Laying foundations

As the work develops and the opposition increases, our Lord gives himself to a night of prayer to God, seeking the direction and the blessing of his Father on the next steps in the progress of the kingdom of heaven.

Having prayed, he chooses out twelve disciples to be apostles, sent with his authority to extend the kingdom in accordance with truth and righteousness. They are 'ordinary nobodies,' yet they will be taught, trained, tested and transformed by the Lord Jesus.

Then he gives them an immediate object lesson in the character of the King and the constitution of his kingdom, as the people gather to hear him teach and to be healed in body and soul.

We too need to learn these lessons about the way in which the kingdom of God advances in the earth.