A Brutal Beginning

March 05, 2024
by Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Scriptures: Acts 5:29–32; 8:1–3
Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.

A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison. (Acts 8:1–3)
We must not forget that as we study the life of the man they called Paul. We must also brace ourselves for some rather gruesome surprises. The first pen portrait of Paul (whom we first meet as Saul of Tarsus) is both brutal and bloody. If an artist were to render it with brush and oils, not one of us would want it hung framed in our living room. The man looks more like a terrorist than a devout follower of Judaism. To our horror, the blood of the first martyr splattered across Saul's clothes while he stood nodding in agreement, an accomplice to a vicious crime.

Throughout our lives we've naturally adopted a Christianized mental image of the apostle Paul. After all, he's the one who gave us both letters to the Corinthians. He wrote Romans, the Magna Carta of the Christian life. He penned that liberating letter to the Galatians exhorting them and us to live in the freedom God's grace provides. And he wrote the Prison Epistles and the Pastoral Letters so full of wisdom, so rich with relevance. Based on all that, you'd think the man loved the Savior from birth. Not even close.

He hated the name of Jesus. So much so, he became a self-avowed, violent aggressor, persecuting and killing Christians in allegiance to the God of heaven. Shocking though it may seem, we must never forget the pit from which he came. The better we understand the darkness of his past, the more we will understand his deep gratitude for grace.

The first portrait of Paul's life painted in Holy Scripture is not of a little baby being lovingly cradled in his mother's arms. Nor does it depict a Jewish lad leaping and bounding with neighborhood buddies through the narrow streets of Tarsus. The original portrait is not even of a brilliant, young law student sitting faithfully at the feet of Gamaliel. Those images would only mislead us into thinking he enjoyed a storybook past. Instead, we first meet him as simply a "young man named Saul," party to Stephen's brutal murder, standing "in hearty agreement with putting him to death" (Acts 7:58; 8:1).

That's the realistic Saul we need to see in order to truly appreciate the glorious truths of the New Testament letters he wrote. No wonder he later came to be known as the "apostle of grace."

Exploring the Heart Passion to Be Captain

Some of us have a passion to see that all parts are present and functioning properly for the overall success of the vision. How many of the following are true about people who have this heart motivation for “the whole”?
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1. People in the New Testament with this heart motivation were called apostles.
2. This heart motivation is a gift from God.
3. There are about 100 people in the New Testament who are referred to with this heart motivation.
4. The word for apostle was also used to describe the captain of a ship.
5. If I want to succeed, I need to select counselors who can inform me what their heart reflections are, and these counselors should manifest the five heart motivations underlying apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher (Eph. 4:11).
6. Jesus had this heart motivation.
7. There are many people alive today with this heart motivation.
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Basic Doctrine's of the True Christian Faith - They ISN'T 1 past (20 centuries - 2,000 year's ago) example apostles (Jesus's 1st Crew) EVER using the trinitarian title (father, son & the holy spirit - ghost). & Vatican, misc most USA-global churches don't wanna recognize the importance & power of the Holy name of Jesus, especially in the water baptism (remember - note: it's FACE DOWN, NOT bent backward) cuz it goes against the long held tradition of using trinitarian title (father, son & the holy spirit - ghost), erroneously (mistaken way; incorrectly) established by the Catholic church & continue as afraid 2 admit their wrong & thus opens door (s) 2 much else of past-2 date as ALL USA-globally 2 turn upon Vatican's power & control & thus have them literally CEASED as they should B like Sodom & Gomorrah ie: Holy Bible's Genesis 19.

