Grace, Sufficiency, Matthew 14:13-21

This morning I need to address a particular pressing issue, one that has cataclysmic consequences for every Christian in this country. Across the nation there are hundreds of thousands of pastors bringing the same basic message to their congregations. That is, that a major shift took place with the handing down of this decision regarding same-sex marriage. This is a message that none of us thought that we would be delivering in this country in our lifetime. As of Friday this shift occurred that has changed everything legally in the country. That which we thought we had: guaranteed freedom of the expression of religion that was guaranteed by the First Amendment is now in profound jeopardy. This issue of same-sex marriage is not really to love; it is not an issue related to dignity; it is ultimately an issue related to the free expression of religion. It will not leave anyone in this country untouched or unscathed. If you are a Christian the very freedom of the expression of your Christianity is now in jeopardy in a way that has never been true in this country.

Our founding fathers, going back to the pilgrims who came to Massachusetts and those who settled in other colonies, came here in order to escape government dictates regarding religious belief. That is a principle that is rarely taught in public schools today. Many children across this country do not understand why the founders came to this country. They came to escape a government that dictated what they could believe and what could apply and how they could apply it. This was violated on Friday morning by five activist judges.

You will hear, as they have argued in their majority opinion, that this is about the dignity and equality that should be given to those who are homosexuals and who wish to marry someone of the same sex. You will hear that this is all about love, that love has conquered, and that love is victorious. But if you carefully read the Constitution of the United States you will not discover the words "dignity" or "love" anywhere. Neither will you find the word "marriage" mentioned anywhere in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. They are not there. Therefore legally this is not an issue that should have been brought before the court at all. But in arrogance they took the position that they should rule for the purpose, on the part of five of them, to radically change the social structure of the United States.

This is truly about, and a battle for, the free exercise of biblical Christianity. This is the focal point in the battle of the angelic conflict in this generation. The attempt now will be to force Christians to conform. Originally it will be in subtle ways; eventually it will be in more overt ways to validate, verify, accept and approve of same-sex marriage. You will be forced in many areas of your life to accommodate, to compromise and to become desensitized to the real issues here. If you work for an employer who is a publicly traded company; if you work for the government; if you work for numerous other businesses, then there will be dictates handed down from your human resources department that will ultimately come from the government, as to how you should relate to those you work with, those whom you are involved with, that are involved in a same-sex marriage.

This involves the free expression of your religion. You come under a situation where, let's say you are a teacher, a principal, a counselor in a public school, and you are meeting with the two "mothers" of one of your children. You will be required by law to refer to the spouse as a wife. That will, in your mind, violate your conscience. If you take a stand and do not do that then you will be guilty of violating the law and brought up on charges, and probably lose your job. If you say this really doesn't matter, I need my job, then you are going to succumb to the pressure and you will be utilizing vocabulary that validates and affirms the legitimacy of same-sex marriage. This will desensitize your conscience and ultimately torpedo your Christian life.

We live in an era now where Christians will be called upon to decide whether they are going to be a disciple of Jesus or if they are just going to simply accept eternal life. The pressures may not come today or tomorrow or in the next few months, but eventually they will come and they will mount. If you are in the military the pressures will be enormous. If you are a chaplain in the military the pressures will be enormous to either compromise or validate this ruling or leave your job or profession. The ramifications of this are so vast, so enormous that none can really grasp the ground that has shifted out from under us.

One person who commented on this, commented on Justice Scalia's dissent:

Justice Scalia also expressed sincere concern about how the court's decision will impact the free exercise of religion on the part of those who differ the decision on biblical grounds. He pointed out that the majority decision—this was in Justice Kennedy's decision; that [what Kennedy wrote]—would not impact the right of believers to advocate or to teach their views of marriage.

But the First Amendment, as this writer goes on to say, guarantees the free exercise of religion, and that is a word that the court (quoting Scalia) "ominously did not use".

If you go to work and are forced to do things, to use vocabulary, that validates same-sex marriage, you are not allowed to freely exercise your religious beliefs. That is going to be a problem.

