What Does It Mean to Be an Apostle? Ephesians 1:1-2, Part 2

[@estherpamei5778]

Love all the teachings of Pastor John Piper. God bless you . Thank you.

[@jeremiahkirby6552]

First I woke up with a deep fear of God in the core of my being and in a way I cannot explain and was more real than anything I've ever felt. It was as if God was in the room with me just to see if I feared Him. Later I had my first rapture dream. I was with a few people I didn't know. The woman next to me was standing and a light shown thru her hip and grew and took her. I waited patiently knowing I was next. The next day I felt as if I were already in the clouds with the Lord. The relief was overwhelming like a hundred pounds of sadness and sorrow were cut off of me. I was covered and saturated with peace. The day after that I felt a tube/rope come from above and attach to me and was waiting for Dad to say NOW! A month after I had my second rapture dream. I was moving homes and I had to grab all that I could last second, NOW! In a hurry I had to decide what thing had worth. I starred at the bed while time past thinking. What had value! I posted this on KZbin and a Mother posted she had this very dream and her son too. I never thought about the rapture much until a guy on KZbin out of the blue brought up that I would never be raptured when I never brought it up. Then I had dreams, waking dreams, visions and FELT it. The Lord spoke to me twice and he spoke into my deaf ear my right ear and he said "You're on the right path" and "Because I love you". God bless you all! Joel 2:28And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

[@shriyanidemel740]

In these times of confusion and pain. Pastor John you always inspire us to look to our Lord and the foundation He has built the Church upon. You make the Word of God become alive and meaningful to us. We owe you a debt of love and gratitude. God Bless you. with a prayer for all America that your land will be restored to wholeness when All are united as One Body of Christ, giving All Glory to God Alone with compassion and love to All People. Conversion to God can happen only when they experience the authentic love of God, as in the early Church, spoken of by the Apostle John in 1 John. May our hearts be converted and experience regeneration as we listen to your preaching of the Word of God so precious in these times. Thank you.

[@vangiedatoc1291]

Thank you Pastor John Piper for your teachings.

[@Tina-fi2wy]

Great commentary on Paul’s apostleship. Thank you Pastor Piper!

[@riizentheovercomer5405]

This joy that I have.. The world didn't give it and the world can't take it away

[@JayBando213]

Amen Glory to GOD

[@caygabe5]

Glad to always be fed truth from your channel! God bless you! Much love and appreciation from my channel.

[@cillae8119]

So so good. Thank you for sharing!

[@happysquidsinateapot]

Thank you so much pastor John! Would love love to see more of these!

[@moa5351]

Awesome. Apostles are more than a foundation. Gal 2:9 also calls the apostles "pillars", which means the apostolic ministry extends in time through the ages into the present Church. It will be there till Christ comes again, is found in the unbroken line of successors of the 12 apostles.

[@gabriyeldurable7743]

Thank you Pastor John. Im blessed.

[@shanesegordon2433]

This is great because I've been seeing a lot of teachers on KZbin deny Paul's teachings especially in Roman's.

[@jessdum7666]

I really like these videos and love how you dive deep into the scripture and use cross references and annotation. I am wondering what annotation software you use. I want to do something similar to this but by myself just to better understand the Bible.

[@sheilak9154]

Watching from Kenya

[@tobygarza1180]

Amazing thank you for this. I am excited to continue through the book.

[@seancharrie8512]

I'm really happy you invited us to study this with you in that video! I'm excited to go through it and now I feel like I'm being personally taught; I didn't feel like that so much before with the Look at the Book videos.

[@joychristie]

Thank you so much for the teaching. God bless you.

[@julianguarin6573]

Simply amazing!

[@thejustdrumz2341]

Kalos. So beautiful 😍. God bless you richly sir

[@asiab.3305]

WOW!

[@israelampong2151]

Kindly tell to John Piper that his method of teaching is so brilliant, a gift from God, that we from afar can receive and enjoy the secondhand revelation from God.

[@86beeman]

I am loving going through these videos and learning this book at a deeper level. At the end when Pastor John mentions the "12 foundations" and references Revelation 22, I wonder, respectfully if he meant Revelation 21:14

[@HearGodsWord]

Many men preaching today think they are apostles.

[@HearGodsWord]

Very true. With the internet we now have access to both the best and worst preaching. We have to be discerning in the content we consume. You gave a good example to me recently in Carter Conlon 👍

[@sandyarchives]

hey hey! any you tubers wanna support each other? I’m a faith you tuber!!

[@Derek_Baumgartner]

It is quite important to know the reason why the Biblical canon is what it is: because it is inspired of God through prophets and apostles. Dr. Charles Stanley calls the Bible our "Guidebook" - God sent it to us for us to read and use. And God inspired Paul - used him - as one of the earthly authors for His written Word. Don't ignore it. Make time.

