Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20231101 - Jesus Knows What To Do - John 6:5-15
Transcript
- 0:05Welcome to the Study of God's Word, recorded live at Calvary
- 0:09Church in Aurora, Co To learn more about the many resources
- 0:13available through Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our
- 0:16live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
- 0:21or download our free Calvary Church app.
- 0:25Now let's open our Bibles and study God's Word.
- 0:31So tonight we're going to be in the Gospel of John, Chapter 6.
- 0:36And while you're turning there, I want you to remember that back
- 0:45in March, I touched upon this particular text while we were
- 0:52studying about Philip the Apostle and.
- 0:56We did four different sections where Phillip is mentioned and
- 1:01so if you'd like to see that particular message, if you
- 1:04haven't gone on and and you can't remember it or you didn't
- 1:09take notes, by the way, I would recommend taking notes because
- 1:13God wants to speak to your heart.
- 1:15As we're going through these things, you can go on to
- 1:19bobclaycamp.com under sermons and then.
- 1:25Current teachings and teachings at Calvary Church and under that
- 1:31clique are all the teachings that I've done here.
- 1:35So you can go back. I think it's on page three
- 1:38probably so. Anyway, this is a section that
- 1:44is close to my heart for lots of reasons and so.
- 1:51The title is telling because the title is Jesus knows what to do
- 1:58because that's one of the verses in our section.
- 2:01We're going to be looking at verses 5 to 15, but I think that
- 2:07we need to start with verse one of chapter 6 and catch the
- 2:10context. Every time I come to this
- 2:15passage in the Gospels, I'm I'm reminded again of the truth.
- 2:20That Jesus always knows what to do in our life situation, and he
- 2:29knows what to do. He knows how to do it, He knows
- 2:32where to do it, He knows when to do it.
- 2:35And many times he doesn't share with us those details because he
- 2:39wants us to trust him so he'll be glorified in our life.
- 2:45US trying to figure it out just as ends up being a frustration
- 2:49to us because he's not. He has a purpose and what he
- 2:54does and he has a purpose and withholding information for a
- 2:58while. So what I'm going to do is I am
- 3:02going to take this section verses one through 15 and.
- 3:12We're going to break it into four parts, OK?
- 3:15First part is the impossible request and we're going to make
- 3:18that verses one to seven and just tie in that context.
- 3:22The second part is called the insufficient resources, verses
- 3:288:00 and 9:00. The third part is the incredible
- 3:32reproduction verses 10 through 11 and the 4th part is the
- 3:37immediate reward verses 12 through 15.
- 3:40And each of these are important, And I just pray that the Lord
- 3:47ministers to your heart about it.
- 3:49So what I'm going to ask you to do tonight, that I didn't do it
- 3:52before, is I'd like you to stand as we read the text.
- 3:57And then we'll start with the word of prayer.
- 3:59So could you just stand, please? And we're going to read the word
- 4:02of God. I will read all the verses and
- 4:06you'll just follow along silently.
- 4:09OK, here we go. Chapter 6, Gospel of John, verse
- 4:15one. After these things Jesus went
- 4:19over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.
- 4:24Then a great multitude followed him, because they saw his signs,
- 4:28which he performed on those who were diseased.
- 4:32And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat with
- 4:36his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of
- 4:40the Jews, was near. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes,
- 4:45and seeing a great multitude coming toward him, he said to
- 4:48Philip, Where should we buy bread that these may eat?
- 4:54But this he said, to test him, for he himself knew what he
- 4:59would do. Philip answered him. 200 denarii
- 5:03worth of bread is and not sufficient for them, that every
- 5:06one of them may have a little, One of his disciples, Andrew,
- 5:11Simon Peter's brother, said to him.
- 5:13There's a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small
- 5:17fish. But what are they among so many?
- 5:20Then Jesus said, make the people sit down.
- 5:25Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down.
- 5:28The number about 5000. And Jesus took the loaves, and
- 5:33when he had given thanks, he distributed them to the
- 5:36disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down, and likewise
- 5:40of the fish, as much as they wanted.
- 5:43So when they were filled, he said to his disciples, gather up
- 5:48the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.
- 5:52Therefore they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with the
- 5:56fragments of the five barley loaves.
