 Today, we're in chapter 6 here in the book of Luke. We're going to be looking at verses 12 through 19. So let's begin reading here in Luke chapter 6 at verse 12, and I'll read to verse 19 and we'll get into our study. Luke chapter 6, beginning at verse 12 and reading to verse 19. Luke writes, now it came to pass in those days that he went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day he called his disciples to him and from them he chose 12 whom he also named apostles, Simon whom he also named Peter and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alpheus and Simon called the zealot, Judas the son of James and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon who came to hear him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits and they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch him for power went out from him and healed them all. What we see here this evening, this portion of Scripture relates to the calling and equipping of the twelve, the twelve who are ultimately referred to by apostles. And these are the men who ultimately make up the core of what has become called Christians. Now at this time people are beginning to choose sides concerning Jesus Christ. The religious leaders are having difficulties with the things that he is saying and the things that he is doing. They especially have found fault with him as it relates to the way he treated the Sabbath. He had recently healed a man on the Sabbath and instead of rejoicing with the man who was healed they were filled with rage. Remember verse 11 it says they were filled with rage and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. That word rage there in the original language means that there was a rage that was really like madness. They were absolutely incensed, incredibly angry about this. And so it says here that they discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus. Matthew gives us further insight if you take notes as found in Matthew chapter 12 verses 14 and 15 when it says the Pharisees went out and plotted against him how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew what he withdrew from there and a great multitude followed him and he healed them all. And so they are not only just in rage, they are now beginning to plot about how they're going to be able if they can put Jesus to death. And so this is the background. This is what is taking place at this time. And so as we look at verse 12 it says it came to pass in those days that he went out to the mountain to pray. This is an unnamed mountain. It's in northern Israel in Galilee. But under those conditions Jesus now takes time to do something. He takes time to choose 12 apostles. His popularity is growing. His work is increasing. And now it is becoming more demanding. And because of this he begins to organize the work and he begins to train his leadership. Now they're being trained to do the work of God. The ministry is also what is referred to in Scripture as a work of God. And they're being trained to be fellow ministers working alongside of Jesus Christ. Later on Paul when he was writing in 1 Corinthians in chapter 3 verse 9 described himself and God's people as being God's fellow workers. And that's what's taking place right now. Jesus is about to choose the ones he will pour himself into who are going to continue his work. And so what does he do? How does he go about doing this? How is Jesus going to choose 12 out of so many disciples? How is he going to go about making the choice as to who he's going to have as his core? Those who are going to be with him. Those are going to spend time learning from him in a personal way. Well first I want you to notice what he does. As he's about to make this choice it says that he went out to the mountain to pray. So the first thing we see about him making this kind of choice is he went out to pray. Before choosing the apostles there he is alone on a mountain. He spends an entire night in prayer. And this is serious prayer because the future of the church depends on his choices. He needs to make decisions that are in agreement with the will of his father. And so he's there making prayerful choices. And what's interesting to me, and we'll see this as we go through the Gospel of Luke, one of those choices that he makes is for a man by the name of Judas. Even Judas was part of the prayerful choices of selection. And so that's what he's doing. He's spending the night on a mountain praying. And in verse 13 it says, and when it was day he called his disciples to him. And from them he chose 12. He chose 12 whom he also named apostles. Now there are a number of followers who are gathered together. And from those followers he chooses 12. One of the scriptures that the Lord gave to me a long time ago as it relates to leadership and choosing and mentoring, developing, organizing and implementing is found in Mark chapter 3 verse 14. It's a very simple scripture. It's the same particular subject. It's the choosing of the 12, but the way Mark says it, it simply says he appointed 12 that they might be with him. And so I have that, by the way, I'll say this briefly. I do have that as a way of philosophy in terms of ministry. I believe that one of the most effective ways to train leaders is to spend time with them, is to have appointed time with them. When our church first began many years ago now, I had three men who were on my board. And so the board here, the church board, consisted of four men, myself and three others. And I had a little office on B Street in the city of Ontario, right off of Euclid. And every Tuesday from the beginning of the church, every Tuesday, I would meet with these three other men. And I would prepare a study for them. And what they would do is they would meet with me at the office there at 7 o'clock. And they'd come into the office. I'd be waiting for them at 7. They'd come on Tuesday at 7 o'clock in the evening. And then we would walk up to Euclid and take a left and go north and just go up a little ways. And there was a Mexican restaurant there. And we would go up to