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was Luke chapter 9. So many stories in this one. So many themes in this chapter. I was struggling to find a title for the sermon this morning. But I did like one verse in particular. Luke chapter 9 verse 20. Have a look at that. Luke chapter 9 verse 20. He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answered and said, The Christ of God. So I like the question that Jesus asked there. The title of the sermon this morning is, Whom say ye that I am? Whom say ye that I am? Verse number 1. Luke chapter 9 verse 1. Then he called his 12 disciples together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases. So we see now here that Jesus Christ is given his disciples, his 12 disciples, his 12 apostles. This would include Judas Iscariot. All right. Even the betrayer was given the power by Jesus Christ to have authority and be able to cast out devils and cure diseases. You know leading up to this point we've seen Jesus Christ doing the amazing miracles, healing the sick, etc. Now he's given his apostles, his disciples, the 12 this power. And verse number 2. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Now before we keep reading I want to put this to bed once and for all. Okay. I'm tired of hearing preaching of people that say hey if you're preaching the kingdom of God here in this time in Jesus's time with his apostles when they'll preach in the kingdom of God what a lot of preachers will say to you they'll preach in the millennium that Christ would establish the millennium that he was here the king of the Jews and should they accept him he would set up them you know the kingdom of God on this earth right now okay and the reason they hold to this teaching is because of a of a of a interpretive tool a man-made interpretive tool called dispensationalism and what they like to say is that there's a difference between being of Jewish blood of having Jewish DNA than there is of being gentile and so quite often when they say well see they're preaching the kingdom of God here they're preaching that Christ is going to establish their millennium kingdom right now should they accept him as king but we see in this passage that's not what it's about okay now the millennium kingdom is part of the kingdom of God I'll cover that shortly but let's keep reading verse number three and he said unto them take nothing for your journey neither staves nor script neither bread neither money neither have two coats apiece and whatsoever house he enter into there abide and thence departs all right so actually drop down to verse number six for a minute drop down to verse number six we'll come back to it but look at this and they departed so what did Christ ask them to do to preach the kingdom of God and then verse number six and they departed and went through the towns preaching the gospel all right preaching the gospel and healing everywhere that's what Christ asked them to do right to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick what do they do in verse six they preach the gospel and heal everywhere all right so let's put this to bed once and for all what when Christ has asked them to preach the kingdom of God when Christ went preaching the kingdom of God he was preaching the gospel he was preaching salvation all right the same salvation that's for the Jews and for the Gentiles okay so please when you read your bible it's not complicated unless you take the position that well the disciples here they've been disobedient instead of preaching the kingdom of God where they preach in the gospel how dare they no okay obviously they obeyed Christ and the bible here gives us the correlation there gives us the understanding of what it means to preach the kingdom of God it means to preach the gospel hey when we go out two by two knocking the doors of this community we preach the gospel but we're also preaching the kingdom of God I'll cover that shortly okay but look at verse number three again Jesus told them to take nothing they want to take nothing with them not food nor money nor have an extra coat in case it gets cold neither starves nor script the script is like a like a backpack you know full of full of things that you might need on your journey and whatsoever house you enter into there abide and thence depart so Jesus is expecting as they go from city to city as they go from house to house that people would receive them maybe people that are already saved or people that hear the gospel and believe you know they would receive these these apostles and provide for them all right so the thought is well hold on then you know should that be what we do should we just you know quit our jobs you know should we just you know go and expect God you know just go preach the gospel and expect God to provide you know every way possible keep your finger there turn to Luke chapter 22 turn to Luke chapter 22 verse 35 luke chapter 22 verse 35 luke 22 verse 35 so this is obviously later in in the ministry of Christ but look what he says to his disciples here luke 22 verse 35 and he said unto them when I sent you without purse and script and shoes lacked ye anything and they said nothing that's good right just because he commands them here to do it just go you know don't take you don't need anything else with you and they said we had lack of nothing everything we needed was provided for in our journey but look at verse 36 and then said sorry then said he unto them but now he that have a purse let him take it so if you have money take your money and likewise his scripts like likewise the things that you need and he that hath no sword let him sell his garments and buy one and you you don't even need a sword to go and preach the gospel you need to defend yourself because there are people that would come and attack you but I just want to show you there now I don't have all the answers on this okay but I just want to show you that there was a definite change you know earlier in the ministry of Christ when he sent them that there'd be a supernatural productivity and you know providence for his disciples you know Jesus Christ on the earth with the power that he had given them to heal you know the sick and to cast out devils that they would be provided for but now it's this is shortly before Christ would be crucified you know toward the end of his ministry he says look now there's a change now you need to take the things that you need with you and make sure that you're providing for yourself okay so the reason I just point that out to you is not because I really have a solid answer for this obviously it has something to do with Christ being on this earth and then being crucified and ascending into heaven some sort of change takes place there but I want I don't want you to read Luke chapter 9 and think man I can just quit my job and go soul winning and I'll be fine I'll be provided for my family provided for no there was certain instructions that were required just for that ministry that three ministry of Christ okay let's move on let's go to verse number four Luke chapter nine verse four Luke chapter nine verse four and whatsoever house you enter into there abide and then depart actually I just didn't want to read one little quick passage to you because as I was reading through this I was reminded of the apostle Paul and how we've gone through the book of Corinthians and just quickly read to you from first Corinthians chapter 4 verse 11 it says speak Paul speaking of himself he goes even until until this present hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and have no certain dwell in place I just wanted to bring that to your attention just so you can see that transition that took place you know in the time