Christ Jesus.

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The promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, which is the gospel.

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That's our focus. That's the focus of the Bible. That's the focus of Paul writing this letter to Timothy.

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The focus is the promise of life through Christ. The focus is the glorious gospel of Christ.

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And because of this gospel, and the promise, Paul can write to his beloved child in the faith.

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What does he say? To Timothy, my beloved child, grace, mercy, and peace from God, the

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Father in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because of this gospel, and the promise,

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Paul can write to his beloved child in the faith, asking for grace, mercy, and peace for Timothy.

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Paul fervently desires that the Lord bestows upon Timothy the

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Lord's grace, mercy, and peace. The grace of God.

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Let's look at these. The grace of God is bestowed upon those who do not deserve it. If you deserved it, it wouldn't be grace.

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Paul affirms 1 Timothy 1 .14, and the grace of our Lord overflowed me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

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He asks for mercy. He asks for peace, grace, mercy. Divine mercy is extended to those who are in a state of helplessness.

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Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 1 .15 and 16, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom

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I am foremost, but I receive mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost,

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Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life.

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Grace. He says, asking for grace, mercy, and lastly, peace. Christ's atoning, death, and reconciliation.

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The peace of God is offered to those who were once enemies of God. Paul writes in Romans, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our

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Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 10, for while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more.

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Now we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. To Timothy, my beloved child, grace, mercy, peace from God, the

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Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord. God our Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord are the sole sources of grace, mercy, and peace that we received according to this promise, according to the gospel.

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True grace, mercy, and peace cannot be found outside of Christ. Both Paul and Timothy confessed

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Jesus Christ as their Lord and King, and through this grace, mercy, and peace,

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Paul became obedient and was suffering and giving his life for that obedience.

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But what wonderful gifts Paul had been given in grace, mercy, and peace.

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And these, friend, are given to all those who trust in Christ.

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All those who believe upon His name, and we give thanks to God for this.

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We give thanks to God for this, for the grace, mercy, and peace we receive in Christ.

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Only made possible through His perfect life, His sacrificial death, and His justifying resurrection, we can have peace.

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Without Him, you will not have true peace. If you are lost tonight, if you have heard

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Brother Quatro preach this morning, you've heard me this evening, and you don't know

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Christ, you cannot have true peace. The judgment and wrath of a righteous and holy

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God is what you face, and you stand condemned. And so my appeal to you tonight is, repent, trust in Christ.

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To those who do, God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, offers marvelous grace, mercy, and peace.

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Let us go to the Lord in prayer. Father, as we close this service tonight,

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Father, it is my prayer that through my weak efforts, through my stuttering, my stammering,

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Father God, that we will have a better understanding of the office of Apostle, Lord God.

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That these were men who laid the foundation for everything that we do today,

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Father God, but that these were not men who were acting on their own accord. These were not men who just on a whim wrote these things.

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These were men who were called by you. They were called by God.

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They were called according to God, and they were true apostles of Christ our

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Lord. And that, Father God, as we read the words that they have written under the inspiration of the

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Holy Spirit, Lord God, that we can know that these words are true.

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We can know that these men were called, Lord, they were called by you according to the greatest promise that has ever been given, and that is the promise of life through your

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Son, Christ Jesus. Father God, and I pray that those of us,

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Lord, that have been born again, who have bowed the knee to Christ, Father God, Lord God, that we would not look to the world for peace,

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Father God, but that we would rest in you. I pray for those here, Lord God, for the kids and maybe even adults,

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Lord God, that they don't know you. They are living for self. They have never been born again.

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I pray, Father God, that they would, by your grace and by your mercy and by your gospel, this wonderful promise, that they would put their trust in you.

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We'd be careful to give you all of the glory, all the honor, and all the praise, for you are due it all.