Luke 9:10-17 - AUTHORITY TO MULTIPLY

It's a pleasure for me to be a here again and they're bringing God's word to you this morning. And I look forward to doing that. I don't know what kind of person you are. But I'm a detail-oriented person and quite often I get stuck in the details and

Let me start my timer here so I don't go too far over time. I got stuck in the details and I forget what it is and I'm here for I forget what it is that I'm doing and I start doing my own thing and I think it's important for us to pull back sometimes and to get the big picture to understand why you are here on this Earth to understand what your purpose is to understand why God created you and I understand what you are to do so that you don't get stuck in the details and I'm going to do that this morning by going all the way back to Creation. My family and I spent the last week in Kentucky at the Creation Museum. I would recommend that for any of you who is is is out that way or out that way to stop in and and spend the day there too to see the Creation Museum. It is a walk through history from from the beginning of time when God spoke the world into existence and by the word of his power caused all things to be to enter into existence to give life to plant the the tell them to multiply and they multiplied to give life to animals to tell them to multiply and be fruitful and multiplied and they multiplied and were fruitful to give life to human beings. And to multiply them. And it caused them to be fruitful and to give them the command stick to go into the world exercise dominion over it be fruitful and multiply.

But there's a problem, right? At the beginning of time Adam sinned against God and was no longer able to do what God called him to do.

He was excommunicated from communion with God. He could no longer meet with God in a way that he did before he was thrown out of the garden. And he was given a curse to live under and so is his wife. But even in that moment. God promised Our Redeemer He promised to send someone who would crush the head of the serpent that had deceived Eve in the garden.

And that that serpent would strike the heel of the Redeemer. So right from the very beginning we see God's intent for the world. Was to restore it his intent for the world was to redeem it to buy it back from the state that it had fallen into.

And it is important that we keep that intent in mind today because Dad is still God's intent for the world today and it is still part of our purpose in being in this world today. God is Redeeming the world even as we speak. He is redeeming it and buying it back and restoring it and recreating it.

the problem back in jet in Genesis when man sinned is that multiplication went on the multiplication became futile multiplication became useless.

All multiplication in Adam led to death no matter how many children you had no matter how many animals came into existence. It was all bound to die if it was Don and Adam.

And that kind of leads us where we are. Today is far as God's Redeeming the world and God's buying back the world because Jesus had now entered into the scene of human history.

And was proclaiming himself to be the Messiah.

And was proclaiming himself to be the one and he called himself 12 disciples. I don't know if you remember back in Luke 5 Jesus called to himself the 12 disciples and the gives the story there of going out into seeing the fisherman on the shore these fishermen on the shore and seeing their boats and they're out on the shore washing their Nets and he gets into the Nets and the crowds are around him because he's healing people and and and and healing their diseases and and cleansing them from leprosy all kinds of things that he is doing and he goes out into the into the sea on a boat on a boat and he's preaching to the crowds because the Crowds Are pressing in around him. And the one he's done preaching he looked at the disciples who were probably still on Shore at least some of them were on Shore and he says let's go out and catch some fish. And so he goes out with the disciples and Peter. If your free call a Peter system to master. We have been fishing all night long and we have caught nothing. These were seasoned fisherman. These were people who knew the waters who knew the Lakes who knew where to find fish and they had gone out and they're caught nothing and Jesus commanded them to cast down their Nets and they pulled in a load of fish from the sea so big that one boat couldn't hold it and had called another boat out and so big of a catch a fish that both Boats were being over Laden with Fish And I'm serious threat of of sinking the boats. And remember Peters word that those times at that time Peter looked at him and said, I am a sinner.

And Jesus said to him. From now on you will not catch fish, but I will make you Fishers of Men and that was the call of Jesus to Peter and the 12 disciples. He called them to make them Fishers of Men.

And so that's where we pick up our story. The disciples have been following Jesus for some time. Now. They had seen that seemed leopards cleanse. They had seen people healed of their diseases. They had seen blind people see they saw deaf people hear the song mute people speak. They saw demons cast out. They saw the dead raised and there was no doubt in their mind that this was someone special but this was someone like any other man And although they didn't understand fully who Jesus was yet. They had a good understanding of who he was and had a good understanding that he was the son of God.