of Paul's ministry you know there were times that he went without we know this we covered this in depth before right he had no food he had you know his clothing was wearing out he didn't have a place to rest his head and so we definitely see that transition take place but we also know that the apostle Paul would provide for himself he was also he had he had a job he was a tent maker and he'd make sure he'd provide for himself or certain churches that he he went to would provide for him as well all right so verse number five verse number five luke chapter nine verse five and whosoever will not receive you when you go out of that city shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them okay and this is a this is good instruction for us as soul winners all right because we're going door to door there's literally thousands of houses to knock all right and we need to make sure that we don't get offended when people don't receive us we make sure we don't get offended when people don't want to hear the gospel they might even say nasty things to you they may not receive you what's the instruction from jesus christ just move on move on go to where people would be ready to receive you okay someone's saying look i don't want to hear it you don't need to keep driving home or like give me a moment to give you the gospel they don't want to hear it just move on okay that's the instruction that jesus christ gave you you know for two reasons number one you'll get discouraged and if you if you try to continue the conversation with someone that doesn't want to hear you you'll get discouraged you'll be thinking why doesn't someone want to receive me don't worry about it just move on but number two you're wasting your time okay the way i like to think about it when i go soul winning is when someone doesn't want to receive me it just means there's someone further down the road that wants to hear the gospel there's someone further down the road that might be ready to receive the gospel and be saved that's the that's the way we ought to look at it so thank you god i'm not wasting my time at this door i'm moving on to the next one okay verse number six and they departed and we with this i talked about this already and went through the towns preaching the gospel and healing everywhere so we see that preaching the kingdom of god is preaching the gospel all right now just very quickly galatians 1 8 galatians 1 8 but though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed as we said before so say i now again if any man preach any other gospel unto you then that you have received let him be accursed all right so the reason i want to quote that to you is because there's this teaching that once again well there's many gospels you know they will preach in one gospel you know the millennium kingdom was about to come or whatever and we preach another gospel of jesus christ believing on him in faith no your possible makes it very clear there's one gospel and one gospel alone all right now that's hard that's a tough pill for some people to swallow i mean just um thursday man and i went soul winning what's the thursday friday friday went soul winning right and the first door that we knocked at the guy was really receptive he understood the gospel but he's struggled to believe that someone that believed another gospel or had another way to god would be damned in hell it's look it's one gospel it's salvation by grace through faith without works okay it's eternal life today and it can never be lost it's once saved always saved this one gospel all right so as we see these people going out and preaching the gospel what are they preaching faith on christ okay salvation by grace through faith without the deeds of the law verse number seven now hered the tetrach heard of all that was done by him and by the way do you guys know who this hered is hered the tetrach it's the same hered that beheaded john the baptist and it's the son of hered the great you know if you don't know who that is hered the great was hered who attempted to kill jesus christ when he was born remember when he ordered that all babies from two years old and under would be killed that's hered the great that's his father and hered the tetrach is his son okay who had beheaded john the baptist but anyway now hered the tetrach heard of all that was done by him and he was perplexed because that he was because it was said of some that john was risen from the dead so some were saying to hered hey john's come back you beheaded him but now he's why why are they confused it's because what jesus christ is preaching is the same thing that john the baptist was preaching okay jesus john the baptist was preaching the same thing and they were very similar in style of preaching i assume right that the fact that jesus christ would remind him of john the baptist in fact when you look at the preaching of john the baptist in the bible and if you just read what he preached you might be easily you know mistaken of thinking that those were words of jesus christ or vice versa because they're preaching the same thing all right verse number eight and of some that elias had had appeared and of others that one of the old prophets was risen again and hered said john have i beheaded but who is this of whom i hear such things and he desired to see him i like his desire i do like his desire and even even when he arrested john the baptist for preaching against him he was saddened that he would have to put this man to death because of the promise that he made uh to his niece so there was something about hered the tetrarch that enjoyed listening to men of god okay but he just wouldn't accept basically accept it you know he would be more willing to you know i guess put them to death but um you know you see this in verse nine that he desired to see jesus and unfortunately for him he did see jesus i'll just quickly show you can actually turn if you want luke chapter 23 luke chapter 23 just because you're in the same book luke chapter 23 verse 8 he does eventually see jesus but this is after jesus christ was arrested and on his way to be crucified basically okay but luke chapter 23 verse 8 it says and when hered saw jesus he was exceeding glad for he was desirous to see him for a long season because he had heard many things of him and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him so we see that the reason why he was interested in jesus is that he wanted to be entertained i mean he wanted to see jesus christ perform these miracles and see that with his own eyes and so you know i don't know what to make of him too much um but you know it's kind of nice i guess that he had some interest in the prophets of god he had some interest in john the baptist and jesus christ himself but um obviously i just wanted to show you there that that's when he saw him was when uh and jesus christ ended up being crucified verse number 10 verse number 10 actually before i read verse 10 i just want you to notice that as jesus christ was doing the great works of god that a lot of people were asking who is this man you know is he elias his prophets john the baptist come back from the dead and this is a question that every single human being on the planet has to answer okay hence the title of sermon this morning okay we all have to make a decision on who jesus christ is everybody you know everybody needs to make that decision everybody that walks this earth we'll cover that a little later verse number 10 and the apostles when they were returned told him all that they had done so obviously some time takes place they've gone from city to city they come back and they tell jesus christ of what had done what they had done and he took them