Were going to read from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 9. Would you stand with me? Were on a series going through the Gospel of Luke together. We will come back to the first verses of this because in Chapter 10, Jesus talks about sending out others as well. Well hit both sections the next time we talk on Luke. Were going to begin our reading in Verse 12 (page 1026 of pew Bibles). Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to Him and said, Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here. In other words, if we keep them any longer, they arent going to be able to find anything to eat. He replied, You give them something to eat. They answered, We have only five loaves of bread and two fish… Now, we get that from Johns Gospel because John tells us about the feeding of the 5,000 and the little boy with his five loaves and two fish. …unless we go and buy food for all this crowd. (About five thousand men were there.) So thats just the men, so there are probably about 15,000 people if we include the women and children. But He said to His disciples, Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each. The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to Heaven, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. Lets pray: Lord, we cant begin to imagine what bread that is cooked by You or fish that is cooked by You taste like. What a treat! What a delicious treat to be served in this way by the Master. This was a miracle. Thousands of people were fed by such a small amount of food, but it was meant to illustrate something greater: that the bread of life was present; that the One from whom life emanated from was there; that they had no limit to the supply of life that He can bring; that they should come to Him and find that life eternal. That message of the Gospel, I pray, is the message we will hear and understand this morning. Open our minds to understand, our ears to hear, our eyes to see Your truth and our hearts to receive it as well. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. We live in a consumer society. I mean everything around us is about meeting our wants, needs and desires. You drive in your car, and you see the billboards that are clamoring for your attention, for your money. You turn on your TV, and we have the commercials. All tell you if you buy this product, youll look better, be thinner or be stronger. Youll have a better appearance. We see it in our newspapers; we hear it on the radio; everywhere we go, we are bombarded. We read it in our books. People are appealing to the consumer mentality that we have as a people. There is a temptation sometimes to think that its about us, that this world is about us. The pursuit of life is about making ourselves happy and living for our own comfort, our own pleasure and our own desires. The problem then is that mindset trickles into the church. Sometimes we begin to think that our faith and matters of spirituality are about us. We come at spiritual matters with that same kind of consumer mentality. It asks the question, Whats in it for me? What can Jesus do for me? There are all kinds of best-selling Christian books that tell you about how your life is going to be blessed if you become a Christian. There are all kinds of speakers and churches that cater to the consumer mentality. Many of them are really big! Im not bashing anybody, but sometimes authors can sell all kinds of books. Youre not going to find best-selling books that say, Deny yourself, and follow Christ. Those arent exactly hot sellers on the shelves right now. Thats the message of the Gospel. The message of the Gospel is its not about you, and thats counter-culture. Were going to find out what happens the next day after Jesus had performed this miracle. There is going to be a group that follows Him. Keeping your place in Luke, turn to John 6. You know that Jesus was obviously a good cook, right? If Gods preparing your lunch, its good. So theyre thinking about the bread, and theyre thinking about the fish, and they want to find Jesus. They go back to the place where they were fed, and they cant find Him anywhere. There are so desperate to find Jesus, they go in some empty boats that are not theirs, and they battle those boats to Capernaum. There, they find Jesus. It says in Verse 25 (page 1056 of pew Bibles), When they found Him on the other side of the lake, they asked Him, Rabbi, when did You get here? Remember, Jesus knows their hearts. He sees their motivation. He says, I tell you the truth, you are looking for Me, not because you saw miraculous signs… Not because youve learned Im the Messiah, the bread of life, and youve come to find out how you can serve and follow God and build the Kingdom. Thats not why youve come. You came because you ate the loaves and had your fill but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. You came because your tummies were full, and you want more food. Sadly, thats the reason why many Christians come to Christ and what they think it is about. Im going to come to Jesus because of what Jesus can do for me. That is the polar opposite of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Ill prove that from Gods Word to you this morning. In fact, they come at Jesus with this consumer mentality, Ive come for fish. Give me some more bread! Give me some more fish! Jesus says, Youre here for the wrong reason. Verse 27, Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. Let your food be doing the will of God. Let your food be working for that which lasts forever. Dont be about that which is temporary. Christ says, I am