Alright, let's turn back to John
chapter 6. We're going to look at this story
of how the Lord fed 5,000 people with 5 barley loaves and two small fishes." I love
that they put, he put small in there. Not just fishes, small. Two small fishes. Now let's ask
this question first. Did our Lord really do that or
is this account hypothetical? Fictional. We know that this is all for
spiritual meaning, every bit of it. But physically, our Lord
really did that. Can you imagine? Can you imagine those apostles?
The Lord took it. Put it in a basket and said,
now you take this basket around. And everybody who reached in.
Pulled something out. Everybody, can you believe that?
How is that possible? From a physical standpoint. If he physically did it, how
is that physically possible? One man who wrote a commentary
on this portion of scripture titled it this calculating without
Christ. That's what he titled his message,
his commentary on this. Calculating without Christ. When we do that, as we all do. All the time. Every day. When
we do that, it is physically impossible. It's physically impossible. We are well acquainted with adding
up What's coming in, what's going
out and thinking. It's always there. Always. Always. Thanks be to God. We
do not have to calculate without Christ. We don't have to calculate it
at all. Not at all. All we have to do
is trust the one who cannot lie. Now look at John chapter 6 verse
5. It says, When Jesus then lifted
up his eyes and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto
Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? And this
he said to prove Philip, for he himself knew what he would
do. I love that. I love that. He knew exactly
what he was going to do. He knows the end from the beginning. He knew what he was going to
do before the foundation of the world. He knew exactly what he
was going to do. But to prove us To prove Christ to us. To prove to us that we do wait
on Christ. We do look to Christ. He will cast the lot in our lap
for just a moment. Isn't that something? Just to prove us, he'll cast
the lot right there for just a minute. Proverbs 1633 says
the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof
is of the Lord. You can trust his word. You can trust his word. But to
prove something to Philip, this is what the Lord asked him. Philip,
what are we going to do for bread? They're watching, they're coming
down from the mountain and they're seeing all these people and the
Lord looks over at Philip and he says, Philip, what in the
world are we going to do for bread? The one who makes the wheat. The one who sends the rain. The one who owns all the gold
and the silver in the mines. The one to whom Satan said this,
God can turn stones into bread. If you're God, show me. Command
that these stones be made bread. That's all he had to do. All he had to do was look at
the ground and say, bread. How many stones were laying around?
At least 5,000. This is the one who said, Philip,
what are we going to do for bread? Where can we buy some bread?
He said that these may eat. And Philip, bless his little
heart, said, huh. Hmm. You let me think about that
for a minute. You give me just a minute and
I'm going to get back to you. Philip should have said, Lord,
thou knowest, you know, You know all things,
Lord, everything is from your hand. The Lord, you will provide. But do you know what our poor
dear brother Philip did? He thought about it. And he thought
about it. And he worked every scenario
his brain could comprehend. And he came back to the Lord
and he said, Lord, I don't think it's going to work. I've thought about every possibility
and I just can't see it. Look at verse seven. Philip answered
him. Two hundred penny worth of bread
is not sufficient for them that every one of them may take a
little. Now, Philip had just seen the
Lord turn water into seven year, 20 year aged wine, just river
water. He'd just seen the Lord heal
an impotent man, a man who could not walk. Rise, take up your
bed and walk. And now he says 200 penny worth
would only give everybody just a tiny, tiny little crumb on
their tongue. It could never be sufficient.
Never. Oh, Philip. Oh, Gabe. Turn with me to Philippians 4. Philippians chapter 4 verse 19 says, but my God shall
supply all your need. How? According to the riches
in glory by Christ Jesus. My God shall supply all of your
need. Now, do you believe in your heart
that any of these words are lies? Do you believe that any of these
words are projections? And if everything will fall into
place, this should come to pass. We can take our Lord at his word. My God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now go with me back in the old
Testament to second Chronicles 20. 2 Chronicles 20. We read through
this, I think it was last Wednesday night. One verse, verse 20. And they rose early in the morning
and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa. And as they went forth,
Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants
of Jerusalem, Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be
established. Believe His prophets, so shall
you prosper. Who are His prophets? Isaiah,
Jeremiah, all the law in the prophets.
Believe in the Lord your God, so shall you be established.
