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th
Fulfillment
of
~ e s s i a n i c r o p h e c y
jesus
is ~ v e r y t h i n g lsaiah said
He would be. He is the
cornerstone upon which a believer
can build his life and future; and
He is the stone of stumbling, Who
came to earth.that all those who
refuse to believe in might stumble
over Him into hell, I Pet. 2:8.
What is He to you?
If
you come to
Him in faith, He will be the sure
and unshakable foundation for
your life and future.
If
you take
offense
at
Him, you will stumble
over Him into etemal torment.
Jesus came to save men from death
and hell and to bring them to
resurrection
and
to
eternal
life;
and
the
miracle of the
healing of the
man
with
the
.
withered hand,
is
proof
that
He is able to
do all that He
promises.
You have
no
good reason
not
to believe
The Sovereignty ofJesus As
the Encouragement of
Christians Under
Fire
A faithful believer in Jesus has
nothing to fear from those who
slander, discredit, intimidate and
persecute him because of His
submission to Jesus and
to
His
written
Word
. Jesus has even His
enemies under His sovereign
control, so that: (1). They cannot
harm
one hair on your head
without His permission;
and
(2).
They carry out His will, regardless '
of their motives and goals. The
hearts of Christ's enemies are in
His hand,
and
He moves them in
whatever way pleases Him,
communion with His Father in
prayer. Time and
aga
in He would
find secluded places to pray
especially before decisive '
moments. Here we are told that '
before Jesus chose the Twelve
Apostles, He spent the whole night
in prayer about His choice.
the
step which He was about to take
was a very momentous one . :
the
.
whole future,of His Church
depended, humanly speaking, em
the choice to be made by Hint. His
choice must be in perfect
agreement with the will of His
Father. - Geldenhuys. These
apostles would be the foundation
of the church of God for the rest of
history, Eph .
2:20. '
If
Jesus
Christ felt the ,
need to
spend
the entire
night in prayer
before making
a vitally
important
decision,
how
much more
urgently
necessary is
it
- ~ f ~ ~ ~ ~ ? l i W ~ for us, frail
. and sinful
in
im and to
submit
your
life to His
sovereign Word.
~ - ' - - ' . - - - - - ' ' ' - - ' ' = = _ - , - , - ~
__
~ . = = ~ : . c . L c . c . . ;
mortals, to
The
Destructiveness of
, Man-Made Religion
All religions, worldviews,
theologies, ways of life, and moral
systems,
not
built
upon
the
Divine,humanSavior, Jesus Christ
and
ihe sovereign authOrity
of
His
written
Word
encourage evil and
are destructive
to
the lives of those
who hold to them.
There
is no
other name under
heaven
given
among men, whereby
we must
be
saved,
(Acts 4: 12), than the
life-giving and life-sustaining and
life-transforming name of Jesus.
because He
is
God incarnate. s
Proverbs 21:1 says:
The
king
's
heart
is
like
channels
ofwater
in
the
hand
of
the LORD; He turns it
wherever He
wishes.
(6:12-16) The Sovereignty of
Jesus in the Renewal
of
His
Church
The Night-Long Prayer Vigil of
Jesus in the Mountain
One
of the distinctives of
Luke's Gospel is His emphasis on
the prayer-life ofJesus. He would
often break away from the
demands of His ministry of the
Word to times of intimate
.. , THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon October,
1996
keep in the most intimate .
communion with God in constant
prayer.
The Calling, Choosing, and
Naming of the Twelve Apostles
The Location of the Calling
of the Apostles '
And
it
was at this tirrie that He
we
nt off TO THE MOUNTAIN to
pray ... And when day came, He
called His disciples to Him .. , Lk.
6:12; Mk. 3:13. The mounuiinas
a locus of revelation and
redemptive action
is
facniliar from
the O.T
and
is the essential
background to the evangelist's
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understanding of significant
moments in the mission and
self-revelation ofJesus. - Lane
The Mountain
in
the Old Testament
The Old Testament associates
the
mountain with a sense of the
neamess of God's presence, Dt.
11:29; 27:12f; Josh. 8:33; Gen.
22:2; Exod. 17:9f; I
Kgs.
18:42; I
Sam.
7:1; 9:12f; I Kgs. 3:4. The
mountain also referred specifically
to
Mount Zion inJerusaIem, the
location of the Temple, the
sanctuary, palace and dwelling
place ofJehovah, I Chron. 16:39,
where the people of God gathered
to worship Him, I Chron. 21:29; II
Chron. 1:3,13. The mountain of
Zion became the only legitimate
place of sacrifice and the symbol of
God's presence with His people.