We are not alone. There are approximately 30-50 (depending on your criteria) evangelicals in this country, numerous denominations, some with quite a bit of clout, taking a firm stand against this new ruling. It remains to be seen what kind of impact they are actually going to have because, as we have all been aware, we have been sliding and slouching toward Gomorrah for a very long time. And this is the inevitable consequence of decisions that were made in the early sixties. That is when everything changed.

Two things of significance happened in the early sixties. One was that prayer in public schools was declared to be unconstitutional. That took God out of the classroom. Even though that wasn't the intent, that was what many educators believed. Some were very creative in the way they did it. There are always creative ways to get around some of these things. We can learn some of those ways by observing how Daniel, Shadrach and Abednego responded to the dictates of Nebuchadnezzar. One way teachers would do this was when Christmas came along and somebody in the class asked: What is Christmas all about? The teacher could ask a Christian student: Why don't you answer that question? Then another student would be given the opportunity to give the gospel in class. There are creative ways around many obstacles that have been put before us.

On Friday I posted this comment on the Dean Bible Ministries Face Book page: "The right to redefine marriage presupposes a religious assumption …"

that is the bottom line here. There is an assumption in the legal world that there is an area of neutrality, an area that is not religious. But if you make a statement that there is a God, which is a religious statement, then its negation must also be a religious statement. If you say there is not a God then you have made a religious statement

"… that God has not created or ordained marriage."

The assumptions of five judges who are not Bible believing judges—it is interesting to look at the religious makeup of the court right now; it is primarily secular. They don't understand anything about biblical truth—assume that government is endowed with rights. That is in violation of the Constitution. The Declaration of Independence recognizes that all men have been created equal and that it is our Creator who has endowed us with these rights. They [the judges] have assumed the position of God by even getting involved in this discussion. They have assumed that God has not created and ordained marriage; they have made themselves equal to God, and they are imposing a law now that violates the establishment of religion clause in the First Amendment. Further, there will now be a clash between the Constitutional right to marry someone of the same-sex and Constitutional right to express one's deeply held religious convictions. To believe that this is a sin …

As Christians we don't believe that it is a special sin, it is a sin just like lying, arrogance, false witness, bitterness, anger, jealousy, fornication, adultery, etc.

… but in such a class if the right to same sex marriage trumps the right express one's religious convictions then the First Amendment will be dead, freedom will be dead, and the Constitution will become in fact what many think is already true in deed, a dead, meaningless document. As several Obama officials, including the Solicitor General of the United States, have stated, this will be the end of tax-exempt status for most religious institutions—charity, schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, churches, synagogues—all because they will not bow the knee to secularism. That is where we stand today.

Over the coming weeks, months and years we will come to understand the full consequences of this decision. Some of these things may not appear in the near future but they will appear gradually in the coming months. Unfortunately, I think, those who are in favor of same-sex marriage have been emboldened to think that this is now legal. Legal doesn't make something moral and it doesn't make it right. God is still in control and marriage is still between one man and one woman. But these things will come, inevitably.

Ultimately every single one of us is going to be confronted with our own choice in terms of the degree to which we are going to follow Jesus and apply the Word. Are we really willing to be a disciple (student) of Christ, a follower of Jesus no matter what the cost? In Luke 14 Jesus says three distinct things about being a disciple. Luke 14:26 ^NASB "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple." This will have direct application for many believers who have sons, daughters, brothers, sisters and even parents who are actively engaged in the homosexual lifestyle. And they will have to taker a stand: Jesus or your family, the Word of God or the word of man. And that will not be easy.

Luke 14:27 ^NASB “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple." The idiom of bearing your cross is the fact that in the Roman Empire when you were a criminal and convicted of certain activities that were treasonous to the empire, you were crucified and had to carry your cross to the place of execution. It was a sign of submission to the authority of the Roman Empire. To carry your cross is an idiom for submitting to the authority of God. Are you willing to submit to the authority of God? If not, Jesus says you cannot be His disciple.

Luke 14:33 ^NASB “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions."

