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The True Nature of Apostolic MinistryFebruary 5, 2017As we turn our attention to the study of God’s Word this morning, we’re going to continue what we started last Sunday—Jesus’ appointment of the Twelve apostles. We were looking carefully at Luke Chapter 6, which told us that Jesus called his disciples to himself; he summoned them in verse 13. And he chose from them—from that larger group of disciples— twelve, whom he named apostles. Last week we talked about how Jesus labored through the previous night in prayer, having sensed the direction of divine providence—that God intended to pour a new foundation for a new temple for the people of God. This temple is not to be constructed with stone and mortar.
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It’s not to be layered with silver and gold on the outside. It’s not to be ordained with ornate sculpting or embroidered fabrics. This temple, from its foundation all the way, is a temple made with people, with souls, all of them new creations in Christ. The foundation God poured, started right there in Luke 6, is the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Ephesians 2:20, with Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.And the foundation has endured.
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That foundation has stood firm against every attack. It’s weathered every storm throughout many centuries. It’s repelled every foe that would come against it.
And for all of those who would build their lives on this foundation, and no other, they’ll never be disappointed in that. It’s the heart of wisdom and the fear of the Lord to build your life on this apostolic foundation. It’s just as Jesus said, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine”—that is those words were spoken and written through his holy apostles.Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. (Matthew 7:24-25)Christ began to lay that foundation of bedrock by summoning his disciples and then choosing from their number these twelve men, naming them to be his apostles. And as we said last week, this is the first hint of a change in the program. From the offer of kingdom of God to Jews, which they rejected by rejecting Jesus as their Messiah—through Israel’s rejection, God’s salvific program has shifted its focus to Gentile salvation.
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It’s not to say no Jews can be united to Christ and join the church—they are. The church is a body that hosts both Jew and Gentile, both of them united in Christ. But that required a new foundation to be poured, a new body of believers to be formed on that foundation.
It’s a foundation and a body that we know as the Church and it has united Jew and Gentile together in one body.Today, we’re going to stop and get a closer look at the nature of this foundation. That’s going to take us into the nature of apostolic ministry.
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