Zion is the holy hill on which God
has chosen
to
dwell with His
covenant people,
t
. 38:12,
Isaiah presents many of his
messianic prophecies in terms of
the mountain of the Lord. He
used terminology that his O.T.
hearers could
und
erstand
to
prophesy about the person, work
and reign of Christ. So, in lsaiah
2: If referring
to
Christ and to the
global triumph of His kingdom,
Isaiah prophesies that in
the
last
days,
THE MOUNTAIN of h
house
of
the
Lord w
ill be established
as the
chief of he mountains. and will be
raised
above the
hills; and
all
the
nations
will
stream
to it. And many
peoples.wUl come and
say.
Conte,
let
us go up to the mountain of
the
Lord ...
--
.. jor the law will go forth
front
Zion
....
In Isaiah 25:6f,
Isaiah prophesies that God will
provide a lavish banquet of
salvation for all nations on this
MOUNTAIN. And that He will
also remove the obstacle to the
nations coming to this banquet in
faith, i.e
the veil of blindness that
covers them because of their sin.
His words are: And on this
MOUNTAIN He will swallow
up
the covering which is over all
nations
The
Mountain
in
the New Testament
Repeatedly. the Gospels tell us
that Jesus went up
on
THE
MOUNTAIN.
Mt.
5:1; 8:1; Mk.
3:13;
Lk.
6:12;
Mt.
15:29;Jn. 6:3,
15; Mk. 6:46. t was on a
mountain where Jesus was
transfigured as He met with Moses
and Elijah. And the Ascension of
Jesus took place on a mountain.
Lk.
24:50;
Act.
1:12. This
mountain-motif in the life of
Christ could have as its purpose to
remind people ofthese O.T.
prophecies and references. so that
they would see in Him their
fulfillment. In calling the disciples
to
Himself on the mountain,
Jesus is beginning the
RESTORATION OF THE PEOPLE
OF GOD as prophesied by Isaiah.
See
Revelation 21:10.
The Call
to
Apostleship
At dawn. after a night of prayer.
Jesus
CALLED His
disCiples to
Him;
and
CHOSE twelve of them,
whom He also NAMED as
apostles... , Lk. 6: 13. Mark's
account is: And
He ..SUMMONED those whom He
HimselfWANTED, and they came
to Him. And He APPOINTED
twelve....
Mk.
3:13f.
TlI Meaning of
Words
Called , (PROSEPHONESEN),
denotes calling or summoning to
oneself with a word of power that
raises the dead.
Lk.
8:54. Chose,
(EKLEXAMENOS), is the most
common Greek rendering of the
Hebrew word.
BHR.
in the
Septuagint. t
occurs 194 times.
92 of which have God as the
subject. In the O.T
it denotes the
sovereign choice of Israel by God
to be His people, Dt. 14:2;Judg.
5:11; Dt. 4:37; 7:6; 10:15.
In
the
N
.T
its common usage means to
choose between two
or
more .
possibilities.
John
particularly
emphasizes the sovereignty of
Jesus
in
the choosing of the
apostles,Jn. 15:16f; 6:70; 15:16f.
In I Corinthians 1:27f the
threefold use expresses the fact
that the members of the
community. in all their human
weakness. serve the purpose of
manifesting the divine strength. In
EpheSians 1:4 the accent is on
eternal choice, the purpose is
adoption
in
Christ.
and
the result
is a consecrated walk,
not in
selfishness, bu t in love.
TheolOgical
Dictionary
of
the
New
Testament. pg. 519.
Named . (ONOMASEN).
denotes call,ing by name.
numbering. promising. and
defining. To name someone
implied power and authority over
that one, Jesus expressed His
sovereignty over His disciples by
calling them
and
defining the
office they are to fulfill and the
work they
ar(to
perform;
and
with
the call, promising the power to
be
successful in their mission.
Apostles. (APOSTOLOUS).
denotes the sending forth,
authorizing
and
commission of
someone
to
a specific mission. The
verb occurs 135 times in
the N.T
mostly in the Gospels and Acts.
Jesus uses the verb.
APOSTE)..LO.
to denote His full authority, i.e
to ground His mission
in
God as
the One who is responsible for His
words and works. -
Theological
Dictionary of
the
New Testam ent.
(See Hebrews 3:1.) He then sends
forth His disciples as apostles
in
His Name. i.e., clothed with His
own divine authority. An apostle.
then. is a person authoritatively
sent out to speak
and
act as
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representatives of]esus bestowed
with His authority and power.
