I asked that you would turn in
your Bibles to the 78th Psalm, if you would. Psalm 78. I want to set the table, as it
were. I want to put things in arrangement
before we go to our text in the book of Luke. We sure are forgetful
people, aren't we? We talk about remembering the
Lord through communion, through coming to the table. We talk
about coming to church on Sundays and Friday nights and gathering
with God's people whenever we can, whether it be here in this
building or on the internet with others, like we did Friday and
Saturday with the brothers and sisters up in Oregon, in the
Dalles. We talk about coming to these
places and worshiping the Lord to remember, to remind us. I've mentioned many a times how
You know, we've been out in the world for the last seven days
and we're surrounded by the things of this world. And the things
of this world flood our minds and take our thoughts away from
where they should be on our Creator. Do you find that with you as
well? Look at the verses 1 through 8. of this Psalm 78, it says,
give ear, O my people, to my law. Incline your ears to the
words of my mouth. Now, God's law is more than just
what we think the Ten Commandments are. Everything in this book
that God has given you and I, this love letter, This love letter
to God's people, everything in here is the law of God. Everything God says is law. Give ear, O my people, to my
law. Incline your ears to the words
of my mouth. I will open my mouth, it says
in verse 2, in a parable I will utter dark sayings of old, which
we have heard and known and our fathers have told us. We will
not hide them from their children, showing the generation to come
the praises of the Lord and His strength and His wonderful works
that He hath done." Oh, the wonderful works that our Lord has done. We will not hide them from our
children. What wonderful works has God
done for you? Could we not sit here for the
rest of the time God has for us on this earth and list them
all? Verse 5, for he established a
testimony in Jacob. You could change that word to
Israel, it would be the same thing, for Jacob and Israel are
one. For he established a testimony
in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded
our fathers, that they should make them known to their children,
that the generation to come might know them, even the children
which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their
children, that they may set their hope in God, and not forget the
works of God, but keep his commandments. and might not be as their father's
stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that set not their
heart aright and whose spirit was not steadfast with God."
You don't need to turn there, but let me read something for
you. Romans 8, verses 31 and 32. We read these words often. I've read them so many times, I can Just flip the pages and
they'll come right to these verses. What shall we say then to these
things? Now, we've just read how the
people of God forgot when the great and wondrous things, God's
people at that time had seen the Lord open up the seas. We hear the story. These two
young men will hear the story about how God separated the seas
so that his people could walk through on dry land. What a miracle
for them to see. And yet, no sooner did that water close
up and they forgot all about who God was. No sooner did they
sit at the mercies of God's feet at Mount Sinai.
And they forgot. Our Lord tells you and I, what
shall we say at the end of these things if God be for us, who
can't be against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Oh, how quick I am to forget that very thing. Here's me. Here's me. I don't know if this is you.
Here's me. Exodus 34 and 9. And he said, now if I have found
grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among
us, for it is a stiff-necked people. Let my Lord go among us and pardon
our iniquity and our sin and take us for thine inheritance. Oh, what a stiff-necked person
I can be. Folks, I'm here to tell you this
morning, don't ever think that you're not capable of doing exactly
what God has told us Israel has done. That's God's people. That
was His chosen people, the people of Israel. Those that He delivered
out of Egypt. Now were they all delivered spiritually? No. But God had His remnant then
just as He has right now. His people are scattered throughout
here and there, pockets of some here, pockets of some over in
Yuba City, pockets of some down in San Diego, back in Kentucky,
Tennessee, Pockets over in England, pockets down in Australia. At
least one that we know of. And our Lord tells us His people
forgot Him. Just like that. Don't ever think
that you can't be in those very same shoes. Don't ever think
that just because you know a little bit about God, who he is, the
Lord Jesus Christ, that you can't forget who he
is. Sin rears its ugly head in our
lives every day, doesn't it? Our Lord tells you and I that
the heart is desperately wicked. Who can know it? What a tender,
gracious, and providing God that we serve. I want to talk to you a little
bit this morning about the God that provides, Jehovah Jireh. What a tender and gracious God,
that even though his chosen people Israel forgets over and over
and over and over again, he has compassion on them. Turn over
to Luke chapter 9. Our Lord has brought His 12 disciples together. He gave them a power and authority
to go out and cure diseases and deliver people from devils. And then after He sent them out,
