These are times when people act on their own and reject the men of God, offering various reasons such as Jesus Christ is the Mediator between us and God the Father and we don't need anybody in between; God has already given us His words written in the form of scriptures and all we have to do is to read them and abide by them; Follow Jesus alone and don't look at any man, Nobody is perfect; God the Father exists everywhere and we can worship Him anywhere and therefore it is not essential to worship Him in the assembly of other people; Our fellowship is with God the Father and His Son. This is sufficient and we don't need the fellowship or guidance of any man; All are equal and there is nobody great or small. But we need men of God. We shall see in the light of scriptures that we need an apostle.

1. To serve as a model:

God predestined us so that we may conform to the image of His son (Rom. 8:29). Therefore He wants us to walk always according to His will in all matters. Only he who knows the mind of God can walk according to His will. St.Paul said, "But we have the mind of Christ" (I Cor. 2:16). Therefore he fought the good fight and finished the race. We need such a person who could live a model-life and show us the correct way to live. If he were sent by God, he would also know the will of God and do accordingly. We can learn from him. We can live with peace of God if we do the things which we learn, receive, hear and see in him (Phil. 4:9). We should follow the example of those who live according to the pattern given by such an apostle (Phil. 3:17). Paul advises those who want to eat without doing work, to correct themselves by seeing the pattern shown by them (II Thes. 3:7-9).

2. To give spiritual food:

Just as a house has all types of food in sufficient quantity, the Holy Scriptures has all the spiritual food required for a man. The mistress of the house takes care of her child by giving proper nourishment to the child. Similarly we need a man of God who can understand our spiritual state and give us appropriate counsel with motherly care (I Cor. 3:1-2; Heb. 5:12-14).

3. To pray:

St.Paul knelt before God and prayed earnestly for the members of the church so that He might strengthen them with power through His spirit in their inner beings and being rooted and established in love, might have power together with all the saints, to comprehend the width and length and depth and height of the love of Christ which passes knowledge and that they might be filled with all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:15-19). He also prayed that the God of glory might give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they might be enlightened on the hope to which God had called them (Eph. 1:16-19). He prayed for the church praising God unceasingly (I Thes. 1:2-4). The members of the church under his stewardship were greatly benefited by the earnest prayers of this saint. Beloved, we know through scriptures, a few of the examples shown by apostle Paul. Of the great deal his advice to the church orally and through letters, we don't know anything about what he said by words of mouth (II Thes. 2:5,15). Though we are benefited by the letters which we have with us, we do not have records of either his prayers or his speeches. We need such an apostle to pray for us and to counsel us so that we could distinguish ourselves like those of the early church.

4. To remind:

We need an apostle to remind us again and again of the things pertaining to the inheritance of the eternal kingdom of God (I Pet. 1:10-12).Though we know these things and are firmly established in the truth known to us, it is possible that at times we may go astray (II Pet. 1:12). Therefore, we need a man to remind us of such things always. By repeatedly preaching and talking about a doctrine, it is possible to make a person submit to it (revealed by God). It is possible to safeguard a person from falling by repeatedly warning him (Phil. 3:1-2).

5. To clarify confusion:

Everybody cannot understand everything nor can they decide on the best course of action by themselves. Those of the Corinthian church observed the Holy Communion as understood by them, which led to confusion. As there was an apostle, he rectified the error by receiving commandment from God and gave the correct procedure (I Cor. 1:23). In the absence of a man who has direct contact with God, things will happen according to the whims and fancies of individuals.

When controversy arose on the subject of circumcision, apostles and elders met to discuss on the matter (Acts 15:6). Their decision seemed good not only to them but also to the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:28). Ensure that the decisions arrived at your church councils are acceptable also to the Holy Spirit.

6. To distribute spiritual gifts:

Many among today's Christians have no knowledge about spiritual gifts. There are also many people who say that speaking in tongues is a spiritual gift which is unnecessary not only for themselves but also to the entire church. There are also some who hold that scriptures alone are sufficient and spiritual gifts are not necessary. But the Bible says: "Spiritual gifts are for the edification of the church" (I Cor. 14:12). Believers are established in faith by spiritual gifts (Rom. 1:11). When God grants all spiritual gifts to the church for its edification and preparation for the coming of Christ (I Cor. 1:7), those who refuse the spiritual gifts and consider themselves wiser than God will find it impossible to prepare for the Lord's coming. The church in which all the nine spiritual gifts do not operate cannot be a perfect church. Since Christ gave Himself for the true church (Eph. 5:25), the church should be filled with His fullness. Desire spiritual gifts (ICor. 14:1).

God grants spiritual gifts through apostle only(Rom. 1:11; I Tim 4:14). Many prophesy and preach, but also commit adultery. They perform miracles, but do wicked things as well (Jer. 29:23; Matt. 7:21-23). The Holy Spirit cannot reside in abominable persons. Through their fruits one can know what kind of spirit they possess. There is no room for confusion among those who received spiritual gifts through apostle because spiritual gifts are granted to competent persons by the Holy Spirit.

7. To prepare for the Lord's coming:

Lord Jesus Christ will come. He will come soon. Everywhere wrong messages are being preached such as "whichever church you are in or whichever pit you are in, you will be taken up during his coming. There is no necessity of a church or a minister". Beloved, marriage is honorable among all. It is finalized by elders and solemnized in the presence of many people. We need a person to present us and join us to Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom. Even those of the early church, with their high level of spiritual growth and enlightenment, needed a man to present them to Christ (I Cor. 11:2). Do we not need such a man? Christ will come again to take His bride. Those of the early church were preparing themselves for His coming. Many may question the importance of apostle Paul among them. But Paul said, "I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ" (II Cor. 11:2). The reason was that the work of preparing the bride for Christ was entrusted to him (II Cor. 5:18-20).

God revealed: If you are a tree, apostle is the root and Christ, the life-force of the tree. If it is so, this tree will blossom and bud and fill the face of the world with fruit. Anyone who is not in fellowship with apostle will be like an uprooted tree (). Apostle is necessary.

"God has appointed in the church, first apostles..." (I Cor. 12:28)