Many are saying they are apostles today. If you are one of them, we as the Body of Christ have a right to stand you before a congregation, duly governed by a group of pastors/elders, and test your apostleship publicly. We received that privilege in writing from the Lord Himself.

You say, where?

Easy. It's in the second letter to the Ephesians.

You say, There is only one letter to the Ephesians, from Paul.

True, from Paul. But one came later through John. It's recorded in his book of Revelation, chapter 2, verse 2. It seems that this Ephesian church, started by Paul, was already fulfilling the prophecy that Paul had made to them in the tearful farewell recorded in Acts 20.

He told them then that vicious wolves would surface from among their own number, not sparing the flock! I wonder if some of them called themselves "apostles". Must have been so, because only 30 years later John records that the leadership of the Ephesian church was testing men to see if they really were apostles. They were not.

We assume that the privilege of testing has been passed to our own very needy generation. Apostles crop up everywhere. Most of them take offerings or situate themselves comfortably in a congregation, ruling at times like kings.

But they are not kings. And most are not apostles. And we know they are not because they fail the tests. Here are the tests...

· Have they seen the Lord Jesus, and been called specifically by Him to a particular place or people or function? I'd like to add, Were they born in the first century? But I won't need to go there, for they will be disqualified, for the most part, long before that question.

Yes, there are persons listed in Scripture who traveled with the called apostles and were grouped with them as men of similar stature. It is tempting to think of them as purely apostolic, but their roles could easily be defined as pastoral. Being an apostle means having been given authority by Jesus Himself. There was apostolic power that spilled over into these men, but to equate them with the originals is a bit of a stretch.

· They should demonstrate the works of an apostle. Miracles. Signs. Wonders. I speak not of answered prayers. There is not a believer anywhere who will not have his prayers answered once he believes God and prays according to God's will. Asking God to heal the sick is not the same as healing the sick.

And in the area of healing, or raising the dead, or casting out demons, gifts which may indeed be among us in these days, it is important to point out that the Scriptural record for every apostle, and their Master, is 100% success. When they spoke, it happened.

I know of no such person today. One of the leading faith healers of our day, a man respected and to a large degree credible, is aware that his success rate is at about 10%. This is not apostolic, though of course we thank God for any one truly being healed.

· Show me the scars. Again appealing to the Scriptures, apostles were placed in such situations as to be the recognized Jesus-figure. Hence, the attacks on him were brutal. Apostles are persecuted. Apostles suffer greatly. They are the first, therefore they are the last, humanly speaking. Jesus would have it no other way.

It is a bit strange to see self-styled apostles with huge bank accounts, innumerable servants (we call them employees today), the country estates and all the rest. Is there anything farther from the apostolic description given in Holy Scripture than the men with that title in our generation?