He tells them, or as He was sending them out, He told them to take
nothing for their journey. We spoke about that a couple
of weeks back before I went to Australia. All I have. All I
have for you is Christ Jesus. Down in verse 9 we see where
Herod said, John have I beheaded, but who is this? That was the
next message we considered. Who is this to whom I hear such
things? Who is this man? And then last week we considered
these thoughts from verse 11. And the people, when they knew
it, followed Him and received Him. And He received them and
spake unto them of the kingdom of God and healed them that had
need of healing. What a tender and compassionate
God we serve, who, despite our forgetfulness, despite our stiff-necked
condition, He still has compassion. on our needs. Look with me if
you would at verses 11 through 17. Luke chapter 9 beginning at verse
11, And the people, when they knew it, followed him, and he
received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and
healed them that had need of healing. And when the day began
to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude
away. that they may go into the towns
and the country round about the lodge and get victuals, for we
are here in a desert place. But he said unto them, Give ye
them to eat. And they said, We have no more
but five loaves and two fishes, except we should go and buy meat
for all these people. For they were about five thousand
men, and he said to his disciples, Make them sit down, by fifty's
in a company. And they did so, and made them
all sit down. Then he took the five loaves,
and the two fishes, and looking up unto heaven, he blessed them,
and gave to the disciples to sit before the multitude. And
they did eat, and were all filled. Fragments that remain to them,
twelve baskets." Now, I want to leave Luke. We've read it. I wanted to go there and read
it in Luke because this is where we've been preaching from. It's
a series of texts from Luke. Turn over to John. Turn over
to John. John gives a much better detailed
version of this. All four Gospels, Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John, declared this miracle. And I want to talk to
you about it as a miracle. A miracle that God is showing
you and I. We're talking about Jehovah Jireh,
God who provides. Have you ever felt like you were
coming up short? I just don't have what I need
to walk the straight line that God has before me? I don't have
the attitude to treat people the way God would want me to
treat people. I don't have the love in my heart that God would want me to have
for those around me. Do you feel like you're coming
up short at times? Our God's grace is sufficient. when He comes to us in the shortness
of this flesh and shines His fullness, His full light in the
hearts of His people. I'm not going to tell you it
overfills you with joy every moment of every day. In fact,
no! It brings problems to God's people. All of a sudden, we start seeing
the sin that's within us. We see the weakness that's within
this flesh that we can't conquer anything. We can't accomplish
anything without Him, let alone do anything that He's asked us
to do. His law is good. It's in my heart. I want to do it, but I can't
do it in a way that pleases Him. And in knowing that, He shows
me His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, my Savior. And I feast on that
because that's all there is to eat. Going to church on Sundays doesn't
fill my belly. Giving to the poor doesn't help
me feel better about myself, about the sins in my thoughts,
the sins that are in my flesh. There's only one place that we
can go to to fill that need, that need of healing that we
talked about last week, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. In the
book of John, chapter 6, our Lord begins and He says, and
after these things, after what things? After the Lord had done
all the healings, after He had cured an infinite man whose hand
was withered, after He cured a man who had leprosy, after
he went to a man's house and cured his servant who was dying. After these things, Jesus went
over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias, and a
great multitude followed him. Oh, did you guys hear about that
guy? That guy called Jesus? Did you know what he's doing?
He's healing people of sicknesses. I don't know what I got, but
I got something, so I better go and see him. Multitudes of people
were following Him for the miracles that He was doing. That's what
it says. A great multitude followed Him
because of what? Because they saw His miracles,
which He did on them, that were diseased. Verse 3. And Jesus
went up into a mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.
So he goes up and he takes his pastors, his preachers, his evangelists,
his deacons, he takes his apostles with him. And he's gonna teach
them something. Let's go a little further before
I say what I want to say. And the Passover, the feast of
the Jews was nigh. When Jesus then lifted up his
eyes and saw the great company come unto him, he saith unto
Philip, whence shall we buy bread? that these may eat. And this
He said to prove Him." God has a right to prove us, folks. He's
not proving us to Himself. He knows what you're going to
do before He did it. When Jonah ran from the Lord,
Do you think that was an accident? Do you think God was sitting
on His throne going, whoa, whoa, what happened here? My servant
just took off. I told him to go to Nineveh and
preach. No, he ran the other way. That caught me by surprise.