this restaurant. And we would get coffee. And we'd get some chips and salsa. And I would talk to them for an hour, just enjoying them, just visiting with them. And I'd ask them, you know, what did you guys do today? And just kind of catch up on things. And then we'd be there from 7 o'clock to 8. And then from 8 o'clock, they would come to my office. And from 8 to 9, I would say, this is what the Lord is laying on my heart. This is where I think God wants to lead this church. These are the things that He's been teaching me. And for the next hour, I would just share with them the things on my heart. I learned to do that from Mark chapter 3 verse 14. The Scripture I just quoted that He chose 12 that they might be with Him. Because I believe that the best way to impart vision is to spend time with people. You know, it's an incredible thing how sometimes churches can actually operate without ever having staff ministry meetings. You know, from that time, from 7 o'clock to 9 o'clock, 25 years ago, going on 26 now, from that time to this day, every Tuesday, every Tuesday, I have a staff meeting. Every Tuesday, I do the same thing that I did 25 years ago. And after Wednesday night Bible studies, when you see me disappear and you might wonder where to go, I'm in the back and I have a staff meeting. And I have a staff meeting on Sunday nights too. I have a staff meeting on Monday. We have a lot of staff meetings in this church because I like to impart things to the men. I like to hear where their hearts are and I like to share where mine is with them. I learned that from Jesus. Jesus had a multitude of people. He had disciples within that multitude. And from that multitude and those disciples, He chose as those whom He refers to as apostles. Now, the men that He chooses here are 12 ordinary men. And what He wants to do is He wants to spend time with them. He actually is going to become a friend to them. They're going to hear His words. They're going to witness His works. They're going to study His doctrine. They're going to work alongside of Him. They're going to eat with Him. They're going to talk to Him. They're going to laugh with Him. They will cry with Him. They're going to ask Him questions. They're going to be with Him. His ministry will be taught and His ministry will be caught by these men. They're going to learn what to be, what to do, and what to say as His ambassadors. And the purpose is going to be to train them to do the work of ministry. Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 and 12 tells us that He appointed some to be apostles and prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. He said for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry. And that's what God is doing here, you see. That's what Jesus Christ is doing is He's spending time with these men so that they might be able to take out the things that He's pouring into them and that they might be able to perform those things in the world, especially when He's gone. There was a church in Strasbourg, France. It was severely damaged by bombs during World War II. And they had a beloved statue of Christ there, and it survived the bombing. But a sealing beam had fallen across the arms and broken them off. A local sculptor offered to restore the statue without charge, but the townspeople decided to leave it as it was without hands. It would be a continuing reminder to them that God does His work through His people, His earthly hands. And that's what the Lord Jesus Christ is doing. He's equipping these saints for the work of ministry. Now notice with me, it says in verse 13, He called His disciples to Him, and from them He chose 12 whom He named apostles. The word disciple is the Greek word that means a learner or a pupil. It speaks of a follower. These disciples are the ones who are already pursuing the Lord Jesus, attached to Him over a lifetime. But from these disciples, He now selects 12 whom He refers to as apostles. The word apostle is the Greek word apostolos, and it speaks of an ambassador, one who has been sent forth representing the government of the kingdom of God. And the apostles were a small select group, and they would teach with authority, they exercised power to perform miracles, and they were the building blocks that God used to lay the foundation for the kingdom. That's what Ephesians chapter 2 says, verses 19 and 20, when it says, You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself being the chief cornerstone. Now what's interesting here is the names of these are now given to us. Notice the names, verse 14. You have Simon, whom He also named Peter, Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alpheus and Simon called Azelot, Judas the son of James and Judas Ascariot, who also became a trader. When you look at the list of apostles in the various places you find them in the gospels as well as the book of Acts, you will always see Simon Peter, the first name on the list, and you will always see Judas Ascariot, the last name. Now as you look at these men, I want you to notice something with me. You have some men that may be fairly well known to you. If you read your gospels, they become well known to you. If you read the book of Acts, some of these men will stand out. You know, Judas obviously is well remembered for what he did, but you also have Peter and you have Andrew and you have James and you have John. Everybody knows doubting Thomas. We know Matthew and even Philip may stand out to you because they are mentioned more than once in Scripture, but you also have some who are less recognizable. You have men like Bartholomew, you have James the son of Alpheus, you have Simon the zealot, you have Judas the son of James. Judas the son of James also is given two different names, Lebeius and Thaddeus are also the same man, and most of those people are pretty much unknown to us. It's interesting how the Lord Jesus Christ took this group of basically fairly ordinary and regular type people and used them to produce the building blocks, the foundations of the church. But when you look at them, they're