- 5:59Which were left over by those who had eaten.
- 6:02Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did,
- 6:06said, this is truly the prophet who is to come into the world.
- 6:11Therefore, when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and
- 6:14take him by force to make him king, he departed again to the
- 6:19mountain by himself alone. Father God, we're asking that
- 6:24you would breathe on our text tonight.
- 6:27That you would speak to our hearts on on what's here, what's
- 6:31going on behind the scenes, what are the lessons that they were
- 6:34learning, the lessons that we learn from it.
- 6:38And we want to submit this to you because we believe you're
- 6:42ready to speak to us. And so give us ears to hear and
- 6:47hands to write on the notes. So we give this to you in Jesus
- 6:51name. Amen.
- 6:53You may be seated. A little background to start
- 7:01with. Out of the 37 miracles mentioned
- 7:05in the four Gospels, including the resurrection, this incident
- 7:10here is one of those that is recorded in each of the four
- 7:13gospels, and it occurred around the time in Jesus ministry when
- 7:19the number of followers had grown to their largest extent.
- 7:25And John 6 records this time about two years into Jesus
- 7:29ministry. The very next year at this same
- 7:33season was the betrayal and crucifixion.
- 7:38So here now Jesus whole ministry in in Galilee spanned about 3
- 7:441/2 years total. And what an impact he had upon
- 7:48those 12, but not so much upon Judas Judas Iscariot and yet.
- 7:56Things were so big, so popular right now that people just
- 8:00wanted to be around Jesus because of the amazing things
- 8:04that would end up happening and the and the wonderful words that
- 8:08came out of his mouth. And so now we find from the
- 8:14other gospel accounts. So if you ever, I mean there is
- 8:17a Bible that's called a parallel New Testament.
- 8:20And it has all four gospels where it lines up and it's very
- 8:24interesting to see all the pieces put together.
- 8:29And and when you combine the four gospels, you find out that
- 8:35this the 12 had just been sent out and they've been given power
- 8:40from on high to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the
- 8:44lepers, preach the gospel. And and these are just common
- 8:48people and common men. Some of them are fishermen,
- 8:51other was were other vocations. But they went out and God was
- 8:55doing amazing things through them in their little missionary
- 8:59journey. And then they came back to Jesus
- 9:02and they're so excited, they just can't believe how it was.
- 9:07And then Jesus said to them in Mark chapter 6, Come aside by
- 9:12yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile.
- 9:17Mark's Gospel also explained there were so many people making
- 9:21demands on their time that the disciples didn't even have time
- 9:25to eat. So that's a busy, busy, busy
- 9:29time. So Jesus and the disciples got
- 9:33into a boat and headed to a deserted place West of the
- 9:37village of Beseda, on the north northeast corner of the Sea of
- 9:41Galilee. And Beseda was the original home
- 9:45of Peter and Andrew and Philip. And when they landed on the
- 9:50shore, Mark's Gospel records that many had run on foot to
- 9:55that place from all the cities around the area.
- 10:00And so this, I mean picture the disciples just being tired and
- 10:08worn out. It was exciting.
- 10:11It was adventurous. It was an emotionally stirring
- 10:15time, spiritually invigorating time.
- 10:18But physically they're tired. And to hear Jesus says, fellas,
- 10:24let's go to a deserted place and just rest for a while.
- 10:27And and I can just picture them going all right, all right,
- 10:32yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Just get in this boat.
- 10:35Let's go there. And so, as they come on the
- 10:38shore, here's all these people. And what do you think they
- 10:46thought when they saw all the people and they were looking to
- 10:50have rest? I don't think they were super
- 10:55happy. As a matter of fact, it could be
- 10:59viewed as an intrusion into their right to have rest.
- 11:04After all, Jesus said we're supposed to have rest.
- 11:06And who leave us alone. I mean, you can hear that in the
- 11:10natural. But Mark chapter 6, verse 34
- 11:15records this. Jesus was moved with compassion
- 11:20for them because they were like sheep not having a shepherd.
- 11:25So he began to teach them many things concerning the Kingdom of
- 11:28God, although Jesus knows we need rest.
- 11:37There are times when compassion Trump's rights.
