Are Apostles and Prophets still a part of Christian doctrine? Does the Gospel of Jesus Christ have room for Apostles and Prophets? If we accept the Holy Bible (I use the king James version) as the text for Christianity then the answer to these questions has to be YES.
You cannot claim to be a Christian and not accept the fact that Apostles and Prophets are the mouth piece for Jesus Christ.
We’re all familiar (I hope) with many of the Old Testament prophets like Adam, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha and Malachi etc. We could write essays or Books on each one. This little post is just on scripturally proving that the Gospel of Jesus Christ includes Prophets and Apostles. Eventually we will tell you where to find them. Not all Christian religions have them, in fact I know of none that have Prophets and Apostles as part of their doctrine.
In Deuteronomy 18:22 it says “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” You can judge a prophet by what he says. If he prophecies and that thing comes to pass it is proof that he is called of God to be a prophet.
1 Samuel 3:20 read as follows “And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.” This is just one of many verses in the Bible talking about the use of prophets in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.
1 Samuel 9:9 refer to the terms of both prophet and seer “(Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.)”
2 Kings 17:13 is evidence of the Lord using the prophets to communicate with His people. “Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” If the Lord used prophets to communicate with his people back then, why doesn’t he do so today?
In Nehemiah 9:30 the Lord testified against his people, trying to get them to repent and he used Prophets to do it “Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.”
2 Chronicles 29:25 specifically refer to Nathan being a prophet “And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.” Do you know of a modern day prophet by name?
Not only did the Lord use prophets to communicate to His people but got upset with His people for ignoring what the Prophets had to say as it implies in 2 Chronicles 36:16 “But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.”
Have we not shown enough evidence of the Lords use of Prophets? There is more. Keep in mind that there is even more evidence regarding the Lords use of Prophets than what is present in this post.
Prophets are very special people. Yes they are people. They are not Gods they are men called of God to the office of being a prophet as indicated in Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” A prophet is not just a prophet to a group of people but a prophet to the nations of the world.
One of my favorite verses regarding prophets in all of Christian Scripture is found in Amos 3:7 “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” .
Now we move to a few verses found in the New Testament regarding the teaching of the prophets and references to Prophets and Apostles: Matthew 11:13 “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.”
This verse found in the Gospel of Luke talks about God using holy prophets since the world began. Did The Lord use Prophets since the world began only to stop when the Twelve Apostles died off? Luke 1:70 “As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:”.
As I started this Blog and have had numerous feedback I have come to learn that there are Christians out there that do not consider the Old Testament part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They say that Christ fulfilled the Law of Moses and so the Old Testament is worthless. They err in their assumptions. The truth of the Law of Moses in general is a preparation for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Who would dare say that the gospel of the Old Testament has nothing valid for us? Additionally not all the Old Testament was about the Law of Moses. There we the Patriarchs and there teachings before the Prophet Moses.
Having said all that and for the benefit of any who think that way here is New Testament teachings long after the Law of Moses was fulfilled.
One of the first things Jesus did at the start of His ministry was to call twelve Apostles as indicated by Matthew 10:1-4 “And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
One of my other favorite scriptures about Prophets and Apostles is found in the Book of Ephesians. Ephesians 2:19-20 “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;“
This is a powerful verse regarding Prophets and Apostles. This verse calls the Apostles and Prophets the foundation of the gospel or household of God. With Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone.
The foundation of the Gospel or Christianity is built upon Apostles and Prophets with the Savior being the corner stone. Using this scripture can you be a Christian without believing in Apostles and Prophets?
During the time of the Apostles they used the phrase “as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit in Ephesians 3:5 “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;”
Back in the days of the Apostles and in our day they were and we have “children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive”. The solution is found in Ephesians 4:11-14 where it says “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;”
We need Apostles and Prophets as much now as they did in the primitive Church.
Here are three more New Testament passages of scripture testifying of The Lords use of Apostles and Prophets.
Hebrews 1:1 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.”
2 Peter 3:2 “That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:”
1 Corinthians 12:28 “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.”
Besides what we have already learned of the Prophets, being a mouth piece for the Lord we learn from Matthew 16:19 “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Additional duties of Prophets.
From other Christian Scripture we learn more about Prophets and Apostles. Jacob 4: 4 “For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us.”
D&C 1:14 “And the arm of the Lord shall be revealed; and the day cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of his servants, neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles, shall be cut off from among the people;”
D&C 1:38 “38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.”