not that spectacular or remarkable. You know, some of them do indeed stand out, but most of them are basically anonymous to us outside of mentioning Scripture, even here and maybe one or two other places. But it's interesting how the Lord Jesus Christ took people who were so different and made them into a team outside of Judas. You have men like Matthew who is a tax gatherer, and who is Matthew there with is with a guy named Simon who's a zealot. Now that may not mean anything to you, but when you consider the fact that the zealots were what we would call today the reactionaries, they were the activists of the Society of Israel, they hated the nation of Rome, it was an amazing thing how the Lord Jesus Christ could take a tax gatherer who was hated by the zealots and put them together and actually create a team. That means that there's got to be something greater than our self-interest, there's got to be something greater than the things that we are most interested in, that we can put aside in order to center our attention on that which is most important. And I believe that that happens in churches when Jesus Christ remains the center of attention. Listen, if we come into churches and we bring our own agendas and we say, well the church would be better if I bring this in and I bring that in. Sometimes the things that we want to bring into the church are more divisive than unifying. We have to center our attention on the things that are most important. And I find it interesting to note that you could have a tax gatherer whom everybody hated as well as a man who was an activist hated the tax gatherers and yet they could be brought together for a central goal which was greater than their self-interest which is to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world. And when they attacked themselves to Jesus Christ the lives were transformed. The lives became different, they became better, they became something that was worthy of being called Christian and that's what happens. So you have some that are remarkable but you have some that are unremarkable. In reality you don't see any major players here though. You know today if people were to select a dream team for the foundations for Christianity I wonder how many of us would be thought of as being candidates for that. I mean you've got Peter, James, John and Andrew and all they are are fishermen. All they are, they're businessmen but that's basically all they are. They're not theologians, they're not well known in the society, they don't have anything that really causes other people to look at them and say boy you know these people have something that makes me want to follow them. I've discovered that God has a way of working with unspectacular people so that the glory goes to him and not to the man. Years ago I was talking to my own pastor Chuck and I was going to school at the time along with several other Calvary pastors and I was talking to Chuck and I said, pastor what do you think about us going back to school? What do you think about that? I was going to Azusa Pacific at that time, I was taking a master's class there in ministry and I asked him what do you think about that and he thought for a moment he says well you know education is fine. There's nothing wrong with it. He says but the thing that concerns me the most is the success of the ministry. He says because God blesses in the ministry and what happens is the schools begin to take credit for the work of the person who graduated from that school and so you might have a massive church you know a Calvary chapel that is making a tremendous impact and before you know it the school that graduated that person that pastor begins to say well we are the ones who trained him. He said that's the thing that concerns me because most of the Calvary pastors that I know are pretty much guys who just basically just barely graduated from high school. I mean we got good grades when we could spell our name the same two times in a row. I mean that's that's the way we were. I mean we didn't have the greatest educational background. I graduated from high school with a D minus average you know and I wasn't you know I wasn't a Rhodes scholar when I was in college either. It was very very tough. It was hard for me an undisciplined background of an individual who didn't really read anything outside of comic books three years and I discovered a long time ago and I say this as an encouragement to you especially to those who are there saying right now I'm smarter than you let me encourage you that that may be so and probably is but what God looks for is not a remarkable or spectacular person who can take the glory for themselves. What God looks for is somebody who gets out of the way so God gets all the glory so that the world begins in the church world can actually scratch their heads and say man how that happened. I can still remember I was in a particular class Jeff Johnson and I Jeff is a pastor of Calvary Chapel of Downey and we were in a class and there was an older pastor he was he was probably in his sixties had been in ministry for over 40 years and we were young at that time it's been a number of years now probably 18 years or more ago and there we were in this class and I remember him looking at Jeff and looking at me and finally after class after class he finally said into the semester he said I just have to ask a question and he said that to the professor Dr. Grant and so the professor said what is the question you'd like to ask and he turns and he looks at Jeff and he looks at me and he says I just want to know why them why them why has God blessed their ministries why has God done that and that's the mystery of it isn't it that God has a way of just doing what God wants to do and when Jesus Christ chose these men look at them carefully the original apostles were just unremarkable they were simply ordinary people ordinary people who spent time with Jesus Christ after the day of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit falls upon the 120 there in the upper room in the city of Jerusalem