That's not God. When the Lord proves us, He's
proving us to ourselves. I asked this question this week,
Lord, is it I? Did you know Judas preached Christ? Did you know Judas preached? He didn't just hang out in the
background there and not say anything. He was one of the apostles.
He's one of these that the Lord is talking about right now, who
is taken up on the mountain, who will see this great miracle
of the Lord feeding 5,000 people. He'll participate. in the handing
out of the food. Lord, is that I? Is that me? Have mercy. Have mercy on me. Don't leave me to that. Verse 6 says, he said, and this
he said to prove him, for he, Christ, knew himself what he
would do. That's the God we serve. The
one who knows all things. Philip answered him, said, 200
penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them that every one of them
may take a little. Philip is admitting his lack
of faith, his weakness in believing. He's seen the miracles that Christ
has done, and here he is, and he's saying, we don't have enough
to feed everybody. We've got two little fish and
five loaves of bread, and there's 5,000 people here, or better,
because that's just counting men. How many women are with
them? How many children are with them? One of his disciples, Andrew
Simon Peter's brother, said unto him, There is a lad here which
hath five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they
among so many? They're standing in the presence
of God Almighty who created everything, and they're saying, we don't
have enough. God's people are weak in faith
until God makes them strong. They usually go back to being
weak again afterwards. And Jesus said, make the men
sit down. There was much grass in the place,
so the men sat down in the number of about 5,000. Now you can read
the same account, and we'll come back to this in John chapter
6 here in just a moment. You can read the same account
over in Matthew 14 and in Mark chapter 6. But the first thing
I want to bring to your attention this morning is the Lord's tender
care for the needs of these men. Especially of His chosen one.
Listen to Philippians 4.19. Your needs. And then he says
this. According. According. According to His riches
and glory by Christ Jesus. Isn't that what we read over
in Ephesians? Let me just turn over there to
make sure I quote it properly. I don't have it notated in my
notes. Let me just turn over there.
What does it say here? The exact words is, blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Oh, how I need to be reminded
that God is able. Able. to save this poor wretched
worm to the uttermost. Do you need to be reminded of
that? Have you ever been in a position where you thought the Lord was
far from you? A David, a man after God's own
heart, a man who the Lord blessed greatly, now granted This is
a messianic song. These are the very words that
our Lord and Savior cried out from the cross. But David had
to experience what he's about to write. My question was, have
you ever felt like the Lord was far away from you? Have you ever thought, Lord,
why don't you hear my call? Listen to David's. My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? O my God, I cry in the day, I
cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not, and in the night
season, and I'm not silent, but thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest
the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee,
they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto
thee and were delivered. They trusted in thee and were
not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man or
reproach of men, despised of the people. All they that see
me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out the lip. They
shake the head, saying, he trusted on the Lord that he would deliver
him. Let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. Our Lord
says again in Philippians 4.19, but my God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Turn over to John chapter 10. We'll come back to John 6 in
a moment. We're talking about the mercifulness of God and providing
all that His children need. In John chapter 10, beginning
at verse 7, we read these words, Then said Jesus unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that
ever came before me are thieves and robbers. But the sheep did
not hear them. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find
pasture. The thief cometh not but for
to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they
might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for
the sheep, but he that is in hireling, and not as the shepherd,
whose own sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth
the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth
the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and
careth not for the sheep. What did I read? What is my favorite
verse in Romans 8? What did we read there a moment
ago? What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us,
who can be against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also right here, I am the good shepherd,
it says in verse 14, and knoweth my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. We're
talking about the Lord that provides all that we need, and is not
lacking for anything. Don Fortner preached a message
from this, it's titled, Calculating without Christ. That's what Philip
and Simon Peter were doing. We don't have enough. You don't
need enough. Christ has it all. In Him, we
don't need enough. We've got it all in Him. Everything
that we need is through our Savior, the Lord Jesus. When I just read
a moment ago in Ephesians 1, verse 3, All spiritual blessings
come through Him. You talk about a cup that overfloweth? A cup that overrunneth? When
Christ shines His mercy in your heart, folks, I'm telling you,
nothing, nothing can take it away. We are kept by the power
of God, as it says in 1 Peter. And if we're kept by His power,
nothing can take that away. This is good news to a sinner.