So is there a living Prophet today? Are there Twelve Apostles alive today to lead Christianity? The answer is a resounding yes!
It started with the prophet Joseph Smith when God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph. From that point on, after a long apostacy, the heavens were opened and The Lord once again started speak to men through Prophets and Apostles.
Filed under: 1 Corinthians, 1 Kings, 1 Samuel, 2 Chronicles, 2 Kings, 2 Peter, Doctrine and Covenants, Ephesians, Hebrews, Jeremiah, Luke, Malachi, Nehemiah, Uncategorized | Tagged: advocate, Anglican Church in America, apostacy, apostles, Apostolic Church, Atonement, Baptist, Belief, believe, bible, bible study, blood, Book Of Mormon, born, born again, born of God, Calvary, Catholic, charity, Christ, Christendom, Christian, Christian Science, Christianity, Christians, Church, Church of Christ Scientists, Church of England, commandments, commentary, Community of Christ. Cross, Disciple, Eastern Othordox, Empty tomb, Episcopal, eternal life, Evangelicalism, Exaltation, Exalted, Faith, Father in Heaven, forgiveness, Garden, gethsemne, God, Godhead, good works, gospel, Grace, gratitude, Heavenly Father, Holiness, Holy Bible, Holy Father, Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, honest, honesty, hope, hymn, hymns, Inspiration, Israel, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, keep commandments, king, King James Version, king of kings, LDS, life, light of Christ, Lord, Love, love of God, Lutheran, mediator, mercy, Messiah, Methodists, Mormon, Mormons, Oriental Orthodox, peace, Pentacostal, praise, Presbyterian, prophets, Protestant, Redeemer, Reformation, religion, repent, repentance, Restoration, Resurrect, Resurrection, Revelation, righteous, righteousness, rock, Romanian Othodox, Russian Orthodox, saints, salvation, Savior, Saviour, scripture study, Scriptures, Serives, Service, Seventh Day Adventist, sin, sinner, sinneth, Son of God, songs, sorrow, spirit, study, Sunday School, teach, teacher, teaches, testimony, thankful, Thanks, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, throne of God, tomb, Trinity, true God, trust, truth, Unity Church, verse, verses, witness, works
Are There Apostles and Prophets For Christians?
Are Apostles and Prophets still a part of Christian doctrine? Does the Gospel of Jesus Christ have room for Apostles and Prophets? If we accept the Holy Bible (I use the king James version) as the text for Christianity then the answer to these questions has to be YES.
You cannot claim to be a Christian and not accept the fact that Apostles and Prophets are the mouth piece for Jesus Christ.
We’re all familiar (I hope) with many of the Old Testament prophets like Adam, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha and Malachi etc. We could write essays or Books on each one. This little post is just on scripturally proving that the Gospel of Jesus Christ includes Prophets and Apostles. Eventually we will tell you where to find them. Not all Christian religions have them, in fact I know of none that have Prophets and Apostles as part of their doctrine.
In Deuteronomy 18:22 it says “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” You can judge a prophet by what he says. If he prophecies and that thing comes to pass it is proof that he is called of God to be a prophet.
1 Samuel 3:20 read as follows “And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.” This is just one of many verses in the Bible talking about the use of prophets in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.
1 Samuel 9:9 refer to the terms of both prophet and seer “(Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.)”
2 Kings 17:13 is evidence of the Lord using the prophets to communicate with His people. “Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” If the Lord used prophets to communicate with his people back then, why doesn’t he do so today?
In Nehemiah 9:30 the Lord testified against his people, trying to get them to repent and he used Prophets to do it “Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.”
2 Chronicles 29:25 specifically refer to Nathan being a prophet “And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.” Do you know of a modern day prophet by name?
Not only did the Lord use prophets to communicate to His people but got upset with His people for ignoring what the Prophets had to say as it implies in 2 Chronicles 36:16 “But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.”
Have we not shown enough evidence of the Lords use of Prophets? There is more. Keep in mind that there is even more evidence regarding the Lords use of Prophets than what is present in this post.
Prophets are very special people. Yes they are people. They are not Gods they are men called of God to the office of being a prophet as indicated in Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” A prophet is not just a prophet to a group of people but a prophet to the nations of the world.
One of my favorite verses regarding prophets in all of Christian Scripture is found in Amos 3:7 “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” .
Now we move to a few verses found in the New Testament regarding the teaching of the prophets and references to Prophets and Apostles: Matthew 11:13 “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.”