Only true disciples, (Le., learners
and followers of]esus), can have
this authority. Thus all apostles
must be disciples, though not all
diSciples are apostles,
Lk.
6:13.
Summoned,
(PROSKALEITAl), denotes "to call
to," and it often
has
God
as
the
subject, Acts 2:39, or the Holy
Spirit, Acts 13:2, or jesus, Mat.
10:1; Mk. 3:13. "Wanted,"
(ETHELEN) , denotes desire,
purpose, wish, and preference. It
is often used for the sovereign will
of God, which is always definite,
certain and
effi
cacious, I Cor.
12:18;jn. 3:8; I Tim. 2:4; Mat.
20:14f; Rom. 9:18,22. The
The works
of]
esus are works of
(re-)crealive, divine power. He
"appoints" and
"c
reates" His
apostles. By
Hi
s works,
He
makes
Himself equal to God, Mk. 11:28;
jn
. 5:18. "He does the Father
's
work; this does not express His
subordination but the fact that
God forces people to decision in
His words and works. His work
on the cross makes peace between
jews and
GentHes
, Eph. 2:14-15."
Theological Dictionary of the
New
Testament,
pg. 898.
The
ature
ofChrist's
Call
to
Discipleship
So
now, in the light of the
words used by Mark and Luke
to
jesus does not look for great men
to
be His disciples;
He
makes His
own out of sinners (4).
t is
a
recreative
call.
Those whom
Christ calls, He makes into what
He
would have them be, Eph.
2:8-10. He "ma de" apostles out of
some of His disciples, just as
He
makes some sinners into disciples:
by His Word ahd Spirit, Heb.
13:20; Phil. 1:6; 2:12. Therefore
the Christian life, the discipled life,
is from first to last, a life of faim in
Christ, of looking
to
Christ to do
in us what we cannot do. Faith is
not obedience to law, although it
motivates to obedience and always
produces obedience, but faith itself
is looking to Christ
as
Lord and
Savior.
disciples accept the will of "Jee;ue;
doee;
not
look for
The Purpose
of
the
Apostleship
esus as the will of God, Lk.
reat men to
be
Hie;
9:54; Mk. 14: 12; Mat. 15:32f; Luke simply tells us that
Mk. 3:13;
Mk.
1:40-41;jn.
die;Giplee;; e
makee;
Hie;
jesus called
Hi
s disciples "to
5:21; 17:23. "The whole Him," 6:13, and thereby
future of the disciples rests own out
o
e;innere; " named them, "apostles." Mark
upon this omnipotent will of L.... ...I tells us that "
He
appointed
the Son jn.
21:21."-
Theological
describe the call ofjesus to His twelve,
THAT
they might be with
Dictionary of the New Testament,
disciples to apostleship, we learn Him, and that
He
might send them
pg. 319. And "appointed," several things about the call of out to preach, and to have
(EPOlSESEN), denotes the creative Christ to discipleship:
1). t
is a authority
to
cast out the demons
,"
activity of God, Eph. 2:10; Gen. sovereign call. He chose whom He
Mk.
3:14-15.
1:1,27; Psa. 19:2. The Septuagint wanted,jn. 3:8; 6:44; 15:16; lJn.
often uses this word
for
God's 4:10,19. The decision does not
dealings in history, Eccl. 1:14; rest on man. Our discipleship and
Num. 14:35; Ezek. 5:10; Exod. new life in Christ are based NOT
13:8. The New Testament takes on our choice of Christ, BUT on
for granted that God is the Creator Christ's choice of us. We know He
of the universe, Act. 4:24; 14:15; has chosen us, if we have chosen
Rev. 14:7; Exod. 20:11; Mk. 10:6.
Him
(2). It is an almighty and
n
the N.T. , the word also is used irresistible call. When Christ
to denote God's judicial and
d
k
called His disciples to Himself,
re emptive acts, L . 1:51; 18:7-8;
. . THEY
CAME
See Mk. 3:14. He
Mat. 18:35;
Lk.
1:68, 72; Heb.
13:21.
His
"work" is greater than does not simply invite people to be
we can ask or think, Eph. 3:20. He His disciples, He powerfully and
makes all things new,
Rev.
21:5 . effectively draws them into
Christians are His "poems," Eph. discipleship, jn. 6:37,44. (3). It
is
2: 10. He does what He promises, a gracious call. Christ came to
Rom. 4:21.
He
finishes what He call sinners, all of whom are
has begun, I Thes. 5:24. He works unworthy and undeserving of such
out His purpose in jesus,
Eph.