- 11:43Compassion Trump's right. I have a right to settle down.
- 11:48I have a right to to stop for a while.
- 11:51And then these people are intrusions.
- 11:53That's not how Jesus saw them. He saw them as sheep without a
- 11:59shepherd. And if you're going to follow
- 12:03Jesus? Although he knows our need for
- 12:08rest, he chooses the rest in his own time.
- 12:13I'm sure the disciples had it all figured out in their time,
- 12:18but then all these people showed up as in as kind of an intrusion
- 12:23and and this this begs the question, how do we respond to
- 12:27intrusions into our well made plans as Jesus disciples?
- 12:34We can be so focused on our plan that we leave Jesus out of it.
- 12:40We just want him to bless it. And that's not how it is
- 12:44Following Jesus. You have to do it his way, and
- 12:52he chooses the timing. Proverbs tells us man plans his
- 12:56way, but the Lord directs the steps, and so when we have a
- 13:01plan, it has to be in pencil. Maybe disappearing ink.
- 13:07And then you have to say you know it it it was a good idea.
- 13:12But it I I want you, Lord, to have your idea.
- 13:15I want you to carry it out in my life.
- 13:20And sometimes we hold so tightly to our agenda and our daily
- 13:23schedule or schedule, as they say in the UK, our sense of need
- 13:29for rest. That sometimes we even block out
- 13:32the divine appointments God is seeking to set up to use us and
- 13:37surprise us. He promised an abundant life and
- 13:42sometimes we want to block out that and and put our boundaries
- 13:46in and say, I only want abundant life to happen in this time.
- 13:51And that's where, as disciples, we have to lay down our borders
- 13:54and we have to say you, Jesus. You set up everything, You set
- 14:00up my day and I have to take care of these things, but I I
- 14:05just want to do the next most important thing as you bring it
- 14:10to my mind. I don't think that's haphazard.
- 14:13I don't think that's careless, but I think it's wise because we
- 14:18really don't know the way fully. But sometimes we can lack
- 14:26compassion upon others during those times and we're not seeing
- 14:30them through the eyes of the Lord Jesus And Jesus saw what
- 14:34the disciples missed. And you're going to see here in
- 14:37the text for from how Philip answers that he's not really
- 14:42tracking that well and what's going on, but he will learn so
- 14:49at this time also in the gospel, other gospels.
- 14:53The disciples had already approached Jesus to have him
- 14:56send the multitudes away, and he wasn't ready for that.
- 15:04They simply saw a real upcoming need after all.
- 15:08The multitude might go into the surrounding towns and country
- 15:12and and lodge and get provision, send them away.
- 15:15You know they're here, they're here.
- 15:16But I think ultimately they go, come on, it's time for us.
- 15:23And then Jesus said to them the multitudes didn't need to go,
- 15:27Mark 637 says You give them something to eat and it's like
- 15:32what? You know, it's one thing.
- 15:35First of all, this group was interrupting my right to have a
- 15:41rest. And then Jesus goes and preaches
- 15:44to him for a while. And so they're sitting around
- 15:46and they just. And then Jesus comes and says,
- 15:50well, you know, where are we going to feed these people?
- 15:54It's 5000 men plus women and children.
- 15:58So that's a stadium. That's a 10,000, I mean at least
- 16:0110,000 people. How impossible is that?
- 16:06You give them something to eat. And Jesus knew what he was
- 16:10saying because he knew what he could do.
- 16:15And by the way, in your life and in my life.
- 16:18Jesus always knows what to do. He's never stumped over your
- 16:23situation, boy. You got yourself in a real
- 16:26pickle this time. I'm not sure what to do now.
- 16:29That's not how our Lord is. He always knows what to do, but
- 16:34he's not going to tell you how. He wants you to join him in the
- 16:38adventure of watching God be glorified.
- 16:44And so. Philip here is he's not sure
- 16:51what to say, but I like verse six.
- 16:55It's it's one of my life verses. But this he said to test him for
- 17:03he himself knew what he would do.
- 17:07A life verse means you go back to that verse so often, it's
- 17:11almost a daily occurrence. I've got another life verse.
- 17:16It's John 13 seven. There it says Jesus answered and
- 17:22said to him what I am doing. You do not understand now, but
- 17:27you will know after this. I love that verse because quite
- 17:33frankly, I really don't understand what's going on.
