It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, O Lord, that could not be. Yuba-Sutter Grace Church
would like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Rick
Warda. We currently meet at the Yuba
County Library, located at 303 2nd Street in downtown Marysville,
California, on the corner of 2nd and C Street. Weekly services
are held on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the library. For more information,
visit our website at ysgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Rick Warda. I've entitled our message for
today, Christ the Bread from Heaven. The scripture for our
sermon is found in Matthew 14, verses 14 through 21. There it says, And Jesus went
forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion
toward them, and he healed their sick. And when it was evening,
his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the
time is now past. Send the multitude away, that
they may go into the villages, and buy themselves vittles. But
Jesus said to them, They need not depart, give ye them to eat,
And they say to him, we have here but five loaves and two
fishes. He said, bring them to me. And
he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took
the five loaves and the two fishes. And looking up to heaven, he
blessed and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and
the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were
filled. And they took up of the fragments
that remained twelve baskets full. and they that had eaten
were about 5,000 men beside women and children. This account is
found in all four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Let us
therefore give it our utmost attention, praying that God would
give us the bread of life. There are at least three lessons
we must not miss from this scripture. First, Jesus Christ is God. He created all things out of
nothing by his word. Now he creates food for 5,000
men plus women and children. Second, Jesus Christ is the bread
from heaven. As God gave manna to Israel in
the wilderness, so God gave Christ to his people in the wilderness
of this world. And third, as we must eat with
our mouth to live and for satisfaction, so we must believe Christ to
live in our souls and to find complete satisfaction in our
conscience and delight in our God and Savior. In Matthew 14,
14, Jesus was moved with compassion toward the multitude because
they were as sheep not having a shepherd. And he began to teach
them many things, We only live by faith on the Son of God Himself,
who He is, what He has done to save His people from their sins.
Man, by sinning, earned death. Christ, by dying in obedience
to God, earned eternal life for His people, His sheep. The disciples
of John the Baptist had just reported to Jesus that Herod
beheaded John in prison. The cruelty of Herod against
John is therefore fresh in our minds as we read Matthew's gospel,
just as it would have been in the minds of Jesus' disciples.
In Matthew chapters 11, 12, and 13, and now here in chapter 14,
we see religious pretenders, together with civil rulers, persecuting
Christ and his people. God has chosen the spiritually
poor in this world to be rich in faith. James 2 verse 5. But all who are rich in their
self-righteousness persecute the poor in spirit who have nothing
but what they have in Christ. Now, it is against this dark
backdrop that we come to Matthew 14. And what do we see? We see
Jesus in the desert with his disciples. A multitude of people
have come to him, easily more than 10,000. Here, scripture
records the heart of our Savior. He has compassion on them because
they are as sheep without a shepherd. What does He do? He begins to
teach them. He feeds them with the truth
of God concerning Himself. What is the truth that poor sinners
must have to live before God? What gives and maintains spiritual
life in the soul of man? It is the bread of life, the
Lord Jesus Christ, crucified to save his people and glorify
God. By standing in the place of his
people, by bearing their sins in his own body, by suffering
all of the consequences of those sins in himself, guilt, fear,
shame, and punishment, he saved his people from their sins. He
reconciled them to God. he freed them from sin and its
consequences. The bread of life is Jesus Christ
giving himself to God in the place of his people with their
sins under God's law and feeling in himself the effects of all
their sins that were made his and bearing the full punishment
for those sins under the law of God. This is the context for
this miracle. If we only see Jesus making food
for 5,000 men with the women and children, then we will only
see a miracle with physical and temporal proportions. But in
John 6, Jesus makes it clear that he is the bread that came
down from heaven. His Father has given him as the
bread of life, and he gives himself to his people. He is the bread
of life in at least two ways. First, because He gave Himself
for His people in answer to God for their sins and for their
righteousness. And second, because He gives
Himself to His people by His Spirit. He gives them faith to
see Him taking away their sins and the wrath of God and fulfilling
all for them. There is no life but in Christ,
and there is no satisfaction to a hungry, thirsty sinner,
but Christ crucified, risen and reigning. He is our Master. In breaking two small fish and
five loaves to feed this multitude, he shows himself to be the life
and satisfaction and the delight to sinners who have been starved
by their sin from knowing and communing with God himself. Now,
in light of this, let us examine each verse in this text of scripture.