3:11. a call, Mk. 2:17;
Ma t. 11
:28
f
6 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedou October
1996
Jesus Called
His
Apostles
to
be with him.
This
is
the fulfillment of the
heart-pro
mise
of God's covenant
with His people, Gen. 17:7. It is a
foretaste of the prime blessing of
Heaven, Rev. 21:3,22. Christ's
disciples have been called to a
personal relationship with jesus
Christ. Therefore, ADORING
ATTACHMENT
to
His
PERSON is
an essential to true faith, along
with RELIANCE upon His
WORK
and SUBMISSION to His WORD.
Our chief end is to know God in
Christ. The Christian is the one
who has been called to love and
submit to Christ and to be loved
by Him. Central
to
Christian faith,
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then, is not exclusively DOING
and GOING, SERVING and
AcrING; it is BEING and
WORSHIPPING, LOVING and
LISTENING. Activity in the King's
business does not make
up
for
neglect of the
King
Jesus Called
His
Disciples
to Send
Tltem Out
to
preaclt
Witlt
Demon-Conquering Autltority
Tlte Relation of tlte
Two
Parts
of Tlteir Calling
jesus chose these twelve men
for the specific purpose that they
might
be
with Him and that He
might extend His preaching
mission through them to the world
in fulfillment ofIsaiah 66:19.
Their relationship to Jesus
explains their existence and
their authority. --- Being
with jesus qualified the
Twelve to bear wimess to
Him and
to
participate in His
distinctive ministry of
proclamation and the overthrow of
demonic power, (Gen. 3:15). The
promise given to the Twelve
is
that
they will share in the power of the
Kingdom of God which breaks
through to men with the coming of
Jesus. -
Lane
Tlte
Call
to Preaclt
with Authority
The word
for
preach in Mark
3: 14 is
KERUSSEIN
. It denotes
the authoritative proclamation of
the Word of God by one sent by
Christ Himself to proclaim that
Word, Mk . 3:14;
Rom.
10:14-15; I
Cor. 15:1-4.
I COl . 15:1-2) Tlte Centrality
o Preaching the Gospel
The preached gospel
of
the
resurrected Christ, and our
embracing of it by faith, bring
salvation from sin and all its
consequences. The preaching of
the gospel makes known the
gospel, as opening a perfume
bottle fills the room with its
fragrance, 15:1. It is the meaning
of the word which is the word
indee
d;
it is the sense of
it
which is
its soul.... Preaching in a more
especial manner reveals God's
word.
When
an ointment is once
opened,
then
it casts its savor
about, and
when
the juice of the
medicinal herb is once strained
out
and applied, then it heals. And so,
it is the spiritual meaning of the
word let into the heart which
converts it and turns it to God.
Thomas Goodwin. In 15:2, we see
that
SALVATION
IS BY THE
PREACHED GOSPEL, I Cor. 1:18f;
--Activity in
the
.
_..
;
:- -
:j
King s b u s i n e s s d ~ s
not a k ~
up
.
neglect
of the hlgW
2:lf
. And
in
15:3, we see that
powerful preaching is
preaching
painstakingly faithful to the Holy
Spirit-inspired apostolic tradition
revealed in the Bible.
(I
Cor
15:1,11,12) Tlte Nature
o
Preaclting
tlte
Gospel
The preacher,
(KERUX in
Greek) had
an
important place
in
the ancient pagan world. Paul did
not create this noun or its verb,
(KERUSSO). They had been in use
a long time. A
KERUX
had a place
in the royal court, where he was
the personal Mend of the king,
who was the voice
of the king, for
his job was to declare official
decrees and announcements. He
had
to have a powerful voice and
he had to be trustworthy, so he
would deliver the message just as
he received it from the king. He
did not express his own views.
While on a mission, he was under
the king's full protection.
Sometimes the ancient Greek
philosophers saw themselves as
preachers whose responsibility it
was to observe men and then to
make declarations based on these
observations.
The word, KERUX ,
preacher:
occurs only three times in the N.T.
and only four times in the Greek
O.T.
Why
so few times? The
Bible
is
not telling us about human
preachers; it is telling us about the
preaching. It is the preached
message that is irreSistible, ]] Tim.
2:9, as it takes its victorious course
through the world, II Thess. 3:1.
Hence, preaching is more
important than ' preacher in the
N.T.
Preaching (KERUSSO)
occurs over 33 times in the
Greek O.T. and over 61 times
in the N.T. In fact, the N.T.
has over 32 words translated
preach. Our almost
exclusive use of preach for
all of them is a sign, not merely of
poverty of vocabulary, but the loss
of something which was a living
reality in early Christianity.
