Welcome to Waymaker Church! We are so excited to have you join us today! We exist to Encounter, Live for, and Advance the Kingdom of God!

Today the title of this message is: The Principles of Multiplication.

As we get ready to look at the message we must understand that there are principles of multiplication in the kingdom of God. Thing about the term multiplication. Multiplication is a mathematical term, like addition or subtraction or division, but multiplication is better than addition when it comes to our resources and I know from experience that our God is a God of multiplication.

Before I go on I want you to catch something here. This story is known as the feeding of the 5000, and typically we think 5000 people. But there were way more people who were blessed by the miracle in this story and let me tell you why. In Jewish culture at that time, when they counted a crowd they only counted the men because they were counting families. The parallel passage of this story is in
Matthew 14:21
“Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

The average family during this time if there was a spouse could have had 2-5 children. So, if you do this math you will see that this miracle is significantly greater than feeding 5000 people. Which by the way is huge deal in itself when you consider the amount of food available. So when you think about the feeding of the 5,000 keep it in your mind that it is 5000 families, not 5,000 people.

So this is pretty amazing! We have two fish and five loaves, and God multiplies it to feed 20-25,000 people. Not only that but they gather up the fragments and there are 12 baskets left over. Everyone ate until they were satisfied, and they still ended up with leftovers.

But here is the main thing. If you had never heard this story before, and your looking at the size of the crowd the only thought is how could you even try to feed that many people with such a small amount. If you did that today you would get laughed at, ridiculed, and someone would find a way to make a meme out of your life.

It just seems crazy! It doesn’t make sense! Listen, to me, can I also tell you this morning that similarly tithing doesn't make sense. I personally have learned that most of the time doing things God’s way doesn’t make sense, but what I know is that His way always works!

In the kingdom what seems insignificant God can multiply! But how?

1) He received it from them.

2) He looked up to heaven, and blessed it, and broke it. (Did you know here that blessing it wasn’t just giving thanks. Asking for the blessing of God was asking for an endowment of power for prosperity and success.)

3) He gave it back to them.

4) They gave away what was in their hands.

We know from reading the story that it began to multiply when they gave it away.

This is what happens when we give the first to the Lord. He blesses it, takes the curse and devour off of it, gives it back to us, and multiplies it.

I want you to see something. After Jesus blessed it and broke it, He gave the same meal back to the disciples. They began to distribute the food to the people. Do you realize the miracle did not happen in the master's hands. It happened in the disciples hands.

1. It has to be blessed before it can multiply.

We've learned from this series the way our finances are blessed. We we've seen this over and over again it is by bringing the first 10% to the house of God. Even Hebrews backs it up new Testament that Jesus himself receives and blesses our finances.

If we choose to give a little here and a little there, and don't bring the first 10% to the house of God. Our finances will not be blessed because only Jesus can bless them.

Think about this. What if the disciples had given out the two fish and the five loaves before Jesus blessed it? Would it ever have multiplied? No, because the multiplication happened as a result of it being blessed.

God cares greatly about the condition of our hearts. He does not want to empower and bless cursed thinking. He wants us to be free. The pain of the devour I believe is intended to be a merciful wakeup call to change our posture or thinking.

2. It has to be given away before it can multiply.

So the principle of the first refers to bringing the first 10% to the local church and Jesus blesses it. But once He releases the blessing, it multiplies and you have the ability to have greater impact with it.

But here is a thought from the story today. What is if the disciples after Jesus blessed the food, just sat there and ate it?

They would have never seen the multiplication. You see so often what I see is that many want to see the results of multiplication before they are willing to release what they have. Essentially, they want to see God’s goodness without actually having to trust Him first. Can I tell you. Multiplication never comes before letting go what’s in your hand.

Now as I close out this series I want to finish with a few final thoughts. First let me give you a quick recap.

- Through the Word we have learned that tithing is a test, and it is all about the heart.

- We have established scripturally that we are to bring the tithe to the Lord. The principle of the first is that it belongs to the Lord, and we bring the tithe the Lord and he rebukes the curse and the devour.

- I have shown you through the scripture that we must break the spirit of mammon off our lives. That if God doesn’t have our treasure He doesn’t have our hearts.

- I have shared with you that the root of generosity is gratitude.

- And finally, that God desires to multiply what he has given you. However He cant do it until you give it to Him.

The Holy Spirit will give you instruction specific to your situation. My desire in this series and sharing our testimony is not reproduce our lives, but to teach you the principles of the word, and to follow His voice and leading.

We first follow His voice in bringing to him what belongs to him, but when it comes to giving beyond that How will you know what to give? When to give? How much to give?

You have to listen for His voice. You will know when it is Him that is speaking to you. You won’t feel manipulated, and you will have peace about it. Peace to obedient is not an absence of fear, it is knowing that God will meet your needs and bless your life because you are faithful to walk in His ways.

As you grow in this area of your life, don’t allow someone to talk money out of your wallet by pulling on your heart strings. Be a good steward. Listen for His voice and allow Him to lead you.