"And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: And Simon he surnamed Peter; And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house."
Today's lesson is a short one wherein Jesus selected and ordained His twelve Apostles. He also gave them the power to heal the sick and to cast out devils. (Jesus renamed Simon, who became Peter and, James and John who were renamed "Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder")
Some confuse the power that Jesus herein granted to His Apostles with the power of the Holy Ghost wherewith the Church (the saved) would be baptized (sanctified).
Although the power they were granted, by Jesus, to work miracles was the same in strength, the Apostles did not receive the gift (power) of the holy Ghost until He came upon the Church at Pentecost after the crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. That is because the "Holy Ghost" is God in the Spirit, the third part of the Holy Triune.
The coming of the Holy Ghost marked the completion of the "operation" of God. First there was the God the Father, then God the Son, and finally God the Holy Ghost. (Holy Spirit)
The Holy Spirit is also the power that seals the souls of the saved until the day of redemption, "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, WHEREBY YE ARE SEALED unto the day of redemption." (Ephesians 4:30)~
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