The dec4;ive thing
in
the N.T.
is the preaching, the proclamation
of the gospel itself. It
accomplishes
that
which was
expected by the O.T. prophets.
The divine intervention takes place
through preaching. The kingdom
of Christ comes through
preaching. Satan is defeated
and
demons are cast out through
preaching.
jesus
is the Preacher of the
Gospel, Par Excellence. He was
sent
by
God to earth to accomplish
the gospel and to preach the
gospel, Mk. I: 15. What He
preaches happens
in
the moment
of preaching, for the divine word is
a creative force; it gives what it
declares. Luke 10: 16
and
Romans
10:14 teach
us
that Christ Himself
is the preacher in the preaching
of
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men. His voice is heard
in
our
preaching, and when His voice is
heard , people believe in Him.
The preached gospel is not
an
esoteric doctrine for a secret
society.
It
belongs to the public.
The
message is to ring out on the
streets and from the ,roof-tops. In
season
exists only because the risen Lord
has charged His disciples to
declare the message. --- A
preacher is not a reporter who
recounts His own experience. He
is the agent of someone higher
whose will he loudly and clearly
makes known to the public.
Without calling and
and out
of
season
it
must
be pro-
claimed
boldly
The
preached gospel is not
an esoteric doctrine for
a
secret society.
t
belongs to
the public.
sending, preaching
isa
self-conrradiction
and
even a
deception. t holds
out something
which has no reality.
and constantly to all men and all
nations in all situations. When the
whole world has heard the
preached
word, the commission
of
the ri sen Lord will be executed and
the end will come. Preaching is
part of
God's saving plan for men,
like the
death and
resurrectiOn
of
Christ, Lk. 24:46f. t is not
enough
that Christ lived and died
and has arisen. ' These saving facts
must
be
preached in order that
they become saving reality for
individuals. Hence, the N.T.
speaks
of
the cross, and
of
the
saving
power of
the preaching
of
,
the cross, I Cor. 1:18.
If there is no sending, the
preaching of Christ is propaganda,
not mission.
Kittel's TheolOgical
,
Dictionary
of
the New Testament.
1
Cor. 15:1-2) The Necessity
of
Embracing the Preached
Gospel
by Faith
The gospel must not only be
preached, it mus t be embraced by
faith. I Cor. 15: Ib says we must
embrace it;
15:1c
says that we
must stand in it; 15:2b says we
must hold it fast, and 15:2c says
we must persevere in holding it
fast. It is a waste of time and
covenant community of God. The
Book of Revelation emphasizes the
unity, catholiCity and completeness
of the Church
by
referring to it as
represented around the Throne of
God in the TWENTY-FOUR
ELDERS , I.e., the twelve patriarchs
of the O.T. and the twelve apostles
of the N.T.,
Rev
4:4,10.
The Twelve reflect backward
on
the prior history
of
the people
of God as the people of the twelve
tribes. In proleptic, (I.e.,
anticipatory), fashion they
represent the
final
form of the
messianic community, the
eschatological 'creation of God. In
the calling of the Twelve, Jesus
orders His word and theirs
in
accordance with the structure of
redemptive history and its goal,
the creation of the community of
God. - Lane. Although the old'
Israel rejected
th
e fulfillment of
God's covenant promises in Jesus
Christ, and
is
in
tum
rejected by
God, the covenant of God remains
in force, the faithful and restored
covenant community continues in
the church built
upon
tlie prophets
and apostles, with Christ Himself
being the chief cornerstone, Eph.
2:20.
Romans 10: 15 tells us that
without commissioning and
sending by Christ there are
no
preachers, and without
preachers there is no
proclamation. True
i \
preacher is not a reporter who
recounts
His own experience.
He
is
the agent of someone higher whose
will
he loudly and clearly makes
known to the public.
The Apostles
as
the
Fcnmdation
of
the
Church
So then
you are no longer
strangers
and
aliens,
but
you
are fellOW-citizens with the
saints, and are
of
God's
household, having
been
built
roclamation does not take
place through SCripture
alone,
but
through its expoSition,
Lk. 4:21.
God
does
not
send
beoks to
men; He sends
messengers. By choosing
individuals for this service, He
institutes the office of
proclamation. Not every Christian
is called to preach. With6,ut
the resurrection of esus t h r ~
would be no preaching office. It
, breath to profess allegiance to
Christ, i f we do not keep a firm
grasp of the basics of the gospel of
Christ.
