I. THE SIGNS OF AN APOSTLE

Just as God had set out certain infallible ways in Old Testament times for testing whether or not a prophet was true or false (Deuteronomy 13:1-3; 18:20-22), so He has also declared certain “signs” to enable New Testament disciples of Christ to distinguish between a true and a false apostle. These signs of an Apostle of Christ consisted of what was mentioned in Mark 3:14-15 and listed in Mark 16:17-18 (healing, ‘Tongues’-speaking, casting out of demons, even picking up snakes and drinking deadly poison unharmed), plus the working of miracles (2 Corinthians 12:12; Romans 15:19), prophecy (Matthew 10:40-41; Acts 5:3-9; 13:6-12; 14:8-10), and — most important to our present study — the unique ability to distribute these revelation and sign gifts to others (Hebrews 2:4).

The only means that God has used for distributing the “revelation” or “sign” gifts to others in the New Testament era is through the mediation of the unique Apostles of Jesus Christ, who were the foundation of the Church (Ephesians 2:20; Revelation 21:14). The failure to recognise this fact is what has led to so much mayhem in the churches in the last century or so. These gifts and abilities — the ability to speak in a ‘variety of ethnic languages’ (commonly, and misleadingly, referred to today as “Tongues”), prophecy, the casting out of demons, healing and miracle-working — were imparted to disciples of Christ by the laying on of hands of the biblical Apostles. There is no account in Scripture of anyone receiving a “revelation” or “sign” gift other than through the distribution of one of the original Apostles; whereas a number of people are spoken of as having received these gifts through this unique Apostolic ministry. [The Gentile, Cornelius, was a special case, though an Apostle was certainly present, having been specially sent to preach the Gospel to him. Some cite Timothy as an exception (cf. 1 Timothy 4:14). But this does not refer to Timothy himself receiving the gift of prophecy, but to the office of Pastor being conferred upon him by the laying on of hands of the eldership, as the result of a prophetic revelation].

Stephen and Philip had both had Apostolic hands laid on them and thereby were given the gift of miracle-working (Acts 6:5-8; 8:6). Barnabas, who had been renamed by Apostolic decree (Acts 4:36), most likely had Apostolic hands laid on him when he was sent to Antioch (Acts 11:22), and was given the gift of prophecy (Acts 13:1). Furthermore, Paul spent eighteen months establishing the Corinthian church (Acts 18:11), during which he authenticated his Apostleship with signs and wonders (1 Corinthians 2:4-5; 2 Corinthians 12:12), and distributed gifts to others there as part of his Apostolic office, so that they lacked none of them (1 Corinthians 1:5-7). So it is hardly surprising that there was such a broad manifestation of these gifts in Corinth.

There is proof that these gifts could only be received through the agency of a first century Apostle of Jesus Christ. When we are shown that Paul authenticated his Apostleship to the Corinthians by appealing to his “signs and wonders and mighty deeds” (2 Corinthians 12:12), we can also deduce that none in the Corinthian church could have received any of the revelatory/sign gifts other than by the distribution of an Apostle. For, if they had the ability to prophesy, to execute miracles or healings, or to speak in tongues, without Apostolic mediation, then the performance of such signs and wonders and mighty works would be no proof of Apostleship. Think about it. That is pure logic right there.

That such gifts were distributed by the exclusive mediation of the Apostles was certainly not lost on Simon the Sorcerer. This was why he preferred to pay good money to obtain the Apostolic ability to impart the revelatory/sign gifts of the Spirit to others rather than have the mere capacity to work miracles (Acts 8:9-23). To be a false apostle would amass far more sorcerous power and authority than merely being a false miracle-worker!

It is precisely for this reason that a right understanding of the unique nature of the Apostleship is fundamental to ‘getting it right’ about the claims of the Pentecostal-Charismatic Movement regarding healings, prophecies, miracle-working and tongues. There is considerable confusion today concerning the Apostleship. Some years ago, I overheard a young woman being asked what she was hoping to do when she completed her studies at Bible College. She replied: “I haven’t made up my mind yet whether to be an Apostle or a composer”. In view of such ignorance, a right understanding of these matters is of the utmost importance. Many Bible Colleges have much to answer for in terms of the spawning of false doctrine and superficial Christian thought among impressionable young people throughout the evangelical churches.

In view of the fact that the spiritual gift of ‘varieties of languages’ depended so much on Apostolic ministry, how does the New Testament identify apostles? What are the distinguishing marks? If we can identify these, then we will see if they can be applied to anyone alive today. This is of the utmost importance, for there are many today who arrogantly, and without warrant, claim to be apostles on a par with those in the New Testament. This is especially the case with the so-called New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Apostolic_Reformation , along with many others falsely claiming Apostleship for themselves today so they can wield unwarranted authority.

