24 (12×2) celestial Elders represents the perfect Church Jesus died for.

(…continues from part three…)

4)            Like I pointed out earlier, the number twelve is too significant to be left in the polluted hands of Adamic orchestration. Acts 1:26 “And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” The casting of lots is Old Testamentary form of enquiring from the God of the Bible. The question here is, why would they find it expedient to fill an office Jesus left unattended to in all the forty days He was with them after His resurrection? How come none of the disciples approached Jesus with a good candidate of a discipleship suggestion? The One Who sees the hearts of men chooses who to work with Him.

                Methinks it is strictly the prerogative of the Author of salvation to choose His Apostles? None knows like the Lord, of Whom it is written in John 6:70, “Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?” Why would the Lord, Who knows it all add unto Himself, the devil? Like every free moral agent of Adamic progeny, Judas must be given an opportunity to choose between the Light and the darkness. Judas represented the ultimate Antichrist, who must hear the gospel of salvation, make a choice whether to continue to follow Lucifer, and perish or come unto Jesus, after having laboured in the religion of Satanism, heavily laden, and receive rest. There is another reason for allowing an unbelieving Judas Iscariot in the Kingdom of God fold. John 17:12 “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.”

SCRIPTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF TWELVE

                Did He not expressly tell them, “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). This is what I believe they should have done, “tarry…until ye be endued” and they would not have to resort to Old Testament ‘lots casting’, because the Holy Spirit will be there to help them with the necessary solutions. Anyone who thinks the number twelve suffered a setback with Judas out of the way has not done a thorough studies of the Scripture. Even though Judas counted himself out of divine discipleship and the mystery of twelve tended to convey the insinuation of inefficacy in the Garden of Gethsemane, the number of Him could not be erased.

                It was Rev. Chris Okotie who showed us this Gethsemane dramatic scene of revelatory profundity in Mark 14:32-35 32) “And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. 33) And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; 34) And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. 35) And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.” In verse 32 “he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray.” How many would that be? Definitely, with Judas Iscariot out of the divine picture of twelve, eleven, is the answer. 

At Gethsemane Garden where He is the number 12 – as the Head of the Church.

                When in the next thirty-third verse it says, “he taketh with him Peter and James and John,” the count of the disciples left to pray in the thirty-second verse is eight. The number of the disciples Jesus directed to “Tarry ye here, and watch” of verse 34 is not more than three. Right? But when the Lord Jesus fell down to pray in the thirty-fifth verse, the arithmetic is 8+3+1=12! Romans 11:33 “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” Amen!

                I am of the strong belief that it was not because of what Stephen was going through, for His name’s sake that got Jesus Christ standing up in the empyrean assizes in Acts 7:56. It is the presence of Saul, the one who would be a master-builder upon Jesus, the only Foundation of God’s Kingdom that made the Lord to stand up. Paul was the last to be called into the Apostolic office, but his work in the Kingdom surpassed that of his contemporaries. An Apostle must, for Scriptural expediency, be personally called into the office by Jesus Christ Himself.

Saul on his way to Damascus

                Acts 9:3-6 3) “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4)And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5) And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 6) And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” He must receive power and authority, ergo, we read from Acts 13:2 “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” This call is personally of Divinity.  Proskaleomai(pros-kal-eh’-om-ahee) is the Greek for ‘I have called’, meaning: ‘to call to one’s self.’ If twelve is of Scriptural significance, Paul, no doubt, is the Twelfth Apostle. Twelve stands for God’s business as regarding the soteriology. Amen.

                Spiritual acquittal and discharge takes place only when one is born again. To be born again, say, with all your heart, this simple prayer:

“Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I receive Him now as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!”

(Concluded)

Read part III here

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