AoC-3-Chapter III

Chapter III
Their Qualifications And Credentials I. QUALIFICATIONS

ONE of these Apostles traced his preparation for his great life-task back to the very dawn of life. "It was," wrote Paul, "the good pleasure of God, who separated me, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles." In Paul’s case the wonderful providence of God in preparing him to be the Apostle to the Gentiles, during years when the very idea of such a work was in no man’s mind, much less in that of Saul the Pharisee, is very manifest, and is dwelt upon with much enjoyment in all our works on the Life of Paul. May not God Who doeth marvelous things without number prepare all His people unknown to them for the work which after conversion they are led to do? At least we do not doubt that the life of each of the Twelve previous to knowing Jesus, prepared him in some degree for his work as an Apostle of Christ. Matthew’s Gospel bears traces of the tax-collector’s classified accounts; and the life of fishermen which several of them had lived, no doubt qualified them to be good witnesses and patient laborers in the Kingdom of God. Our Lord Himself indicated the analogy between their earthly and their heavenly avocation, when he said to them: "Come ye after Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). But all must see how well calculated their companionship with the Son of God was to fit them for their Apostolic work. Even if our Lord has taken no pains with them, their knowing Him so intimately would have prepared them to identify Him when risen from the dead; and seeing and hearing His public miracles and teaching would have prepared them to testify as to him being "approved of God." But Jesus did take pains to train them for their work. He called them as we have seen that "they might be with Him," and those who have not read the Gospels from this view-point, will surely be surprised on doing so to see what a large portion of them is taken up with, to use the title of a well-known work on the subject, "The Training of the Twelve."

Let us note instances and sayings indicating our Lord’s care for the special growth in knowledge of His Disciples. We recall the introductory words to the Sermon on the Mount, that great discourse on the Righteousness of His Kingdom:- "When he had sat down, his disciples came unto him and he opened his mouth and taught them." In private he explained the parables to the apostles, saying, "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven." "Let these things," He would say, "sink in your ears;" and the great privilege which was theirs in hearing and seeing, as "the babes" for whom he thanked the Father, cannot be better described than in His own words, "All things have been delivered unto me of my Father; and no one knoweth who the Son is, save the Father; and who the Father is, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him. And turning to the disciples he said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: for I say unto you that many prophets and kings desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not" (Luke 10:22-24). The general course He pursued in teaching them is clearly marked in the Gospels and is highly instructive. There was first general teaching about the Kingdom; this gave place to teaching about His Own Person, until they confessed Him to be the Christ, the Son of God; then (not till then could it be done) He taught them about His Cross and the great lessons on the Kingdom embodied in Him thus dying to reign. In this way, with many a pointed correction of their "savoring of the things of men," He taught them the nature of the heavenly Kingdom. True, they were dull. But the seed was sown in their minds, and in Chapters xiii-xvii. of John, we see how it is to be made to germinate - the Holy Spirit is to come and bring all things to their remembrance and guide them into all the truth. Indeed our Lord emphasized the fact that all else would leave them unqualified unless they received the Holy Spirit, and so charged them not to depart from Jerusalem until they were clothed in this supernatural power. At the close of the Gospels the assurances of special endowment and guidance are numerous; the following will show the full force of this, especially if the reader will consult all the references:-

Jesus assured His Apostles that he would pray the Father, Who would give them another Comforter (instead of Himself), Who should abide with them forever, even the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-18). ’He shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you’ (25, 26). He further assured them that the Spirit Whom He would send to them from the Father would bear witness concerning Him (John 15:26), that is through them (see Acts 5:32); that He when he came would convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He would guide them (the Apostles) ’into all the truth’ (John 16:7-13). After He rose from the dead, when giving them the Great Commission, Jesus said: ’And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age’ (Matthew 28:20). He also after His Resurrection confirmed the promise of the Holy Spirit, which He had conveyed from the Father to them before He suffered; and charged them to tarry in Jerusalem till ’clothed with power from on high,’ when baptized in the Holy Spirit (See Luke 24:48-49; John 20:21-23; Acts 1:4-5; Acts 1:8). In reference to the Apostle Paul, we know of course that he had not the great privilege of being with Christ during His ministry; though we do not know that he never, as an unbelieving Pharisee, saw Jesus in the days of his flesh. We have already seen, however, that Jesus appeared to Paul for the very purpose of qualifying him to be an Apostle, enabling him to testify to the Resurrection. He evidently had the absence of personal intercourse during Christ’s life on earth, compensated by special visions and revelations afterwards. He speaks of the exceeding greatness of these revelations (2 Corinthians 12:7); and we find him declaring that he received of the Lord what he had communicated to the Corinthians concerning the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23). His possession of the Holy Spirit alike to work miracles and inspire him is affirmed in many places in his epistles, and we can say is proved to us by the existence of such epistles as his, especially those to the Romans and Ephesians.

II. CREDENTIALS

It is interesting to note Dr. Ogilvie in his definition of this word credentials referring to the Apostles of Christ. After referring as an example of credentials, or that which gives credit, to the letters of commendation and power given by a government to an ambassador or envoy, which give him credit at a foreign court, he adds: "So the power of working miracles given to the Apostles may be considered as their credentials, authorizing them to preach the Gospel, and entitling them to credit." In view of the greatness of their work, it was of course of the highest importance that the revelation of the Gospel and will of God these chosen men made, should be demonstrated to be of God. Their authority could not reasonably be accepted by men if not accompanied by Divine power; nor if so accompanied could it be reasonably rejected. Hence to the Apostles Christ promised: Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you" (Acts 1:8). Note the distinction here between authority (exousia), and power (dunamis), not observed in the C.V. The power which Christ had was the sign of His authority - "But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath authority (exousia) on earth to forgive sins (he said unto him that was palsied), I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go unto thy house" (Luke 5:24). Any imposter can say, ’Thy sins be forgiven thee,’ but demonstrating the authority claimed by the power manifested is another matter. Exousia is the word used in Matthew 28:18, to denote the authority claimed by Christ. His commission conferred authority on the Apostles, but that men might know they possessed such authority they were to be clothed with power (dunamis) from on high. They, too, were authorized by Him to forgive and to retain sins" (John 20:23), hence their work was accompanied by "demonstration of the Spirit and of power" that the faith of believers "should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God" (1 Corinthians 2:4-5).

We have so far as possible treated the qualifications and credentials separately, but it will be noted that the same power was at once a qualification and credential, so that in concluding this Chapter we may sum up the whole as THE THINGS ESSENTIAL IN AN APOSTLE.