II. THE QUALIFICATIONS OF AN APOSTLE

The word apostle comes from the Greek apostolos, which means, literally, one who is sent. Our word “posted” is derived from it. So, loosely speaking, the word apostle can apply to anyone given a special commission or posting in the Church in any era of its existence. Occasionally in the New Testament the word is used in this broader sense to refer to those who have been specially commissioned for missionary work by the churches (e.g., 2 Corinthians 8:23; Philippians 2:25). But such general, church-commissioned, sent-ones were not the same as those entrusted with the unique spiritual gift of Apostleship, who were “Apostles of Jesus Christ” (See Galatians 1:1), sent personally by Him, and who had unique qualifications for receiving that gift and distributing spiritual gifts to others. The sole qualifications which the Bible gives for being a spiritually-gifted Apostle are:

  1. He (always a “he”!) must have accompanied Jesus during His earthly ministry, which was from His baptism until His Ascension (Acts 1:21-23).
  2. He must have been a personal witness of the resurrected Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:7; 1 Corinthians 9:1; Acts 1:22; 4:33; 10:39-42).
  3. He must have received a personal call from Christ to Apostleship and a commission to fulfil its duties (Luke 6:13; Mark 3:14-15).
  4. He must have had, as his field of labour, the whole world, rather than a local church or group of churches (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15).

On this basis, under the power and under the authority of Jesus Christ, i.e., “in His name”, as in Mark 9:38-41, such a one was given a commission to herald out the kerygma (Matthew 28:18-20), the essential message of the Gospel on which the Church was founded, theproclamation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul refers directly to this special apostolic commission in Titus 1:1-3. Moreover, there were distinctive “signs of an Apostle” of Jesus Christ. When some in the church at Corinth suggested that Paul was not a genuine Apostle, he referred specifically to these signs as firm proof of his Apostleship (2 Corinthians 12:12; cf. Hebrews 2:3-4).

In carrying out this personal commission from the Lord Jesus Christ, these Apostles (along with the New Testament Prophets) were in the process of laying the foundations of the Church — a historical ‘architectural’ procedure which is a once-for-all exercise and which cannot (and need not) be repeated throughout every era of Church history (please read Ephesians 2:20 along with Revelation 21:14). This is precisely the context in which the Lord Jesus told the Apostle Peter that he and his testimony to the Messiahship of the Christ were the rock upon which He would build His Church (Matthew 16:18). This is a further confirmation that one of the prime characteristics of genuine Apostles was that they (and their teachings) were the foundations of the Church — the solid bedrock — and that we are the building that rests upon that bedrock which they established. Once a foundation is laid, the building proper begins.

That foundation consisted of the setting up of the primitive Church on a correct spiritual footing: “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ”… “Remember me…keep the traditions” (1 Corinthians 11:1-2; cf. 2 Timothy 1:13-14; Titus 1:9), authenticating the Messianic coming with miraculous works (Hebrews 2:3-4; Acts 2:43; 5:12), and writing the Scriptures for a testimony of these things to later generations of Christians (Ephesians 3:3-5). The gifts are given for the “edification” of the Church as a whole. Edification means building up. The Apostles’ primary contribution to the building up of the Church was to lay the solid rock on which it would be built.

These unique Apostles, God’s foundation gift to the church (1 Corinthians 12:28), were also directly commissioned and personally sent by Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church. That is why they are called “Apostles of Christ” and “Apostles of Jesus Christ” (See the first verse of 1 Corinthians, and of 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Colossians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, 1 Peter, 2 Peter; and especially Galatians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:6; Jude 17). This is why false apostles are “deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:13), as so many are doing today. A further aspect of the foundation-laying of the Apostles of Christ is that they laid down the New Testament Scriptures on which the truth of the Gospel is grounded and authenticated (John 17:20; Ephesians 3:3-5; cf. John 20:30-31).

There were just two exceptions to the above qualifications for the Apostleship. One was Matthias, who had not been directly commissioned by Christ but was chosen as a replacement for Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:21ff). The other was Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul the Apostle. Although Paul had not been with Jesus during His earthly ministry, he received an extraordinary manifestation of the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus and was given a special commission to minister to the Gentiles (1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:8; Acts 26:15-18). Thus, the hallowed Twelve Apostles became thirteen — one having been “born out of due time” (1 Corinthians 15:8). There is a remarkable touch of typology here in the way that the twelve tribes of Israel (of which the twelve Apostles were a New Testament echo) also became thirteen with the elevation of two of Joseph’s sons to the rank of tribal heads (Genesis 48:5).

