COGR – To Whom Has God Revealed His Secrets?
January 19, 2024
Good day! I am writing a series of short reviews of abbreviated COGR video clips. I am looking for input and comments. If it makes it easier, I will be glad to supply a Word document so comments can be put in the document and we can communicate directly. My email address is lattema@icloud.com. I hope you find these reviews helpful.
Transcript:
“But God hath revealed them unto us. God hath revealed the things that he hath prepared for those that love him unto the apostles. (Stephen Hargrave)
The actual text:
9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.[1]
Commentary:
Stephen paraphrases the verse, inserting the term ‘Apostles’ into the text to emphasize that this revelation was exclusively for them. His primary aim is to convince his audience that only Apostles receive messages from God.
The original 12 Apostles played a crucial role in spreading the Gospel, laying the foundation of the church, and explaining the mysteries of God. But while they did have direct communication with God through the Spirit, it is important to recognize God did not confine His communication exclusively to this group. God has spoken to his people through the Holy Spirit and through the Scripture.
Stephen claims that there are now 12 new end-time Gentile apostles, suggesting that the COGR’s apostles are the sole means of communication with God and the exclusive interpreters of Scripture. However, there is no biblical teaching that points to the existence of 12 end-time Gentile Apostles. Moreover, Scripture does not imply that God restricts His communication to a select few. Contrary to Stephen’s notion that only Apostles receive divine revelation, God has consistently communicated with believers throughout the Church’s history. The original Apostles, who propagated the Gospel and revealed the Mystery of God, were not the sole recipients of God’s messages. Others God communicated with in the NT include John the Baptist, Mary, Elizabeth, Simeon, Anna, Philip, Agabus, Silas, the Believers in Antioch, and the Council in Jerusalem.
In summary, the original 12 Apostles heard from God, proclaimed the Gospel, and established the foundation of the church. However, they were not the only people in the NT that God communicated with. Stephen does not have any Biblical claim to be a modern-day Gentile apostle and, like the COGR’s other apostles, is a false apostle. Therefore, the claims he is making for exclusive access to God’s revelation are meaningless.
[1] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 1 Co 2:9–12.
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