The Reasonfor
Twelve
Apostles
The number, twelve, has a clear
redemptive-histOrical significance.
The Twelve Apostles represent the
restoration of the Church of the
Twelve Tribes of Israel, the
8 THE COUNSEL
o
h a l c ~ d o n 9ctober, 1996
upon
the foundation
of the apostles
and prophets, ChristJesus Himself
being
the
cornerstone
.. ,
Eph.
2:19-20.
As a result of the reconciliation
between God and
men
accomplished by Jesus Christ,
believing Jews
and
Gentiles are
fellow-citizens
in
the kingdom of
God, fellow-members of the family
of God, and together comprise the
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House of God where the Spirit
dwells, i.e., the Church of Christ.
And this Household of God, the
Church of Christ, is built upon the
solid foundation of the apostles
and prophets, with
Christ Himself
as the cornerstone. The apostles,
together with the N.T. prophets,
as
vehicles of verbal revelation from
God, constitute the foundation of
the church, with Christ being the
principal support and cause of
growth. He, not the apostles
nor
the prophets, sustains the entire
House of God, and carries
it
to its
consummation.
The Spirit-revealed, written
teachings of the
Christ-commissioned apostles are
the DOCTRINAL and
ORGANIZATIONAL foundation of
the Christian Church. This is clear
from such passages
as
John
17:20
and
I Corinthians
3:11.
John
17:20 teaches
us
that the church through the
ages
cons
ists
of
all who
believe in Christ through the
teaching of the apostles.
And that is only another
way of saying that
acceptance of apostolic dOCtrine is
bf the vety essence of the church.
Kuiper, THE GLORIOUS BODY
OF CHRIST, pg. 69. I Corinthians
3:11 teaches us that the foundation
of the church, which
is
Christ,
is
laid through the teaching of the
apostles. To say that the teaching
of the apostles is the foundation of
the
church is
the exact eqUivalent
of saying that Christ is its
foundation. - KUiper, pg. 69.
Therefore, one of the marks of a
true church is :'the succession of
apostolic doctrine,' Acts 2:42,
rather than a succession of persons
or places.
Nevertheless it
must be
maintained that a true
church
of
any time
and
any place has the
distinction of possessing
organizational as well as doctrinal
apostolicity. The apostles
themselves constituted the nucleus
oUhe organized church of the
new
dispensation and during their
lifetime they built that church.
The church
which
they organized
has never passed
out
of existence
and
never will. The divine Head of
the
church
has promised that.
KUiper, pg. 71.
The Twelve Apostolic Thrones
Over
the Twelve Tribes
o
Israel
And]esus said
to
them,
'Truly
say to
you,
thlit you who have
followed Me,
in
the
regeneration
when the
Son of
Man will sit on His
glO1ious throne, you
also
shall sit
1.Ipon
twelve thrones,
judging
the
twelve tribes of Israel:
Mat. 19:28.
And you are those wh o
have
stood
with
Me in
My
tlials; and
just
as
My father has granted Me a
kingdom, I
grant you that you may
eat and
drink
at My table
in
My
kingdom,
and you
will
sit on
thrones
judging the twelve t.ibes
of Is
rael,
Lu)
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Jerilsalem,
coming down out of
heaven from God.... It had a
great
and high wall,
with
twelve gates, 'and
at
the gates
twelve angels; and 'names'
were written n them,which
are
'
those of he tWelve tribes
of the
sans
of
Israel. There were three'gates on
the
east and
three
gates on
the north and
three
gates
on
the
south
and three
'
gates OIT
the west
And
the
willi
of the
iry had twelve foundation stones,
and on
them
were thawe ve names
of the twelve apostles of
the
Lainb,
" , '
Rev. 2 1 : 1 O ~ 1 4
This "holy
City,
Jerusalem,
coming doWn out of heaven from '
God" is the true ChUrch and tnie
Kingdom of God, -lebo 12:22, the '
Bride
of
Christ, Eph.5:25.
It
pictures "the heavenly nature of
th
e
communion
arid fellowship of
God arid -His people,which is '
entered
here by
faith, but which
opens into
unSpeakable fullness
of
giory
truough
ages
o f a g e s . ~
M,
Tetry
as quoted by
Rushdoony in
THY KINGDOI\4 COME;'
'pg.
220. ,
The narries
Of tluo
twelve tribes of
Israel are written
on
the twelve
gates of the city of God, and the '
names bf the
twelve apostles are
whtten
ori
t h ~
twelve foundations
of the
city. The twelve gates With
the twelve names n t i f i e s the '
inhabitants
6f
the City'bf
o d ~ s
'
God's true aridilew Israel, 'the
restbred covenant cdirirriuility in '
Chtist;
1.'e.,'
the church,Reb.