Believe his prophets, so shall you prosper. Listen to this little
poem. The birds without barn or storehouse
are fed. From them, let us learn to trust
for our bread. Really. The birds without barn
or storehouse are fed. From them let us learn to trust
for our bread. We don't work for it. We trust for it. That's the truth. We don't work for it. We trust
for it. Well, what about all those people
who are starving without bread? Let's be honest. What about all
those people who are starving without bread? They're not trusting
in Christ for their bread because Christ's word says if they did
they would never be forsaken and they'd never be begging bread.
That's what the word says. It's as simple as that. They're
worshipping a different God who cannot provide. That's the honest
truth. They're worshipping a different
God who cannot provide. Now listen to this. Jehovah will
provide. Jehovah is the Lord. The Lord
Jesus Christ, our God, the reason we drove here was not to support
each other. Well, Tony's going to be there,
so I need to be there too. And if I'm not there, there's
not going to be many people in the pews and the singing won't be
as good and I'll regret it. That's not why we came here.
We came here to worship Jehovah. The Lord. And in doing so, the
Lord will provide. Those other gods can't. They
have no hands. Right? They tell people in religion,
God has no hands, but your hands. And they're right. The God they're
worshiping has no hands, but their hands. But this God, Jehovah,
the true and living God will provide. There's a difference.
There's a real difference. Listen to this. His saints, what
is fitting, shall ne'er be denied. So long as it's written, the
Lord will provide. His saints, what is fitting,
what they need, shall ne'er be denied. So long as it's written,
the Lord will provide. Now let's go back to our text
in John chapter 6. John 6 verse 8 says, One of his
disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There
is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes,
but what are they among so many? Unbelief is contagious. It really is. After everything
Andrew had seen and learned, when one person cast a doubt,
doubt ran through all of them. Every single one of them. And
that's exactly how it is with us. That's how it is with me. Human beings are so fickle by
nature, one person says, I don't know. I don't know. Then everybody's saying, man,
this ain't looking good. It's just not looking good. Thanks
be to God when one person says, you know what? God is in control. All of God's people start remembering. That's right. That's exactly
right. Amen. We need each other to edify each
other, don't we? edify, build up, remind each
other. Go with me over to Psalm 78. Psalm 78. Verse 19 says,
Yea, they spake against God, They said, can God furnish a
table in the wilderness? Behold, He smote the rock that
the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can He give
bread also? Can He provide flesh for His
people? You know, He did it back then.
I mean, those were Bible stories. Those people were much holier
than we are. They were just on a more spiritual
level than us. No. Does he do that today? Look at
verse 21. They said, can God furnish a
table in the wilderness? Verse 21 says, therefore, the
Lord heard this and was wrath. So a fire was kindled against
Jacob and anger also came up against Israel because they believed
not in God. entrusted not in his salvation,
though he had commanded the clouds from above and opened the doors
of heaven, and had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had
given them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels' food. He sent them meat to the full.
He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven, and by his power
he brought in the south wind. He rained flesh also among them
as dust. and feathered fowls like as the
sand of the sea. And he let it fall in the midst
of their camp, right in the middle of the camp, round about their
habitations. So they did eat and were filled,
for he gave them their own desire. They were not estranged from
their lust, but while their meat was yet in their mouths, the
wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them and
smote down the chosen men of Israel. For all this they sinned
still and believed not for his wondrous works. And that's something
that I thought about as I read that. The Lord said every manner
of sin can be forgiven except for one. Unbelief. And this is what he's saying
right here. Verse 32. For all this they sinned still and believed
not. for His wondrous works. Therefore
their days did He consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.
When He slew them, then they sought Him, and they returned
and inquired early after God, and they remembered that God
was their Rock, and the High God their Redeemer. Nevertheless,
they did flatter Him with their mouth, and they lied unto Him
with their tongues, for their heart was not right with Him.
Neither were they steadfast in His covenant, but He And there's
the gospel. But he, being full of compassion,
forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not. Yea, many a time turned
he his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath, for he
remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passeth away
and cometh not again. Genesis 18, 14 says, is anything
too hard for the Lord? Anything. Anything. Back over to our text
in John 6. Verse 8, one of his disciples,
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, there is a lad
here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what
are they among so many? And Jesus said, make the men
sit down. Now there was much grass in the
place, so the men sat down in number about 5,000. Our Lord
didn't rebuke them. He just lovingly said, make the
men sit down. Thanks be to our God. He maketh
us to lie down in green pastures. Make them sit down. If we are
going to be fed, if the Lord is going to feed us, spiritually
speaking, the works of this flesh must
come to a stop. They have to. Let's do, let's
work. What do you want me to do? The
works of this mind must come to a stop. Well, this is what
I think. Well, let me tell you what I
think. We've got to stop, don't we? Stop. We're going to have
to just sit down. Just sit down. And once He's
made us sit down, the Lord will serve us a meal. Once we've sat down, once He
has sat us down, the Lord will serve us a meal. Now look at
verse 11. Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks,
he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that
were set down, and likewise of the fishes as much as they would."