- 17:39I'm just trying to walk in faith.
- 17:43And and do reasonable choices and see what the Lord's going to
- 17:48do. But I love this verse.
- 17:52What I am doing, you do not understand.
- 17:55Now this means that he understands.
- 17:58I don't get it all the time, but He also knows I do want to tell
- 18:05you how it connects in the right time.
- 18:09Am I OK with that? Am I OK to let him?
- 18:13Show me his plan, his way in, his timing.
- 18:17That's that's what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.
- 18:21It's all an adventure, and it's still supposed to be.
- 18:24Now, you might work on a real mundane job, you might work at
- 18:27Amazon, and you've got to do all these things and it's it's just
- 18:30quite mechanical. But you know what?
- 18:34While you're doing it, you can have fellowship with the Lord.
- 18:38I mean, you can pray over the packages.
- 18:40I'm not sure who this is going to Lord, but bless him.
- 18:42I mean, you can do that, right? Yeah, but I got to pay
- 18:45attention, OK? The Lord understands that too.
- 18:48But just bring the Lord into it. He doesn't stay out on your car
- 18:51when you go into the warehouse. He goes with you wherever you
- 18:54go. He lives inside you.
- 18:55As a Christian, you can't get any closer than that.
- 19:01So Jesus knew what to do. So here's Philip's answer in
- 19:06verse 7. 200 denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them
- 19:10that every one of may have a little.
- 19:13Now we got to break that down because we're not dealing with
- 19:15Denarii's here. We're dealing with dollars.
- 19:18A denarii was a one day's wage for a common laborer.
- 19:25That's A1 denarii. So if you do the math, it comes
- 19:31out to. Over half a year of wages, it's
- 19:42not sufficient. Plus, Phillip was from the area.
- 19:46There weren't enough kiosks to buy all the food for all these
- 19:50people. There's no major bakeries, you
- 19:52know. And so Phillips just blowing his
- 19:55mind. He goes, I mean, it's
- 19:57ridiculous, it's impossible. And and Jesus is setting this up
- 20:05to bless them. To surprise them, just like he
- 20:09does in our life, if we'll let him.
- 20:13And sometimes we are afraid. We are afraid of failure.
- 20:18We are afraid that we'll look ridiculous.
- 20:20We are afraid. We are afraid.
- 20:22And that's where we need to get our eyes off the circumstance
- 20:25and onto the Lord and say grant to me the gift of faith.
- 20:29Because what I'm walking into I have no clue.
- 20:35And then rather than being I don't know what's going to
- 20:38happen, just say I'm going to watch the Lord deal with this
- 20:42and we're going to find out where shall we buy bread.
- 20:49Notice he didn't say how shall we buy bread?
- 20:51They didn't have any money. I mean it's like Judas was the
- 20:55treasure, right? And we find out from the Gospel
- 20:57of John, later written at the end of the 1st century that
- 21:01Judas used to steal out of the bag.
- 21:02He was. He was like, that's called
- 21:05fraud, you know, He was ripping off Jesus, Holy smokes, I can't
- 21:10believe that. No local resources.
- 21:16And then Andrew comes up and that's what we see in verse
- 21:20eight. One of his disciples, Andrew,
- 21:23Simon Peter's brother, who is from the area.
- 21:27He said There's a lad here who has five barley loaves and two
- 21:33small fish. But what are they among so many?
- 21:36Notice they didn't have any themselves.
- 21:42Jesus had just sent them out. Don't take supplies.
- 21:46You'll be provided for wherever you go.
- 21:49And so they come back and all their needs were met.
- 21:53But they've got 0. Zilch.
- 21:56And then Andrew finds this little boy with a happy meal
- 21:59that's got 5 barley loaves and two, two small salted fish.
- 22:03And and they they go, you know what are they so many?
- 22:08This is ridiculous. And by the way, the fish were
- 22:15salted fish, because you don't take her fresh fish and just
- 22:18carry it around for three or four days.
- 22:20But they were the fish were salted.
- 22:22There was small fish. Fish from the Sea of Galilee
- 22:25were generally tilapia and so it was a small fish.