This is great news to a sinner who knows that we can't do it
ourselves. Everything we need is in Him. And everything of His, He's giving
to us. Creation, which belongs to Him,
He has given it to us, His people, throughout all time. throughout
all nations, throughout all tongues. It says in verse 16, and other
sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. Aren't you thankful for that?
We talked about this in the Bible study. My only hope for my children who walk in darkness still, the
same darkness you and I walked in at one time. My only hope!
is that Christ, they may belong to Him. And I know if they do,
they will not go through that doormark death until He has called
them out. They will either bow their knees
to Him now, under His love, or they'll bow their knees to
Him afterwards, in His wrath and judgment. I must bring, and
they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one
shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my
life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father." So we see the Lord providing back in our text
for these 5,000. Let's pick up again at verse
11. And 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 they would. Notice that our Lord is committing
a miracle to feed 5,000 people with two fish and five loaves
of bread, but yet he's doing it with what? With men. Men that are sent of God to preach
the gospel. That's what this is a picture
of. God is sending men out to preach
his gospel around the world. I'm thankful that for the last
24 years, there was a man who stood here in this pulpit named
Gene Harmon to preach the gospel that John Reeves would hear the
truth of God for the first time. And when they were filled, it
says in verse 12, Now I'm going to back up and
read verse 11 again. And Jesus took the loaves, and when he
had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples. And the disciples
took them that were set down, and likewise of the fishes, as
much as they would. That's important. That means that I've gone around
giving out food to this over here, giving out food to this
over here. You need more? OK. Come back. I'll give you
some more. It says there, as much as they
would. Nobody left there hungry. Nobody. Verse 12, and when they were
filled, he said unto his disciples, gather up the fragments that
remain, that there be nothing lost. Therefore they gathered
them together and filled 12 baskets with the fragments of the five
barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that
had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that
Jesus did, said this. He said, this is of truth. That
prophet that should come into the world. The gospel seems so
small, doesn't it? So small. What do you mean there's
a guy who went to the cross? There's got to be more than just
that. There's got to be something I can do. There's got to be something
that I need to do. That's not enough. You and I
have heard folks say that, haven't we? The gospel's not enough. Not to God's people. It overfills us, doesn't it?
It overfills us with joy knowing that we have a Savior who paid
the price. And God was satisfied with that
payment. We see that He uses these worthless
hands to do His bidding. Don brought out an example of
that. Let me share that with you. When
Lazarus was dead in the tomb, and the stone was rolled over
the hole in the tomb, what did the Lord Jesus do? He commanded
the men there. to roll the stone away. He could
have just made the stone disappear, couldn't he? He's God. He can
do anything. Yet he used the hands of men
to spread his gospel. It's this way. He's using sinners,
sinners who are saved by grace, to talk to other sinners about the one who is grace, who
will save you by his grace. Lastly, I want to bring out one
last point and we'll come to a close. It says there in verse
12, when they were filled. When they were filled. I just
brought out a moment ago how the gospel of Jesus Christ fills
his people. Turn over to Colossians chapter
2. Colossians chapter 2. One of the things about being
a Bible teacher and a preacher, as I can use the same verse in
both sermons. In Colossians chapter 2, beginning
at verse 6, we read these words. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. I'm told that I just
skip over God's will and God's law. That's not true at all, and you
folks who sit here daily know it. I encourage you, go forth
and be holy, for our God is holy. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. Rooted up, verse 7, and built
up in Him, and established in faith as ye have been taught,
abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you
through feign, through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition
of men." That's talking about religious traditions. That's
talking about, oh, if you come to the church and come to the
front of the church and do this and you do that and you do this
and you do that, that's what that's talking about. Don't let
men deceive you and lure you away. after the rudiments of the world,
and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete. Now read that aloud
with me. What does it say? And ye are
complete. We're complete in Him, folks,
which is the head. of all principality and power,
in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, and putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ." We are filled. What this is telling
us here, throw religion out and trust in Christ. Religion will
damn you. Religion does nobody any good.
There's only one that we can come to to fill our bellies and
fill our soul, and that's the Lord Jesus himself. Amen.