International Impact of Pentecost

It’s amazing to consider the international reach that occurred on the day of Pentecost. 

The Scriptures state, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.” (Act 2:1-5)

God planned this perfectly.  Pentecost was a Jewish feast that brought Jews from around the world into Jerusalem.  And when the Spirit of God was poured out on the disciples of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, the people in the crowd declared their nationalities and places of origin. They included people from the far eastern border of the Roman Empire (Parthians, Medes and Elamites), westward through Mesopotamia and Judea, and the regions of Asia Minor, as well as Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia. They also included people from the southern regions of the empire--Egypt and, west of it, the parts of Libya near Cyrene, the capital of the Empire, Rome, the island of Crete, and the Arabs.  Here are the modern day names of these places:

• Parthia was a region of modern-day northeastern Iran. 
• Media was a region of modern-day northwestern Iran.
• Elam was a region of modern-day southwest Iran.
• Judea included the nation of Israel.
• Mesopotamia was generally all the lands between the Euphrates and the Tigris, including modern-day Syria, almost all of Iraq and southeastern Turkey.
• Asia Minor corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of modern-day Turkey.
• Cappadocia corresponds to the center of what is now Turkey.
• Pontus was located in modern-day northeastern Turkey.
• Asia is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean and on the north by the Arctic Ocean.
• Phrygia was the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey.
• Pamphylia was modern day Antalya province, Turkey
• Egypt was much the same as modern day Egypt.
• The parts of Libya near Cyrene were located in North Africa.
• Rome was, of course, in modern day Italy.
• Crete was one of the islands of the Mediterranean Sea.
• The Arabs were the people living in Western Asia and North Africa.  These include the modern day nations of Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Tunisia, Libya, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Mauritania, Qatar, and Bahrain. 

As you can see, there was a vast multinational group represented in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out.  They heard the disciples speaking in other tongues.  “And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, ‘Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?’” (Act 2:6-8)

The people were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished!  And they said, “We hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” (Act 2:11)

The people from these nations were both Jews and Gentile converts to Judaism.   They heard the mighty deeds of God declared in their own languages that day.  It was God’s plan that they should all see His Spirit poured out and hear the gospel preached, because it is a universal message for all nations.

After they heard Peter preach the gospel, they were convicted deeply by the Holy Spirit.  “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’” (Act 2:37)

Still Only One Way to be Saved Today

The answer that Peter gave to their question is the same for us today.  Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." (Act 2:38-39) When they asked what they must do to be saved, Peter told them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.   

About three thousand people were added to the church that day.  And presumably most of them later went back to their home countries with the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ for their people.  No matter what nation or race you are from, this is still the only way to be saved.

Still Only One Way to be Empowered as a Witness
Just as the gospel message hasn't changed, neither has God's way for disciples of Christ to be His witnesses.  We still need to be empowered and that can only happen by being baptized in the Holy Spirit. There is no place in Scripture where Jesus revoked His command to wait until you first receive the power of the Holy Spirit before being His witness.

Scholars say that Pentecostal and charismatic churches are the fastest growing form of Christianity today.  According to a report from Voice of America, regarding a new global study funded by the John Templeton Foundation, researchers state that Pentecostals and charismatics make up one quarter of the world's Christians, and the majority of them are in the developing world.  These congregations are thriving, because they believe God is powerful and is doing miracles in the present.  They are ministering to the sick and the poor, and meeting the needs of these people in their communities.

Putting it All Together
Before the disciples were baptized in the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, they were afraid and hiding out in a locked room.  But when the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were clothed with supernatural power to be bold witnesses of the resurrected Christ. The gospel is for all nations, and perhaps as many as 25 nations received the gospel on that first day.  The international impact of Pentecost was vast and can still be seen today. In many countries the church has been in existence since that day.

Being baptized in the Holy Spirit is still essential in order to be a truly effective witness for Christ. Churches that teach and practice this are among the fastest multiplying churches in the world.

Ultimately there will one day be worshipers from every nation, tribe, and language before the throne of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. As the apostle John wrote in the Revelation he received, "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.' " (Rev 7:9-10)

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you are invited to visit the Home page of this blog, and also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."  

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Be a Star for Jesus

Pleiades Star Cluster, courtesy NASA/ESA/AURA/Caltech.

It's a common human dream to be a star. Some dream of becoming a movie star, a dance star, a sports star, or a rock star.   There are even TV programs that give people a chance to fulfill this dream, like ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" and NBC's "America's Got Talent."

But my dream is to be another kind of star -- a star for Jesus.  And I hope that you also have this dream. 

The prophet Daniel was given a vision in the seventh century BC, when he was an elderly man of eighty years old.  In the vision, the Lord said, "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." (Dan 12:2-3)

This excites me, because it speaks of the future resurrection of the dead.  When He referred to those who sleep in the dust of the ground, He meant the dead.  This doesn't mean they are literally experiencing a kind of "soul sleep." It's just an expression, since their dead bodies appear to be in a slumber.  One day all the dead will "awakened" or be resurrected.  At that time, many will be eternally condemned to hell, where they will receive everlasting contempt and disgrace.  But others will receive everlasting life.