- 22:29A couple of small fish salted because that that could last for
- 22:35a few days, not a whole lot. Barley was the basis of grains.
- 22:42Barley they use for horse feed. So this wasn't like, I mean, you
- 22:47know, sometimes health food just tastes like horse horse feed.
- 22:50Actually, you know, why does health food taste so terrible?
- 22:54I just, I just hate those Clif bars.
- 22:56I don't like them. I I hate them.
- 22:58They just get stuck in your teeth and your fillings come out
- 23:01and I just don't like it. So anyway, I found that little
- 23:07boy and I and I brought his lunch, OK?
- 23:12He gave me his lunch and when I opened it up, there's 55 loaves.
- 23:20They're not barley, but you know, here they are.
- 23:23This is about the size of the loaves they had.
- 23:26By the way, we're not talking about bread loaves like you'd
- 23:28get at Walmart. We're we're talking like pita
- 23:31loaves. And this actually between 12
- 23:36disciples and Jesus, you know, it could have, it'd be like fish
- 23:40juice, but they they could, you know get something out of it.
- 23:45So Jesus said bring it to me. So even what they thought they
- 23:53were going to have a little snack anyway, they had to give
- 23:57to Jesus. And by the way, here's the fish,
- 24:03OK? I'm not going to, I'm not going
- 24:05to open this baby. This is these are small fish.
- 24:09OK? Because if I open this and spill
- 24:13fish juice on this podium, I will never be able to come back
- 24:17here again. And by the way, this is for
- 24:23anybody who would like it afterwards.
- 24:27So 5 loaves, 2 little fish. But what are they among so many?
- 24:36So what's Jesus say? First of all, in verse 10 he
- 24:42says make the people sit down. That was probably more
- 24:46impossible than the breaking of the food.
- 24:50And so make the people sit down. 5000 men plus women and
- 24:56children. Now you saw those of you that
- 24:59were here last night. You saw a bunch of people and to
- 25:03make them all sit down there was green grass in the place which
- 25:08just says it was that time of year, the Passover.
- 25:11So it I think when John wrote this he personally, I think he
- 25:17thought of Psalm 23. He makes me lie down in green
- 25:20pastures because Jesus did see them as sheep without a
- 25:23shepherd. Just an idea.
- 25:27I remember when we were running the house ministries in the 70s,
- 25:31the Christian communes, sometimes people coming in off
- 25:36the street would be hitchhiking through.
- 25:37And there was one of the house in Eugene, OR where they were
- 25:43covering John 6. And boy, when they got to that
- 25:46verse, there was much grass in the place they want.
- 25:48See, there's marijuana in the scriptures and that is a wrong
- 25:53application of this text. By the way, it's not in the
- 25:57Greek. OK, so preparation.
- 26:04Before anything was done, Jesus said, I want you to make
- 26:07preparation, boys. I want you to go and get them
- 26:11settled. And how long did that take?
- 26:15Actually, one gospel says make them sit down in groups of 50.
- 26:20Oh, there's 49 in this one we got to have.
- 26:22No, I mean groups of 50. How long does that take for 12
- 26:28disciples to do that? And it's interesting that before
- 26:32Jesus did the miracle, he sent them to serve not just a watch,
- 26:40but they were actively a part of it without knowing what Jesus
- 26:44was going to do because he didn't tell them.
- 26:47And there are times, gang, when of a lot of times, most of the
- 26:50times, where Jesus gives you direction on how to serve, but
- 26:55he's not telling you what he's going to do.
- 26:57He just wants you involved in the service because it will help
- 27:02in what he's going to do. He put the disciples to work
- 27:08serving while he took care of the provision.
- 27:13So this is still the pattern of the Lord today.
- 27:16He directs us to serve him and to serve others and he'll take
- 27:20care of the provision. Does that make sense?
- 27:24We have to trust him on that, he said earlier, Seek first the
- 27:29Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these
- 27:32things will be added to you. So after everybody was all
- 27:39situated, here's what we read, verse 11.
- 27:43And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he
- 27:47distributed them to the disciples and the disciples to
- 27:51those sitting down. And so other gospels say, he
- 27:56lifted up the bread, He blessed it, and he broke it.