and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called berseida so some significant time takes place there but verse 11 and the people when they knew it followed him and he received them and spake unto them the kingdom of god so what's jesus speaking unto them he's preaching the gospel he's speaking to them the kingdom of god and healed them that had need of healing and when the day began to wear away then came the 12 and said unto him send the multitude away that they may go into the towns and country round about and lodge so find a place to rest and get victuals that's basically food for themselves nourishment for we are here in a desert place so it seems like the the disciples are well mean they do care for the multitude they do care hey look we're in the desert these guys are going to burn out we're going to go hungry they don't have a place to rest you know send them away they say you know but as we'll see in this story the reason that they want to send away these this multitude is really it was a lack of faith it was a lack of faith on the part of the disciples which is kind of interesting because not long ago jesus christ gave them the power to heal the sick and and to cast out devils and told them you're going to be provided for don't worry about it you know so it's interesting that they realized they were provided for but yet when they saw this multitude of five thousand men they thought well these people aren't going to be provided for all right send them away verse 14 and they were about five thousand men and i just want you to notice that it's five thousand men that doesn't count the women and children there could have easily been ten thousand people here we don't know okay but easily it could have been ten thousand people if you count the women and the children but here there was about five thousand men and he said to his disciples make them sit down by fifties in a company and they did so and made them all sit down and i and i love the how jesus christ is just just orderly you know he's got this great mass of people hungry you know but he likes order and he says look sit them down uh by fifties in a company so uh you know that's five thousand men and that would be groups of a hundred you know if you had groups of fifty sorry yeah groups of fifty you would have a hundred groups of men you know uh broken up and then verse 16 and he took the five loaves and the two fishes now it's not recorded here in the book of luke but if you know in the other gospels or i think it's a gospel matthew it mentions the little boy the young lad who who offered up his lunch to feed the multitude it's not covered here but anyway he took the five loaves and two fishes and looking up to heaven he blessed them and break and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude and they did eat and were all filled and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them 12 baskets so we see another miracle of christ his amazing provision not just the provision to the disciples as they went out preaching the gospel but the provision to those that would sit and listen to jesus christ those that were in the desert and i think it's really significant i mean the bible doesn't really tell us this but i think it's quite significant in verse number 17 that after everyone was fed and filled there were still 12 baskets left full of food right taken up of fragments that remained of them 12 baskets and i kind of think about that because there were 12 disciples and it was the disciples that were telling jesus look send them away and it's it's almost like jesus christ is teaching look not only can i provide but i can provide abundantly you know in excess of what is needed and it's almost like each disciples was left with one basket each just to remind themselves you know to have faith in christ that christ can provide verse number 18 and it came to pass as he was alone praying his disciples were with him and he asked them saying whom say the people that i am they answered and said john the baptist but some say elias and others say uh that one of the old prophets is risen again so okay yeah what are other people saying but then verse number 20 and he said unto them but whom say ye that i am but whom say ye that i am you know and this is a question for all of us you know there are a lot of people that believe in jesus or a jesus or another jesus you know and they have many things to say about him you know even people that respect jesus christ but a lot of people would see him as just a man as just a good prophet not as the son of god not as christ not as god manifest in the flesh not as the one that can save you from your sins they might say yeah he's got great teaching he's a great prophet he's a great man you know or they might have that oneness jesus that we've been hearing about right you know having a oneness view on who jesus christ is that you know there's no difference necessarily between the father and the holy spirit that would be another jesus hey look if we just stopped and listen to what people are saying about jesus there's various things you know you ask the jews about jesus they believe he was a wicked man a rebellious man who rebelled against you know uh the laws of moses you know they hate him there are lots of views on jesus he asked the uh the the muslims who's jesus i said he was a good prophet but the greater prophet was muhammad they'll say their prophet muhammad okay lots of people have different opinions on who jesus christ was some people believe that he didn't even exist that is not even a historical figure whatever more important than what others are saying there in verse number uh what this was it sorry this sorry verse number 20 yeah more important than that more important than what others are saying but whom say ye that i am okay and i just want to bring this to the children's attention mum and dad have their view on jesus and i hope you all have saved parents you know that have believed have put their faith on the lord jesus christ and you might say well mum and dad believe in jesus yeah but whom say ye that i am hey every child has to answer this for themselves everybody must make a decision on who jesus christ is peter answering verse 20 peter answering said the christ of god you're the messiah you're the promised one you're the anointed all right we've been hearing about you through the scriptures for the old testament we've been hearing from other prophets this is who you are and peter was 100 correct verse 21 and he straightly charged them and commanded them to tell no man that thing okay so everybody has to come to that realization on their own who is jesus christ was he the promised one of god is he the one that came to take away the sins of the world verse number 22 sane actually verse 22 um explains verse 21 a little bit more it goes sane the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and the chief priests and scribes and be slain and be raised the third day did jesus know that he was going to die absolutely now that was his mission he came to the earth to be that sacrifice to be the lamb slain from the foundation of the world okay and we see there that hey this is what he came to accomplish this is what the christ of god came to do and everybody has to come and realize that everybody must come to realize that he would come and die for their sins but this is the first time in the book of luke that it's recorded that jesus christ would speak of his death okay it didn't come as a surprise his death was not plan b okay and again i just i'm the reason i say it's not plan b because those that have a dispensational view of scriptures will say his crucifixion was plan b you know plan a was he was offering the