[@orlandomartinezmartinez1868]

Hello guys, does anyone know what this app is called? I been trying to get an app so I can make notes on it with my Apple Pencil . I will really appreciate it if someone help me. Thank you.

[@seancharrie8512]

Not sure. Hope you can find out

[@omeibongos]

I'm not entirely certain, but it might be Logos Bible software. www.logos.com/basic

[@maxaplin4204]

Piper quoted Eph 2:20 - 'built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets' - and said that apostles and prophets are a once-for-all foundation for the church. This is correct, but it doesn't mean that the gift of prophecy ceased in the first century (and I'm pretty sure Piper himself would agree with me on this). All the most important Christian prophets lived in the first century, so it makes sense to say that these prophets are a foundation. But it is taking the metaphor too technically to say that this verse proves that the gift of prophecy ceased in the first century.

[@TheLychie]

Can someone check what I wrote about what Piper means in the last verse at 12:51? Peter is recognizing (at their time) that the letters they're writing to the churches are now considered Scripture just like the Old Testament. This is significant because the apostles had an authority given unto them by Jesus / Holy Spirit to create what is essentially the Bible, consisting of OT and NT (

[@maxaplin4204]

Peter isn't recognising that all the letters he and Paul wrote are Scripture. Peter, Paul and other apostles would have written many other letters that aren't Scripture. Most apostles had no authority to write Scripture. On the other hand, some non-apostles had authority to write Scripture, e.g., Luke.

[@BloodCovenant]

Personally, I think that the prophets that are referred to in Ephesians 2:20 are the Old Testament prophets. The reason I say this is that none of the New Testament prophets ever wrote a book that was included in the Bible, whereas the OT prophets did as did the NT Apostles. I think to equate the relevancy to determine if prophecy and prophets ceased based on the "foundation being written" is a moot point. Obviously there were prophets in the NT as there were pastors, teachers etc. I'm still flushing out if Apostles ceased after the death of the originals, but I am undecided because Barnabas is called an Apostle and the writer of Hebrews was most likely an Apostle though we don't know who that person was no matter how much we may think we know who that person was. But at first glance, there were more than the 13 (Paul included). The reason I hesitate to think there was any other Apostles after those who witnessed the resurrection died is because the Church generation that immediately succeeded the first Church never once in their writings ever called themselves Apostles, and even stated that they could not make certain demands on the Church like the Apostles did. I am specifically referring to Clement of Rome, Polycarp and Ignatius and their writings. This though throws a wrench into everything. What the writer of Hebrews states this in Hebrews 2:3 makes it appear that that person was not a witness to the resurrection: "how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him". I want to zero in on this part, "and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him". Apparently that person did not hear Jesus directly, but rather what they know was passed down to them from those who did hear him. So, I am still undecided if Apostles are still around. I do know that group on Elijah list and the NAR movement and so-called Christian TV are a bunch of false self-appointed apostles and prophets heaping damnation unto themselves.

[@pap2-371]

Paul was not looking for approval from the other apostles cause he didn't need it, he already had approval from Jesus.

[@LionMentality1982]

This series should be watched and studied by all Catholics. It goes to show how Peter or the "First Pope" was always for the Jews and Paul was for the Gentiles, yet they give such reverence to Peter, amongst other things they do which is clearly not biblical.

[@AnotherProdigalSon]

What a timely video. Thank you, Pastor John. We were just discussing the term in our home Bible study group and this video helped me have a better understanding of the Biblical term 'Apostle'. By the way, I'm curious about the hardware you use to produce this amazing resource (i.e "Look at the Book")? (I hope someone from the ministry is able to reply)

[@shubomiawoyemi2314]

I wonder if you can help me explain why we don't need Apostles in these present times? Some church uses the word Apostle as titles for some individual? Do we assume that have seen Jesus in the spirit? Could that be the case for all Christians that lives in spirit and truth of Jesus Christ?

[@maxaplin4204]

Good teaching. I would just want to differ from Piper on a couple of points. First, Piper seems to suggest that the only apostles were the 12 and Paul. However, in Acts 14:4, 14 Barnabas is called an apostle, and he wasn't one of the 12. In Gal 1:19 James the brother of Jesus is probably called an apostle. And in 1 Cor 15:7 'all the apostles' may be a bigger group than 'the Twelve' of 1 Cor 15:5. So we do better to say the following: Sometimes the New Testament uses the term 'apostle' to refer to the group that comprised only the 12, as in Rev 21:14; at other times this term seems to be used more broadly to refer to all those, including the 12 and Paul and others, who received a special ministry from the risen Jesus. Second and following on from my first point, Piper said that in Rev 21 the 12 foundations of the church are the 12 apostles including Paul. This is incorrect. There are said to be precisely 12 foundations, so these 12 foundations must be the 12 apostles who were with Jesus during his earthly ministry (with Matthias replacing Judas as per Acts 1:21-26). Paul isn't one of the apostles referred to in this verse.

