Heb 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,
Jesus is the Chief Apostle and stands in a class by Himself as the Son of God and the one that we worship! When He ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.
The men and women that are Apostles today are carrying on a measure of His ministry in the earth since He was a faithful servant and son in the Father’s house and was promoted. Obviously, no one will EVER stand in His place or authority.
The Second class of Apostles is:
II. Apostles of the Lamb – These are the 12 that walked with Jesus during his earthly ministry.
This is the second-ranking order of Apostles, and to be an Apostle of the Lamb, you had to be alive on earth with Jesus, be with him in His earthly ministry for over three years, and be chosen by Him as one of the twelve. Obviously, there is no one alive who will ever be an Apostle of the Lamb or stand in this rank again. Matthias took the place of Judas, who betrayed Jesus, so ultimately, there were 13 Apostles of the Lamb.
The Third class of Apostles is called:
III. Transitionary Apostles – Those who wrote scripture like Paul, and those who were used by God to help transition the people of God from the Old Testament to the new in the first century.
These first 3 classes or ranks of Apostles DO NOT EXIST TODAY, nor are there any Apostles that have their level of authority because they had to do some very important works at the beginning of the church, and God had to give them a greater measure of His grace and authority to achieve it.
Many denominations reject that there are Apostles today because when they hear the word Apostle – they think 12 people who walked with Jesus and had the authority to author the bible. No prophecy or revelation today is equal to scripture. All preaching and teaching must be interpreted in the light of the whole Canon of the scriptures that we know as the Old and New Testament.
The Final Class of Apostles, which still exist today, are:
IV. Ascension gift Apostles
These are the fourth class of Apostles, Ascension gift Apostles, there were many on the earth in the 1st century and there are still those gifts today to help equip the church according to the Ephesians 4 mandate.
Even among today’s ascension gift Apostles, there is rank, order, and authority. Some people who are Apostles are newer in this office or have a lesser authority than some Apostles who have been faithful and stood in that office for decades. God is in the business of promoting those who are faithful and develop character, not just those who are gifted.
We can find out when the Apostolic ministry and all the other 5 Fold ministries will no longer be necessary because the New Testament gives us a clear time indicator. We will need the 5 Fold ministry until:
Eph 4:13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
Based on Ephesians 4:13, now more than ever, the church needs ascension gift Apostles, along with Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers so the church can come to the unity of the faith, the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.