In verse 14, it says that Jesus saw the multitude. When Isaac
asked his father, My father, where is the lamb for the burnt
offering? Abraham told him, My son, God
will provide himself a lamb. God will provide, or Jehovah
Jireh. God will see to it, Genesis 22.14. Here, Jesus provides for the
multitude. This is ever the way it is. He
created all things by His word. He upholds all things by His
word. He is the one who saw the multitude
and their need. He anticipated their need and
He met their need. He is Jehovah Jireh. The Lord
will provide Himself a Lamb. Christ gave Himself for their
life. And in verse 14 we see that He
had compassion on them. We don't know what God is like
until he makes himself known. Christ makes God known here. He has compassion on the multitude. Against the backdrop of the hatred
and pride of the scribes and Pharisees as they treated people
as pawns in their game of man-made religious rules, we have here
the heart of God revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus
told Philip and Thomas, If you have seen me, you have seen the
Father. Jesus Christ is the brightness
of God's glory. What is the brightness of God's
glory? It is Jesus Christ, taking the
sins of His people, suffering under those sins as His own,
and bearing the full curse of God's law, even the sense of
God forsaking Him in His soul to bring us to God. How can you
know compassion and kindness and love? Look at Christ. See how He sees the misery of
ruined sinners. See how He gives Himself in their
place, bearing their obligations before God in His body and soul. We know God by what Christ did
to save His people from their sins. He pleased the Father,
and His Father's will was in His heart. He fulfilled it. He magnified His Father's glory
by saving His people, guilty, condemned, and helpless sinners.
What is God like? Look at Christ. You can only
know God in Him, and you can only know Him by how He saves
His people from their sins. Isn't that his name? Doesn't
his name tell us all that he is? Jesus, he shall save his
people from their sins. Jehovah is salvation, that is
who he is. And then in verse 15, the disciples
think to send the multitude away. The disciples exhibit the wisdom
of men here. They see thousands of hungry
people in the desert. They have nothing of significance
to feed them. So they reason within themselves,
send them away to buy food and find lodging. This is a desert. There are many. We have nothing
in comparison to their need. Sadly, unbelief can see no further
than man's wisdom and strength and goodness. Only faith sees
every need in light of Christ's all-sufficiency. Let this ever
be our banner. The grace of God in Christ is
all sufficient for every need. His throne is a throne of grace. Hebrews 4 verse 15 through 16.
His riches are the riches of glory. His mercy to his people
is everlasting. Go to Jesus, tell him, stand
still and see the salvation of the Lord. And then in verse 16,
the disciples told Jesus to send the multitude away. But Jesus
said, they need not depart. Christ is the bread of life. Never send a hungry sinner away
from him. The fullness of the Godhead dwells
in him bodily. What need can a sinner have that
is not fully met in Christ? There is no barrier in his people
that God has not removed in the person and work of his Son. Therefore,
Jesus told his disciples they need not depart. What an encouragement
this is to one who has nothing to bring to God in himself. What
a supply is here given by the Master Himself! Did He not say,
Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest? And did He not say, He satisfieth
the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness?
Psalm 107 verse 9. To go beyond Christ is to transgress. To look for anything more than
Christ and Him crucified as everything in my salvation is to frustrate
the grace of God. It is to make Christ's death
unnecessary and of no value. It is anti-Christ religion. 2
John 1, verses 9-11 says, Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not
in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the
doctrine of Christ hath both the Father and the Son. Therefore,
there is only one place for sinners to go for salvation. It is the
Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, He that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. To confess that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh is to confess that he is God, because he came,
and man, because he came in the flesh, and that he accomplished
all the will of God to save his people from their sins, because
that's the purpose for his coming. The eternal word of God came
from heaven. He was born of a woman. He was
made in the likeness of sinful flesh. Yet, He is God with us,
Matthew 1.23. Jesus Christ said of Himself,
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Revelation 1, verses 8, 11, and
18. There can be no denying that
Scripture declares Christ to be God Almighty, God with us,
God over all, blessed forever. Therefore, they need not depart. Sinners cannot look upon God. At Mount Sinai, God said that
if so much as a beast touched the mount, it shall be stoned
or thrust through with a dart. But here, the Son of God Himself
tells His disciples that sinners need not depart. Do you know
why these people came to Jesus in such great multitudes? because
Christ made himself their salvation. He met their every physical and
spiritual need. He is full of compassion and
he is mighty to save. Isaiah 63 verse 1. The disciples
were ready to send them away. Their resources were exhausted.