and they've spilled out into the street and the apostle Peter has given that wonderful Pentecost message and thousands of people are beginning to get saved God began to do some remarkable works and ultimately on one occasion Peter and John went to the temple at the hour of prayer in order that they might go in for prayer and as they were entering into the gate called beautiful there was a man there at the gate called beautiful the beautiful gate who was there begging and alms from people and and Peter and John are about to walk past him and yet as they approached this man a man who more than likely by the way had been there many times Jesus had passed him by I'm certain several times as he was on his way into the temple but had had not healed him but this time Peter and John are going in and as they're about to walk in this man is there and and Peter looking down at the man says to the man look at us now when the man raises his eyes to look up at Peter and John the Bible says he he looked up expecting to receive something and and meaning and alms he was expecting to get some money and that's when Peter looks at him and says silver and gold have I none but such as I have give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I say unto you rise to your feet and walk and the Bible says that he reaching down takes the man by the hand and begins to lift him up and as he begins to lift him the man begins to begins to receive strength in his his ankles and his calves and his knees and his thighs and his back and an instant equilibrium and and he begins to walk and he begins to leap and then he begins to praise God and now he's hanging on to the men and he's amazed and now a group of people who knew that this was a crippled man who had been in that wise for a long time began to come around and then Peter looking at them says men of Israel why do you look upon us as if it's our own holiness our own goodness that has caused this man to become every whithole before you said it's in the name of Jesus Christ and he begins to preach to them while the religious leaders don't appreciate that very much at all because as he's preaching he lets the religious leaders know that it was through their efforts that the Messiah was actually crucified died and was buried they didn't like that so they arrested them now they're upset they want these people to stop speaking but the problem is is they begin to realize that a work happened they see Peter they see this man who had been crippled and the Bible in Book of Acts tells us in chapter 4 it tells us that they took note that these men who were unlearned men this is what they said concerning them them that they had been with Jesus that's what they say they took note concerning these unlearned men these men who were not trained in their seminaries they simply took note that these men had been with Jesus that's the key spending time with Jesus spending time with the Lord that's the key having this mentality did that without you I can do nothing is the key to God using you in wonderful ways why so that no flesh will glory in his sight so that you can't after doing some wonderful thing in his name go back to your house boasting about how important and how effective and how good you are at what you do it's this amazing dependence on the Lord saying to him God unless you go with me I don't want to go out and I know that on a personal level because I'm shy by nature some of you have discovered that I've had people get hurt feelings with me over the years nothing recent but it'll happen again because I'm quiet and they might walk up to me and they expect me to be like I am behind the pulpit when I'm there having a cup of coffee and and I'm friendly but I'm not real animated you know and and sometimes they think oh he's not and let me tell you something you know God takes people who are not comfortable doing what I do and he puts you in the position of doing that so you depend on him listen one last thing I hated studying I didn't enjoy reading almost I did not like writing and I hated standing in front of the class and guess what I do every day God has a way of doing that he has a way of saying oh you don't like to read that much anymore you're gonna read you don't like to write you're gonna learn to write you don't like to stand up and talk in front of people you'd rather recede into the background I'm gonna put you in the foreground because that way you remain dependent on me and so the Lord Jesus Christ is selecting some men they're very unremarkable men and yet these are the men that he chooses now let's look at them I want to share a few more things about them first I want to point out something here again I want you to see that it's Jesus who called them to himself notice verse 13 he called his disciples to him and they did not decide that they had this calling of being an apostle they didn't strive to be chosen they didn't sit up in the very front we'll say of all the other disciples and you know sometimes there were people in class that would the teacher would say well I'd like to call in the class can one of you answer this and you have that one person whose hands up all the time me me choose me you know they weren't doing that they didn't stand up there me me I want to be an apostle you know that didn't happen like that at all in John 15 verse 16 it says you didn't choose me I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain you didn't choose me I made the choice for you so when he called his disciples to him and second he appointed those 12 that they might be with him even as I mentioned a moment ago because he's going to mentor them he's mentoring them in the ways of God he's going to reveal himself in a clear way to them in Luke chapter 10 verses 22 through 24 Jesus said all things have been delivered to me by my father no one knows who the son is except the father and who the father is except the son and the one to whom the son wills to reveal him then he turned to his disciples and said privately blessed are the eyes which see the things you see