Where did those baskets come from?
Luke 9:10-17
Let’s look at vs. 10 again:
10 And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.
Meaning “house of fish” it was a small fishing village
Located on the west side of the sea of Tiberias
Jesus was in his year of popularity. His fame had gone before him. Many who heard of Jesus sought to find him that they might be healed or touched, or simply just learn of this great prophet.
Previous to this event we’re fixing to preach about, Jesus had just sent forth his 12 disciples to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
When they returned, he took them to a private desert place to talk to them and hear their report.
HOWEVER… word got out of where he and his disciples were at, and pretty soon a crowd developed and found him.
11 And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.
Isn’t it great that the Lord takes time out to meet people’s needs?
He didn’t turn them away, but welcomed them.
12 And when the day began to wear away
Jesus had been ministering all day long… it was getting near supper time.
The disciples wanted to send the people away to the village to get food.
Why? They obviously noticed that the people had no food with them!!!
Then Jesus did something out of the ordinary.
He said…
Vs. 13…. Give ye them to eat
Now isn’t that something!!! And I’m sure they were wondering the same thing!
All we have is 5 loaves and 2 fishes!
(John’s account is that they came from a small lad,
so they couldn’t even have been large loaves or big
fish)
Jesus instructs them to sit the men in companies of 50.
So there were 100 companies of 50 men each.
16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude.
17 And they did eat, and were all filled:
What a miracle!!!!!
Not only did he provide healing for the body, but he provided nourishment for the body as well!
(We could preach on this a while, but I wish to focus on the remaining of this verse)
and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.
There was leftovers. And that is something else we could preach about… but listen to this:
Where did those baskets come from???
Did they just appear out of nowhere?
Did they just happen to be sitting out there in the desert?
We could maybe account for one basket, for I’m sure that the small lad had to have something to carry his lunch in.
But where did the other 11 come from?
I don’t know… but wherever they did come from… they came empty and left full!!!!!!!
How many times have you come to church empty and left empty?
You weren’t satisfied.
You weren’t filled up.
You didn’t receive anything from the Lord.
Somebody else got blessed, but you didn’t.
Somebody else got healed, but you didn’t.
Deliverance, but you didn’t
Help, but you didn’t
Why? Because you didn’t bring anything to get anything in!!!!
That’s like saying…
I’m going fishing, and going to bring home a bucket full of fish, but you don’t take a bucket or a stringer….
How many times have you come to church just to come to church… and never really expected anything from God?
Back in 2Kings 4 there was a certain wife of one of the prophets of God that was now widowed. She cried out to the man of God, Elisha, that the creditor was coming to take her two sons as bondmen.
He said to her… what do you have?
All I have is a little pot of oil.
3 Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.
Then shut the door and begin to pour!!!!!
She poured until there were no more vessels to fill.
She sold the oil, paid her debts, and saved her sons from being slaves!!!!
Do you understand why she received her miracle??? Because she had something available to put that miracle in!!!!!
AND it started NOT with something EMPTY, but with a pot that had a little something already in it!!!
That lad brought his basket, and it didn’t have much, but it had something he was able to give!!!!
Listen… I’m a firm believer that you’ll get something out of every service you ever attend if you purpose to bring something with you to Give to the Lord!
This lad didn’t have much, but he brought what he had.
So what did you bring to Church with you tonight?
1. What about your basket of Service?
That young lad could of horded his lunch. He could have had a selfish attitude and said he wasn’t going to share.
But he didn’t. He willfully gave all he had.
What about you? Are you so busy that you have no time for God and his work?
Both Bro. Eaton and I have strongly encouraged these young folks to go home to their churches and offer their services to their pastor and to their church.
In AZ… asked our church men to give one hour a week for the next three weeks to do work around the church.
One man approached me afterwards and said, “I refuse to do it. I don’t even have time to do my own yard.”
“I’m just asking for 1 hour a week.” Is that too much to do something for God????
Don’t be a CHURCH LEECH!!!
2. What about your basket of Worship?
In John 12, Jesus and his disciples came to Bethany and ate dinner with Lazarus, Mary and Martha.
Mary took some very expensive ointment and anointed the feet of Jesus and then dried them with her hair.
4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him,
5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
When’s the last time you brought something precious to the Lord?
When’s the last time you gave of yourself in worship unto Him….
When you lost yourself in His presence and presented yourself as a sacrifice unto the Lord?
Or are you like Judas , who criticized Mary for using this costly ointment in such a fashion?
It seems like there’s always a Judas in every church.
They don’t think the Pastor ought to spend money to beautify the church…. That the money ought to go to missions. But when it comes down to buying tracts for visitation, Judas has a fit. He’s not interested in missions afterall! He’s just a thief!!!
We live in such a SELFISH world. We want, want, want… but we never GIVE.
Same attitude in the church. We want the blessings of God, but we don’t want the burdens.
Philippians 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Mary didn’t have to do it, but she CHOSE to Worship the Lord in her own way.
We had started a campmeeting in AZ… and the 2nd year, on a Thursday afternoon, I got a call from a brother in the church who was very sick with diabetes. I felt led of the Lord to tell him that if he would make an effort to come that night to church, I believed God would do something for him.
We began the service by praying for this brother, and before it was all said and done...
-4 were healed
-60 year old ex-Mormon filled with the
baptism of the Holy Ghost
-a lady was delivered from deep oppression
That brother could have stayed home, but he brought what he had and began to Worship God.
3. What about your basket of Praise?
When you do raise your hands, it’s only half mast.
When you do sing the songs of zion, it’s quite reserved.
Where is the shout of triumph? Where is the shout of victory?
Where is the dancing unto the Lord?
Where is the entering into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise?
Where is the “let everything that hath breath praise the Lord?
Why can’t you shout hosanna unto the King of Kings?
Why can’t you sing the praises unto God with all your might?
Acts 16, Paul & Silas were beaten with many stripes and cast into prison for preaching and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
Does anybody hear you when you Praise God? Are you vocal enough to be heard?
26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.
27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
IF you’ll just bring your basket of Praise, God will do something with what you have!!!!
It may be for your benefit, and it may be for someone else!!!!
You get the point… there’s many more baskets we could preach about… basket of charity, of faithfulness, of tithing, of visitation….
But the main thing is: Bring your basket to the house of God with something to pour out so you can receive something from the Lord