You can have all you want. All you want. Despise not the
day of small things. Small things, just listen to,
you don't have to turn. First Corinthians 1, 26 to 29
says, you see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise. God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty. Base things of the world and
things which are despised hath God chosen. Yea, and things which
are not to bring to naught things that are that no flesh should
glory in his presence. He chose to not spread a mile
long table like Solomon had. You ever read Solomon's Table?
I mean, it's unbelievable the amount of deer he killed for
every meal. Unbelievable. You cannot imagine. What'd the Lord do? Bring me
five barley loaves and two small fishes. That is amazing! That's amazing! That no flesh should glory. Any
man glory, let him glory in the Lord. That is amazing. That's
how it's going to be with us. Every time the odds are going
to be stacked against us, the Lord is going to work and we're
going to say, that's amazing. That was amazing. Totally amazing. Our Lord is pleased to use means. Our Lord is pleased to use means. Does he have to? No, he does
not. Our God can do anything that he's pleased to do and he
is pleased to use means. He's pleased to do things in
a certain way and this is how he's pleased to do it. Our text
says, verse 11, when he had given thanks. First, he's going to
teach us to acknowledge God. That's the very first thing.
I mean, when a sinner comes in for the very first time and they
hear the truth for the very first time, the first thing they're
going to do is acknowledge God. Very first thing. Acknowledge
God as the giver of every good and perfect gift. Everything.
I need something. Well, let's acknowledge God.
He's the giver of everything. He's going to acknowledge that
God is the one who provides and we are going to acknowledge that
God is the one who provides first. Then it says he distributed to
the disciples and the disciples to them that were sat down. God
is pleased to use simple human instruments in accomplishing
his work of grace. Give it to them. Give it to them.
It's just how He's pleased to do it. He is pleased to use servants,
ministers of the meal. That's what we're having right
now, is a meal. And the reason we're here so
much is so that we can grow. We need our meal. What is the meal? Christ and
Him crucified. Meat and potatoes. Every time. He is our bread. Now I'm going to go quickly. I'm about to close. Look at verse
48 right here in John 6. I am that bread of life. Verse
51. I am the living bread which came
down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." 1 Corinthians 11. You can turn
or listen, either way. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23 says,
I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you,
that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed,
took bread And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,
Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you, this doing
remembrance of me. This word is our bread. He is the word. He said, Man cannot live on bread
alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of
God. Every single word. Now our text in John 6 verse
11 says, Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks,
he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that
were set down, and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. Verse 12 says, when they were
filled. He fed them until they were filled.
As much as you want. Spiritually speaking, as much
as you want. My flesh will not allow me to
worship, okay? I can't come in here and decide
I'm going to go worship God. God has to bring me here. My
flesh won't come. He has to draw me into the front
door, and then He has to bless me with His Spirit, the Spirit
that receives the Word with gladness. He has to open my ears, open
my heart, Cause it to say, thank you, Lord. But if we will ask,
Lord, would you bless me today? Would you feed me today? Would
you help me today? I really strongly encourage us
as we're riding over at some point, I like to turn the radio
off. I don't want to think about that.
Lord, we're headed over there. Would you please let me not waste
this gas? Feed me, please feed me, spiritually
feed me and help me. He will. He will. I'm telling you the truth, he
will. He fed them till they were filled. He said, blessed are
they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. They're
going to be filled. Lord, I need Christ in his blood. Well, you better get a big cup
because it's about to run over. When the Lord feeds His sheep,
they are satisfied. Now verse 12 says, When they
were filled, He said unto His disciples, Gather up the fragments
that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered
them together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of
the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto
them that had eaten. Now I want to close by telling
you something about giving. Alright? Because we have come
to something That is amazing. And I don't want to preach a
message on giving. So we're going to do it right
now. Religion has abused the subject of giving because they're
greedy. They're greedy and they want
people's money. That's all there is to it. They tell people to
give not out of love for Christ. Not out of love for his people.
Not expecting nothing in return, but they tell people to give
for investment's sake. We are offering a very good return
on investment over here. And the Lord will not bless that.