for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see and have not seen it and to hear what you hear and have not heard it so he's going to give to them things he's going to reveal to them the mysteries of the kingdom so one he chooses them and two he wants to be with them so that he might be able to disciple mentor them and producing them an ability to take that which he has communicated to them and give it to the world a third thing he intended to equip them he's equipping them in order that he might send them being with Jesus qualified them to bear witness to him and to minister in his name again they were ordinary men that God would use to astound the world turned it upside down turned it upside down again in first Corinthians Paul says in chapter one verses 26 through 29 you see your calling brethren that not many wise according to the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are that no flesh should glory in his presence sometimes sometimes i stand amazed at the goodness of God at the goodness of God because you know what what what many in this room might not know might not remember we're not here well i remember i remember what it was like in 1973 to have the first bible study that i ever gave in september of 1973 in a little home in norwalk i remember that i remember what it's like to have a handful of people coming to bible studies there in norwalk for years what it was like to have a bible study in 1974 and in ontario and into mont clare in 1975 i remember what it was like to be an assistant pastor in a small church and to be on staff there for a few years and and they have bible studies that sometimes may have 30 and most of the time a little bit less and i do remember i do remember what it was like to start this fellowship with 25 people 30 adults possibly and 15 kids and i remember what it was like for the first two or three years where we had wednesday night bible studies and no child care we met in a house and we remained there for at least two years in this home until we finally needed to start getting child care and and i remember our first child care for wednesday nights which was not really child care at all we had two women in the fellowship who were in their 60s and we thought well you know they're they're they're sweet ladies that didn't really know them very well they were in their 60s in the early 60s and and i thought well we ought to have these grandmas taking care of the children and you know and we didn't even have children's ministry and so i had these two women who were to take care of a handful of babies and i was teaching in a classroom in ontario christian elementary school and my back was to the wall and the and the wall was the wall that separated the teaching room from the babysitting room and and i remember hearing noise kind of loud but i didn't know what it was but i thought boy they're kind of loud those kids are kind of loud in that room and i heard that a couple times until my my daughter karin who is one of the small children who were being cared in that room told me one day she was only a few years old and she said daddy those women sure are mean to us and i said what yeah they're yelling at us all the time i said you're kidding me no daddy they yell at us all the time and so i sent someone there to stand next to the door on a wednesday night and lo and behold these grandmas had demonic spirits they were mean grandmas you know hell's angel grandmas i mean i should have known the tattoos and the chains but that you know i thought well and you know but i still remember that and so did the kids who were scarred by that and and our sunday night services that we had in a small room that we had we've been doing sunday night services for 24 years and i can remember we we had a small building on grove there in the city of ontario sat 120 people and i remember that very well because it sat 120 it was never filled up but we were going through genesis and it was well attended and we got into exodus and they made an exodus and we went from the hundred plus that we used to have it went down to like 60 and and then one day i said you know what the bible says we ought to serve the lord and many of you aren't serving we're caring for your children but you ought to get busy and help and the next week we didn't need any more help because half of those people stopped coming to bible studies yes i had the nerve to actually say they ought to serve the lord and watch their kids once in a while can you imagine that how how bad am i for suggesting that they actually help and serve the lord and so we had people who left them the church at that time it went down to like a 30 person bible study on a on a sunday night i can remember all of those days some of you can too because as i look out i see some who've been with me from day one and so what happens you just see the hand of the lord and as i walk through this place now we've been on these grounds since 92 as i walk through these grounds and i see what god has done i know that god does remarkable things i have no doubt in my mind that he does i know that god uses ordinary people to do things for him i know that why so that he should get all the glory and that no flesh should glory in his presence these men are being trained to preach the message of redemption to the whole world it's the only plan that god has for reaching this world they've been called to witness and to share they've been called to minister his word to those in need in romans 10 verses 13 through 15 the bible says everyone who calls on the name of the lord will be saved how then can they call on the on the one they have not believed in and how can they believe in the one of whom they've not heard and how can they hear without someone preaching to them and how can they preach unless they are sent as it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news and so the responsibility of the declaration of the message moves the person to share the love of christ with other people again unremarkable men ordinary people but that's what we are too in 2nd Corinthians 4 7 