C.A.C Sunday School Manual For June 2, 2024 Lesson 20 : Topic – The Gift of Apostleship

2024 SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON

UNIT 3: GOD GIVES VOCAL GIFTS AND MORE

THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER AND GIFTS FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST

LESSON Twenty

2nd June, 2024

TOPIC: *THE GIFT OF APOSTLESHIP*

*MEMORY SCRIPTURE*

And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues

(1 Corinthians 12:28).

An apostle is duly commissioned by the Lord Jesus Himself to go and break new grounds for Him with the Gospel. Aside the early apostles, God still calls people into this special office as He wills.

*BRIEF COMMENT

In order to grow and prosper the Church, the body of Christ, God, who s the Owner, has graciously appointed some offices, which include the apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, miracles and so on. is The apostles, being one ministering gifts for the perfection and of Christ, are messengers and ambassadors of one of the edification of the body of Jesus Christ. They are meant to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to new areas with powerful signs and wonders accompanying their works However, the fact that “apostles” was mentioned first in our Memory Scripture does not signify superiority, or hierarchy. All the gifts are given by the same Spirit and Lord. These gifts in the body of Christ (1 Cor. are of equal importance exercise your own 12: 5,6,12ff). Be ready to God-given gifts, be it apostle or another.

*DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READINGS*

Mon. May 27: Apostles That See Jesus Physically (Mk. 3:13-19)

Tue. May 28: Apostle Paul Sees Jesus (1 Cor. 15:8-11)

Wed. May 29: Apostleship Of Judas Withdrawn (Acts 1:15-20)

Thur. May 30: Appointment Of The Replacement (Acts 1:21-26)

Fri. May 31: Apostles: Fully Sent Gospel-Carriers (1 Cor. 1:1-6)

Sat. June 1: Are All Apostles (1 Cor. 12:29)?

*DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS*

1. The gift of apostleship is one of the key gifts for the growth, expansion and administration of the Church.

2. Thank God for the unflinching efforts of the apostles of old. They exercised their God-given gifts to ensure the growth and expansion the Church is still witnessing till today. That is a big challenge for us.

BACKGROUND* SCRIPTURE: Revelation 21:14

AIM AND OBJECTIVES*

AIM*: To unveil facts about the gift of apostleship.

OBJECTIVES:* At the end of the lesson, learners should be able to:

i. explain what the gift of apostleship is;

ii. identify persons who are apostles; and

iii. identify who the early and later apostles are.

  INTRODUCTION

  TEXTUAL SOURCE: LUKE 6:12-16; ACTS 1:15-26; 8:14-25; 1 CORINTHIANS 12:28; 2 CORINTHIANS 12:11-12; GALATIANS 1:11-17; EPHESIANS 4:7-11; HEBREWS 3:1

Last week, we were richly blessed by the LORD as He took us through an understanding of the gift of prophecy. By now, we have a wealth of understanding on what the prophetic gift and ministry are all about, as against the errors being witnessed today.

This week is another special moment as we are on to another wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit-the gift of Apostleship. This gift is the supernatural ability to function as an apostle. Who is an apostle? An apostle (Grk. Apostolos) is a delegate, specifically an ambassador of the gospel. He is officially a commissioner of Christ. An apostle is he who is sent, a messenger, mostly with miraculous powers. In another sense, apostleship (Grk. apostolate) is to function as an apostle, i.e. someone sent by God.

May the Holy Spirit increase our understanding of this spectacular gift, in Jesus name.

 LESSON OUTLINE

I. *THE EARLY APOSTLES

*II. THE LATER APOSTLES

*LESSON EXPOSITION*

*I. THE EARLY APOSTLES (Lk. 6:12-16; Acts 8:14-25; Eph. 4:7- 3:1) 11; Heb. 3:1)*

And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself: and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles (Lk. 6:13).

a) Eph. 4:7-11: Spiritual gifts are released to each believer according to the measure of Christ’s gift, and one of such gifts to the Church is the grace of an apostle (1 Cor. 12:28).

b) v. 11: And He Himself gave some to be apostles… Apostle is one of the gifts given to the Church, starting with the apostles of Jesus Christ. (cf. Matt 10:2). A living and balanced Church must have this gift in operation (cf. Acts 2:42).

c) An apostle is a messenger and an ambassador of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 4:1-2), with the power of God and signs that follow, to herald the Gospel (Matt. 28:19,20; Mk. 16:17,18).

d) Heb. 3:1: Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, because of the role He played in our salvation, as God’s messenger. He is the Trailblazer of our redemption and salvation. This shows that apostles are trailblazers in spreading the Gospel (cf. Rom. 15:20,21).

e) Lk. 6:12-16: His 12 disciples were designated Apostles, the early Apostles of the LORD who saw and related with Him, face to face (9:1-6; cf. 1 Jn. 1-4). All of them, except the greedy Judas, lived for the gospel and the majority died as martyrs.

f) Acts 8:14-25: An apostle is able to assume and exercise general leadership over a number of churches, with an extraordinary authority in spiritual matters. However, this doesn’t make it superior to other gifts.

g) The apostles of Jesus undermined death and counted their lives as nothing, because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is exactly what apostleship entails. You must be ready to give it?