What significance does all this have for us in the twenty-first century? Can anyone alive today make the bold claim that they have the spiritual gift of Apostleship — that they are therefore an Apostle of Jesus Christ? A consideration of the above facts must surely necessitate a negative answer, for the following reasons:

  • None of us alive today has spent any time with the Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry.
  • None of us has ever been material witnesses of His Resurrection. In fact, our evidence for the Resurrection rests solely on the foundation which was laid by the true Apostles, who were commissioned to write these things down for us in the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-9).
  • None of us today has been personally commissioned by Christ to be witnesses to the fact of His Resurrection in the way in which the original Apostles were.
  • None of us can possibly be called the founders  or foundation of the Church.
  • None of us has ever been personally commissioned by Christ to perform those signs which were exclusively those of an Apostle of His (Matthew 10:1-4; Mark 3:13-15; 16:17-18; 2 Corinthians 12:12).

For these compelling reasons, there can be no genuine Apostles of Jesus Christ today.The spiritual gift of Apostleship lasted only for the infancy of the Church, during its foundation-laying period, for the duration of the lives of the Apostles, and has no functional relevance today. Therefore, anyone claiming to be an Apostle now is a false apostle — of which there were many even in the early church (Acts 15; Galatians 1:7-9; 2 Corinthians 10 & 11; Colossians 2), whose end shall be according to their works (2 Corinthians 11:13-15; cf. Revelation 2:2).

It therefore represents an attempt to move the goalposts to say, as many do today, that the spiritual gift of Apostleship is a secondary form of apostleship, lacking the authority that we see exercised by the New Testament Apostles in Scripture. The whole notion of spiritually gifted “secondary” apostles and prophets has only served to create fear, confusion and false authority in the churches, while giving Satan a supreme foothold in a place where he should absolutely fear to tread.

Since it is plain that there can be no genuine Apostles of Jesus Christ today, therefore there can be no one around to distribute the revelatory/sign-gifts. Not only is there no one to impart them, but they have served their purpose in the development of the Church — a fact which I will go on to prove in relation to the gift of ‘tongues’ in the next section, demonstrating that no one can be speaking the original gift of ‘varieties of languages’ today and all occurrences of it as so-called “tongues” are simply manifestations of pagan gibberish.

Once the New Testament canon was completed and all the Apostles were dead, the gifts which served for a sign and for revelation were finished. There was no further need for piecemeal prophetic revelation to be given now that God’s Word was complete. There was no further need for signs to be given to Israel for authenticating or judicial reasons, as that national state had been wound up by the Lord in AD 70. Neither was there anyone available to impart or distribute these gifts, because the Apostolate was no longer in existence. [To understand how this relates to the Israeli state of today, please read my free book, “Abraham our Father, Jerusalem our Mother” at this link: https://diakrisis-project.com/2022/12/06/new-entirely-updated-120-page-ebook-abraham-our-father-jerusalem-our-mother/ ].

These sign-gifts were specifically intended to aid the establishment of the Church through the ministry of the Apostles. The pattern is clearly shown in Hebrews 2:3‑4. Just read it through: First came the word of the Gospel spoken by the Lord Jesus (v.3b), which is then confirmed to “us” (believers in general, v.3c) as a result of the special ministry of “those who heard Him” (the Apostles, v.3c). This special Apostolic ministry is spoken of as “God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and distributions of the Holy Spirit” (i.e., spiritual gifts, v.4). This use of the word “distributions” is especially significant because it shows that the gifts of the Spirit which were the special province of Apostolic ministry — i.e., those which involved revelation (prophecy) and authentication (signs) — were distributed by the Apostles. The need for such revelation and authentication was a hallmark of the foundation-laying period of Church History; but, as we shall see, there was no further need for such “signs” after the conclusion of the Apostolic era.

The Scriptures give a clear indication that as the Gospel Age (which involves the ‘last days’, ‘latter days’, etc.) progresses, there will actually be an increasing manifestation of ‘revelation’ and ‘signs’ which are the special work of false christs and false prophets (Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22). In fact, the biblical teaching on ‘signs and wonders’ is that the beginning of this age was characterised by the signs of the Apostles of Christ and genuine wonders worked by them and those empowered by them; whereas from that time onwards there would be a deterioration in the transmission of truth (1 Timothy 4:1; 1 John 2:18; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; Acts 20:29-30), which will culminate in the “signs” performed by the Antichrist and “lying wonders” worked by him which will be directly empowered by Satan (2 Thessalonians 2:9; Revelation 13:13-14). So the idea perpetuated by the false apostles of today that they represent “the latter rain” in “restoring the gifts” to the church is equally false, a total travesty.

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[The above is an extract from the upcoming Second Edition of “The Serpent & the Cross: Religious Corruption in an Evil Age”, which will hopefully be published as a paperback book in early October. Please let me know at diakrisis-project@outlook.com if you are likely to want a copy]

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© Copyright, Alan Morrison, 2025
[The copyright on my works is merely to protect them from any wanton plagiarism which could result in undesirable changes (as has actually happened!). Readers are free to reproduce my work, so long as it is in the same format and with the exact same content and its origin is acknowledged]

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