The offices of apostle and prophet are closed...

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And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.  - Ezekiel 44: 23 (KJV)

This message has been burning in my spirit for some time now. It is always difficult to speak against some of the sacred cows of the church. The things we have turned into idols that far too many cling to. We do not want to hear that the way we are playing church is simply not Biblical. We do not want to hear that our way of playing church is actually an affront to a holy God. We think we know better. We think that if we throw in a couple of "in the name of Jesus'" and "hallelujahs" that we make clean what is most certainly unclean. Or we marginalize it. We think that the holy is not that serious. That those who would complain make too big a deal out of it. Before we get into the matter I want us to go back to a man name Uzzah. He was a man who was assigned by King David to assist in carrying the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem. 

And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songs   and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day.  - 2Samuel 6: 5-8 (ESV)

If David wanted to be angry he should have been angry with himself. When you read in the Torah God gave specific instructions for how the ark was to be transported and who was allowed to touch it. Uzzah was not a member of the Levite tribe so therefore he was not supposed to touch it. It also was not supposed to be so casually transported by way of a cart but suspended by poles and carried by the Levitical group known as the   Kohathites . Now I am sure some of us read this and still wonder what was the big deal? That is because the modern church teaches an apathy towards the reverence we should hold for the holiness of Almighty God. The modern church has mixed the clean with the unclean as a matter of routine. What is worse, we treat the profane as holy and the holy as profane. Please realize that God did not care about their false worship. The verses above indicate that they were all singing and dancing and having a good ole time in the Lord right when Uzzah was struck dead. We can dress ourselves up all we like and claim to worship God but none of it matters to God if we are disobedient. As Jesus Himself once lamented - why do you bother calling me Lord if you refuse to do what I say? Also note here that the intentions of Uzzah were simply not relevant to God. I am sure that Uzzah had the best of intentions. After all, the oxen had just stumbled! He could have been afraid of the ark falling to the ground or maybe he simply reached out as a reflex action. It does not matter! He never should have been in the position of disobedience to begin with. Trying to do the right thing in the middle of doing the wrong thing is does not sway God. Far too often we walk around thinking that as long as our heart was in the right place, God will understand if we reach out to steady the ark. Ask Uzzah how that worked for him. 

We better wake up soon as the church and stop allowing what is holy to be profaned in the name of God. We are like Uzzah walking in defiance to God but thinking everything is going to be OK because we are just following the leader. It does not work like that. I came across this advertisement today on YouTube from someone calling himself a "Master Prophet."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRSLocszMsw

That is right for only $50 you too can have the apostolic mantle that the Bible says was only for those who set the foundation of the church. What are you saying preacher? I am saying and take this very seriously - there are no more offices of apostle or prophet and the Bible will support this assertion. I see as you must every day the wannabe prophets and apostles touting their fantastic titles as a means to draw people. You should stay far away. You should not be found as Uzzah, walking alongside enjoying the music. Now you may look at this video and rightly think that this scam is obvious but realize how many thousands of thousands of people do not. How many completely buy into this nonsense. How many in your church? How many in leadership at your church? How did your local apostle get his title? How much did he pay for it? How much will you end up paying for it? We will come back to the office of Apostle but let us start with the office of Prophet first. 

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.  - Hebrews 1: 1-2 (ESV)

Make sure you understand what is being said here. In the Old Testament there were no printing presses to run off copies of the law. There were no means of electronic communication. God spoke to His people through His Prophets. If you wanted to hear from the Lord you had to see the Prophet. The Old Testament is filled with stories of kings sending for the Prophet to advise them one way or the other as to what sayeth the Lord. There are also stories of kings who surrounded themselves with false prophets who prophesied what they wanted to hear instead of what God was saying. This method of communication became obsolete when God sent His only Son into the world. Jesus held the office of Prophet for the last time. He spoke to those in His day for God and left us His Word to continue to speak to us. According to John, He is the Word. We do not need to seek out someone who paid $50 for a fancy title when we have the full counsel of God at our fingertips! God's Word is holy and righteous yet we treat it as profanely as Uzzah treated the ark of the covenant.  

What passes these days for prophets are merely people playing parlor games with the people of God. It is more clairvoyance than prophecy. It is dealing with unclean spirits, not the holy Spirit of God. How can we know this? Because Scripture is very clear that if a prophet speaks and it does not come to pass than you have not heard from a prophet! Yet take this quote from Rick Joyner, who calls himself a prophet:

"There is a prophet named Bob Jones who was told that the general level of prophetic revelation in the church was about 65% accurate at this time. Some are only about 10% accurate, a very few of the most mature prophets are approaching 85% to 95% accuracy. Prophecy is increasing in purity, but there is a still a long way to go for those who walk in this ministry"  -  (The Prophetic Ministry, Rick Joyner- Morningstar Prophetic Newsletter. Vol. 3, No. 2, p. 2).