12 :22.
Noticethahhese
gates, "
truee ori the north side,ihree Otl '
the
south,
three on the east and
three
on
the
west, pdints
u;; to
the :
character'
of
God stnle church
as
'
inter-na tional, -ethnle; -ra2ial,
-linguistic.
The
twelve names on
the twelve foundatioris 'echOes
EpheSians 2:20 tharthe
Spiritcproduced teaching of the
apostles is ,the f o u n d a t i ~ n of the
church,
i.e.,lhe churchi?
built
on
and nOUrished by the written
Word
of God.
The List of the Apostles
The Characteristics of the Lists '
The
i s t
of the names of
the
apostles occurs also in Acts 1:13;
Matthew 10:2-4 and Mark
3:16-19,
as
well
as
here in Luke
6
4-16. In every list, Peter is
named
first. These lists,prganize
the apostles in three groups of
four, ,with the same four names in
each group, with the same name
heading each.of the three groups.
InJohn
1:45, Nathaniel
is
mentioned,
but
Bartholomew does
not occur there.
rhe
other Gospel
writers mention Bartholomew,
but
not
Nathaniel, so
that
these hvo
names probably belonged to one
person. Bartholomew is
not
a
personal name
but
a "patronymic,"
i.e., it indicates the person
as
"the
son
of
Ptolemy
."
Matthew is also
called
Levi,
Lk. 5:27; Mat. 9:9.
And Judas, the son of]ames is also
called Thaddeus, Mark 3:18. He is
the
"J1.\das
not Iscariot".of John
14 :22. Judas scariot
is
always
mentioned lastin the lists of tbe
apostles, .
means shalt ,thou wash
my
feet
ever,' to 'not my feet only
but
also
my hands and head,' In. 13:8,9'. -
Nevertheless,by the grace arid :
power
of
the ,Lord this 'changeable
Simon was transformed into a true
Peter."-Hendriksen. Besides
writing I arid Peter, he was
probably Mark's source of
information for his Gospel. That is
the reaSbri 'Mark
is
often called '
"Peter's interpreter
'1
AndreW
,
He
was Peter's brother, anti also
a fisherman ,
whom
Peter brought
to jesus,]n. 1:41,42. See also
Mark 3:18; 13:3;
In
. 6:8,9; 12:22;
Acts 1:13. Andrew is often
bringing people to
JesUs.
, James and John
These brothers were also
fishermen , Lk. 5:10; 8:51; 9:28,
54;
Act.
1:13. They are'mentioned
several times in the Gospek
Because of their fiery personalities,
Jesusnicknamed; hem ,
~ B o a n e f g e s t
Le
","sons
-o
thunder," Mk. 3:17; Lk.9:54.56.
James was the first
to
wear a'
The Names
of
Al: ()stles
Simon
Peter
, martyr's crown, Acts 12:2,.while .
He was the
SOn
of o n ~ s or
john
,
a
isherman
by
trade, who
with Andrew his brother, lived in
Bethsaida, and then
Ih
Capernaum, ,
jn. 1:44; Mk. 1
i
l,29. His'original
name was Simon,
but
Jesus gave '
him
the riame, Peter. meaning
rock, In.}:42. Peter had a '
struggle being
\ e a d f a s t and
stable
in his faith in Christ. He would
sometimes sway from one pOSition
to its opposite. "He turned from
trust to doubt, Mat. 14:28,30;
from
open
profession of Jesus as
John was
probably
the hist,apostle
to
tlie
, He was "the disciple whom
Jesus loved
,
In . 13:23; 19:26;
20:2;21;7,20. John wrote the
Gospel of}ohn, I, II, III John, and
Revelation. Thjs
is
prObably not
the james that wrote the
book
of
'james in
the
N.T., who was the
brother ofJesus. '
,Philip
1
., " . I
Philip also lived in Bethsaida
for a time.
s soon ashe
responded to Jesus'
call
to
diScipleship,
he
brought Nathaniel
to jesus, jn. 1:45. He, with
Andrew, often brought people to
the Christ, to rebuking that very
Christ, Mat. 16)6,22; from a
vehement dec;laration of loyalty to
base, denial, Mat. 26:33-35, ,69-75;
Mk. 14:29-31,66-72; from hyno'
, ]esus,]n. 12:21,22. Seealso]n.
6:5,7; 14:8,9.