- 28:03What's that remind you of? That happened a year later, The
- 28:08Last Supper. It was his body that was broken.
- 28:17And so as he broke the bread and gave it to the disciples, they
- 28:26took the pieces He gave them, and they went to the group of 50
- 28:31and gave it to them. And they came back, and there
- 28:34was still 5 loose. And so Jesus is just continuing
- 28:39to break the bread, continuing to make himself available.
- 28:46And it happened again and again. And also with the fish, I'm not
- 28:52sure that's almost a greater miracle.
- 28:54Too little fish for 5000. I mean, it's fish juice that
- 28:57that's all naturally. How do you do that?
- 29:00Just squeeze a little for everybody on the bread, you
- 29:03know, like butter. So he just kept breaking the
- 29:08bread and they kept coming back from their group and it it was a
- 29:14busy time. And notice they hadn't been fed
- 29:20the disciples. They weren't like snacking, as
- 29:25they're going to feed the multitudes.
- 29:27They're they're taking it to them and they're hungry and
- 29:32they're tired, but they're serving.
- 29:36They're doing what Jesus said, taking the the amount that Jesus
- 29:42is giving to them, coming back. How long did this take?
- 29:50Verse 11 again, Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given
- 29:53thanks, he distributed them to the disciples and the disciples
- 29:58to those sitting down and likewise of the fish, as much as
- 30:02they wanted. We don't know how long this went
- 30:07on. The text doesn't tell us, but it
- 30:10does say in verse 12 and when they were filled.
- 30:17This takes us to the immediate reward.
- 30:21And when they were filled, he said to his disciples, gather up
- 30:25the fragments that remain so that nothing is lost.
- 30:32It's like it's just food. Why don't you know the birds
- 30:34will eat it? What?
- 30:35What? You want us?
- 30:36We're tired. We've done what you have to us
- 30:38to do. Everybody's glutted, which is
- 30:41the word filled in Greek. There they were just like
- 30:45totally full. It's like something about
- 30:48expansion or something that was going on when they ate the
- 30:51bread. So they were just like totally
- 30:53full and all the bread was gone, the five loaves all gone.
- 31:04But but Jesus and his kindness, he says to them, one more thing,
- 31:10fellas, I want you to do. I want you to go through the
- 31:14field, and I want you to pick up, gather up the fragments that
- 31:20remain so that nothing is lost. So now they had to serve again.
- 31:30But what they didn't see was that Jesus was going to provide
- 31:35a great lunch for them, because how many baskets did they pick
- 31:41up? 12.
- 31:44How many disciples were there? 12 At the end we see the Lord
- 31:50taking care of their lunch when they didn't have anything when
- 31:53they first got there. And this verse 12 was was really
- 32:00interesting because when I was at a pastor's conference many
- 32:07years ago, we were in a small area of the country and as we
- 32:13were closing the conference, we were praying together.
- 32:16And the Lord brought this scripture to my mind and made an
- 32:20application about this group of pastors having a mindset to
- 32:27plant churches in out of the way places because Jesus cared about
- 32:33those sheep. Gather up the fragments that
- 32:37remain so that nothing is lost. And the application there for
- 32:42that group was, listen, don't just be focused on large
- 32:47metropolitan areas. Don't be focused on, you know,
- 32:50demographics and all this. You just go to these small
- 32:55places that no one else wants to go to, 'cause they know they'll
- 32:59they'll never be enough money to pay a pastor.
- 33:02Forget that Jesus loves those people.
- 33:05Go out there and feed them. I care about those sheep.
- 33:10Will you just go out there? If if I ask you to go out there
- 33:14because I love them and I I want them fed, will you do that for
- 33:17me? Those fragments that nobody
- 33:22thinks are worth it, will you go out there for me?
- 33:27And that stirred up the hearts of the pastors and they started
- 33:30sending people out to start Bible studies and some of these
- 33:34out of the way places. Because really, it's not about
- 33:40how big your church is. It's about being faithful to
- 33:43what God has called you to do to feed his people.
- 33:49And so verse 13 says, therefore they gathered them up and filled
- 33:5312 baskets. The word basket in the Greek is
- 33:56small baskets, but still they had nothing.
- 33:58This was great, although it was finger food.