And as any good despite has any good Mentor does he he trains his people to go out and to do what he has been doing. And so that's where we pick up our storage. You left left us off with this a few weeks ago before we got into the Easter season the sending out of the 12 and a 12% out and that Luke really captures this in a very short little bit of scripture 6 vs. He talks about sending them out and he sent them out to heal diseases and to proclaim the kingdom. Those are the two things he sent them out to do. He didn't say much and said a little bit about what they were to where he said a little bit about what they were to do if people rejected them or receive them. But that's about it. 6 versus Matthew goes into a spar greater detail about the mission that he was sending them out to do Matthew tells the disciples. They will be sent out like sheep Among Wolves. They will be hated. They will be persecuted. They will be brought before the the courts and scourged. They will be brought before the rulers of the Gentiles. Matthew does not paint a really wonderful picture of what they would be called to do. But that is the message that Jesus gave to them and the tasks that he gave them to do was to go before him and he'll people and proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom.

And it was going to be a hard task and a grueling task. And if they went out and did it like good Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that's where we pick up our story today. If we turn in our in our Bibles, I don't have anything on the screen there, but it is written on the back of your bullet to notes if we turn in our Bibles to a Luke 9 verse 10. And we have the disciples coming back and you'll get the scent when they're coming back. These people are tired. These 12 disciples are exhausted and that in some of the some of the Versa and some of the other gospels. They actually tell them tell you that that they were that they were tired and exhausted and I let's pick up in Luke 9 verse 10 on their return the apostles told them all of it. They had done. There's no other evidence and other details given as to what he told them of what their mission was like of what they went through of the hardships. They suffer the the successes that they had. There's nothing given here as far as the details. It just says that they came back and gave a report to Jesus about what they had done, but we can assume I think from Matthew that the mission there was probably a lot of people wanting to be healed and will probably be a lot of lot of people wanting to be cleansed of their leprosy or whatever it is that the ailments that they had, but we can also assume from Matthew that they weren't really receptive to the message that they were coming to bring the message of the Kingdom. So it's like a debrief they come back after after a mission that are debriefing their authorities on how the mission went and Luke continues on and he says Jesus took them and withdrew a part to a town called bethsaida. Matthew makes very clear that Jesus recognize that the mark makes very clear that uses recognize that the disciples were tired and they needed rest and the reason for their withdrawing to bethsaida was so that they could find rest their interesting ly enough. I'll just mention it here that stayed at the word bethsaida means House of fish. Which doesn't sound like a very good omen to a bunch of people who are called to be Fishers of Men does it they're not going to get the rest that they want and that's exactly what happens here. He took them with Drew to a town called besteda. When the Crowds learned it they followed him and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need a feeling their mission continued. They weren't getting rest at all. Their mission continued and I'm sure some of the worst thing saying to themselves. Come on. I remember Juju just just that the Men's Conference for once in his lifetime. He's done at a sermon early and he put his hands up and he's thinking of I can rest and then he finds out the main speaker at the Men's Conference at the men's Retreat is not going to be there right there. And he is then called mediately pulled away from the rest that he so wanted and the rest of you so desired and probably the rest that he so deserved and he is pulled immediately into more work to do more feeding of people and more healing of their needs.

And now the day began to wear way and the 12 came and said to him send the crowd away to go into the surrounding Villages and Country sides and find lodging and get Provisions. We are here in a desolate Place notice notice Luke's words there the day wore away that does not have a way of communicating the realities of the circumstances the day wore away. It was a long day and it was a hard day and if they go to Jesus and the ask him to send the crowds away so that they could get food from look in the surrounding villages in the countryside and probably also so that they could get some rest.

But Jesus said to them this is what Jesus says you give them something to eat. Jesus calls them to do something that's impossible. You give them something to eat. They said we have no more than Five Loaves and two fishes unless we are to go and buy food for all these people for there were about 5,000 men. I would assume 5000 men. That means there's women and children there as well. So there are far more than five thousand people there and Jesus tells the disciples you feed them. That is an impossible task to ask his disciples to do and they say to him. We only have Five Loaves and two fishes.

for there were about 5,000 men and he said to his disciples have them sit in groups of about 50 each and they did so and he had them all sit down and taking the Five Loaves in the two fish. He looked up to heaven and he said a blessing over them. Then he broke the lows and he gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd and they all ate and we're satisfied and what was left over was picked up twelve baskets of broken pieces. Let's turn to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father

we thank you for your word. We thank you for the power of it the clarity of it. And that Lord we thank you for giving it to us to help us see who Jesus is. I pray the Lord that you would give me help as I explained and as I help shed some light on this passage to your people. I pray that would be food for them. But I know many of the people in this congregation. And I know many of them are tired. Many of them are weak. Many of them are very aware. of their insufficiency of their inability

And Lord this message is for them. This word is for them. So I pray the Lord that your word would go out with power. But you would use my weekly lips to speak it to bring it to them and that you would open their hearts to hear it and receive it and that you would multiply it and do your work in this world that no man can do.