paul said we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from god and not from us and that's how it works these men are being sent out to preach they have the power to heal sickness cast out demons they're going to partake in the power of god's kingdom and god is going to use them to heal and deliver and so jesus is there teaching them because someone who has been there needs to train them so they understand what they are to do i was laughing today with my my daughter karin and uh you know she's 29 years old and i was remembering when she was maybe three months old you know you can remember those things and i do and i was laughing with her today because we went to buy her her first pair of shoes little boots you know those little boots that you buy for your babies you know marie and i being new parents went out to buy her some boots i still remember going to sears and walking into the children section there and walking into the area that they had these baby shoes and so we started taking shoes and trying to put them on her little baby feet she's three months old and so we're putting these shoes on her feet but but they're not fitting her and we're trying but i don't want to hurt her so we i'd say my goodness her her foot's a lot bigger than it looks and i'd get another one and i'd start to put it on her little foot there and she'd start squirming and i take it off and and i finally got this one shoe that was i mean her foot was maybe two inches and this shoe was like four inches i'm not kidding and i got it and i put it on and i tied it up and i said it fits this shoe fits but when you looked at her little skinny leg is she looked like bozo she looked like a clown with these big old shoes and i'm saying this is amazing and here comes this woman a sales lady and she walks up and she says this is your first baby and and we go yes it is this is our first baby and we're thinking how did she know so she untyes the shoe and she pulls it off and she says you see these shoes have paper in them and she takes the paper out and puts it on this big old shoe and she says so you can take the paper out we needed help we needed help we needed somebody to teach us when Marie began to nurse Corinne in the you know her first baby we had a woman who had nursed several babies who were who was there for Marie who would talk to her and say don't be surprised when this happens and don't be surprised when you feel this and mentored her and how grateful we were you see as young people we got kind of uptight we got like come on now you know this is something natural God created this with this you know here I am as a man telling Marie you can nurse you know I learned from there I'm not to do that either by the way but this woman was so patient and kind she became you know and just a friend to Marie and she could say well honey you're going to feel these things and don't worry about it if you get this way and lo and behold Marie would feel these things and remember what she said and talked to her and she walked her through this so we have valued mentoring for a long time and that's what Jesus is doing guys he's pouring into these men who are going to ultimately take what he poured into them and they are going to pour it into other men and it's going to be that way as a chain throughout the history of the church and they're walking alongside of the Lord Jesus Christ learning to do ministry now in verse 17 he came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon who came to hear him and be healed of their diseases as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits they were healed and the whole multitude sought to touch him for power went out from him and healed them all and so Jesus is now as it says on a level place somewhere in northern Israel and gathered before him are his newly chosen apostles and disciples as well as a crowd of curious people we know that by now Jesus's popularity and fame among the people has become very great Luke has already been alluding to that in his in his gospel now remember in chapter four verses 14 and 15 how he had said Jesus returned in the power of the spirit to Galilee and news of him went out through all the surrounding region and he taught in their synagogues being glorified by all in chapter four verse 37 it says a report about him went out into every place in the surrounding region we see that Jesus's fame is now spreading throughout that area and that's what is taking place now and so these people are coming from various areas they're coming from Judea from Jerusalem they're coming from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon which is up in in the area of modern Lebanon and notice they came they came to hear him as he was teaching and many came that they might be healed they obviously had been hearing reports of him and they wanted to hear for themselves what this rabbi had to say because the things that he was saying were remarkable and and Luke again has already been publishing that for us in Luke 422 all bore witness to him marvel that the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth Luke 432 they were astonished at his teaching for his word was with authority later on when the Pharisees send some officers to arrest Jesus and the Pharisees when these officers come back without him wonder why he didn't bring them their only response in John 746 was no man ever spoke like this man and so there was something about Jesus the eloquence that would proceed from his lips the things that he spoke the way that he would share the way that he was with people there was something about him there was something about him I was talking to our men just yesterday my staff and that's what I was trying to share with them there was something about him there was something about him that was very attractive some of you have been to college and you've had professors who have incredible intellect and education and you are intimidated by them I have been intimidated by their knowledge they have forgotten things that you will never learn and you know that greatly educated