So the bar is now set at 65%? Is that of God or of man? People should take the holy things of God more seriously. The reality is that we are like King Ahab who only wanted to hear good things from his prophets:

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Inquire first for the word of the Lord." Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, "Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?" And they said, "Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king." But Jehoshaphat said, "Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?" And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil." And Jehoshaphat said, "Let not the king say so."  - 1Kings 22: 5-8 (ESV)

I hate him for he never prophesies good concerning me! This spirit of Ahab is alive and well in our churches today! We gather around titles to hear what we want to hear instead of what sayeth the Lord! Do we even realize how profanely we treat this office by parading ourselves around with a $50 certificate? This was the office held by Elijah and Elisha. It was held by Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Do you think they lorded their titles around people? Do you think they introduced themselves as Prophet so and so? Or did they consider themselves as unworthy to carry the Word of the Lord? Did they consider themselves as having unclean lips or brag on end about their "office?" Beware those who feel the need to insist on their title of prophet. I read recently a famous pastor who was hearing someone speak and found their message so revelatory that they asked them at the end if he were a prophet. The person answered, that is never for me to say. Amen. 

Just as much if not more clearly, the office of Apostle is no longer in operation and Scripture affirms this. Not that false apostles is a new phenomena:

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: "The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. ""I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.  - Revelation 2: 1-2 (ESV)

Even in the early church there were those claiming the mantle that did not belong to them. The Bible makes clear that an Apostle was someone who walked with Christ. The Gospels clearly indicate that Jesus chose the 12 and Matthias eventually would be chosen by lot (meaning God chose him as well) to replace the office Judas held. The only other apostle was Paul, whom Jesus visited Himself personally to make him the apostle to the gentiles. 

Paul, an apostle--sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead  - Galatians 1: 1 (NIV)

Those that walk today under the title of apostle are merely sent by men. They are like the false teachers in the New Apostolic Reformation or the Kansas City Prophets or Bill Johnson's heresy in California. They are so dangerous because their claim is always that they have received some special revelation from God and that they hold some special authority over the church. They constantly push for deeper "spiritual" experiences or deeper revelation. When did the Holy Spirit inside of us and the holy Word of God cease being sufficient? They draw upon a few Scriptures they do not understand to prop up their make believe office. They are Uzzah walking alongside the holy while treating it profanely. There are two sets of Scriptures they routinely abuse to defend themselves. Let us set the record straight:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds   and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,  - Ephesians 4: 11-12 (ESV)

Yes, God did give the apostles and prophets for equipping the saints for the work of ministry but this is only two lines in a letter that has six chapters. The first rule of hermeneutics is context. When Ephesians was written there were no chapters. It was one whole letter written to the Church at Ephesus, not so coincidentally the same church Jesus was writing to in Revelation when He commended them for determining false apostles among them. Let us go back to chapter two to understand the full context:

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,   but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.  - Ephesians 2: 19-22 (ESV)

The apostles and the prophets are the foundation of the church with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone. This language would not be lost on the original hearers of this letter. You do not lay a foundation twice. This is why Paul specifically mentions only the apostles and prophets here as foundational and then in chapter four he lists all of the positions God has provided to help the church. Now there is another set of Scriptures that are misused:

And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.  - 1Corinthians 12: 28-31 (NIV)

Beloved, this is a list of giftings God has provided for the church, not offices. How do we know this? Because the end of the verses exhorts us to seek the greater gifts - not offices! Putting that aside we see that the first three are given in order of importance. First apostles and yes, some had an apostolic gifting but as we already saw in Ephesians, these were for the foundation. The apostolic gift passed with the writing of the New Testament. We know this because when the Apostles were replacing Judas with Matthias in Acts 1: 22-24 we learn that an apostle must have witnessed the resurrected Christ. 

Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection."  - Acts 1: 22-24 (NIV)

Second in order of importance was the prophet. This office was no longer needed once the New Testament was written and God had used them to lay the foundation of the church. Now this does not mean that the  gift  of prophecy does not still exist. It most certainly does because it is listed in the gifts of the Spirit earlier in the same chapter!

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.   All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.  - 1Corinthians 12: 7-11 (NIV)

1Thessalonians says to not despise prophecies. 1Corinthians 14 says to be eager to prophesy. There are too many corresponding Scriptures to say that the gift of prophecy is no longer in operation but the office is closed. Some may say this is merely parsing words but I do not think so. I think we need to take the holy things of God more seriously. Every time I have seen someone use the title of apostle or prophet it has always been for self promotion. Do you think the Apostle Paul introduced himself as such? Throughout his writings I see him refer to himself as a bond servant or even slave to the Lord Jesus Christ. Even when he does refer to himself as an apostle he is quick to clarify that he is the least of the apostles and does not deserve the title for he once persecuted the church. The seven sons of Sceva once thought they could call upon the holy name of Jesus without being in relationship with Him. The demons beat them so bad they ran away naked and bleeding. Ananias and Sapphira once thought they could lie to the Holy Spirit and because they profaned the holy, God struck them dead where they stood. Just like Uzzah before them. We need to get back to calling what is holy, holy and what is profane, profane. We need to stop making excuses for what we know is ungodly and placing ourselves where we ought not be. Eventually the oxen will stumble. 

Reverend Anthony Wade - December 6, 2013

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.