kingdom on the earth for the jews right now and they rejected him so he had to go with plan b and die on the cross instead and postpone the kingdom the kingdom let me say this the kingdom was not postponed the kingdom is here now and i'll cover that in shortly okay the kingdom was not postponed it's here now we'll cover that in a minute verse 23 and he said unto them all if any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me is this the gospel is jesus christ explaining the gospel right now that you need to take up your cross daily every day you need to take up your cross and live for him and serve him and follow him is that the gospel no the gospel is believe on the lord jesus christ and thou shalt be saved okay but the instructions that are being given here are to those that are already saved those that are choosing to be his disciples and following after him i don't want to steal our brother calum's thunder here because i know your next sermon is on discipleship but i'll touch on it briefly okay and uh and then verse 24 for whosoever will save his life shall lose it but whosoever will lose his life for my sake the same shall save it and what is a man advantage if he gained the whole world and lose himself or be cast away for whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words of him shall the son of man be ashamed when he shall come in his own glory and his fathers and of the holy angels all right so we see here that during this free ministry jesus christ had his disciples we had men that would forsake all things that would forsake family forsake their full-time jobs and come and follow after christ okay it was during this three-year ministry of christ that this was available but we can take the applications as well to us okay we can take these applications and basically what it's saying here is that you know if you were to lose things today for christ's sake if you were to lose relationships families would hate you you know just for standing up for the word of god just for preaching the gospel then you would gain that into life eternal okay whatever you lose in this life for christ here will reward you he will make sure you're going to be thankful that you're able to lose things for his sake okay but if you try to gain this whole world if you live for temporal things okay and obviously if you do that you won't be able to live for christ as much as you'll be able to then those are rewards that you would not gain in heaven those are rewards that you will not lose okay essentially the teaching here is whatever you give up for christ it'll be worth it christ will make sure that you're rewarded adequately and a hundred fold okay verse number 27 but i tell you a truth there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of god wow okay now i told you the kingdom is here already all right there's a lot of sort of discussion as to what this means okay and um and i've already covered this but i'm just going to cover uh this teaching in a quick nutshell but i have taught this uh last year if you guys remember but keep your finger there turn to luke chapter 13 luke chapter 13 i don't want to cover it too much because when we get to the 13th chapter we're going to look at this a little in more detail but luke chapter 13 verse 20 luke chapter 13 verse 20 jesus speaking here he says and again he said where unto shall i liken the kingdom of god so how how can i liken the kingdom of god verse 21 it is like leaven okay now what's leaven it's basically like a yeast okay it uh lifts up if you put it into bread it's going to cause it to rise and be fluffy and soft okay so the kingdom of god is like leaven and it says this which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till the hole was leavened so what we see there and this is a parable about the kingdom of god is that there are what i believe three stages to the kingdom of god okay a lot of people discuss this and they don't really understand this is why that are you know our millennials and pre-millennials and but we're pre-millennials and there's uh post-millennials and there's uh i think there's one other one i can't remember right now what it is okay but there's all these people that have different views on the kingdom and so when jesus christ said that there are some standing here that will see the kingdom of god there are some that basically uh deny the future millennium reign of christ and they say well the millennium is here the kingdom of god is here and there's truth to that okay but there's still the future millennium to come as well okay so we see the kingdom of god is like leaven in three measures of meal until the whole is leavened the whole is uh raised what was the word you use there sorry leah till the hole was leavened okay so what we see and i'll cover this very quickly and if you want to ask me more questions you can later on but from what i understand in scriptures when we look at the kingdom of god we look at all the passages that talk about it the kingdom of god is in three stages it's here today but it's not something that can be seen today okay when we win people to the lord when they're saved they enter into the kingdom of god spiritually speaking okay the king of god is here in a spiritual sense remember the the um the the the mustard seed something that cannot be seen but then he grows into that tree and and the birds uh make them nest in its branches that's another parable that jesus christ gave the kingdom of god okay right now it's like that mustard seed that cannot be seen but it's here today people can enter into the kingdom of god today okay but it's not been fully leavened okay then we get to that second measure of meal if you will okay when christ comes back and establishes his millennial kingdom at that point you'll be able to see the kingdom of god you know and he's going to rule and reign on this earth for a thousand years you know but even then the kingdom has not been fully leavened okay because what we read about in the scriptures is that once that millennium is over and everything is means has been subjected under christ that christ gives that kingdom to the father and the father creates the new heaven and the new earth that's like that third measure of meal and now the entire kingdom of god has been fully leavened okay so the reason i say that to you is because i believe the kingdom of god is here now it's available right now okay it's not something we have to wait for it's here spiritually speaking but then in time in due time we'll see it come uh in full fruition starting by that millennial reign of christ and then the new heavens and the new earth when the father takes the kingdom from the son all right let's uh look at verse 28 luke chapter 9 verse 28 verse 28 so i'm going to explain to you verse 27 in just a moment here so he said remember there are some standing here that shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of god so it's something that's going to be visible to them it's going to be something that they see some of his disciples they're standing before him verse 28 and this is where i believe they see the kingdom of god verse 28 and he came to pass about an eighth days after these sayings so about a week later he took peter and john and james and went into a mountain to pray so it's peter john and james that will not taste death till they see the kingdom of god as we read through this verse 29 and as he prayed the fashion of his countenance was altered and his raiment was white and glycerin so jesus has this transformation okay it doesn't look just like a normal man anymore there's something that changes countenance changes his white his brights is shining and verse 30 and behold they talked with