Matthew 10:25 ^NASB “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more {will they malign} the members of his household!" We are the ones who are now going to be called bigots, the ones who are going to be called queers, and many, many things, all because of this shift that has taken place. But they called Jesus a lot of things. Jesus never made a mistake in His life; He never treated a sinner any other way than in grace and humility. He always manifested love to everyone that he met. But they crucified Him! Paul followed in His footsteps and they executed him; Peter followed in His footsteps and they crucified him. Stephen followed in His footsteps and they stoned him to death. This isn't a pleasant message. All but one of the disciples lost their lives when they took a stand for the truth. Taking a stand for the truth is not easy; it is often the decision that feels worst among the options. But it is the option that we make because it is the right decision and because the Lord is the one who strengthens us. Jesus said, "You will have many tribulations, but fear not because I have overcome the world." That is the message of hope, because we have victory in the Lord Jesus Christ no matter what happens.

In Matthew chapter fourteen there are a few lessons that we can apply to the situation I have described, but we need to understand what is happening here. In Matthew 13:14-21 we have Matthew's record of this most often reported miracle of Jesus, the feeding of the five thousand. It emphasizes the grace of God and the compassion of Jesus, and it emphasizes the sufficiency of God's power to meet any and all emergencies and exigencies that we face in life.

The Pharisees have rejected Jesus' claim to be the Messiah, rejected His claim to be God; they have rejected the offer of the kingdom, and as the representatives of the people they have made an earth shattering irreversible decision that will shape the destiny of Israel for the next forty years. They don't feel those consequences right away. Many of you see where I am going with this. It is the same kind of thing that happened on Friday. There was a decision made the consequences of which are beyond our imagination; but things can't be reversed. We won't go back, it is not going to happen. There has been a trajectory for the last 100 years in progressive politics that have denied what the Bible says about the nature of man, the nature of salvation, and even the nature of the kingdom. For in liberal theology, which influenced progressive politics, the kingdom was an earthly kingdom and a kingdom that involved the perfection of man and the perfection of human institutions.

When the Pharisees made that decision and rejected Jesus it set in motion that which would inevitably result in the destruction of Judea, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the reduction of the second temple to a pile of rubble. The children and grandchildren of those who were present with Jesus would suffer immeasurably during the revolt between 66 and 70 AD. Some forty years after this they would reap in horror the consequences of this decision. I have had so many emails over the last two days about how they fear for their children and their grandchildren because they will not grow up in a nation of law and a nation of freedom. This is going to be devastating.

The only way we can survive is in the Word. We have to realize that what we have experienced in this country for the last 200 years, the level of freedom and protection, the right to freely worship that we have experienced, is a bubble in history. And that bubble has burst. We can be thankful and praise God that we have experienced that wonderful blessing. But now something is on the rise and we need to prepare ourselves. That means we have to spend ten times more time (for some people) in the Word, in prayer, and in fortifying our souls for what will come than we ever did before. We have to recognize that we have been given a mission, which isn't a political mission but a spiritual mission related to making disciples. That is why we are here. We are ambassadors of the heavenly court; we are ambassadors for Christ to a sinful and fallen world. We are here to express to those who are in rebellion against God the love of God and the grace of God.

Matthew 14:13 ^NASB "Now when Jesus heard {about John,} He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard {of this,} they followed Him on foot from the cities." It is important for our lord to get away by Himself to spend some time in prayer, focus on the Word, and focus on His relationship with the Father. How much more it is important for each of us to have time on a daily basis to get rid of all the distractions, to turn off the electronic devices, and focus on reading the Word, to read and reflect about the Word of God and to be in prayer. This is central to our own spiritual growth.

Jesus gets into a boat and was probably accompanied on the boat by His disciples. These boats could not be operated by only one person. He takes this journey. We have been told already in Matthew that He had gotten in a boat a couple of times. On a third occasion He taught from a boat, and He is going to take two further journeys in Matthew by boat. Often it is because He is going over to the other side, to the territory of Herod Philip. He goes to this deserted place and in Luke 5:16 we are told, ^NASB "But Jesus Himself would {often} slip away to the wilderness and pray." This was something He regularly did. The application is that this is something that we, too, should regularly do. The multitudes followed Him. They could see where that boat was headed and took off on foot and followed Him there.