so much more than a provider of that which is temporary! I know you need those things, but dont seek those things first. Matthew 6:36 says, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. God knows that we need stuff. He knows we need things, but things should not be our highest pursuit. Our agenda, our goals, our pleasures should not be what its about. Hes going to go on and speak to them in Luke 9:18. Lets go back to Luke. This is right after the miracle. It says He was praying in private, and the disciples were with Him. He asked them, Who do the crowds say I am? They replied, Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life. But what about you? He asked. Who do you say I am? Peter answered, The Christ of God. Matthew 16 phrases it this way, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. In other words, He says, Youre right. I am exactly whom you said. Im the promised one. Im the anointed one. Im the Messiah. I am the Christ. I am the fulfillment of Old Testament prophesy. I am the one you have been waiting for. Then He refers to Himself as the Son of Man. Only Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man. Others didnt, but Jesus did. He took that name on to Himself strategically. In the minds of His listeners, the Son of Man was a very important person. In the Old Testament, in the Book of Daniel, we read about the Son of Man in Chapter 7. This prophetic messianic Scripture says that the Son of Man will one day come before the ancient of days. When He comes in the clouds of Heaven, Hell approach the ancient of days in His presence, and Hell be worshipped. Hell receive a kingdom. This kingdom will last forever. So Jesus says, I am that man. I am the Christ. I am the Son of Man. I am the one who will receive the eternal kingdom from the ancient of days. Just imagine hearing those words and then hearing the words Hes about to say. He says, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. What a radical thing Jesus said! What a radical thing: the Son of Man killed! In fact, when He says these words in Matthews account of that dialogue, Peter says, Well, thats just wrong! That should never happen! Youll never go to the cross! Jesus says what? Get thee behind me, Satan! Youre acting not for the purposes of God, but youre acting in the will of man. You dont understand that I must come and sacrifice. Now Jesus would come and sacrifice as an atonement or a payment for sin, but also His life-including His death-left an example for you and I to follow. This is where the message this morning gets a little thick. This is where it gets a little unpleasant because of what Hes about to say. Then He said to them all: If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. These are what I call the Four Ds. It begins with the Desire, the desire to follow Jesus, to be like Jesus, to do what Jesus wants us to do. Thats a healthy desire. If I were to say, Who has this desire? hands would go up all over the place. However, how does that desire become a reality? Jesus tells us. He says, First of all, its Denial of self. There must be willingness to deny self. [Its] not a popular notion in a consumer-oriented society. I dont want to deny self; I want to please self. I want to live for self. Jesus says, Deny self. Its not just enough to deny yourself. Its not about you just denying yourself. Its about what you then live for, or who you then live for, after you have denied yourself. That comes down to a decision. Jesus says, You take up your cross daily. Thats a Decision, a decision to be willing to sacrifice what I have or whom I am for the kingdom of God. Its a daily decision that you and I make, a daily decision to be willing to sacrifice what we have, who we are, for the sake of the kingdom. Thirdly, its about Direction. Jesus said, Follow Me. Follow My example is what Hes saying to us. You have to be willing to do as I did. The Son of Man came, and He did not come to be served but He came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. Youre to follow My example, but this is not about you. If you think its about you and if you approach your faith with a consumer mentality, youre getting it wrong. There was a man by the name of Simon in the Book of Acts 8. If you want to turn there, thats fine. Simon was called Simon the sorcerer, Simon the magician; Simon was famous for doing magic tricks and sorcery, things like that. He lived in a place called Samaria. The Gospel reached Samaria by a Christ-follower named Philip. He began to preach the Gospel, and power was manifested. People are being healed, and miracles are taking place. Simon sees this and he goes, How are they doing this? This is amazing! Wow! This looks so real. This almost seems real! A seed is planted in Simons mind: If I could just have that power! Right now, Simon has fame. It says, From the least to the greatest, he was known as having the power of God! He is famous. Hes probably wealthy. Hes powerful. Everybody looks to Simon. When the Gospel comes Simon says, Ive been licked. I cant compete with these guys. So it says even Simon believes the message of the Gospel and is baptized. Im a little skeptical, and others have been real skeptical. Did Simon have a real conversion experience or was he just trying to find out what was going on and how they got that power? His true colors begin to come out because Peter and John are sent to Samaria. They are laying hands on people, and the power of God is falling on them. They are receiving the spirit of God, and great things are happening. Simon says, I have to have that! He starts to think of the