him two men which were moses and elias that's elijah okay the two men two great prophets of god standing there they are in the kingdom of god as it will okay and they're able to talk to jesus christ you know they're alive no they're alive you know when we pass away guys we're still alive okay we're in the kingdom of god and we'll be able to communicate you know with other people that have gone before and with the lord god himself verse 31 who appeared in glory and spake of his uh deceased which he should accomplish at jerusalem but peter when they were sorry but peter and they that were with him were heavy and sorry were heavy with sleep and when they were awake they saw his glory and the two men that stood with him and it came to pass as they departed from him peter said unto jesus master it is good for us to be here and let us make three tabernacles one for thee and one for moses and one for elias not knowing what he said okay so it's interesting there in verse 33 you know peter speaks up and we know peter we know what he's like he's the kind of guy that would speak before he thinks all right you know he's one of those disciples and you know it serves him well in some cases and then in some cases it kind of embarrasses him okay but um he says look he sees jesus he sees moses and elijah he says look let me let us build your three tabernacles like what an odd thing to say like what so the tabernacle if you know obviously from the old testament was the place where they would uh you know ultimately build an altar and sacrifice animals a place where people would come and enter and worship god okay so think about that yeah it might be relevant to some extent we talk about jesus christ but then to build a tabernacle for moses and elijah as well like like sacrificing to them and worshiping them you know and that's why it says that at the end of verse 33 not knowing what he said most of you know i mean peter doesn't even know what he's saying i mean he's so shocked he's so amazed he's marveling as what he see the glory of christ this transformation you know beyond just god in the flesh but now seeing some of that glory of god and being a fright and he just speaks you know he's the kind of guy and he just says the wrong words he just doesn't know what he's saying essentially is what the bible says all right they were amazed and then verse 34 this is probably one of the most interesting bits uh while he thus spake there came a cloud and overshadowed them and and they feared as they entered into the cloud and there came a voice out of the cloud saying this is my beloved son hear him what an amazing thing they hear the voice of god the father and it's interesting before god the father speaks to him he puts him in this cloud all right it's because you know no man has seen the father okay we can see christ you know christ came and is that express image of the father but no man has truly seen god the father it's almost like the father protects him puts him in this cloud you know makes it foggy and difficult to see and all they hear is the voice of god the father and they've entered somehow spiritually during this transformation of christ and they've seen the kingdom of god they can even hear god the father speaking you know and they see jesus they see you know uh prophets that had you know been long dead but now they're just as alive as anything all right and it's just an amazing thing this transfiguration of jesus christ verse 36 and when the voice was passed jesus was found alone and they kept it close and told no man in those days um any of those things which they had seen and but what did they see they saw the kingdom of god that's what they saw beyond the spiritual realm you know i mean sorry beyond the physical realm they saw the spiritual kingdom of god there okay verse 37 and it came to pass that on the next day when they were come down from the hill much people met them and behold a man of the company cried out saying master i beseech thee look upon my son for he is my only child and lo a spirit take it take of him and he suddenly cryeth out and it tereth him and um that he fometh again so that word terrif him is like that this this evil spirit to his son is kind of like torturing him and it took like that is foaming out of his mouth that is foaming again and bruising him hard hardly the part of uh sorry and bruising him hardly departed from him and i besought thy disciples to cast him out and they could not now it's interesting what jesus says here in verse number 40 41 i used to think until i did some research and compare the the different gospels i used to think verse 41 was jesus um criticized in his disciples because his disciples could not cast out this devil okay but as i read through it and i meditated i realized that what who jesus christ is referring to is the father of the son who had the devil okay because look at this he says in verse 41 jesus answered and said oh faithless and perverse generation okay how long shall i be with you and suffer you bring thy son hither okay so in light of this as i was thinking about it why does jesus christ call him and others you know faithless and a perverse generation and what i believe it's saying here is because it's not like he just came saying hey you know your disciples couldn't do it i believe this man was actually being critical of the disciples of jesus christ that they were failing at the job that they had and because of that critical nature to the disciples of god jesus says hey look it's not just the disciples here it's you you are a faithless and perverse generation okay so when it comes to the healing and we've seen this as we've gone through the book of luke the reason christ heals many is because he says i've seen your faith and i saw your faith and he heals them in this case his son could not be delivered partly because his own father was faithless his own father was was not believing and then he's critical of the disciples critical of the workers of god now it's interesting to me that uh the book of luke does not record uh the conversation later on because the disciples actually do go to jesus say how can we couldn't cast out this devil and we'll cover that in a minute okay we'll cover that in a minute uh but then verse 42 it says and as he was yet to come in the devil threw him down and tear him so again he's foaming at his mouth and jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the child and deliver him again to his father okay so keep your finger there and turn to matthew 17 turn to matthew 17 matthew 17 verse 19 matthew chapter 17 matthew 17 verse 19 so when we look at the the rest of the story okay the rest of the story because luke doesn't talk about it there matthew 17 verse 19 then came the disciples to jesus apart and said why could not we cast him out so they come to jesus and another gospel says they went into a house okay so this was a private conversation verse 20 and jesus said unto them because of your unbelief for verily i say unto you if you have faith as a grain of a mustard seed ye shall say unto this mountain remove hands to yonder place and it shall remove and nothing shall be impossible unto you how be it this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting and so what we see there guys and i like this about jesus as i'm reading this and i'm really focusing on what's happening is i like how when there's the the multitudes okay and there was a failure at casting out this devil that jesus christ does not criticize his disciples does not criticize his apostles in public it doesn't just get before the whole public and say well you know you guys had a lack of faith as well no instead he rebukes the faithless and perverse generation he