Basic Doctrine's of the True Christian Faith - The Holy Spirit can B given at ANY daily (day - night USA-globally, above &/or below - underground ie: dying non human innocent Earth) tick tock time depending on when Holy, retributionary Eye's of Fire, Holy Majesty-King of Kings Jesus Christ, eternal Son of Yahweh Jehovah Father God & Heaven (itself) / 3 in 1 - 1 in 3 Holy Trinity sees fit (HIS choice, NOT ours ie: individual's of this fallen all connected whole NECLEUS species - humanity (itself), & (Holy Spirit) is NOT necessarily given then instant (immediate moment or there after) 1 - U believes or is baptized (via Holy Bible's Acts 8:16 - These two apostles arrived and prayed for [the Samaritan believers] that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus & Acts 19:5 - When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus).

Were There Really Only 12 Apostles & Why Does It Matter?

Apostles are more common than we think. There are a total of 98 apostles mentioned in the New Testament! Let's see what we can learn and apply to our lives.

Let's begin with Jesus, Who is called an Apostle
• Jesus, the Apostle (apostolos) and High Priest of our confession (Heb. 3:1)
• Strong’s #G652 – apostolos - word occurs 53 times in KJV
• Defined: send out on a mission

Jesus selects the original 12 apostles (apostellō) and sends them out (Mk. 3:13-19)
• And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send (apostellō) them out to preach (Mk. 3:14)
• Strong's #G649 - apostellō - word occurs 148 times in KJV
• Defined: send out on a mission
• Matthias was picked to replace Judas (Acts 1:26). They demanded that he meet two criteria – Acts 1:21,22.

Jesus sends out 70 apostles to various cities
Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent (apostellō G649) them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. (Lk. 10:1)
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The above total is 84 apostles before Pentecost, followed by 14 after Pentecost = 98 total
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After Pentecost - 14 additional apostles are mentioned (Greek in each verse is apostolos or apostellō)
1. Paul (Acts 14:14; 22:21)
2. Barnabas (Acts 4:36; 11:22-30; 14: 1,4,14; 1 Corinthians 9:5-6)
3. Apollos (1 Corinthians 4:6-9)
4. Andronicus (Romans 16:7)
5. Junia (Romans 16:7)
6. Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25, messenger—apostolos).
7. Titus (2 Corinthians 8:23, messenger— apostolos).
8. Two unnamed brethren (2 Corinthians 8:23, messenger— apostolos)
9. Timothy (Acts 19:22, sent - apostellō; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:6)
10. Judas (Acts 15:22)
11. Silas/Silvanus (Acts 15:22; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:6)
12. Erastus (Acts 19:22, sent - apostellō)
13. Tychicus (2 Timothy 4:12, sent - apostellō)

Key words which define what an apostle does
• Sent out one - Sent them in pairs (Lk. 10:1).
• Foundation Layer - Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone (Eph. 2:20).
• Master Builder - According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it (1 Cor. 3:10). Greek root word translated master builder is architekton (#G753 in Strong’s; our word architect comes from this word).
• A commander of a naval expedition was called an apostle (Colin Brown Dictionary of New Testament Words). This is a great picture describing the work of an apostle. The captain is responsible to see that every item necessary for the survival and accomplishment of the expedition is present and properly managed. He must see the big picture and is responsible for the whole.

Apostles are architects who build things which is why I MUST have an apostle on my team!

The apostle has a heart for the whole. He is the architect who designs the project (church, business, naval expedition, clinic, hospital, etc.), oversees its establishment, and ensures that all parts are working together properly. In a church he sees that evangelism, teaching, pastoring, and prophesying are all present in a balanced, effective, life-giving way.

Smith Wigglesworth has been called the “Apostle of Faith,” indicating that he built faith in the churches he visited. So possibly apostles are builders, regardless of what they build.
In one sense, the architect does more of the planning and overseeing than he does the actual building himself. He sees to it that all the others are building properly, with proper materials, and in proper timing. He is concerned that the foundations are accurately laid and that the materials are of high quality so that the skyscraper can rise to its maximum height without cracking under strain or stress.