- 34:01I mean, the whole food had been fingered, but it's blessed and
- 34:05so it's purified, the fragments of the five barley loaves which
- 34:14were left over by those who had eaten.
- 34:17Now there's something missing in there.
- 34:19What about the fish? There's no there's no fish left.
- 34:23But you know, at least they had the bread of life in verse 14.
- 34:30Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did
- 34:33verse 14. Truly this is the the prophet
- 34:37who has to come into the world. This is the Messiah.
- 34:40And by the way, gather up the fragments, leftovers, leftovers
- 34:48may just be the way that God will provide what we need.
- 34:54Sometimes you're going God. I've got this energy bill that I
- 34:57got to pay, and I don't have any money.
- 34:59Maybe there's something in your house you can sell, Something
- 35:03that's left over, Something in your closet that just has been
- 35:07there for four years and you never use it.
- 35:11Sell it, sell it. Maybe that's how God is going to
- 35:15provide. Maybe it's time to do some
- 35:17spring cleaning and he's going to provide that particular need
- 35:21at that particular time. Maybe he's calling you just to
- 35:26let it go because it's too important to you.
- 35:30I don't know. The Lord works all kinds of
- 35:32different ways and how He provides for us in our need.
- 35:36We see these guys here. They had no idea where lunch was
- 35:40coming from. All they knew is that they were
- 35:43taking their lunch and it was gone.
- 35:45They had to give it away. Great, now you know, hurt your
- 35:49heart. And then all of a sudden he
- 35:53says, OK, I'll get back to you more than you had because you
- 35:58would have had to split these 5 loaves amongst 12 and 13 people.
- 36:04So that wasn't much. But each of them got a small
- 36:06basket full of bread, which was great in verse 15 as we close
- 36:17here. Therefore, when Jesus perceived
- 36:21that they were about to come and take him by force to make him
- 36:25king, this is the crowd. He departed again to the
- 36:29mountain by himself alone. You know, when I look at this
- 36:36scripture, I think Jesus still does this when our efforts for
- 36:46accomplish something religious is done out of fleshly motives.
- 36:51I think Jesus withdraws himself from the midst of the activity
- 36:58because there are things in our life that are called wood, hay
- 37:01and stubble, because there are even religious activities that
- 37:04are done for the wrong motive. And here this group wanted to
- 37:10bring take Jesus by force and make him king and he just walked
- 37:15away. I don't want the Lord to walk
- 37:20away from my life. He won't leave me or forsake me,
- 37:24but I want God's blessing and fullness.
- 37:29And yet, I mean, unfortunately, there are so many religious
- 37:36groups that are so bent on fulfilling some kind of purpose
- 37:42of of largeness or or bragging rights that it's all about
- 37:47carnal competition. And I think it grieves the heart
- 37:53of the Holy Spirit. You know, you can grieve the
- 37:55Holy Spirit. You can make him sad.
- 37:58It's kind of like when your kids do something that's like a
- 38:02destructive behavior and your heart is grieved as a parent,
- 38:06that grief, that sadness over what's going on it because it's
- 38:11destructive. The Holy Spirit can be grieved
- 38:16over over our attitudes or our actions that are just not
- 38:21walking in love where we're divisive and we're critical
- 38:26spirit and argumentative and always looking to find fault.
- 38:32So through our text this evening we've considered many ways Jesus
- 38:36still works with us as disciples.
- 38:39And so the question is who wants these sardines?
- 38:46No, the question is are we willing to let Jesus have it his
- 38:52way? Are we willing to serve as He
- 38:56leads us to serve and trust that He'll provide what we long for
- 39:02in his own time? And that's something that you
- 39:06learn over time and through hard trials, because there are times
- 39:13when you don't know what's going on.
- 39:17But we read here in verse six, we're being tested for.
- 39:24He himself knew what he would do.
- 39:29Can we trust him? Can we admit we don't
- 39:37understand? I think that's healthy to tell
- 39:42the Lord I don't understand. I'm not as spiritual as I think
- 39:47I am, actually, Paul wrote in Corinthians.