He won't bless that. He won't bless anything that's
done for filthy, greedy, lust's sake. And the fact that they're
doing that has caused us, who are called to preach the truth,
to want to shy away from that subject. I don't like talking
about money. I get paid to do this. I don't
even like taking a check. I don't want to have anything
to do with it. I've got bills to pay. It's got to be done.
But we don't want to have any part in that. But we cannot shy
away from the subject. And the reason is because God
put it in the scriptures. And we're not going to skip anything.
We're not going to skip the verse that talks about election. We're
not going to skip the verse that talks about predestination. We're
not going to skip the verse that talks about limited atonement.
And we're not going to skip the verse that talks about giving.
Whole counsel of God. So here's a word on giving. Turn
with me to Proverbs 11. Proverbs 11, look at verse 25. The liberal soul shall be made
fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. With what? Whatever you need. Whatever you need. You cannot
out give the Lord. You cannot. It may not be money. It might
be money. Your heavenly father knoweth
that you have need of all these things. He knows that. Now, if you look, there are references
here. Second Corinthians 9, 6 through
10, you see that? Matthew 5, 7, Matthew 7, 2. I'm not going to take the time.
There are scriptures upon scriptures upon scriptures that say. You can't out give the Lord. You
just cannot out give the Lord. Can we take him at his word? We have to. It's all we have.
He said you give. And not just your money. Your
time. Your energy. Your love. Your support. Your compassion. Your friendship. And it shall
be given to you. Good measure. rest down, and
shaken together, and running over, shall men give in to your
bosom. For with the same measure that
you meet with all, it shall be measured to you again." Luke
6.38. I had to deal with some leaves recently, and I know something about I
didn't bag them this time, but I know something about bagging
leaves. And I've got a big old pile of leaves. And I'm going to take that bag,
and I'm going to try to cram as many leaves as I can get in
that bag. And I'm going to stick my foot in it, and I'm going
to press it down, and I'm going to shake it together. And the
Lord says to the liberal soul, you are that bag. Whatever comes
out of the bag, He is going to Press it back down, and I'm telling
you the honest truth. And I can tell you that from
experience. Not only my own experience, but the experience of others.
Press down and shake them together. Now, look at this text. This will be a great blessing
to you, and we'll close. John chapter 6, verse 8. Here's why I just told you that. John 6 verse 8. One of his disciples,
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad
here. Lord, there's a, we got a young
boy here. Okay. A lad. Which hath. It's his. He has five barley
loaves. and two small fishes. It's his. We don't have anything Lord,
but there's a lad over here and he has some things. Now we know
that those were given to him by God, but they were in his
possession. What did he do? Did he say, you
can't have this. It's all I have. If I let this go, then I'm going
to be left empty handed. This is the last of the last. I'm going to go hungry. No, he said, you can have it
all. He had five barley loaves and
two fishes. They didn't take three barley
loaves and one fish. He said, you can have it all.
Now look at verse 12. When they were filled, He said unto His
disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be
lost. Therefore they gathered them
together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five
barley loaves which remained over and above unto them that
had eaten. After every one was finished,
They gathered up twelve baskets full of bread and fish. Who do you think they gave those
twelve baskets to? The Lad. It was His. The Lord just multiplied what
was His. It was all His to start with.
He gave and it was given unto Him. rest down, shaken together. Is our Lord's word ever going
to return void? Never, never, never. Isn't that comforting? Isn't
that a blessing? If you want to get rid of your
money, well, that's a silly thing to say. Don't say hoard it for
yourself. Because if you give to others,
give to those who need, it's going to be running over. And
I'm not just talking about money. This thing is not about money.
But we need money. We all need money. The Lord knows
we have need of those things. We have bills to pay, don't we?
And for us to say, well, you know, that's not money, this
and that. Oh, we have money. We need money. The Lord will
provide it when you need it. And what he provides, be liberal
with it. If you have it today, hey, right
there, that's when in Luke six, he said, take no thought for
tomorrow. None. Give what I gave you today. I'll
give you twice that much tomorrow. You give that tomorrow. I'll
quadruple it the next day. Now what did Christ give? He gave it all. He gave his life. And I thought about this, and
I promise I'll stop. Our Lord is the only begotten
son of the Father. And he gave himself. And now he has brothers which
no man can number. Firstborn among many brethren.
Isn't that something? Won't return void. All right,
let's stand together.