Apostles Equip the Church with the Foundation:

• Jesus declared that He would build His church on the foundation, a mighty boulder (Himself) and that Simon was a little stone, indicating that Simon Peter would become part of the foundation.
• Matthew 16:18 "And I say also to thee, That thou art Peter [little stone], and upon this rock [mighty boulder] I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

• The apostles and prophets become the foundation of the church, and they are built on the Chief Corner Stone, the Lord, Jesus Christ, the only chief apostle.
  • Ephesians 2:19-22 "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;"
• Abraham sought a city with foundations:
  • Hebrews 11:10 "For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
• The apostles not only are the foundation built on Christ, the Chief Corner Stone, but they also lay the foundation:
  • 1 Corinthians 3:10 "According to the grace [free gift, the ministry, the Anointing] of God which is given to me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon."
• There is one sure foundation. Now, we know that that foundation is Christ and the apostles have become part of the foundation by submission to Christ and by the setting of God:
  • Isaiah 28:16 "Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste."
• There is a tremendous stability of this foundation. Though the apostolic offices and much more was lost for centuries, Christ has restored it to the church in that great worldwide move of the Spirit of God that began in 1948. From that time, though some went out from us, God continues to unfold His Kingdom from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord:
  • 2 Timothy 2:19 "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."
• The church cannot stand without the foundation, and this is why Satan has set out to blind so many to this restoration:
  • Matthew 7:27 "And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened to a foolish man, which built his house on the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it."