DAY 4: CHRIST CHOSE THE DISCIPLES

 THE RHEMA WORD FOR TODAY

(A DAILY DEVOTIONAL WITH PREACHER SAM)

 

TOPIC: CHRIST CHOSE THE DISCIPLES

DATE: 4 SEPTEMBER, 2020

BIBLE READING: LUKE 6:12-16

MEDITATION/MEMORY VERSE: LUKE 6:13 (NKJV)

And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles.

 

Today, we are at the disciples whom Christ had chosen to be his apostles of which we will take as one character (one group).

From our Bible reading, we understand that the 12 whom he chose were not all his disciples that he had. Out of the unspecified number of disciples, he chose 12 and called them his apostles.

First, why did he choose 12? Because 12 is the number of divine government and God’s authority. For example, the 12 tribes of Israel (Rev. 7). These 12 whom he chose were the 12 apostles of the Lamb in Revelation 21:12-14. These 12 apostles of the Lamb were chosen to establish God’s divine government and authority here on earth as the Kingdom of God and the foundation of true apostolic church and the Christian faith (Eph. 2:20-22).

And that was why when Judas took his own life, he had to be replaced, to make up the divine government (Acts 1:13-26).

But does that mean that the 12 were all the apostles since that time? No! They were chosen to establish God’s divine government here on earth; that’s why they are referred to as the 12 apostles of the Lamb (Rev. 21:12-14).

Paul was also an apostle and he wrote to the church in Ephesus that Christ will to give the church more apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip the saints unto perfection (Eph. 4:11-16).

Secondly, we said yesterday that God is not looking for perfect vessel, but a yielded vessel. Most of the disciples whom Christ chose were full of imperfection. Is it Peter who denied Jesus that will pioneer the early Christian faith? Or Matthew the tax collector?

Also, Jesus chose these 12 after a powerful prayer vigil on a cold mountain, yet he chose Judas Iscariot, of which we were told that later betrayed him. Was he not discerning enough to know this? Out of many revelations I can get from this, I choose to narrow our discussion today. The Bible says, ‘For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us’ (Rom. 15:4 NIV). Christ chose Judas Iscariot to show the future church that we cannot have everyone in our church as John the beloved, some may be doubting Thomas while some may deny their faith. But that does not mean that they were not chosen by the Lord. So instead of judging them, we can simply pray for them in love.

 

DECLARATION: I THANK GOD THAT I AM CHOSEN BY THE LORD! THOUGH IMPERFECT, YET LOVED OF THE LORD! AND SO I REFUSE TO JUDGE MY BROTHER’S IMPERFECTION, INSTEAD I PRAY FOR THEIR SALVATION.

 

FURTHER STUDY: JOHN 1