Remember, this is a large multitude. We are going to be told in verse 21 that the number was about 5000 males. That is not counting women and children, so the crowd estimate is something between 15-20,000. They were not all believers but they were interested, curious, and wanted to hear what Jesus had to say. Matthew 14:14 ^NASB "When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick." It is important to note that He is moved with compassion. Compassion in the Greek is the word SPLANCHNON, which literally means the bowels. It is an application of His love and His mercy toward all, not so some. He is healing all who come to Him. That is the point of the gospel. The gospel has no conditions upon it. The gospel doesn't say that if you quit your homosexuality, you adultery, your lying, your gossiping, you slander, etc., then you can come to Jesus.

We have to recognize when we look at homosexuality and same-sex marriage that this is not a unique sin, it is a sin among many sins. All sins separate us from God. We are separated initially because we were born spiritually dead. Because we are born spiritually dead and we are corrupted by a sin nature we sin in many different areas. Those who are homosexual have a particular area of weakness in their sin nature, driven by a different lust pattern. Categorically it is not any different from others sins. We know that in terms of its impact on society and culture it is different, and perhaps has a greater and more destructive impact than other sins but, nevertheless, as far as God is concerned it is another sin. When we are building relationships with those who are homosexual we shouldn't make an issue out of their sin. We shouldn't make an issue out of any sin because if they are not a believer the only issue is whether or not they believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sins. We are not in a position to be in judgment. Jesus said in John chapter three: "I did not come to judge but to save".

Matthew 14:15 ^NASB "When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, 'This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves'.” Jesus has been healing and teaching all day long. We know from the other Gospels, the parallels. For example Luke says that during that time He taught them; Matthew and John focus on His healing those who were sick, and Mark comments that He looked upon the multitudes as sheep without a shepherd. As Jesus ministers to them it goes on all day until it is getting towards evening.

Matthew 14:16 ^NASB "But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them {something} to eat!” That is the first command. We have to understand what is going on here. Jesus is training His disciples. Jesus is going to perform this particular miracle but nobody is going to observe the miracle—not like the other miracles. Jesus is going to divide the loaves and the fishes but nobody is going to see Him do that. What He is going to do is provide that which nourishes life, and it is the disciples' responsibility to distribute that to the people. This is training them for their future ministry.

Jesus will give them the manna, the spiritual food from heaven, but it is the responsibility of the disciples to take that to the people. By application, that extends all the way down to us. Jesus is the one who provides the nourishment and it is our responsibility to take that to the people.

In terms of this particular miracle this has a biblical context. There was a tradition going back to Moses that the Messiah would follow in the footsteps of Moses and provide bread for the people. In the wilderness after Israel had left Egypt God is the one who provided bread from heaven. Every morning they would wake up and find a resupply of manna. God provides that which we need. The important point for the disciples to realize here is that when they came to Jesus saying we have to feed these people and we don't have anything, Jesus allowed them to reach the point where they realized that they were insufficient to meet the need of the people. There was nothing they could do; they had to rely completely and totally upon Jesus. Jesus is the one who said that He would never leave us or forsake us, and that He was the one who would give us the ability to do all things. Paul says in Philippians chapter four: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

So He is training the disciples to realize, first of all, that in ministry and in our Christian life we have to realize that we can do nothing. When we face many problems in life there is not one thing we can do about it. God is the one who supplies the resources; God is the one who takes care of us.

Matthew 14:17 ^NASB "They said to Him, 'We have here only five loaves and two fish'.” One of the disciples said he had two hundred denarii—about the wages a common laborer would earn in eight months. This isn't a tremendous amount if they were to feed 15-20,000 people, so basically they were saying they had nothing. [18] "And He said, 'Bring them here to Me'.”