Play the song The Christ name on men.

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I came across this passage of scripture Pueblo and we've all been through the scripture a probably a hundred times each one of us right from flannelgraph and Sunday school all the way till now we've had the story again and again and again, but I didn't really come across the scripture in any great detail until I was doing family worship with my family about a year ago and I began delving into this story a little bit to try and figure it out what the meaning was the trying to see what what the intent and purpose of the scripture was And so I've been kind of sitting in this sermon for about a year now, and then and thinking to myself this will be a great message to preach to God's people. I would love to bring this message to to West London. and. Jude's email came out to the men that he puts the email out to to see who is interested in doing Pulpit Supply and it just so happens that some of the weeks that I had it I basically gave you to take two or three suggestions of weeks that I can preach and this was one of them and I'll leave it in the Lord's hands if he wants me to preach on this passage feel happy preacher on it and In the Lord's good ways. He has me standing here before you today preaching preaching on this passage and bringing the Lord's word to you in this way. That's why I'm going to preach this to you. You'll notice there are no slides and they I am going to talk to you about this passage. Like I did what I did Family Worship. I'm going to talk freely. I'm going to explain to you what I think this passage means and the intent of this passage in what we can receive from this passage and I'm going to do it in a way like I did at Family Worship in our house. So you are my family. This is my living room and here is God's word for you today the very first thing that I was drawn to about this passage, Is this Jesus is God?

Jesus is God. The same God that created the world that spoke the world into existence out of nothing brought forth. Everything is standing right there in front of the disciples right there in front of the crowds of people Jesus Is God and the same God who loved to multiply who saw the plants that he had made and made them to multiply the same God who saw the animals that he had created and created them to multiply the same God that made human beings and created them to multiply. Was standing right there in front of them. The God Who is able to multiply

the important thing here to understand about Jesus being God. is that he is standing there before the disciples multiplying dead things. The miracle is not the multiplying the miracle of multiplying is been going on from the beginning of the world which has grown blind to it that it's a miracle when we have a baby that this is an absolute Wonder of God when we have things that spring up from the ground and bring seed for it is a miracle of God. But the problem is the beginning of the world all multiplication became useless when Adam sinned became pointless because it was all bound for Destruction. It was bound to be destroyed. It was no hope and multiplication under the curse. and here we have Jesus in fulfillment of the promise of God to Adam that he would send for the Messiah that God came into the world to make multiplication fruitful again to make it useful again to help us. Help us to get that. Help us to see the Lord that you that Jesus is God. I need the lights to multiply and he Delights to bring life. So often I think we've reviewed goddess. I'm stingy miserly God up and have a new measures things out and little peas and Grains. God is a God who loves to multiply. And Jesus Is Our God our God who loves to multiply. Jesus is God. That is an amazing thing.

The second thing I want to talk about is this Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus is the bread of life. I think that's the clear teaching of this passage. You're one of the clear points of this passage is that Jesus was multiplying bread and giving it to his disciples to feed to the people. Jesus is the bread of life and there's two kinds of kinds of people in this scenario here. We have the disciples who had been with Jesus and of understood that Jesus is the bread of life. We have the crowds of people who are coming to Jesus to have the disease as cleanse to have their there. They're Paralysis healed or coming to them with their babies who are sick and whatever whatever they're coming to Jesus with their they're coming to Jesus because of what he can do for them. And the problem with the crowds of people is that they didn't lift up their eyes from the from the things that Jesus was doing from the bread that Jesus had made they didn't lift up the ride to Jesus as the bread of life as a as the one who would give them life as the one who would take them from the corruption that they were an atom and bring them to an Incorruptible life in Christ.

I'm so Jesus is the bread of life and what God and are taking bread and eating bread throughout his throat that throws scripture bread is used as a symbol of God's sustenance and provision and Jesus giving the bread to these people to the disciples who gave it to the people was the sign to them that Jesus is the bread of life. He is the one who can bring them life. He is the one who can raise them from the dead on the last day to live an Incorruptible life with God forever.

Jesus is the bread of life.

Point number three that I want to get to is that Jesus expect that those who have eaten the bread of life will then join him and serving it to others. Jesus expects that those who have eaten the bread of life will join him and serving it to others and that's the picture we have clearly from this text. We have we have the disciples who have eaten the bread of life. We have disciples who have understood at least in some measure of who Jesus is And give the bread to them to go and give to the crowds in the masses and he gives it to them to feed them and Adidas is what Jesus sent them out to do when he sent them out to go ahead of him and to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom. This is what they were doing. Even they were bringing bread to the masses. They were bringing the bread of Christ to the world.