Bartholomew
This "son of Ptolemy" was also
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October,1996
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named Nathaniel, 1 45-49; 21 :2.
When Jesus saw him corrring to
Him, He said of him: Look, truly
an Israelite
in
whom deceit
does
not
exist.
1
Matthew
We have already discussed
MatthewILevi in our comments on
Lk 5:27-32. He was the despised
tax-collector, who, after leaving
everything to follow Jesus, threw a
great banquet
so
that his lost
friends could be confronted by
Jesus
and
hopefully brought
to
faith in Him.
Thomas
Both despondency and
devotion marked this man. He
was ever afraid that he might lose
his beloved Master. He expected
evil, and
it
was hard for him
to
believe good tidings when they
were brought to him. Yet when the
risen Savior in all His tender,
condescending love, revealed
Himself to him , it was he who
exclaimed, My Lord and my
God. Seejn. 11 :16; 14:5;
20:24-28; 21:2.
James the Son oj lphaeus
He is also called, 'james the
Less,
Mk.
15:40, which probably
means, 'james the younger, or
james, the shorter. He is
probably the disCple referred
to
in
Mat. 27:56; Mk. 16:1; andLk.
24:10.
Simon
the Zealot
Mark calls this man, Simon the
,Caruinaean, which is an Aramaic
surname which means
e
nthusiast
or 'zealot. He probably belonged
to
the party of the Zealots, a party
which in its hatred for the foreign
ruler, who demanded tribute, did
not shlink from fomenting
rebellion against the Roman
government. - Hendriksen.
Judas the Son
ofl mes
He
is
also called Thaddaeus,
Mat. 10:3;
Mk.
3:18. He is
probably
judas
not Iscariot of
John 14:22.
Judas Iscmiot, Who
B
ecante a Traitor
He is referred to time and again
in the Gospels, Mat. 26:14,25,47;
27:3; Mk. 14:10,43;
Lk.
22:3,47,48;Jn. 6:71; 12:4;
13:2,26,29; 18:2-5. He was the
man who betrayed Jesus with a
kiss.
The Revelation
oj
the Majesty
ojJesus in the Creation
oj the postolate
What points up the greatness
ofJesus is that He took SUCH
MEN AS
THESE, and welded them
'into an amazingly influential
community that would prove to be
not only a worthy link with Israel's
past but also a solid foundation for
the church's future. -- Even when
we leave out Judas [scariot and
concentrate only on the others, we
cannot fail to be impressed with
the majesty of the Savior, whose
drawing power, incomparable
wisdom and matchless love were
so astounding that He was able
to
gather around Himself and to unite
into ONE family men of entirely
different, at times even opposite,
backgrounds and temperaments. -
jesus drew them to Himself with
the cords of His tender,
never-failing compassion. He
loved them to the uttermost, In.
13:
1,
and
in
the night before He
was betrayed and crucified
commend them
to
His Father,
john 17:6-19) . - Hendriksen
The ReasonJesus Chose Judas
the Betrayer to e an postle
The choice finally supplied a
powerful indirect evidence of the
purity, blamelessness, and
faultlessness of our Lord's conduct
and ministry. When our Lord was
accused before the High Priest and
Pontius Pilate, if anything could
have been proved against Him, the
traitor Judas Iscariot was exactly
the witness who would have
proved it. The mere
fac
t that Judas
never came forward to give
evidence against our Lord, is a
convincing evidence that nothing
could be proved against Him. No
man is so well qualified to expose
another's faults and
inconSistencies, if they really exist,
as
one who has been on intimate
terms with him Judas never
appeared against our Lord , because
he could
not
allege anything
to
His
disadvantage. Ford quotes a
passage from Anselm, on this
point: judas is chosen that the
Lord rrright have an enemy among
His domestic attendants, for that
man is perfect, who has no cause
to shrink from the observation of a
wicked man, conversant with all
his ways. '-].c. Ryle on
LUKE.
Conclusion:
n this call of the twelve to be
Christ's apostles, whose
Spirit-inspired teachings were to
be the authority
and
foundation of
the
ch
urch, we see that the
Significance of the church is
not
exhausted
in
this dispensation
merely by its listening to the divine
Word and putt ing it into practice.
Its service is also one that is
rendered to the world ...
-
Ridderbos. Furthermore, the goal
of the apostolic church that is to
be accomplished through the
preaching of the kingdom of God
is the gathering together of the
messianic people which
as
God's
people have from of old been given
the promise of the great future.
Ridderbos
Q
October, 1996 THE COUNSEL
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Chalcedon 11