[@reggiBB]

Facts, there were at least 14 apostles, the 12, Barnabas and Paul.

[@BloodCovenant]

James was called an apostle Luke ch. 6. No probably about it. When you think about it as pastor John points out, Apostles had authority to make demands and write new scripture. We don't know who wrote Hebrews, and any person who is named as the writer of Hebrews, is just a guess, but I would think that whoever wrote Hebrews must be an Apostle too.

[@maxaplin4204]

@@BloodCovenant A few points: (1) There are numerous people called James in the New Testament. James is an English transliteration of the name Jacob, which was a common name among Jews in the first century. In the list of the 12 apostles in Matt 10 (and in the parallel passages in Mark, Luke and Acts), there are 2 called James: James the son of Zebedee and James the son of Alphaeus (Matt 10:2-3). The James mentioned in Gal 1:19 is yet another James, James the brother of Jesus, who is also referred to in Mark 6:3. This James referred to in Gal 1:19 was not one of the 12, although Paul probably refers to him as an apostle in this verse. (2) Some apostles had authority to write new Scripture. But most of them didn't have this authority. Most apostles wrote no Scripture at all. Furthermore, the Bible itself never tells us that only apostles were gifted by God to write Scripture. And even church tradition agrees that Mark and Luke weren't apostles. (3) I agree with you that we don't know who wrote Hebrews. However, I would disagree that the person had to have been an apostle. God could easily have chosen to inspire a non-apostle.

[@BloodCovenant]

@@maxaplin4204 I didn't catch James the son of Zebedee (Matt 10:2). I stand corrected. I would have to agree that James the brother of our Lord in Galatians, being one of the 3 pillars, was an Apostle. I stand by Apostleship required for writing scripture. It has to do with the "foundation" the Bible.

[@maxaplin4204]

@@BloodCovenant Well, no one disputes that Mark and Luke were not apostles. And if you read Luke 1:1-4 there is no suggestion that Luke was writing under the direction of an apostle. Of course, any writer of a NT document would have to have written in accordance with apostolic teaching. But God could inspire any Christian to do that. And God has a track record in Scripture of using the little guys sometimes to do big things. And He also has a track record of having unusual leaders, e.g., Deborah, a woman, as a judge. The idea that every NT book was written by an apostle or under the direction of an apostle is a long-standing church tradition. But even in the first Christian centuries this wasn't the view of all Christians. Personally, I think this tradition is a mistake, an oversimplification. I agree that most of the NT was written either by apostles or under their direction. But I think God acted outside this pattern at times.

[@BloodCovenant]

I love this series but I have to take issue with one point in this video. Verse Galatians 1:15 "had set me apart before I was born". KJV, NASB, NKJV all three use the phrase "separated me from my mother's womb" or "set me apart from my mother's womb", NOT BEFORE I WAS BORN. Looking at the greek, the ESV got it wrong and the other translations got it right. I think it is imperative to not attempt to make a verse fit a doctrine when that verse is specifically not fitting that doctrine. It is not disputing that doctrine, nor am I, but in this case, ESV has it wrong and should have been noted. That is all I wanted to say:)

[@tobiassanders3831]

Anyone know what program he uses to write on the Bible here?

[@kiranforchrist]

Which bible version is shown in video. Can anyone reply me???

[@Tlani_k]

P Kiran Babu ESV

[@cillae8119]

Does it mean Apostleship is responsibility over a specific group of people?

[@thejustdrumz2341]

Rather apostleship is a responsibility or calling only Jesus Christ can give anyone

[@maxaplin4204]

The apostles had a degree of authority over the church.

[@jesuschristbiblebiblestudy]

If God is not inherently and eternally in himself what he is towards us in Jesus Christ, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, then we do not really or finally know God at all as he is in his abiding reality. Amen

[@maxaplin4204]

God IS inherently and eternally in himself what he is towards us in Jesus Christ. So we can know him.

[@1996warman]