This verse found in the Gospel of Luke talks about God using holy prophets since the world began. Did The Lord use Prophets since the world began only to stop when the Twelve Apostles died off? Luke 1:70 “As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:”.
As I started this Blog and have had numerous feedback I have come to learn that there are Christians out there that do not consider the Old Testament part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They say that Christ fulfilled the Law of Moses and so the Old Testament is worthless. They err in their assumptions. The truth of the Law of Moses in general is a preparation for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Who would dare say that the gospel of the Old Testament has nothing valid for us? Additionally not all the Old Testament was about the Law of Moses. There we the Patriarchs and there teachings before the Prophet Moses.
Having said all that and for the benefit of any who think that way here is New Testament teachings long after the Law of Moses was fulfilled.
One of the first things Jesus did at the start of His ministry was to call twelve Apostles as indicated by Matthew 10:1-4 “And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
One of my other favorite scriptures about Prophets and Apostles is found in the Book of Ephesians. Ephesians 2:19-20 “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;“
This is a powerful verse regarding Prophets and Apostles. This verse calls the Apostles and Prophets the foundation of the gospel or household of God. With Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone.
The foundation of the Gospel or Christianity is built upon Apostles and Prophets with the Savior being the corner stone. Using this scripture can you be a Christian without believing in Apostles and Prophets?
During the time of the Apostles they used the phrase “as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit in Ephesians 3:5 “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;”
Back in the days of the Apostles and in our day they were and we have “children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive”. The solution is found in Ephesians 4:11-14 where it says “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;”
We need Apostles and Prophets as much now as they did in the primitive Church.
Here are three more New Testament passages of scripture testifying of The Lords use of Apostles and Prophets.
Hebrews 1:1 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.”
2 Peter 3:2 “That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:”
1 Corinthians 12:28 “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.”
Besides what we have already learned of the Prophets, being a mouth piece for the Lord we learn from Matthew 16:19 “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Additional duties of Prophets.
From other Christian Scripture we learn more about Prophets and Apostles. Jacob 4: 4 “For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us.”
D&C 1:14 “And the arm of the Lord shall be revealed; and the day cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of his servants, neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles, shall be cut off from among the people;”
D&C 1:38 “38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.”
So is there a living Prophet today? Are there Twelve Apostles alive today to lead Christianity? The answer is a resounding yes!
It started with the prophet Joseph Smith when God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph. From that point on, after a long apostacy, the heavens were opened and The Lord once again started speak to men through Prophets and Apostles.
Filed under: 1 Corinthians, 1 Kings, 1 Samuel, 2 Chronicles, 2 Kings, 2 Peter, Doctrine and Covenants, Ephesians, Hebrews, Jeremiah, Luke, Malachi, Nehemiah, Uncategorized | Tagged: advocate, Anglican Church in America, apostacy, apostles, Apostolic Church, Atonement, Baptist, Belief, believe, bible, bible study, blood, Book Of Mormon, born, born again, born of God, Calvary, Catholic, charity, Christ, Christendom, Christian, Christian Science, Christianity, Christians, Church, Church of Christ Scientists, Church of England, commandments, commentary, Community of Christ. Cross, Disciple, Eastern Othordox, Empty tomb, Episcopal, eternal life, Evangelicalism, Exaltation, Exalted, Faith, Father in Heaven, forgiveness, Garden, gethsemne, God, Godhead, good works, gospel, Grace, gratitude, Heavenly Father, Holiness, Holy Bible, Holy Father, Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, honest, honesty, hope, hymn, hymns, Inspiration, Israel, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, keep commandments, king, King James Version, king of kings, LDS, life, light of Christ, Lord, Love, love of God, Lutheran, mediator, mercy, Messiah, Methodists, Mormon, Mormons, Oriental Orthodox, peace, Pentacostal, praise, Presbyterian, prophets, Protestant, Redeemer, Reformation, religion, repent, repentance, Restoration, Resurrect, Resurrection, Revelation, righteous, righteousness, rock, Romanian Othodox, Russian Orthodox, saints, salvation, Savior, Saviour, scripture study, Scriptures, Serives, Service, Seventh Day Adventist, sin, sinner, sinneth, Son of God, songs, sorrow, spirit, study, Sunday School, teach, teacher, teaches, testimony, thankful, Thanks, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, throne of God, tomb, Trinity, true God, trust, truth, Unity Church, verse, verses, witness, works