*II. THE LATER APOSTLES* ( *Acts 1:15-26; 1 Cor. 12:28; 2 Cor. 12:11-12; Gal. 1:11-17)*

Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an 15:8-9). apostle, because I persecuted the church of God (1 Cor. 15:8-9).

a) Acts 1:15-26: Apostleship continues. It never stopped with the Early Apostles as some erroneously claim. We know very little about Matthias. Obviously, he was one of the 120 disciples who waited for the Holy Spirit to descend at Pentecost (vv. 4.

b) Some also claim that he might have witnessed Jesus’ ministry, probably one of the 72 that didn’t desert Jesus (Jn 6:60-70). In any case, he wasn’t part of the original 12. He only replaced Judas.

c) 1 Cor. 15:8-9: Eventually, God got hold of Saul (Paul), converted (Acts 9:1ff), called and commissioned him an apostle (Gal. 1:11-17); the least of the apostles (1 Cor. 15:9) yet he performed the signs of an apostle convincingly (2 Cor. 12:11-12) and was not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles, (chap. 11:5).

d) 9:1: Paul had the 2 major qualifications for apostleship: saw the risen Christ (Acts 9:5,6), and was specially commissioned by Him for the work of the ministry (26:15-18; Rom. 1:1).

e) Gal. 1:19: Another apostle is James, the brother of Jesus who didn’t believe in Him during His earthly ministry (Jn. 7:5), but later became a pillar of the Church (Acts 1 3,19; Gal. 2:9; cf. 1 Cor. 9:5; 15:7).

f) Other later apostles are Barnabas (Acts 4:36,37; 14:14), Silas (Silvanus) (Acts 15:22; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2:6,7), Andronicus and Junias (Rom. 16:7). Epaphroditus (Php. 2:25) and Apollos (Acts 18:25,26; 1 Cor. 4:6,9-10) were messengers, if ‘Apostle’ is used in a general sense of a messenger.

g) The Church continues to enjoy this grace till today. CAC recognises the apostleship of Joseph Ayo Babalola, the first General Evangelist of the Church.

h) To be an apostle is not a child’s play. Many people want to be known as such today, even when the evidences aren’t there. After the demise of Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola, his work continues to speak Don’t call yourself what you aren’t!

*LESSONS DERIVED*

1. God gave apostleship as one of the gifts to edify and equip the saints.

2. Apostleship is a unique and extraordinary gift to herald the gospel of Jesus, with signs and wonders following.

*QUESTIONS*

1. What is the role ofan apostle in the Church of God?

2. Differentiate the early apostles from the later ones. Can we still have apostles in the Church today?

*SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO QUESTION*

*ANSWER TO QUESTION 1*

An apostle performs such roles as: Carrying the message of the Lord Jesus to the world, because they are messengers of Jesus Christ, with certain evidences (2 Cor. 12:12).

* Breaking new grounds for Jesus with the gospel (Matt. 28:18-20).

* Serving as the defacto leader of the Church and doing so through the particular message given him by the Lord for the Church.

* Apostles of old fought those false apostles (heretics) to a halt. Heresy can never fester where real apostles are (2 Cor. 11: 12- 15).

* An apostle can, and does function in all the other callings, such as prophets, teachers, evangelists and pastors.

*ANSWER TO QUESTION 2*

* The early apostles are the 12 apostles of the Lamb (Rev. 21:14), who were with the Lord and did everything with Him. He called them to be with Him before sending them out for the work. Meanwhile, the later apostles were those who became apostles after the ascension of Jesus Christ. One of them was Matthias, the replacement of Judas Iscariot. Paul was a later apostle and he claimed he saw Jesus and conferred with some early apostles (Gal. 1:1,11-23).

• Refer to part II of the lesson exposition for more names of later apostles.

• Against the claim that apostleship has ceased, God is still raising apostles today. Joseph Ayo Babalola was one exceptional apostle this church has got. Many more are emerging.

*LIFE APPLICATION*

One of the things that characterises this age is title-consciousness. Many people love to be identified by one title or another, even when they do not have what it takes. Even if you do have what it takes, it is mother dural to commend yourself; let your commendation be from the Lord. Apostleship should be recognised by a mantle, not just a title. Do not love the title, but seek the mantle from God.

*CONCLUSION*

We have come to the end of this lesson on the gift of apostleship. It is believed that by now, you are well acquainted with what t of apostleship is all about. May the Lord increase your the gift of knowledge of these, in Jesus’ name. Amen.