Aha, so you are the person who is spamming my video's with message of Jesus. To you and other Christians on the comment section I say"I reject the message of Jesus. Jesus is a fake Prophet. I don't believe in any God who condemns me to hell permanently just because I don't believe in him. I don't believe in a God who says my grandfather- a very fine gentleman is in hell, while murderers are in heaven just because they "believe" in him". There is no one to rescue you from your sins. You have to pay for every single sin you created. If my boss says I will be punished for coming to office 5 minutes late, but another colleague who sold the company secrets will go unpunished because he flatters him daily, then I (and most of you) would consider such a person to be a jerk. Contrary to Western culture and philosophy, the Vedic literature establishes the law of karma, working under God’s supervision, as the main guiding factor in our existence. The Law of Karma was established by Krishna who is nothing but the God Himself. This was reiterated by the Buddha himself. Karma is fair over salvation by Jesus, because 1)here is only one life, one chance according to Christians VS Hindus/Buddhists who believe there are multiple chances. Christian belief does not have explanations for 4-11 year old non-Christian kids who lose their life tragically. Your belief says sorry, if they passed away so early, but they go to hell 2)After we die, we will be situated eternally in either heaven or hell, and there is nothing in between Vs Hindus who believe in proportionate punishment/rewards. So the person worshipping idols and the rapist go to the same hell. The person who did countless service go to the same heaven as a rapist who repented on his last day. 3)If we fail in life because of ignorance or circumstances, well never get a chance again. We'll burn eternally in hell VS multiple lifes and chances in Hindus. So pick your choice. And read the Bhagavad Gita for more clarity. Thanks.

[@reubenmartin1930]

"We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities." "Have I not held my peace, even for a long time, and you do not fear me? I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you. When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you! The wind will carry them all off, a breath will take them away. But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain."

[@1996warman]

@@reubenmartin1930 Does not make sense. Why should I take refuge in Jesus? he is a random nobody who got executed during the Roman period. And why is the powerful Lord who created the universe is so bothered by an idol? And what about the Catholics who build huge statues of Jesus? They go to Hell or get a pass? So what if he performed miracles? According to Hinduism, any spiritually advanced Man can perform miracles. Come to the Himalayas and I will show you people who perform miracles. Are you ready to follow them if they demonstrate miracles?

[@reubenmartin1930]

@@1996warman Your understanding of the meaning of "idol" is too constrained. While a statue can be an idol, the term is meant to encompass any false soteriology that replaces God. The most common idol today is self. We like the idea of self sufficiency, self determinism, I get to decide my future. Can you tell I struggle with this idol myself? But that's the allure of keeping the laws you speak of. I keep the law so I get to pat myself on the back and congratulate myself right? I _DESERVE_ to be given honor and praise because I _EARNED_ it. But that is both a delusional falsehood and insulting to God: "Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water." Jeremiah 2:12-13 God is described as a "jealous God", which in human terms may not sound flattering, but think of it this way: Imagine if you built a company from the ground up. You started in your garage and slowly built up over time creating business relationships and taking good care of your employees till years later you have a successful business. And one day some idiot walks in, claiming he's the new boss, telling employees they're doing things wrong and to create your product a different way. He takes phone calls being very rude to some clients, costing you money. You would be pissed. And rightly so, this is your business and this guy has no right to be doing what he is doing. You are "jealous" for your business. This is why God takes such offense at idols. The idol assumes a position it does not have the right to be in, and the results are destructive. Keeping the laws and doing nice things, while commendable, do nothing to earn merit with God. They are broken cisterns. The only one able to perfectly keep and fulfill the law was God in human flash: Jesus. And this is why we take refuge in Jesus, because in doing so his righteousness is imputed to us, while our sin is imputed to him. "For our sake [God] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21 As for miracles, Christianity acknowledges signs and wonders are performed by false prophets. For instance in the accounts of the encounters between Pharaoh and Moses, Pharaoh's sorcerers were able to duplicate some of the signs of authority provided by Moses and Arron. A miracle means nothing if it does not bring glory to God, or worse, distracts from God. "The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world." I John 4:1.

[@Ale-nm9km]

@@1996warman One thing I am sure is that they could not raise neither theirselves from the death nor others. Jesus asured and we as his disciples have the conviction that if we follow him, he will raise us up from the eternal death we were condamned because of our sins which separeted us from God and the eternal life. Hope this was useful.

[@1996warman]

@@Ale-nm9km Being from a Western society and being exposed to mostly Christianity and may be some Islam, you might believe in concept of One Life and idea of heaven/hell. But not all theists think on same lines. Indic religions revolve around rebirth and the idea of permanent release from cycles of re-birth(what happens next varies from sects to sects). Thus we find this concept of raising from death, Judgement day as illogical. And why do I believe in rebirth over One birth and Heaven concept? Because there are many intensely spiritual Hindus/Buddhists/Jain who have re-collected details of their previous birth, while no one has recollected visiting heaven. And why would you believe these persons you have no idea about? If a stranger claims he saw ghosts, I would neither believe nor disbelieve him as I do not know him fully to assess whether he is a fraud or genuine person. What if my parents claimed the same, I would have no reason to disbelieve them, as I know they are not lying. I have read deeply about the persons who re-collect their past lives and the lives they led, leads me to believe in existence of cycle of births and Karma. Hope you would be open-minded enough to research for yourself. Hope you are clear.

[@k-v-d1795]

Why this man always sounds like if he's narrating a homosexual relationship story between him and a man named Jesus?