That second group is the one I'm going to be a part of.  I'm going to rise to everlasting life, and it won't be because I earned it.  It will be solely by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for me and gave me the gift of eternal life.

And I love what the Lord promised for those who inherit eternal life.  He said, "Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven."  That's exciting to me.  It's a promise for those who have insight or godly wisdom from the Holy Spirit to understand the Scriptures and other matters.  Those who do will shine brightly like the brightness of the sky! That should motivate you to seek the Lord for insight.

However, what excites me even more is the second half of the Lord's statement. He went on to say, "...and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." I want to be in that group.  These are the folks who lead many people to righteousness, which can only be found in Jesus Christ.  Those who do so will shine like the stars forever and ever. That's the kind of star I want to be!

These worldly stars in the entertainment industry who don't know Jesus will stop shining one day.  When they die, they'll meet their Maker and give an account for everything they did, whether good or bad.  They'll need to answer for what they did with the talent the Lord gave them.  If they used it for their own glory, instead of for His glory, then I would not want to be in their shoes. 

I want to lead many to righteousness in Christ, so they can have insight and lead many more to righteousness themselves.  Then we who do so will shine like the stars forever and ever.  I want to share Jesus with as many people as possible, through all possible means.  I want to lead people to the Lord, so they can become righteous.

We live in a day unlike any other, when incredible tools are at our disposal to accomplish this.  We have jet airplane travel, internet, video phone call capability over the web, television, radio, social media, and many other ways to get the gospel to those who have never heard.  We can also use these same means to disciple those who know the Lord, so they can live a righteous life and share their faith effectively.  This is my vision and dream.  I hope it's yours also.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, I recommend Give Me Children or I'll Die! and the other posts available through the Home Page of this blog.  If you would like to become a disciple who multiplies disciples, please prayerfully consider enrolling in Doulos Training School, our international, distance education ministry. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Multiplication

What is God looking for in our lives when He says go and make disciples of all nations? What is He looking for when He says to possess the land? In many cases, we limit God and limit what we do, based on an incorrect perception of Him. We need to know and truly understand what God has commanded and empowered us to do, and be assured that He has promised to do it through us.

I want to show you from God's Word what He says about multiplication.

God commands us to multiply

· The living creatures: God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." (Gen 1:22)

· "Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." (Gen 8:17)

· Mankind: God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Gen 1:28)

· Noah and his sons: And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. (Gen 9:1)

· "As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it." (Gen 9:7)

· Jacob: God also said to him, "I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you. (Gen 35:11)

· Israel during exile in Babylon: 'Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. (Jer 29:6)

  
God's child can use the power of multiplication inappropriately to feed carnal desires

· King Solomon multiplied horses: "Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the LORD has said to you, 'You shall never again return that way.' (Deu 17:16)

· King Solomon multiplied wives: "He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself. (Deu 17:17)

· Israelites multiplied their idols: "You built yourself a high place at the top of every street and made your beauty abominable, and you spread your legs to every passer-by to multiply your harlotry. (Eze 16:25)

God promises to multiply us

· Abram’s descendants: Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, "I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count." (Gen 16:10

· Abram: "I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly." (Gen 17:2)

· Abram’s descendants: "As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. (Gen 17:20)

· Abram’s descendants: indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. (Gen 22:17)

· Abram’s descendants: "I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; (Gen 26:4)

· Abraham: saying, "I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU." (Heb 6:14)

· Abraham, Isaac, and Israel:"Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" (Exo 32:13)

· Isaac’s descendants: The LORD appeared to him the same night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham." (Gen 26:24)

· Israel: 'So I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm My covenant with you. (Lev 26:9)

· Israel: "O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. (Deu 6:3)

· Israel: "He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you. (Deu 7:13)

· Israel: "I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. (Eze 37:26)

· Israel: 'I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt. (Eze 36:10)

· Israel: "Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. (Jer 23:3)

· Israel during exile in Babylon: 'From them will proceed thanksgiving And the voice of those who celebrate; And I will multiply them and they will not be diminished; I will also honor them and they will not be insignificant. (Jer 30:19)

· David’s descendants: 'As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.'" (Jer 33:22)

 
God will multiply his obedient children

· "All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your forefathers. (Deu 8:1)

· "The LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. (Deu 30:5)

· in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. (Deu 30:16)

· Also He blesses them and they multiply greatly, And He does not let their cattle decrease. (Psa 107:38)

 
God multiplies all that the obedient have

· Herds, flocks, silver, gold, all you have: and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, (Deu 8:13)

· Man and animals: 'I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were formerly and will treat you better than at the first. Thus you will know that I am the LORD. (Eze 36:11)

· Grain: "Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. (Eze 36:29)

· Fruit of the tree and produce of the field: "I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. (Eze 36:30)

· God multiplies the seed we sow, in order that we will have more to sow again: Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; (2Co 9:10)

 
Isaac prayed for Jacob to multiply

"May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. (Gen 28:3)

 
The enemy worries about us multiplying

When Pharaoh considered all the Jews living in Egypt and how they had grown in number, he said, "Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land." (Exo 1:10). I think the devil worries the same way when he sees the disciples of Christ multiplying.