notoriety, of the power, of the fame, of the increase. If he could possess that ability to lay his hands on people, and they would experience the power of God… He says, I have to have that too! He sort of does what is like a shady, back-room deal with Peter. Thats the wrong guy to do that with, believe me. He pulls Peter aside, and he says, How much for the power? I have a lot of money. Ive made a lot. Im very famous. I have a lot of money. How much for this Holy Spirit? I want to have the ability to lay my hands on people and experience the power. Peter says, in Verse 20 (page 1086), May your money parish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part of share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Youre coming at it as a consumer! What can this Gospel, what can this gift, do for me? Peter says thats not where your heart is supposed to be. Its not what this can do for you! Its not what notoriety or prosperity or success can bring to you; this is about God! He said, Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps He will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin. Full of bitterness does not mean there what you might think it does. In the surface rendering of that, hes not saying Simon is a bitter man. Hes not saying Simon is angry or has hate in his heart. This word bitterness had to do with a drink. The drink, if you read in the Old Testament, was often a poisonous drink. It was the same thing that Hebrews talks about in Chapter 12, You see that a root of bitterness does not spring in you and defile you. Peter is saying this mindset, Simon, is poisoning you. He says, This mindset, Simon, is setting a trap for you, a bondage for you. Youre captive to sin. Friends, any human being who thinks that this message of the Gospel is about them, their happiness, and their well-being is setting themselves up for a trap. Theyre following a mindset that in the end is poison because its not about them. All things have been created by Him and for Him. Its about Him. Simon learns this lesson the hard way. You see, Jesus was defining success in a very different way than the world defined success, wasnt He? We know how the world defines success. We dont have to elaborate on how the world defines success. God defines success in a much different way. He says, Let him deny himself. Take up His cross daily and follow after Me. There are a couple of churches we are going to look at very quickly in the Book of Revelation. Turn if you would to Revelation 2. We think of Revelation in futurist terms, and we should, but we have to remember that first and foremost, Revelation was written to seven real churches in Asia Minor. [There were] real pastors, real congregations, with real problems. Jesus addresses these churches about specifics. He names names. He names specific situations that we dont even know about. There are people in here that Jesus mentions that we dont even know who they are today. We dont know who this Antipas is. We dont know who the Nicolaitans are. We dont know who this woman, who was a type of Jezebel, was. Some of these false doctrines, we dont even know what they were. This is a very real letter to very real people. There are two chuches, and Jesus kind of gives a report card to these seven churches of Asia Minor. Theyre all in close proximity to each other. The second church he talks about is a church called Smyrna. In Smyrna, they are very poor. Jesus acknowledges that in Verse 9 (page 1216). He says, I know your afflictions and your poverty-yet you are rich! How were they rich? They were rich in the things that mattered to God. They caught it! They knew what it was about. They knew it was about Jesus Christ, and they were laying their lives down for the service of the Kingdom. He says, In the world, it looks like youre poor, but in Gods eyes, in My eyes, church in Smyrna, youre rich. Now, the next chapter in Verse 17, there is another church. There is a church in Laodicea. This is what He says to the Laodiceans, You say, I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Youre naked! You think you have the world by the tail because you have this worlds goods. You have stuff, but Jesus says stuff isnt where its at in Gods Kingdom. He says, In My eyes, youre poor and miserable. Friends, would you rather be rich in the eyes of God or rich in the eyes of the world? That which is rich in the eyes of the world, thats passing. Thats the fish that you eat and use the energy for a day, and its done. Jesus says, Youre missing the boat. Pursue that which lasts into eternal life. He goes on in the Gospel of Luke. Lets talk about that. In Luke 9:24, For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? Others of us have read this usually from Matthew where it says the word soul. What would it profit a man if he gained the whole world and yet lose his soul? Those are the same words. Those are interchangeable, the word life and the word soul. In the Greek, if you read it in Matthew, its the same word, and its translated as soul. Here its translated life. Its the same exact word. So, you could say it like this: You could say, For whoever wants to save his soul will lose it, and whoever loses his soul for Me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit his very soul? So your most important possession is something you cannot see. Its not your house, your car, your IRA, your vacation property or something else you own, its not even your marriage or your children. Your most important possession is your eternal soul. Jesus says, You must be willing, if youre going to be My follower, to die for