Mark 3:14 & 15, He appointed twelve--designating them apostles that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach.   And to have authority to drive out demons.

Dear brothers and sisters of our Baroda bible club,

Loving greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The bible says we will be known by our fruits only as in Mat 7:20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.  Let us see about the importance of doing the will of God & playing the roll of the servants of God in this world.  When we do these three works for the Lord the world may not like it and surely they will come against us as in John 15:19 “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.  When I read this Mark 3:14 & 15, there are three main works to be done now as a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ called and appointed twelve disciples  - he prayed the previous night alone to know the will of the father and selected this group of twelve and in that all types of people were there.  But as they were with the Lord Jesus they all had a great change of character and life style.  The bible says in Mat 22:14 "For many are invited, but few are chosen."  Jesus Christ designating them apostles – Jesus gave this title to them which means they are chosen for a particular task and send with a special message from the master to a particular group of people.

What we are to do now in this world for our Lord Jesus Christ? 

1.      That they might be with him – the main thing in this training is that they may be with Jesus Christ, because they are selected to be with him.  Jesus also told in Luke 11:23  "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.  Do you know being with Jesus will bring a change in the life style and character?  The bible says if any one is in Christ Jesus he is a new creation all old thing have gone away and every thing become new.  Today many could not yield any fruit for the master since they are not remain in Christ as in John 15:4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  When we stay without fruit we will be cut and thrown in the fire as John 15:6  "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 

2.      That he might send them out to preach. – Jesus preached the message of repentance so that the people can repent as in Mat 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." The same message he asked his disciples to preach as in Mat 10:7 As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.'  Preaching the message of our Lord Jesus Christ must be our main work and we should get deviated from that work like the early apostle consider, the preaching the word of God must be number one priority in our life also as in Acts 6:3 & 4, “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and we will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."  The great commission of the Lord itself Mark 16:15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 

3.      And to have authority to drive out demons. -  In these last days we have to have authority over all type of demons because as Satan came to Jesus to test he will come to us also but are we in a position to say away from me Satan as in Mat 4:10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"  Because we are suppose to resist the devil so that we will flee from us as in James 4:7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Our main work is to fight with the powers of this darkness as in Eph 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  We cannot do much for the kingdom of our Lord unless we become the real warriors for the Lord as in Mat 12:29  "Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.  Luke 11:21  "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe.  Luke 11:22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.

May the Lord help us to have more commitment in these days to do all these three activities for the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen

With love and prayers

Yours in His Service,
Rev. T. Marcus Devasahayam