says hey you play a part in this you're playing a part that this boy was not has not been healed from from this evil spirit but then when the disciples ask him privately apart you know away from that group he tells them hey yeah you had a lack of faith as well okay but i like that i like how jesus christ does that you know he doesn't try to embarrass his workers publicly in front of everybody but he still deals with it he still deals with the situation pulls them aside privately and uh and addresses that i like that you know as i learn about being a pastor and you know different situations that i'm dealing with i like seeing how jesus christ does things and go you know what that's probably the best way to do it right you know if there's an issue in the church and you know something that i need to raise with you you know instead of me just coming behind the pulpit and naming your name and embarrass you publicly i'd rather do what jesus christ has done pull you aside privately and speak to you and say hey this is an issue because that's what jesus did i think it's i think it's a really good example to follow okay instead of embarrassing him in front of everybody all right but notice that it wasn't just a faith but he said look you guys actually needed to pray and fast about this one as well and it's an interesting thing i don't really fully understand this but it seems like some evil spirits some devils are more powerful than others okay and you need that extra prayer and fasting to cast them out let's go back to luke chapter 9 luke chapter 9 verse 43 luke chapter 9 verse 43 and they were all amazed at the mighty power of god so this is after he cast out that devil and while they wondered every one of uh everyone at all things which jesus did he said unto his disciples let these sayings sink down into your ears for the son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men so again he's prophesying about him being betrayed being delivered into the hands of men which he spoke of earlier being his death and and resurrection all right but as i got thinking about this it seems like just because of the way it's written like that you know everyone's amazed right in verse 43 everyone's amazed that jesus was able to do this miracle and then it says um he's while they're amazed he says to the disciples let these saints sink down for the son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men and i think this is when you start thinking about the context and remember the book of luke is a thematic book you know it's a topical kind of book all right i think what we're seeing here is that there are certain people that saw the miracles of christ they were amazed at the miracles of christ but we saw they were also a faithless and perverse generation and it's that some of these same people would be the ones that would deliver christ whose same people that would be betraying him the same people that would be rebuking him uh when he was on the cross and denying him okay so you know you know sometimes that we go so i don't know if you've had this occasion i've gone soul winning and people said you know i'd believe on christ if i just saw him do a miracle like if jesus christ appeared right now in front of me you know then i believe and that's when i believe on jesus christ you know that's a faithless and perverse generation you know even these people that saw the miracles of christ still rejected him many of them still rejected him okay anyway verse 46 verse 46 oh sorry verse 45 and they understood not the same so when jesus christ says look i'm going to be delivered in the hands of men an earlier tone that it's going to be put to death they could not understand it all right and they're still not the same and it was hid from them and they perceived or not and they feared to ask him to ask him of that saying just an interesting thought there verse 46 and there arose a reasoning among them which of them should be greatest so instead of trying to figure out what does jesus mean that he's going to be delivered you know and be killed and all this stuff they're more concerned about talking who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom of god you know who's going to be the one that jesus christ exalts above all the other disciples it's just that's how man is sometimes you know um verse 47 and jesus perceiving the thought of their heart took a child and set him by set him by him and he said unto them whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me and whosoever shall receive me receive him that sent me who's that that's the father for he that is least among you the same shall be great what a rebuke they go man who's going to be the greatest and you know it wouldn't be surprising they're thinking that because they're spending all this time with jesus christ they themselves are doing these amazing works of god you know they're rubbing shoulders with the christ of god it's an exciting time for them and then look how close we are to jesus we're following up with these disciples you know we're learning so many great things surely we're going to be the greatest and i love what jesus does and this shows us by the way that when jesus went preaching the kids weren't away in sunday school all right the kids were right there because jesus can just take a child and set them before them all right jesus was preaching to the children as much as to everyone else that was there listening to them okay and that's why we don't have sunday school that's why we have the children sit in and listen to the preaching from the word of god but he says look in verse 48 whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me essentially it's like this because you and i we can't walk with jesus can we we can't rub shoulders with jesus like the disciples did okay but he says look more important than that all right more important than you being with me and thinking that you're the greatest and i'm sure many of them were great okay is you receiving the least people you receiving the little child in my name okay and i'm just thinking about this in context of our church you know we have little children we have little babes in our church okay and if we choose to ignore the children you know i'm just here for the adult stimulation for the adult discussions you know and you don't think about what good influence what a great blessing you can be to children then that shows me how great you are in the kingdom of god in fact that's not very great at all okay but the one that does say you know what i'm going to spend some time i'm going to spend some time and talk to the children i'm going to encourage them i'm going to say to them hey have you memorized the verse you know how's your bible reading encourage them those kinds of things spend time with them spend time with the least you receive the child in the name of jesus then he says you receive me you receive him you know jesus christ and if you receive me you're receiving the one that sent me that's god the father you want to be great you want to be the one hanging around with god the father how do you do that you receive the little child you know so you know it requires us to be humble you know to humble ourselves and go you know what i'm going to find the least person in the church the one with the least reputation the one with the least stature not just a little child obviously that's symbolic but maybe the babe in christ the one that hasn't been saved for very long maybe the one that's you know new to our church and you know doesn't know all the doctrines that we believe you know that's the person if you want to be the greatest in the kingdom of god and you want to receive christ and god the father that's the