Me. You must be willing to lay down desires, hopes and dreams. This is really not a depressing Scripture because when you first read it, you think this is just depressing. This is just a bad dome and gloom sermon! I have to deny myself and take up my cross and follow Jesus to the death. Ahh, ha ha. How bad is this? Actually, what did He say? He said, Whoever loses his life for My sake will? Find it. Whoever gives it up for Me will? Keep it. Its not a bad Scripture; its a good Scripture. Its not a doom and gloom Scripture. Its the only Scripture that leads to life. Its the only principle understanding that leads to life. Its not easy to live it because its never easy to deny ourselves. Its never easy to be willing to sacrifice; but when we finally do make that sacrifice, we find that Gods way is the best way. We find life there at the end of that sacrifice. Ill give you an example from my own life. Some of you may not know this, but after high school, I had a real dramatic experience with God. I began to get serious about my Christianity. I grew up in poverty. I had a dream or a goal that I was going to have a PHD and be a therapist. I was going to make a lot of money and live in a nice house. I would have all the things I never had. Especially when you havent had any of that stuff, it can become an overwhelming temptation for you. That was my goal, to be a high-paid therapist, have all these degrees, make a lot of money, and have nice stuff. In fact, I think that might have even been my goal when I met Brenda. Then, God began to work on me. I started to be involved in leadership in our local church. I was teaching Sunday School to the junior high students every weekend. You think [I was] 18; they were 13, it doesnt seem like that much of a gap, but it was back then. I was doing Childrens Church once a month. In the summertime, I lead a Awana ministry. I also lead a ministry called Teen Boys, where about 30-50 kids every week would gather. Wed play basketball, ping pong, and pool. Then, theyd have to listen to me and my friend preach. Wed take turns preaching every week. I am 18 years old, and Im doing all these things with leadership and ministry. People would come up to me and say, You know, Jeff, have you ever thought about ministry? I think maybe you have some gifts. Maybe you could be a pastor, or maybe you could teach Gods Word. I would say, No, no, no, no. That isnt me. I knew I was going to be a therapist and make big bucks. As far as I knew, pastors didnt make big bucks. They are all sort of poor, and I had poor. I didnt want more poor. I said, Ill do this stuff for the church. Ill be a volunteer, but when it comes down to it, Im going to get my PHD. I would dismiss more people. I really started to get annoyed by people telling me that. I would say, Thats not me. I remember having a devotional. I was reading in the Gospel of Luke. I remember this devotional talking about commitment, putting your hand to the plow, so I prayed this prayer: Lord, Ill be anything You want me to be. Ill do anything You want me to do. Just please dont make me a pastor. I dont want to do that. I am not interested in doing that. Then I felt a strong leading from the Holy Spirit into the ministry. I was like, I cant believe this. I dont want to do that. Honestly, when I said yes to that, I was giving up on this huge dream. I was giving up that career, those degrees, that prosperity. I was giving all of that up in my mind to follow this path. You know what? As soon as I made that decision, I said, Okay. Im in the parking lot, I just had my frozen yogurt. I remember it like it was yesterday. I said, Okay, Ill follow You. I went and told my mom, and I told Brenda. I told my sisters, my friends and I told my pastor. I said, Im going to go into the ministry. I began to get excited about it. I remember we announced our engagement, and I mentioned my plans. My pastor, Pastor Lyon, said, When he gets his degree and finishes, hes going to come back to our church and be a pastor here. I thought, I even have a job now! How cool is this? I look at my life, and ministry has challenges, but I am so glad that I laid that down. I am so glad I said yes to God because He has made my life, my ministry, so rewarding and fulfilling. When I see how life has changed, and when I see ministry happening; I see the new building; I think of all the new ministering that will happen there, I get excited. I say, God, this is really exciting for me. I cant imagine doing anything else. So when you read that, know it might be hard, but get excited. When you do make that decision to say, Yes, Ill sacrifice, whether its my resources, my time, my talents or a direction, I say, Im going to follow Christs example and lay it down, you have a blessing in store for you, my friend. You have rewards in store for you in this life and in the life to come. Thats what God wants to do in your heart and your life. Dont let anybody tell you the Gospel is about your happiness, your prosperity and your blessing. But, heres the thing: when you pursue the glory of God, when you pursue the building of the Kingdom, the byproduct is He blesses you. Seek first His Kingdom, His righteousness. The clock on the wall says were done. Lets stand together as we close in prayer. Were going to continue in this Book in two weeks. Well take a week off, of course, for our dedication next Sunday at 11 oclock. That way, if anybody comes early, if they come to Saturday night, 8 oclock or 9:30, they havent missed it. It will be at 11 oclock. Im excited about what Gods going to do in our church through us. I hope you are too.