Apostolic Succession Question

The question of apostolic succession has been the concern of certain churches, especially the Roman Catholic, the Greek Orthodox, and the An­glican churches. The Roman Catholic Church especially gives priority to Peter. The churches named assume that there can be no valid ministry unless it comes "through the unbroken line of suc­cession in the ordained priesthood from the twelve apostles down." But from the time of Christ to our day, we have no Biblical record suggesting that such a succession is of value today.

When the Aaronic priesthood went into its de­cline there were no established laws for a new priesthood based upon succession. It was said of Christ, who came as a priest after the order of the Melchizedek priesthood, "How knoweth this Man letters {"learning," margin], having never learned?" John 7 :15. Again the Record reveals that the clergy of Christ's day did not rec­ognize Him as being of the "succession" when they said, "Art Thou greater than our father Abra­ham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest Thou Thyself ?" John 8:53. "We know that God spake unto Moses : as for this Fel­low, we know not from whence He is." John 9:29.

This lowly origin is also true, to a certain de­gree, of John the Baptist, who carried on the work as a forerunner of the Messiah. But John was born of the priestly line, for Zacharias was a priest in Israel and was ministering in the temple when God told him that he was to have a son. No doubt it was on this account that many of the scribes and Pharisees came to John, asking for baptism. And yet, as far as we know, he had not been taught in the higher schools of learning, nor did he minister in the temple. He had not been set apart by man to the priesthood, for we do not read that he was ever anointed with the oil of separation.

It was this John, the prophet of God, who bap­tized the Son of God and presented Him to the people. It was at this baptism by immersion that God sent down the Holy Spirit from heaven to anoint His Son for the work of ministry. Thus Jesus became the minister of the new covenant service, and it became His heaven-born right to set other men apart for the work of the ministry.

The twelve whom He ordained became the first ministers of a new priesthood. The old was abol­ished, set aside, even though it still continued to function and to carry on its rites and services. In that wonderful ordination service, recorded so briefty in the Gospels, but amplified in the book The Desire of Ages, we see Jesus as He gathered those twelve men about Him. They were not learned men, not men of the higher schools of learning. They were from among the peasant type, and some had been drawn from their commercial pursuits. These made up the twelve men ordained by Jesus Christ, who Himself was ordained of God, "called of God" and made "high priest." (Heb. 5 :4-6.) "That it is He which was or­dained of God to be the judge of quick and dead." Acts ro :42. The method of ordination for the sacred work of the gospel ministry is further re­vealed in The Desire of Ages:

"When Jesus had ended His instruction to the dis­ciples, He gathered the little band close about Him, and kneeling in the midst of them, and laying His hands upon their heads. He offered a prayer dedicating them to His sacred work. Thus the Lord's disciples were ordained to the gospel ministry."—Page 296.

"The disciples were to go forth as Christ's witnesses, to declare to the world what they had seen and heard of Him. Their office was the most important to which human beings had ever been called, second only to that of Christ Himself. They were to be workers together with God for the saving of men. As in the Old Testa­ment the twelve patriarchs stood as representatives of Israel, so the twelve apostles stand as representatives of the gospel church."—Gospel Workers, P. 445.

In the description which John the revelator gives_of the New Jerusalem, he says : "The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." Rev. 21:14. The twelve gates were inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. This indicates that there is no apostolic succession, or else the names of the successors should also be in­cluded in that list of twelve apostles. The twelve stand "as representatives of the gospel church." Name, lineage, or succession is not necessary to become one of God's ordained ministers of today. The following makes this clear :

"The Pharisees had declared themselves the children of Abraham. Jesus told them that this claim could be established only by doing the works of Abraham. The true children of Abraham would live, as he did, a life of obedience to God. . . . In plotting against Christ, the rabbis were not doing the works of Abraham. A mere lineal descent from Abraham was of no value. With­out a spiritual connection with him, which would be manifested in possessing the same spirit, and doing the same works, they were not his children.

"This principle bears with equal weight upon a question that has long agitated the Christian world,—the  question of apostolic succession. Descent from Abraham was proved, not by name and lineage, but by likeness of character. So the apostolic succession rests not upon the transmission of ecclesiastical authority, but upon spiritual relationship. A life actuated by the apostles' spirit, the belief and teaching of the truth they taught, this is the true evidence of apostolic succession. This is what constitutes men the successors of the first teachers of the gospel."—The Desire of Ages, pp. 466, 467.

Another quotation gives further evidence as to the method God employs to give succession to His ministers today, or in other words, to bring them into the holy order of the ministry of Christ Jesus in the gospel order :

"From Christ's ascension to the present day, men ordained of God, deriving their authority from Him, have become teachers of the faith."—Testimonies, Vol. IV, P. 393.

The lapse of time has wrought no change in His parting promise to His apostles as He was taken up from them into heaven, 'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.' He has ordained that there should be a succession of men who derive authority from the first teachers of the faith for the continual preaching of Christ and Him crucified. The great Teacher has delegated power to His servants, who 'have this treasure in earthen vessels.' Christ will superin­tend the work of His ambassadors, if they wait for His instruction and guidance."—Id., p. 529.

Notice from the following what actually counts in apostolic succession: "A life actuated by the apostles' spirit, the belief and teaching of the truth they taught, this is the true evidence of apostolic succession. This is what constitutes men the suc­cessors of the first teachers of the gospel." There­fore, throughout the ages, those men who have preached the true gospel according to their sin­cere knowledge of the truth for their time, have been the true successors of the apostles. Like­wise, we today who have all the truth which the apostles had: who have the law, the prophets, the ministry of reconciliation ; who carry the torch into all lands as we proclaim the personal, soon coming of the Lord Jesus Christ ; who are the bearers of reform messages to those who live in opposition to God's laws—we are today the right­ful successors of the apostles.

This being true, how great is our responsibility ! It is not for us to boast of our place in the eccle­siastical world of today. It is ours to demonstrate by our works, by the evidences of the Holy Spirit working with us, that we are what we profess to be.

May the Lord God of Israel, who saw fit to send His dear Son to establish the Christian church, and who has washed it and bought it with His own blood, help His ministers today to live in the fullness of the light which shines from the sanctuary. May we now be what the apostles were after Pentecost. May we ask God that the great power which was demonstrated through the apostles be again demonstrated in us through the fullness of His grace.