sharp minds eloquent speakers and you might be so intimidated by them that that when you're given an opportunity in class to to ask a question you don't raise your hand there's no way you're going to do that because you don't want to look stupid or you've discovered that he has kind of a sharp wit and he may make you look funny so you don't want to raise your hand and ask a question even if it's a very important one so you wait until class is over and you try and corner him for a little while after class and you say you know I wanted to ask you this question because you may be willing to take the chance alone with him but you're certainly not going to make yourself vulnerable in front of a group of people Jesus wasn't like that at all Jesus was not like that at all Jesus was the kind of man and is the kind of person he's our Messiah and he loves us that you could approach and you could speak to him or share with the guys I said when you read the Bible notice how how parents would bring their babies to Jesus that he might bless them and Jesus would actually when the disciples would try and shoo these parents away Jesus would say no you let him come to me and he would take the babies and anybody in this room who's ever had a baby or cared for one knows that small babies are not necessarily the most polite human beings in the world they can make some messes they can make some odd smells Mike my grandson is well anyway he's he's into that right now saying oh guess what I just did and I can already guess as I'm holding him he makes some odd smells sometimes and and they can do that sometimes when I'm holding babies like just this last weekend to dedicate them they get fascinated with my my my microphone or my glasses and and they'll reach over and grab and start pulling on it they're not polite I used to wear a full beard and my babies almost all four of them learned how to stand by grabbing hold of my beard and pulling themselves up they're not the most polite in the world they certainly are not and and you can you can generally generally not always but generally tell someone who's who's fairly kind by the amount of children that like to hang around them Jesus had babies that actually would come to him that he would hold and they might spit up on him and they might do things and he would just hold and his disciples would watch this and they would think how marvelous this one is that can speak with such authority and with such power who can they will learn later command the the wind and the sea and it obeys him what manner of man is this who can raise the dead back to life who can walk on water what manner of man is this who can banish leprosy and open the eyes of the blind and unstop the ears of the deaf what manner of man is this and that's all it was with them and they would spend time with the Lord and they would ask them their questions they would watch him minister and all along he's pouring into them his life so that when they get his word and his power they can take it out and people are gathering multitudes and you have the disciples those who are clinging to everything he has to say you have the apostles who are now being trained in a more formal way and you have this interested group and as they're coming they want to hear what he has to say but they also want to be touched by him because he heals diseases the message of salvation is accompanied with miracles it validates his message acts chapter 222 says as uh as peter was praying preaching says men of israel hear these words Jesus of Nazareth a man attested by God to you by miracles wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst you yourselves also know so they knew that Jesus was doing these remarkable things and therefore they came because they wanted to be touched now notice in verse 19 the whole multitude sought to touch him for power went out from him and healed them all so as fame is spread throughout the region they are now coming to be healed and notice this as they desire to touch him that they might be made well this is the man that reaches out and can touch a leper and a man who is willing to reach out and touch somebody in that condition is a man who's loving enough to heal them and so they came to him that he might reach out and touch them and all they wanted to do is reach out and touch him like that woman with the issue of blood for all those years who thought within herself as Jesus was walking by and she sees him if i but touch the him of his garment i shall be made whole and she though she was an outcast because a woman with an issue of blood was ceremonially unclean and thus was not to have any contact with anybody until her her blood flow had had stopped this woman had had no fellowship with those who are religious for 12 years but she sees jesus and she says within herself if i but just touched the him of his garment i'll be made well and that's what she does and the interesting thing is that jesus stops and as he stops and the whole christian parade comes to a bumping halt he asks the question who touched me and there are his incredibly intellectual disciples who say to him master you see this crowd and you're asking the question who touched me he says someone touched me because i felt virtue i felt power leave me somebody reached up and touched me and the woman came trembling before the lord jesus christ and confessed that it was her this was a woman who knew that though she was not to be doing what she did she was not to be around people because had she bumped into them they could become unclean she said i just know if i touch him i'm going to be made well and you want to know something guys that's still true because if you reach out in faith and you touch him through faith lord i can be made well i can be haul i can be healed my life can be transformed i can be once again brought into society as a transformed a new person healed because of you if you understand that then you would even today reach out and touch him in faith because he's still passing by and you can still reach out and you can still touch him