False ministers are actually easy to identify when you set your heart to follow Jesus alone because Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. The term mediator (aka, there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus ~ 1 Timothy 2:5 ) is often thought of in relation to the unsaved who come to God. While it does apply in those cases, the mediation of Jesus Christ is much more than bringing sinners to God. The mediation of Jesus encompasses his entire ministry in our lives from start to finish.

According to the Book of Hebrews, Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our profession of faith. Both of these titles speak of the mediation of Jesus in our walk with God. We all likely have some understanding of what it means that Jesus is our High Priest, but too many of us give very little consideration to Jesus being the Apostle of our faith! 

Consider for a moment that Jesus is the apostle of your faith. That is a powerful truth that we all need to allow to sink in. According to the Interlinear Bible, this Greek word, apostle, is apostolos (ἀπόστολος, ου, ὁ) and means a messenger, one sent on a mission, an apostle.

If Jesus is the messenger of God in your life, if he is the apostle of your faith, why would you need another modern day apostle?

Those who claim to be modern day apostles all have one thing in common, they testify of themselves and claim to be a mediator of some kind. Their claims stretch from having words from God that you need to hear, to having the spiritual authority you need to be under, to having spiritual revelation that you need from God. They downplay the importance of scriptural context while elevating out of context “revelaiton” they claim is from God.

I work in the trades as a flooring contractor, and one of the expressions used among those in the trades (flooring, electrical, plumbing, etc.) when they see a job done by someone who isn’t qualified or who doesn’t know what they are doing is “hack”. A seasoned electrician who sees a poorly wired job might call it a “hack job”.

Many who claim to be apostles and prophets, are spiritual hacks. Those who do hack jobs in the trades can trick some of the clients they work for, but a professional can quickly spot problems that will eventually cause the job to fail. This is how it works when you immerse yourself in the scriptures and you seek to know Jesus according to the scriptures. You become skilled in the Word of God and are able identify that something isn’t right.

False apostles and prophets appoint themselves as mediators between you and God. The real truth is they are mediators between you and their ego, and more times than not they want to be a mediator between you and your money. They wouldn’t do what they do if they had to actually work for a living, and were tired from real labor at the end of each work day. Preying on spiritually hungry people can be a lucrative business model.

Please understand that those who claim to be apostles and prophets (mediators) are not truly spiritual people. They deceive with being bold in their claims, or with charisma that appeals to those those who are unskilled in the holy scriptures. Please also understand that this is why the bigger the crowd, the better for them. It’s hard to deceive 5 or 10 people with their Bibles open who are judging what you say by what is written, but larger crowds can be worked up and led away from being critical thinkers.

In Hebrews 5, the author of Hebrews (speaking of the mediation of Jesus as our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek) says the following:

Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. ~ v. 11-14

Notice that the writer of Hebrews doesn’t say “of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered because it’s difficult to explain.” Instead, it was the dull hearing of those who needed to be taught again that made it hard to utter.

Modern day apostles and prophets make dull hearers of those they prey on. This is why those who truly search the scriptures, do not follow these apostles and prophets. Modern day apostles and prophets appeal to the appetite for the sensational from their followers, trapping them as spiritual babes, unskilful in the Word of righteousness. Those who are truly spiritual (of full age) have had their senses exercised to discern between the true and the false.

Being of full age, only comes through the mediation of Jesus, and following him. The sad reality is while many think they are growing spiritually by following this apostle, or that prophet, they are actually stunted in their spiritual growth.

The “ministry” of modern day apostles looks nothing like that of the apostles in the New Testament, whose purpose was to testify of Christ, and bring the hearers to Jesus. You will not find a single text anywhere in the New Testament where any of the apostles paraded themselves as mediators that the people needed to follow in order to hear from God or serve God. Paul, emphatically told the Corinthians, follow me as I follow Christ. Paul also pronounced a curse on himself if he preached any other gospel.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. ~ Galatians 1:8

Notice that Paul includes himself with the word “we”. Paul did not preach himself, but Christ Jesus the Lord (2 Corinthians 4:5), because Jesus is the only mediator between God and man.

The writer of Hebrews expounds on the mediation of Jesus Christ, and I’d dare say that if a person would just stop listening to the modern day, self proclaimed apostles and prophets for 2-3 months, and spend that same time reading and studying the book of Hebrews (or any New Testament book), it would become very evident that the apostles and prophets they are following preach an entirely different message than the one given to us in the holy scriptures. 

Jesus is the only mediator you need, and he is THE Apostle and High Priest of our profession of faith. The sad truth is, many of the modern day apostles and prophets are either unsaved, or those who never grew out of being a spiritual babe themselves.  

You really do not need them. Follow Jesus!