- 39:51If any man thinks he knows anything, he knows nothing yet,
- 39:54as he ought to know. So we're always in a learning
- 39:57period. We're always a student of the
- 40:00master. Now, tonight, if you have, if
- 40:07you have opened your heart to the Lord Jesus and made him your
- 40:10Lord and Savior, these things apply to you.
- 40:15But if you're visiting us tonight or watching us online
- 40:18for the first time because you found out about our church, the
- 40:22big question is, are you even a disciple of Jesus yet?
- 40:28It's one thing to know about him, but have you, have you
- 40:30become all in to follow him and let him be the the lead and the
- 40:35Lord of your life, because that's what he wants.
- 40:40He's got so many things to show you, so much to wash you from,
- 40:44so much to cleanse you from, so much to heal.
- 40:49That goes on in your heart. But you've got to first of all,
- 40:52do it according to his rules, not yours.
- 40:56And his rule is very simple. Repent of your sin.
- 41:01Admit to God you're a Sinner. You've sinned against God.
- 41:04You've sinned against other people.
- 41:07You've lived a life that's been defiling before God.
- 41:10And now God is saying, I want you to come to me so I can
- 41:14cleanse you. I want to heal you.
- 41:17I want to give you a new heart that you've never had before.
- 41:22But you've got to trust him that he means what he says.
- 41:33Even though people have lied to you over the years, he's the one
- 41:37that does it not. A preacher, not a church.
- 41:39He does that work. Will you give him the chance to
- 41:43do that and. That's what we're asking
- 41:47tonight. Let's all stand, please.
- 41:54Father in heaven, we come before you tonight and we ask you to
- 42:00search our heart. You have this amazing
- 42:03Searchlight called the Holy Spirit and you know our life.
- 42:09You know our sins, You know our weaknesses.
- 42:13You know our failures. You know our infirmities.
- 42:17You know also what you want to do with us.
- 42:22You know how you want to be glorified in US and through us.
- 42:27Nothing is too hard for you. You understand us and you want
- 42:32to help us and Father God, if there are those watching online
- 42:39or those here in the sanctuary or downstairs or listening on
- 42:44the radio, if you think back and and you can you can see I've
- 42:50never really turned it all over to Jesus.
- 42:57And you might say, OK, what What do I do?
- 42:59How do I do this? And God isn't looking for you to
- 43:03jump through a bunch of hoops. He's just looking you to trust
- 43:06him and believe him when he says believe on the name of my son
- 43:11and you will have eternal life. Repent of your sin.
- 43:16Trust me. Let me wash you, heal you,
- 43:21cleanse you, cause you to be born from on high, a new birth.
- 43:27If you're ready to do that, then here's the prayer that you would
- 43:31pray something simple like this. Come to him and say, God, you
- 43:37tell me to approach you as a father.
- 43:43And so I come to you this evening and I ask you to forgive
- 43:48me of all the sins of my life. I ask you to cleanse me from all
- 43:55unrighteousness. I believe that Jesus is your
- 44:00son, the Son of God, and he's my savior and he's my Lord because
- 44:07he died for my sins. I believe that Jesus rose again
- 44:12from the dead in a glorified body, never to die again, and I
- 44:18submit my life 100% to His Lordship in my life.
- 44:25Fill me now with the Holy Spirit of God.
- 44:27Make yourself real to me. Prove yourself, Lord, from your
- 44:34word to someone like me. If you prayed that prayer
- 44:44tonight, I know the Lord has heard you and He's starting
- 44:47right now to do that work in you and through you.
- 44:52Trust Him and let us know that you've taken that step.
- 44:55If you're here tonight, come forward and talk to the pastors
- 44:59and prayer partners. That'll be upfront.
- 45:03Let them know the decision you've made.
- 45:05Those of you that are watching online, just let the let the
- 45:09monitor and the host of the online stream just tell them
- 45:15that you have surrendered your life to Christ.
- 45:19We want to help you. So God, we thank you for your
- 45:24text tonight, thank you for the scriptures, and help us to
- 45:29follow Jesus wherever he leads. In Jesus name, Amen.
- 45:36We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
- 45:39delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
- 45:42prayer. Call us at 87730 Grace.
- 45:47That's 877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
- 45:53entirety or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
- 45:57online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
- 46:02Church app, Be Blessed As You Worship Jesus this week.