APOSTLE, signifies a messenger, or person sent upon some particular business ; hence, by way of emi nence, it denotes one of the twelve whom our Lord selected from among his disciples, and invested with a divine commission to preach and propagate his gospel.
The names of the apostles are, Simon, surnamed Pe ter, Andrew, James the Greater, John, Philip, Bartholo mew, Thomas, Matthew, James the Less, Lebbeus, sur named Thaddeus, who was also called Judas or Jude, Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot. Of these, Simon, Andrew, James the Greater, and John, were fishermen ; Matthew was a publican, or a collecter of the public revenues ; as to the profession of the rest the scripture history is silent, but it is probable that they were fishermen.
Various reasons have been assigned for our Lord hav ing made choise of twelve apostles. The most probable seems to be, that, from a respect to the Jews, he fixed upon the number twelve in conformity to the twelve patriarchs, as founders of the twelve tribes of Israel ; to which he seems to give countenance, when he after wards tells his Apostles, that, "when the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, they also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel :" the meaning of which seems to be, that, in his spiritual kingdom, they should exercise a spiritual sovereignty, similar to the power exercised by the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. That the original number might be kept up, we find that Matthias was chosen by lot to fill the place from which Judas, in consequence of his apos tacy, had fallen ; but after the Jews in general had re jected the gospel, other two Apostles, Paul and Barna bas, were added, without any regard to the number twelve.
The office of the Apostles consisted in preaching the gospel, in converting men to the faith of Christ, and in governing his church, as his immediate deputies and vicegerents upon earth. It is true, that others might, and did, preach the gospel of Christ ; but their authori ty, even in that respect, was by no means equal to that of the Apostles. To them, particularly, did our Lord commit the care of his church ; to them, he gave the power of dispensing his sacraments, of remitting and retaining sins, and of conferring the gift of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands ; in short, of exercis ing all those powers, with which he himself had been in vested by his Heavenly Father. That office the Apos tles did not exercise in its full extent, during their mas ter's residence upon earth ; for it was not, till he was about to leave this world, that he said unto them (Jo. 20. and 21.) " As my father hath sent me, even so send I you : receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." Accordingly
after his ascent into heaven, and the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, the whole government of the Chris tian church was lodged in the Apostles ; and exercised any part of it afterwards received it from that source.
At first, the labours of the Apostles were confined to the country of Judea : "Go not into the way of the Gen tiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not ; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But, before the Lord's ascent into Heaven, their com mission was enlarged, and embraced all nations, Gen tiles as well as Jews. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." To the execu tion of that most important, and truly arduous office, they were endowed with the requisite qualifications ; they had received the gospel from the mouth of Christ him self; by him they had been instructed in "the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven ;" and, to secure them from error, they had the promise of the Spirit of truth "to teach them all things, and to bring all things to their remembrance." They had been eye witnesses of the whole of their Master's life, and had been honoured with his fullest confidence and friendship ; they had seen all his miracles, and observed all his actions ; and hav ing been constantly with him, during his forty days re sidence upon earth, after his resurrection, they were able to bear undoubted testimony to that most important fact, on the truth of which their credit as Apostles chiefly depended. They were enabled to speak all languages, that they might address every man in his own tongue ; and they were endowed with the power of working all miracles, of healing all diseases, of inflicting temporal judgments upon offenders, of raising the dead, and of casting out devils ; nay they were also empowered to communicate these miraculous gifts to others. Thus divinely prepared, and depending for their temporal sub sistence on the promise given them by their master, they set out from Jerusalem, preaching the gospel, first to the Jews, and next to the Gentiles ; " God himself bearing them witness with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost." Astonish ed at their boldness, and alarmed at their success, the Jews often caused them to be apprehended, scourged, and imprisoned ; and strictly charged them to speak no more in the name of Jesus. "But none of these things moved them." They continued daily in the temple, and went from house to house, teaching and preaching the gospel, and holding themselves always ready to seal the truth of it with their blood.