An apostle will likely have the gifts of administration and leadership. He probably has experience in each of the other five-fold ministries which he oversees (Eph. 4:11). Some apostles, like Paul, traveled extensively. Others, like Peter, James, and John, stayed in Jerusalem and were overseers in the Jerusalem church. Therefore, apostles can be traveling or resident.

Apostles come in all kinds of personalities, as can be readily seen by the personalities of the first twelve apostles. Consider the personality differences between Peter and John, for instance. Therefore, no one personality is right for the apostle.
Don’t make your function your title

Paul refers to himself as “Paul, an apostle” (2 Cor. 1:1; Gal. 1:1; Eph. 1:1; Col. 1:1, 1 Tim. 1:1). Had he said that he was the “Apostle Paul,” then Apostle would have been his title. But instead, he says, “Paul, an apostle,” meaning that he functioned as an apostle in some situations, but he was not an apostle to all (1 Cor. 9:2;1 Tim. 2:7). Jesus speaks against titles (Matt. 23:8-12).

Domination is forbidden for all leaders in the New Testament (Matt. 20:25-28).

Manifesting the “Heart for the Whole” in Vocational Ministry
This person with the call and anointing to be apostolic will be a president of one or several companies. He will be a multi-gifted individual who will lead others. He may be a builder, developer, architect, manager, or leader. He may be an advertising executive, an air traffic controller, an airplane pilot, a ship captain, or an ambassador. He may be a city planner, a college president, a music conductor, or a contractor. He could be a hospital administrator, a hotel manager, a judge, or a lawyer. He could be a military officer, a politician, a public administrator, or a restaurant manager. This is only a sampling of possible vocational ministries.
Discovering and accepting apostles today

The apostle, like each and every other job or ministry, requires the call and gifting of God upon the individual’s life. God anoints each of us for the vocations and ministries He has in store for us. In addition, one grows into his full ministry gift as he walks with God. You will have the call to be an apostle from birth. However, you will not actually be placed in that office until much later in life. By that point, you will have received proper training and experience, matured in your giftings, and come to the place where others recognize the call of God upon you. So you may have the call of God for an office or ministry in the Body of Christ long before you will actually be placed into that position.

Therefore, when you sense this call, you should begin preparing yourself for the ministry, rather than arrogantly declaring that you have a certain ministry in the Body of Christ. This is particularly true of the apostolic ministry.

Because the apostle generally is gifted and experienced in each of the other four ministries of Ephesians 4:11, the office of apostle calls for a higher level of maturity, Bible knowledge, and fruitfulness than is generally required for ministry.

Apostles grew to the point of being able to do attesting miracles (2 Cor. 12:12). This does not necessarily mean that one needs to do miracles when he is first called an apostle. However, as one matures, the empowering for miracles will develop in his ministry.
God has already placed apostles in our twenty-first century Church. They are all around us. It is just that we have made the word “apostle” so out of reach that we do not believe it is possible to fulfill. I do not like it when we take Christianity and make it unreachable for the masses. We reserve it for an elite few. I think it is satan’s strategy to get us to remove New Testament Christianity from the reach of believers at large, and I have chosen to reject such elitism, whether it deals with the hearing of God’s voice, or the seeing of God’s vision, or the five-fold ministry team which forms the eldership body in a local church (Eph. 4:7-11). I would like to see a return to the patterns of New Testament Christianity. I have chosen this as my own course. Where will you stand?

Personal Journaling Application - Ensuring my foundation is set so I can build all God has called me to build
1. Lord, am I apostolic, and if not, who would be the one with a heart for the whole that I MUST team up with to successfully build that which You have asked me to build?
2. Lord, am I prophetic, and if not, who would be the one with the heart for inspirational creativity which I MUST team up with to successfully build that which You have asked me to build?
Know that as you ask God to bring to you the team members you need to be fully successful in achieving the call and destiny He has placed on your heart, He will hear and He will send them to you. Keep your eyes and ears open for them to appear. Look in any places He tells you to look to discover these team members.
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