by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
We know the names, power, and testimony of Jesus’s twelve eye-witnessing apostles. We read their names and powers here:<\/p>\n
“Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him<\/em>” (Matthew 10:1-4).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
After Judas hung himself in guilt, Jesus chose Matthias as his replacement (Acts 1), and later personally selected Saul\/Paul, whom He revealed Himself to so that Paul too could have the proper eyewitness credentials, empowering him with the proper “signs of an apostle<\/em>” (II Corinthians 12:12). Paul did not merely make a claim of having powers from God but he demonstrated<\/em> those powers so that none could deny he had the wide variety of miraculous powers that the other apostles demonstrated (I Corinthians 2:1-4).<\/p>\n
The Signs of an Apostle<\/h2>\n
“Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds. I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing<\/em>” (II Corinthians 12:11-12).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The signs of an apostle are seen throughout the book of Acts. They were empowered to heal all illnesses, raise the dead, and lay hands on disciples to impart Holy Spirit powers to them. Signs, wonders, and mighty deeds were demonstrated and documented. Today, all who claim to be apostles of Jesus are fakes. They never saw Jesus, had no new revelations to add to the Bible, and could not demonstrate miraculous powers at all, much less of the same variety as Jesus’s real eye-witnessing apostles.<\/p>\n
We are not seeking signs to believe in Jesus. His signs more than proved He came from God; we believe because of all that proof. We are not seeking signs for the eyewitness apostles of Jesus. They more than adequately demonstrated their credentials. We will indeed demand signs for any that claim to be apostles of Jesus today. We are to test all things (I John 4:1-4; I Thessalonians 5:17). We will not be gullible and accept just any empty claims of being an apostle of Jesus.<\/p>\n
We don’t need to believe in any apostles today. The testimony of the original apostles of Jesus is all that we need to be saved. If someone claims that we must believe these modern apostles, they have to prove that the Bible is not enough, the personal witnesses of Jesus, the original apostles were not enough, and I have seen no proof. They don’t pass the credentials test, so I have no obligation to believe them. I do have an obligation to believe Jesus’s original eye-witness apostles. To fail to believe them is to fail to believe in Jesus and God who sent them, but I have no similar obligation to believe any so-called modern apostles. They are all self-deceived false apostles. I must demand the same proof from them that Jesus gave the original apostles. None are delivering today!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Terry Wane Benton We know the names, power, and testimony of Jesus’s twelve eye-witnessing apostles. We read their names and powers here: “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; And when He had…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[170,667],"class_list":["post-68992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-apostles","tag-organization-of-the-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2164,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-were-the-names-of-jesuss-twelve-apostles\/","url_meta":{"origin":68992,"position":0},"title":"What were the names of Jesus’ twelve apostles?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What were the names of Jesus's twelve apostles? Answer: At times, names can be confusing because we use a variety of names for ourselves. There is our birth name, our common name, and our nickname. We find that happening in Scriptures. One of Jesus's apostles was named Simon, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39638,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-many-disciples-were-there\/","url_meta":{"origin":68992,"position":1},"title":"How many disciples were there?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good Day, My question concerns the number of Jesus's disciples. I read your answer addressing 12 disciples, but isn't there additional biblical evidence that there were somewhere around 70 disciples? Please clarify. Thanks. Answer: The word \"disciple\" simply means a student or follower. When people talk about the twelve\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13320,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-help-me-understand-who-were-the-people-with-similar-names\/","url_meta":{"origin":68992,"position":2},"title":"Can you help me understand who were the people with similar names?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Some articles on the net are so confusing and misguiding that a layman finds it hard to understand or come to a conclusion about who is who. Will you please explain and guide me if these following honorable characters are different or the same? {A} John the Apostle, Evangelist,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51476,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-verse-says-that-judas-the-brother-of-james-is-also-called-lebbaeus\/","url_meta":{"origin":68992,"position":3},"title":"Which verse says that Judas, the brother of James, is also called Lebbaeus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Regarding one of the names of the twelve disciples of Jesus: Which verse says that Judas the brother of James is called Lebbaeus? Which verse says they are the same person? Answer: Matthew 10:2-4 Mark 3:16-19 Luke 6:14-16 Acts 1:13 Peter, brother of Andrew Simon, nicknamed Peter Simon, nicknamed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51478,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/whos-who-of-the-new-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":68992,"position":4},"title":"Who’s Who of the New Testament","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 9:1-8 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Reading some parts of the New Testament becomes difficult because several people have the same name. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Keeping them straight is sometimes worse than a logic puzzle \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In our society we use multiple names with a surname as an attempt to distinguish people\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5414,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-were-the-apostles-from\/","url_meta":{"origin":68992,"position":5},"title":"Where were the apostles from?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Where were Jesus' apostles from? Were they Jewish before the Jesus met them? Answer: Judaism is both a religion and a nationality. All twelve of the apostles were born in Israel and were Jewish by both descent and by religious practice. 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