To carry on His work, Christ chose humble, unschooled men. Then He set about to train and educate them. They in turn were to educate others and send them out with the gospel message. They were to be given the power of the Holy Spirit so that they could proclaim the gospel by the power of God, not by human wisdom. ULe 9.1
For three and a half years the disciples were under the instruction of the greatest Teacher the world has ever known. Day by day He taught them, sometimes sitting on the mountainside, sometimes beside the sea or walking along the road. He did not command the disciples to do this or that but said, “Follow Me.” He took them with Him on His journeys through country and cities. They shared His simple food and, like Him, they were sometimes hungry and often tired. They saw Him in every phase of life. ULe 9.2
The ordination of the Twelve was the first step in organizing the church. The record says, “He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach” (Mark 3:14). By these feeble messengers, through His word and Spirit, He planned to place salvation within the reach of all. The words the disciples spoke as they witnessed would echo from generation to generation till the close of time. ULe 9.3
The disciples’ work was the most important that human beings had ever been given, second only to that of Christ Himself. They were workers together with God for saving men and women. As the twelve sons of Jacob stood as representatives of Israel, so the twelve apostles stand as representatives of the gospel church. ULe 9.4