 
God multiplies signs and wonders

"But I will harden Pharaoh's heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. (Exo 7:3) 

God multiplies grace and peace 
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; (2Pe 1:2) 

God multiplies mercy, peace, and love

May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. (Jud 1:2) 

When God multiplies us, it makes us glad

You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. (Isa 9:3)

 
In the first century, we see the church growing and multiplying

· So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. (Act 2:41)

· But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. (Act 4:4)

· And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. (Act 6:7)

· So the church throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being edified; and, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, was multiplied. (Act 9:31)

· But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied. (Act 12:24)

· The word “multiplied” in the New Testament comes from the Greek word plethuno, which means to abound or multiply. Plethuno comes from the Greek word plethos, which means “fullness”, that is, a large number, throng, populace: - bundle, company, multitude. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint), this same Greek word is used for “multiply.”

 
God multiplied the widow’s oil through the Word of the Lord that the prophet spoke

· Elijah: "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, "Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink." As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand." But she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die." Then Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. "For thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth.'" So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through Elijah. (1Ki 17:9-16)

· Elisha: Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" And she said, "Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil." Then he said, "Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few. "And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels, and you shall set aside what is full." So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There is not one vessel more." And the oil stopped. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest." (2Ki 4:2-7)

 
Jesus multiplied the fish and loaves
· 5 loaves fed over 5,000 people: They *said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish." And He said, "Bring them here to Me." Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, 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, and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children. (Mat 14:17-21)

· 7 loaves fed over 4,000 people: The disciples *said to Him, "Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?" And Jesus *said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few small fish." And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full. And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. (Mat 15:33-38)

· But Jesus, aware of this, said, "You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? "Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? "Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? (Mat 16:8-10)

 
Jesus said that a seed must fall into the earth and die before it can multiply

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (Joh 12:24)

We will reap the fruit of what we have sown in due time, if we wait: Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. (Gal 6:9)

 
Jesus said believers would do greater works than He did

· "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. (Joh 14:12)

· The word “greater” comes from the Greek word megas, where we get such words as mega-earthquake, referring to a very large one. 

 
Those who hear the word and accept it multiply, bearing fruit, 3000%, 6000%, and 10000% what was sown

"The sower sows the word. These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word, which has been sown in them. In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." (Mar 4:14-20)

 
The amount of fruit we bear will be in proportion to how much seed we have sown

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. (2Co 9:6)

Putting it All Together

I believe the enemy worries about us multiplying, because it is a threat to him. One thing the enemy can try to do is get God's people to use the power of multiplication inappropriately to feed carnal desires for things like horses, wives and idols. But God warns us about this.

From God's Word we learn that God commands us to multiply. Amazingly, we are not left to try and fulfill His command in our own strength. Instead He promises to multiply us. So it is He who does it through us. When God multiplies us, it makes us glad.

God multiplies all that the obedient have: Man and animals, herds and flocks, silver, gold, fruit of the trees and produce of the field the seed you sow, your money, and all you have.

Everywhere we look, we find God is multiplying. Jesus multiplied the fish and loaves when the disciples gave him what little they had. He broke it, and distributed it. God multiplied a widow’s oil according to His word spoken by a prophet more than once. He multiplies signs and wonders, grace, peace, mercy and love. This is a wonderful aspect about God that defies our human reason.

Jesus said that a grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die beneath the clods of dirt before it can multiply. So if you want to experience this in your life, you first need to die to yourself. Otherwise, you will simply remain alone. But if you die to yourself and live for Christ, you will bear much fruit for the Lord.

Jesus said we would do the works He did and even greater works. He explained that this would only be possible because He would die and go to the Father. He was like the seed that falls into the ground and dies beneath the clods of dirt, then comes up again green, fresh, and flourishing with great increase. His life would bear much fruit after His death, burial, and resurrection.

Jesus taught that those who hear the word and accept it multiply, bearing fruit, 3000%, 6000%, and 10000% what was sown. That should help to increase your faith!

How should we live our lives differently, knowing what we now know about multiplication?

· This should change our perspective, fill us with faith, and move us to action.
· It should change our expectation of God and of ourselves.
· It should change the way we talk and the way we live.

Part II - Multiplication Illustrations

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Part Two of this article, called Multiplication Illustrations. I also recommend Life Transformation Groups, Divine Strategies for Multiplication, Multiplying Your Talents, Bearing Fruit in Every Good Work, and the other posts available through the Home Page of this blog.  If you would like to become a disciple who multiplies disciples, please prayerfully consider enrolling in Doulos Training School, our international, distance education ministry. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.