You know in Psalm 116 says this what shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me. I will lift up the cup of salvation. Jesus expects us to do that if we have received from Christ the bread of life. How can we not lift up the cup of Salvation? How can we not go and speak it to other people I was I was admonished by this this week and over the past while how slow I am to speak of all the benefits that God has been to me.

But that's what being a disciple is all about when we became a disciple of Christ when we decided to follow Christ. and to live for him everything was on The Chopping Block. Everything was on The Chopping Block. including our comfort and including our desire to stick to ourselves. Jesus is the bread of life 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 15. Jesus Christ died for all to those who lived May no longer live for themselves, but for him before Christ who died for them. When you received Christ when you received the sacrifice that he had done for you when you look to him as the bread of life. Deal with this that you would live for him because that's why he died. That's why he gave you the bread of life so that you would go and live for him. And that's what the disciples are doing here. Even though they are tired even though they are exhausted even though they have all they want to do is sleep. They're going out and continuing to feed going out with continuing to feed the people that are coming to Jesus looking for the answers to life.

Jesus expects those who hear who of eating of the bread of life. Then join him in serving it to others.

I want to talk about one more passage here Psalm. 110 Psalm 110 is probably one of my favorite songs when I hurt my kids hear me saying that whatever song.

But it is one of my favorite songs. I have a lot of favorite songs, though. Lord says to my Lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The Lord sends forth from Zion. You're mighty scepter rule in the midst of your enemies. This is the verse I want to focus on your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power. There is nothing like a volunteer. You know World War II the men who signed up for drip for for going into battle The Men Who heard that there was a war going on and it was a just War when signed up for battle. Were the volunteers the conscripts came afterwards when the fighting had dragged on and on and on and there wasn't enough men the government's conscripted men into service, you know, the people who volunteered hated serving with the conscripts because they're always looking to get out of it, but didn't want to be there.

Brothers and sisters when Jesus Took hold if you are so loyal and saved it from an eternal punishment. into Eternal Kingdom of Light I should make you want to be a volunteer. not a conscript

your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power.

Jesus expects that we would do that.

Phone number for Jesus promises to multiply our five and two that's kind of weird saying Jesus promises to multiply are five and two, what do I mean by that? Well, I am of the firm conviction that nothing in the Bible is Superfluous including the fact that a little boy brought Five Loaves and two fishes to the disciples.

And these Five Loaves and two fishes. What's the significance of that? But doesn't he? All you have to do is go into the search engine on your Bible on your Bible search search engine and type in 5 to hit enter all kinds of things will come up five into 5 and 2/5 into what I began to realize. I thought as I looked at all those passages that deal with the number 5 or the number two is at 5 and 2 or is what God in his grace gives to us and what God expects from us-52 resembles the grace of God giving to us and what God expects from us. Let me show you what I mean by that it creation. God created man. And he created him. But two hands and five fingers on each hand. He created him with two legs. 2 feet five fingers on each toes on each other play on each of his feet 5 toes on each of his finger. Sorry. It did not create.

Five toes on each of his feet.

When God gave the law and the Ten Commandments he gave two tablets of stone with five commands on each tablet of stone when he created man with five hands into and what I'm going to do this all this is awful when he created man with two hands and he was going to do that when he created man with two hands and five fingers on each of his hands. He then gave them the Dominion mandate and said go and be fruitful and multiply exercise dominion over the world, right? So God gave man five and two and he said go and exercise dominion over the world and impossible task. How is man to do that we have animals multiplying faster than the speed of light all over the world. How are they supposed to exercise dominion over that world? right when God gave his commands to Tablets five commands on each tablet. He said to them be holy as I am Holy that's an impossible command be holy as God is Holy. How are we to do that? The point of it is this point I'm trying to make is this that God it is God who gave us five and two and then commanded us to do the impossible with it. It is God who gave the disciples five loaves of bread and two fish and then commanded them to do the impossible with it. It is built-in failure. God built into you inadequacy God built into you the inability to do what he has called you to do. Why? So you would depend on him? So you would look to him and depend on him to do what you cannot do so you would live a life of dependence on God. And now here we have the disciples standing before Christ. With a V and two and they say this is all we got. And Jesus said that's enough.