Then He gives a third command. Matt 14:19 ^NASB " Ordering the people to sit down on the grass …" This conforms to what John says. This was the last Passover, one year before the crucifixion. "… He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed {the food,} and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples {gave them} to the crowds." This would have been a Jewish blessing before the beginning of a meal: "Blessed art thou O Lord, our God, the King of the universe who brings forth bread from the earth".

The focus here is on Jesus training the twelve. This is what we have to remember. It is a training for us that we are insufficient. We face many obstacles in life; we are insufficient. Only God can provide the answer. God provides the resources. Whether God provides the resources to change the law or whether He does not and we go through persecution and tribulation, God will supply the resources. This is what He taught Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9: "My grace is sufficient for you". God's grace will always be sufficient for us.

Six principles that apply to our current situation

1. This is a mixed multitude. Some are believers; some are not. Some are hostile to Him; some are not. But Jesus never focused on their sin. Their sin, whatever it might be, wasn't the issue. The issue was God's love for sinners (John 3:16; Romans 5:12). The issue isn't homosexuality; the issue is the love of God and what God has done.

2. Love should define the Christian life. But we have to define love. Love in the eyes of the world today is to approve and accept and validate other people's behavior. If we don't accept, approve and validate that behavior then we are considered intolerant and unloving. They have a false definition of love. Every parent knows this. If you are a parent and you love your children and you validate and approve everything that they do, what have you raised? A bunch of spoiled, rebellious brats! That is not love. Love will accept the person but does not approve of certain actions that take place. We need to recognize that this is one of the errors of today. There is a misunderstanding of tolerance and a misunderstanding of love

3. Our job is not to judge the sinner but to provide the gospel and truth. In many cases that is going to have traction because of the way we live, the way we talk, and the way we act around people who are not believers. If we come across as being arrogant, judgmental, angry, then that is going to hinder our own ability to express the gospel. 1 Corinthians 16:13, 14 ^NASB "Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love."

4. We have to recognize that Jesus did all of the above, and He was still crucified. If we do everything we are supposed to do that doesn't guarantee a change, but it does guarantee that we have done the right thing. We can't guarantee results; we can only guarantee that we are obedient. We need to focus on that.

5. We have to focus on God's mission for each of us, which does not promise comfort but does recognize the reality of tribulation. Jesus said: "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world".

6. Our mission includes several dimensions. It includes growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). Many people find themselves too busy to be in Bible class or too busy to watch online. That is not going to be an acceptable reality anymore for any Christian. This is really a dividing line which is going to separate those who are just going along for a nice ride from those who are disciples. At the end of John chapter six we are told that many of Jesus' disciples left Him. What He was saying was just too hard—"I just can't do it; I can't have this kind of problem in my family. I might lose my job; what would I do? I can't face the kind of opposition and rejection that I'll get from my friends and family". The problem was that they left Jesus. That is what they said. Jesus turned to His disciples and said: "Why don't you leave?" Peter said: "Where else would we go? You have the words of eternal life." We have to keep that priority focused. Things might get tough, but there is only one option and that is eternal life. Second, we are to take the bread of life to those who are spiritually dead. We need to be involved in evangelism, both by deed and by word. Third, we are not to be conformed to the world (Romans 12:2). That is a mandate.

Don't be pressured by the cosmic system to conform and to validate their errors. Trust me, every one of us in this room are going to be pressured by government policy, the policy at the place where you work, to conform in your vocabulary. You are going to have family members who are homosexual, who are involved in same-sex marriage, who will be offended if you do not use the appropriate term to refer to the person they are involved with. If you call then wives and husbands you are being conformed to the world. And that will break down your conscience. It will desensitize you to error, and this will cause great harm to your spiritual life and your walk with the Lord.

Some of us may lose friends; some of us may lose family members; some of us may lose our job; some of us may lose our freedom and our lives. But this is not new for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the call to discipleship, and from this time forward life is not the same for us as it was before. Everything changed on Friday morning. We have a God who is still on the throne, who is still in control, who knew all of this was going to happen, and He gave us everything we are going to need in order to survive and to sustain us through this and have joy and happiness and peace in our lives, because that is not dependent on anything that the government does. We have an eternal hope in Jesus Christ.

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