Beth-El Baptist Church

11/01/2009

Greg Tomlinson


Are there still apostles and prophets in the church today?

What about palm readers?


Opening question about palm readers and at the point of death:

Palm readers: Deuteronomy 18:9-15; Galatians 5:19-21

Palm reading falls into the classification of divination and is explicitly specified as NOT being a power associated with God. It is linked with and associated with service to Satan.


Point of death: 2 Corinthians 5:8; John 5:24; 1 John 3:14

The moment the Christian passes away from this earth, they are present with God for eternity.


The Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons) have as one of their articles of faith that they “believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth”. What are these positions and do they still exist today?


  1. What is an apostle?

Matthew 10: 1-7 Luke 6:12-16; 9:10-15; 11:46-51

Acts 1:1-3, 20-26; 2:37-43; 4:33-35; 5:9-12;

Acts 8:1-3; 12:1-3; 14:1-6; 11-17 (Re: Barnabas 4:36; 9:27-28; 11:20-25; 13:1-3)

Romans 1:1-6; 11:13; 16:7 1 Corinthians 1:1; 9:1-6; 15:7-10

2 Corinthians 11:12-14; 12:11-12 Ephesians 2:19-22; 4:11-16

2 Peter 3:1-2 Jude 1:17-19

Revelation 2:1-2; 21:14 Acts 12:1-3


There are about four groups of people identified in scripture as apostles. (1) There are the twelve hand picked by Jesus during His earthly ministry. It is these twelve who are most commonly referred to as “apostles”. (2) The identification of apostles changed after Judas by transgression fell and his apostleship was given to another. The qualifications for being an apostle included being a disciple from the time of Jesus' baptism until his ascension and his divine selection by God through the casting of lots. (3) Another apostle is added by Christ in Acts 9. Paul is the apostle to the gentiles, but he visually saw the risen Christ. (4) Barnabas is explicitly called an apostle without any specific association with him having seen the risen Christ. He was singled out for special ministerial work by the twelve and later specifically separated out by the divine guidance of the Holy Spirit along with Paul. While there are other groups who called themselves apostles, it does not appear that these were apostles in the biblical sense but they tried to pass themselves off as apostles. Another identifying characteristic of an apostle is that their ministry was associated with various “signs, miracles, and wonders”. The biblical foundation of truth is also built upon the apostles, so this very strongly indicates that being identified as a true apostle one must have seen the risen Lord and have been a key component of the building up of the biblical foundation known as Christianity. According to these definitions, there are no longer apostles among us.


  1. What is a prophet?

Genesis 20:7 Exodus 7:1-2

Numbers 11:29; 12:6-8; 13:1-5; 18:15-22 1 Samuel 3:19-21; 9:5-10; 22:5; 28:6

2 Samuel 7:2-5; 24:11-13 1 Kings 11:28-31; 18:30-40; 22:19-28

Nehemiah 6:5-9 Isaiah 30:8-13; 37:1-7; 38:1-8; 39:1-7

Jeremiah 1:4-10 Hosea 6:4-7

Amos 3:7 Matthew 4:13-17; 8:14-17; 11:7-15; 12:39-40

Matthew 24:21-25 Luke 24:25-27; 44-47


A prophet is someone who brings God's word directly from God Himself. He is the intermediary. He does not bring only what has already been written but a new revelation or new information from God (See Revelation 22:18-19). While the prophet brings something new, it never ceases to be in accord with what has already been written. Everything that the prophet speaks is to find is ultimate association with the person of Jesus Christ. Since Jesus Christ has come and we have the testimony concerning what He did and said and what He is doing now and what He will be doing in the future, especially with respect to the end times, we find ourselves in a situation where we have all of the information we need to fulfill the message of God to men: Repent, submit yourselves to God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and tell others what He has done for you. There is no further need for prophets to bring new revelation.


  1. What is a pastor?

Numbers 27:15-17 1 Kings 22:17 (2 Chronicles 18:16)

Psalm 80:1-3 Isaiah 40:10-11; 44:28

Jeremiah 3:14-15; 23:1-4; 50:6-7 Ezekiel 34:1-16

John 10:11-16 1 Timothy 3:1-7; 5:17-18

Titus 1:5-10 James 5:14

1 Peter 5:1-3


A pastor (or shepherd, bishop or elder) is someone who is given a level of authority over others. He is someone who is to feed, guard, protect, and guide the people given to him by God. He knows that the people in his care are not his but God's through Jesus Christ. As such, his job is to feed them so that they desire Christ and His word.


  1. What is a teacher?

Psalm 119:97-101 Matthew 22:16

Romans 12:5-8 1 Corinthians 2:12-13

2 Timothy 2:1-2; 4:1-4 Nehemiah 8:8


A teacher is someone who explains something to someone else so that they can make sense of it. In the case of Christianity, a teacher is someone who explains the word of God so that it can be understood and obeyed. The information to be taught is all of the counsel of God (Acts 20:27) in order that they might be able to rightly discern the commands of God (2 Timothy 2:15).


  1. What is an evangelist?

2 Timothy 4:5 Acts 8:7

James 5:20 1 Timothy 4:16

Romans 10:13-15


An evangelist is someone to takes the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Gospel, to other people. His desire is to testify of Jesus Christ, using the Word of God, so that others might know Jesus as Lord, Savior, and God.