Jesus does not expect you to have six fingers on your hand. He does not expect you to have three arms that he does not expect you to grow an extra leg in order to accomplish his purposes. He did not expect you to inject yourself with testosterone. He does not expect you to drink inordinate amounts of coffee in order to stay awake and do the work that he has called you to do. Jesus asks you to Simply bring your 5 and 2. Bring what you have bring it all. But bring what you have and don't try and add to that because God does not expect that. You know, I think in our culture today, we live in a world that is leaning toward and looking for a hero. We see this in all the Marvel movies that are coming out right all these people with special powers bitten by spider get special powers on Kryptonite. Is that the trip tonight to make Superman strong and I'll make some weak what made me strong? I don't know but something made him strong, right Hulk the Hulk, you know having a little bit too much gamma radiation becomes a token creature that can do all kinds of Mighty things. Friends, we have one superhero. That's it one superhero in life that we need to look to not the Lord Jesus Christ. Bring your five and two. Bring you five and two to him and let him multiply it when you are sitting there and you are looking at your family and you are wondering Lord. How am I going to bring these children into your kingdom? The answer is you're not you're going to bring your five into you're going to do your best you going to bring everything you can to bring those children into the kingdom, but there is going to be a tremendous amount of dependence on God for him to do it for you.

My question to you is this we just went through a series on prayer next door with David Platt. And the whole thing was a walk through the Bible on prayer and fasting my question to you is my question is to myself. What kind of prayer life do you have? Because that will depend that will show you what you are trusting in. Are you trusting in your 5:00 and 2 or are you trusting in the Lord Jesus to multiply your five and two? Right. That's what I want you to see today. I want you to understand that Jesus created you with inability and he created you with inability to be dependent on him so that when you don't have enough when your tank runs out when you don't when your skills are not sufficient. You turn to Christ because he is sufficient and there is no one who is sufficient here to live the life that God has called him to live we need Christ. To bring your five into to him.

I'm already at my time. And I have one more point to me. I will make it as quick as I can. Jesus promises to provide us with what we need to do the work that he had called us to do. The end of the miracle of multiplying the Loaves and the fishes it says that they gathered up all of the pieces. They gathered up all the pieces that were left over and it says that they were twelve baskets of fish. I don't think that's a Superfluous detail either twelve baskets of fish. How many apostles were there 12 bright 12 Apostles in a few Turn with me to Leviticus 24 if you have your Bibles, you can turn with me Leviticus 24.

This is the passage of scripture on better trying to get my Bible here.

This is the passage of scripture that speaks to the bread of the Tabernacle. And this is the command that God gave with regards to the bread of the Tabernacle. We know that there were that you shall take fine flour and bake 12 lows from it 2/10 to tenths of an ephah.

Interesting that they say two tenths of an ephah I would like I was thinking about that. Why would they say 2/10 don't they know how to reduce fractions like its 1/5, right? And

But they know what how to reduce fractions. Two tents again two and two fives 10 write 2/10. You shall take fine flour and bake 12 lows from it two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf 2/10 the bread symbolizes the disciples. The bride symbolize is each of the 12 tribes of Israel. Right and the bread now symbolizes the 12 disciples. Two tenths of an ephah she'll be in each loaf. And you shall set them into piles of six and two piles six in a pile on the table of pure gold before the Lord.

And what is that bread for?

It is from all the people of Israel. As a covenant, where did the bread come from? Where did bread come from Kim came from The Leftovers left among the people right? It is from all the people of Israel as a covenant forever and it shall be for Aaron and his sons and they shall eat it in a holy place since it is for him a Most Holy portion out of the Lord's food offering a Perpetual do The Perpetual do what? I think this passage is saying and we're left to speculate John Piper speculated on it. So I'm speculating on it to what I think this is saying is that Jesus in your service to him and understand that we are living in an era. Now where everyone in the church is a kingdom of priests like Aaron was and then your service to him when you give your life to him to do what he has called you to do he promises to provide for your needs. He promises to care for you any promises to give you what you need to live on and there are some pastors and I'm sure it would make this into into multiplying money so that you can have a you can have a luxurious life and live the high life and John Piper would have all kinds of things to say about that, right? But he promises to give you what you need. God does not want to give you millions of loaves of bread. No, just cause you not to trust in him. God wants to keep you dependent on him. God wants to keep you looking to him. God wants to keep you seeking him. And he will reward those who seek him.

little overtime But that is the message and I brought to my kids a year ago. And that's the message I bring to you today. The Lord is more than sufficient for all of your needs. Keep looking to him. You don't have to bring more than five into 5 and 2 is all he requires and he will do the rest. The strength Lord Prayer Heavenly Father we come to you. and ask that you would be sufficient for us. We ask that you would help us.

To not put our trust in what we have and what we bring to you. but to Look to You Lord And Lord, I pray that you would help us to seek you to be everything that we need to do the work that you have given us to do and Christ's name. I'm in.