person that you ought to go and say hey i want to spend some time with that person and i want to encourage them i want to motivate them i want them to know that i can't that i love and care for them you know that's the teaching that we have of christ you receive the little ones you receive christ and god the father that's what makes you great in the kingdom of god verse 49 and by the way just a quick challenge there you know i would strongly encourage you you know to think about our church and you know what we don't have that many people we're not we're not a big church okay and i just want you to think about you know just you know the last few weeks at church i'm not saying anybody in particular here i don't know i'm just saying because you know as i thought about this i was challenging myself a little bit but think about the people that you've spoken with think about the people you spent time with you know and then think about those that you've not spoken to that you've not spent any time with you know that you've not shown that you actually really do love and care for them and are interested in what they have to say and i would strongly encourage if you think about this you don't need to tell me you just work it out yourself you know just who in the last few weeks who in the last month have i not spoken with who have i not spent any time with you know that's the person that you should receive in jesus name that's the person that you should go up to and encourage and tell them that you love them you care for them you're praying for them if there's anything you can do to help them you know offer that kind of service by doing that in the name of jesus christ you're receiving christ receiving god the father and great will be your rewards in heaven you'll be kind of one of the greatest you know we can do that you know you might say oh i wish i was there when jesus christ walked the earth yeah you can receive a little child that's what you can do you know and be great in the kingdom of god uh verse number 49 verse number 49 verse 49 and john answered and said master we saw one casting out devils in thy name and we forbade him because he followeth not with us we're seeing again remember luke is a thematic book we're just seeing the failings here you know how bad the disciples fail okay they were lacking faith they couldn't cast out that devil you know peter was so awestruck by the transfiguration of christ you know he's like let's build tabernacles for everyone you know and we see that now you know they're arguing about who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom of god and and jesus christ rebukes them and corrects them right and now they're saying look we thought we stopped someone we forbade someone that was casting out devils in your name because why because he'd follow us not with us you know and we need to be careful of this because these were good men these were great men you know we're made of the same flesh and blood we can fall in the same trap we can think of ourselves greater than what we really are you know and we can see other believers other children of god do great works and forbid them we can say ah yeah but you're not doing it just quite like us i want you to notice what they focus on are they focused at these casting out devils that these people are casting out devils they're doing good works that they proclaim in the name of christ is that what they're concerned about no it's like they look beyond that it's like well they're not following us so we forbid them we try to stop them okay and what does jesus focus on verse 50 and jesus said unto him forbid him not for he that is not against us is for us so we see that john his focus is on you know um are they just like us are they following after us are they aligned perfectly with us that's what he's focused on right he's trying to find the the uh sort of something to criticize these people on jesus christ instead of being focused whether they're 100 with christ he's focused wait a minute are they against us are they against me are they against you no and if they're not against you guess what they're for us okay they're for us and um you know it's just it's interesting how jesus sees things differently to how man sees it you know we might have reverend in another church that you know is king james only you know soul winning believe the gospel and all these kinds of things but then they might have differences of opinion to us on certain doctrines they might run church a little differently to us and it's easy for us to become critical of other believers they might have different views on on the on the doctrine of reprobates or something right it's easy to criticize others you know but jesus says look is he against us is he against us no he's doing works of god then don't forbid him don't discourage him don't stop him allow him to do the works of god then okay he doesn't have to be just like us he doesn't necessarily have to be following me all the way he's definitely one of us he's definitely one of me because he's able to do these great works so we see what jesus focuses on okay and we need to accept this because we can get hard-headed sometimes and think well we're doing it the right way you know it's us it's just us holding the gospel light in australia no there are other churches believe it or not there are other churches there are other believers that love the lord that love the gospel you know they might not do it as often as we do but they're doing what they can they're not against us they're not against jesus christ okay and if they're not against jesus christ they're for us okay and notice it's not for you necessarily you might say no they don't like me you know pastor kevin that other believer over there they don't like me who cares are they for jesus christ that's what matters are they for the disciples the apostles the writings that we have in scriptures you know and uh you know my thoughts on this if you guys want to just turn to quickly to second corinthians 11 second corinthians chapter 11 my thoughts are this okay second corinthians 11 verse 4 and again we've covered this as we went through the book of corinthians before this is my thought here second corinthians 11 verse 4 paul warns the church here of others okay he says for if he that cometh preacher for another jesus whom we have not preached or if you receive another spirit which you have not received or another gospel which you have not accepted you might well bear with him okay this is where i would draw the line with other so-called brethren so-called christians look if they have the right jesus christ the messiah the son of god god manifests in the flesh okay so that's good yeah they got that right do they have the right spirit this is why i don't want to associate with the pentecostals with the charismatics they have another spirit they have a spirit very similar to that boy that was big that was frothing at the mouth okay they couldn't control his actions that's another spirit it's not the holy spirit that gives us the boldness to preach the word of god okay or another gospel another gospel again i don't want to be associated with churches that believe another gospel this is number one for me this is eternal life this is this is the doctrine that matters the most is the gospel salvation by grace through faith without the deeds of the law right so if there are other believers guys that have the same jesus that have the same gospel that have the same spirit that's the one that is for us that's the one that's for jesus christ okay they might be a bit lackluster in other things okay but i'm not going to forbid them i'm not going to discourage them i'm going to try to encourage them