Titles

Titles are something that make us feel important and give us status among others. We may not realize it or want to realize it, but it feeds a hungry monster in us called Pride. Pride can be looked at in one of two ways: 1, we don't feel good about ourselves and we have low self esteem, so we want an important title to make us feel better. Or 2, we believe that we are great and better than others, so we give ourselves a big title so that everyone knows that we are a "Big Man of God." Sadly, these are the only two options and they are true about all of us. There is no one is not like one of these two. Which are you? First, we must identify which one we are so that we can deal with the sin issue of pride.

What title did Jesus Christ give Himself? It's interesting to note that Jesus never gave himself a title. Not once! Jesus would wait for others to call him the Messiah, the Son of God, the Christ and then not deny being that person. When Jesus needed to talk about Himself, He would refer to Himself in the third person, saying The Son Man will be lifted up. He never said I, the Son of Man, will be lifted up. Even during His trial Jesus never said "I am the King of the Jews," but when He was asked by Pilate if He was the King of the Jews, He replied "You have said so."

Jesus is the King of King, the Savior of the World, the Son of God, the Lamb of God and so much more! Yet, He humbled Himself. He allowed others to give Him a title once they realized who He was. At first, they called Him Teacher, then later, Lord. What about you? Do you introduce yourself with your title? Or do you let others give you a title? Do you said, Hello I'm Pastor John, or do you say Hello, I'm John, and allow others to refer to you as "Pastor"?

Apostles

What about Apostles? Are there Apostles today? There are gifts of Apostleship, but the "Office" of Apostle is closed. The qualifications were outlined by the Apostle Peter when they were considering filling the empty space left by the Traitor Judas Iscariot. In Acts 1:21-22, Peter says; "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."

Was any of us with Jesus during that time? No, therefore, there are no longer Apostles today. There was one exception, and that was the Apostle Paul. Paul, however, did know Jesus before the Crucifiction but was not a follower. Paul also was called by Jesus Himself from Heaven to come and serve Him in a special way. Proof of his apostleship was that Paul was given power to raise people from the dead.

To summarize: The spiritual gift of apostleship is sometimes confused with the office of Apostle. The office of Apostle was held by a limited number of men personally chosen by Jesus. This is only the twelve disciples (Mark 3:13-19) and Paul (Romans 1:1). The requirements for the office of Apostle included being a faithful eyewitness of Jesus’ ministry and His resurrection (Acts 1:21-22; 1 Corinthians 9:1) and being personally called by Jesus (Galatians 1:1). The Apostles were given authority by Jesus to do many different things to establish the church, including writing Scripture and performing miracles (John 14:26, 2 Peter 3:15-16, 2 Corinthians 12:12).

There are no more that hold the office of Apostle today, but the gift of apostleship continues in a different sense. However, people don't use their spiritual giftings as part of their title. For example, one doesn't introduce themself as John, the Interpreter of Tongues, or Mark, the Discerner. That's silly nonsense that again, only feeds the hungry beast called Pride.

Men today do not have the authority to write Scripture as the original Apostles did. They also have a different purpose in the sense of establishing the church – the foundation has already been set. The word Apostle is actually very similar to the word Missionary. An Apostle today would be one who is sent out into challenging environments, take risks and perform difficult tasks.

https://spiritualgiftstest.com/spiritual-gift-apostleship/

Prophets

In many places around the world there is a misunderstanding of what a prophet is.

In a general sense, a prophet is a person who speaks God’s truth to others. In the Bible, prophets declared God’s truth on contemporary (current) issues while also revealing details about the future. Isaiah’s ministry, for example, touched on both the present and the future. He preached boldly against the corruption of his day (Isaiah 1:4) and delivered grand visions of the future of Israel (Isaiah 25:8). (from https://www.gotquestions.org/prophet-Bible.html)

Prophets had the task of faithfully speaking God’s Word to the people. They were instrumental in guiding the nation of Israel and establishing the church. God’s household is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20). More than 133 named prophets are mentioned in the Bible, including 16 women.

However, those who made prophecies that didn't come true were to be stoned to death! Deuteronomy 18:20-22 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

Prophets wore unique clothing, usually made of camels hair (think about John the Baptist) and they declared God's judgement loudly and boldly, usually to the religious leaders or kings of their time. Prophets endured hardship and were often tasked with difficult and personally challenging things, such as Hosiah, who was told to marry an adulterous woman. Prophets were oftentimes stoned to death by the people because they didn't want to hear their message.

Today, many people have taken up the title Prophet. Again, one should not "take up" a title, but it should be placed on them by others. If a person prophesies often about God's Judgement coming, like "Repent and turn from your evil ways, or there will be no rain for 3 years," and it comes true, people will automatically begin calling that person a prophet. He or she will not have to give themself that title. If it's rainy season, and someone says "It will rain tomorrow" and it does, is just lucky. A prophecy would include something happening that only God can do, not something that happens by chance. And remember, if someone claims to be a prophet and declares it will rain tomorrow and it does not, if we were in the Old Testament, that person would be stoned to death!

Additionally, some people have begun saying "I prophesy that when this boy grows up, he will be a great leader for God," or "You will have all that you ask for, and even more." These good wishes and promises are just that, wishes and promises. They are not prophecies because a prophecy is a message from God. Did God give you that promise, or are you just promising by yourself? If you are promising that God will do something, by what authority? If I promise to someone that if he goes to your house you will give him money, will you? I have no authority to promise that you will do something any more than a person who prophesies on behalf of God, when God didn't tell you to do so! Again, wishing a child will grow up to be a great man of God is a wonderful wish. But declaring it as a prophecy is something different, and misuses the word prophecy and can also mislead people. Jeremiah 14:14 Then the Lord said to me, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of the own minds."

People who hear you, a man of God, declaring prophecies that are promises that then don't come true, misleads people. Misled people who face disappointment from their "prophecy" not coming true will either blame you or God and possibly stop coming to church and lose faith. Jeremiah 23:16 This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you will false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.

To summarize: Be careful in what you do and say, for God will not be mocked. Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.