great the works of god that you're doing fantastic keep it up at the end of the day i'm not going to be their judge they're going to stand before the judgment seat of christ and christ will reward them you know adequately you know righteously and correctly you know that's what matters at the end of the day you don't need to uh you know decide what kind of rewards they're going to earn in heaven that's up to jesus christ okay so be mindful otherwise we can become a church or christians that are far too sectarian it's like well you've got to be just like us on these things otherwise i don't want fellowship with you it's crazy it's not how jesus christ was okay verse 51 verse 51 and it came to pass when the time was come that he should be received up he steadfastly set his face to go to jerusalem so i don't really fully understand this but it seems like there comes a time when jesus says all right now it's time for me to head to jerusalem now it's time for me to go and face this uh great work that i need to do this this uh crucifixion verse number 52 and sent messengers messengers before his face and they went and entered into a village of the samaritans to make ready for him they say it's not just the jews that he's focused on you know he's making his way he goes to a village of samaritans send messengers so they would know that jesus christ would come in unfortunately verse 53 and they did not receive him because his face was as though he would go to jerusalem so you know when the samaritans heard that what jesus is on his way to jerusalem obviously jerusalem is where the temple of god was that's where the jews would worship and if you remember the story of the samaritan woman at the well remember what she says to jesus she says like you worship you know the jews worship god in the temple but we worship him in the mountains if you remember that story okay so it's like it's like nah we're not going to receive jesus because you're going to jerusalem that's not where you should worship god anyway uh verse number 53 oh sorry verse number 54 and when his disciples james and john saw this they said another failure of his disciples here and when his disciples james and john saw this they said lord wilt thou that sorry wilt thou wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them even as elias did so they get offended james and john said look can you give us the power to just you know bring down fire from heaven and destroy these samaritans verse 55 and and jesus turned and he turned and rebuked them and said you know not what manner of spirit you are of for the son of man is not come to destroy men's lives but to save them and they went to another village you know what that tells me if he doesn't want to destroy them and he says look i i'm here to save lives is that these people are probably going to get other opportunities in the future to hear the gospel and receive the lord jesus christ okay and again as soul winners we don't get received at the door you know we already learned let's move on you move on to the next person you know shake the dust of your feet move on you know don't curse them out you know don't you know command fire out of your mouth as it were hell fly out of your mouth and destroy those people they might have a future opportunity to hear the gospel all right that's the lesson for us and look you might say these disciples are crazy we can fall into these same traps all right verse number 57 and he came to pass as they went in the way a certain man said unto him lord i will follow thee whithersoever thou goest and jesus said unto him foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the son of man hath not where to lay his head and he said unto another follow me but he said lord suffer me first to go and bury my father jesus said unto him let the dead bury their dead but go down and preach the kingdom of god and another also said lord i will follow thee but let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house and jesus said unto him no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of god again discipleship here discipleship during this ministry of christ okay short period of time three years jesus christ if you're going to be the disciple for him follow after his footsteps you were to forsake all things okay when it comes truly when it comes to the work of god when it comes to the gospel it it outweighs everything else that could possibly be okay it outweighs everything else now again i don't want to go into this for too long but just keep your finger there turn to matthew chapter 8 for a minute go to matthew chapter 8 matthew chapter 8 because i just don't have the time to cover this in any great detail but i want to show you something about the book of luke and something that i'm really appreciate i've known this when he started the book of luke but i'm really appreciating it as we go through this chapter by chapter because do you remember what i preached about last week in luke chapter 8 remember the story of the when jesus christ fell asleep on the ship and the storms came and he stopped you know the disciples panicked and stopped the storms well that was luke chapter 8 okay and then in luke chapter 9 we have this discussion you know with with these men seeking that are wanting to follow after christ but look at matthew chapter 8 verse 19 matthew chapter 8 verse 19 and a certain scribe came and said unto him master i will follow thee whether so ever thou goest and jesus saith unto him the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the son of man hath not weights lay his head and another reason disciples said unto him lord suffer me first to go and bury my father and he said unto him follow me and let the dead bury the dead so you notice that it's the same conversation that we saw in luke chapter 9 right yeah everyone can see that but then look at verse 24 verse 23 and when he was entered into a ship his disciples followed him and behold there arose a great tempest in the sea in so much that the ship was covered with waves but he was asleep so what do we see there in the book of matthew we have this conversation with the disciples about following him all that before he enters into the ship and you know the storms and he has calmed the seas but in in the book of luke we have that story of the seas before he has this conversation with the disciples and i've told you this before that as you read through the gospels you know matthew uh mark and john are in chronological order if you wanted to build a chronology do it from these gospels and then take the book of luke and fill in the gaps that the extra stuff that's in the book of luke and the reason i believe he does this again is because the book of luke is thematic it's topical and say well why why are they why is this conversation recorded now and the reason i i believe it's recorded now in the book of luke is because we just saw what happened to christ that he went into that town of the samaritans and they would not receive him okay and then it takes you back to that conversation when jesus says hey look you fall after me i don't have a place to rest my head and truly he didn't because he would go into places and they would not receive him he would need to then travel onto the next village you know and not have a place of rest so you know i just tell you that just so as you read for the book of luke you know don't be too preoccupied on the chronology think about the entire chapter think about the entire stories that have been taking place there because a lot of those things are tied together by luke in an order to get a sort of a fuller picture a topical picture of the teachings of christ all right let's leave it there let's pray