But where human strength ends, the grace of Christ begins. Romans
5, 6 says it. When we were yet without strength,
Christ died for the ungodly. God's love is seen in giving
his son up to death to reconcile his enemies and make them his
sons. Romans 5, verse 10. And then
in verse 17 of Matthew 14, the disciples said, We have here
but five loaves and two fishes. And Jesus said, Bring them to
me. The people were sheep in his
eyes. He sat them down in the green
grass, as in a pasture. Christ is the good shepherd.
He feeds his sheep. How does he feed them? He laid
down his life for them. Seeing Christ and trusting him,
they live and are satisfied. Just as our bodies live and find
satisfaction by eating food, our souls live and are satisfied,
even delighted, in believing Christ. Jesus said, bring them
to me. He asked his disciples what they
had. They told him five loaves and two small fish. They brought
it to Him. They gave it to Him. He blessed
it and break it. And then He gave it to the disciples
to give to the people. What do we learn from all of
this? That we must bring Christ all that He has given us. He
has given you the gospel of His saving grace. He has given you
faith to believe Him. Bring that to Him. It is all
you have. Plead His obedience, His sufferings,
His faithfulness, His righteousness, His mercy and His promises. Plead
His grace as all you have. Acknowledge your insufficiency.
All I have is Christ. I am a great sinner and nothing
at all. And my knowledge and my faith
is insufficient. It is Christ that is all. All
I am and all I have is insufficient to do one thing for the good
of men's souls and the glory of God. He must do as He will
with me and all that He has given to me. My life is in His hands. His grace alone is sufficient
to save and bless sinners. And then we learn to give back
to Christ what He has given us. It is your reasonable service.
Only if he multiplies the gospel that he has made yours by God-given
faith will that gospel bear fruit in the lives of others. The gospel,
faith, prayer, the forgiveness of sins by the blood of Christ,
justification by his righteousness, these are the things he has given
you if you are a believer. His work in himself to save sinners
is your testimony to men of your salvation. And then we learn
to distribute all that He gives back to us. If you live on Christ
by faith, then give what He gives you to sinners, praying that
He bless the work of His hands. It is more blessed to give than
to receive, our Lord said. And Solomon said, Who am I, and
what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly
after this sort? For all things come of thee,
and of thine own have we given thee. 2 Chronicles 29.14 Next
we read in Matthew 14 verse 19 that Jesus looked up to heaven
and blessed and break the loaves and gave them to his disciples
to set before them and the two fishes he divided among them
all. Take careful note what Jesus
does here. He is about to feed this great
multitude. He has five loaves and two small
fish only enough for a boy's lunch. But he is the Lord from
heaven He is about to create food for the people. And see
what he does. First, he looked up to heaven. Why did he do this? because he
is giving thanks to his father. What is he thanking him for?
He is thanking him that he has provided this food. He is thanking
him that he hears him, but understand the significance of this action.
Jesus will soon give himself as the bread of life to his people.
His body will be broken. His soul will be made an offering
for sin. He will bear the sins of his
people in his own body on the tree. He will feel the weight
of those sins in himself. He will own them as his sins
before God. In Psalm 40, verse 12, he says,
mine iniquities. And he will answer God's justice
and honor God's law under those sins in the place and on the
behalf of his people. This is what the bread of life
is. Jesus said, The bread that I
will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the
world. John 6 verse 51. Jesus himself
explains the significance of the bread he broke in this miracle.
The bread represents Him broken to make propitiation for the
sins of His people. He gives His life. He says in
John 6.51, I will give my flesh. All for whom He gives Himself
live. He said, I will give my flesh
for the life of the world. If He gave His flesh for their
life, they will be given life by that offering. Now he lifts
up his eyes to heaven, and he thanks his Father for providing
him that he could give his life for the life of all that the
Father gave to him. All who live are all those given
to him by his Father. Those are the ones for whom he
gave himself. Isn't this what John 6.51 says,
I will give my flesh for the life of the world? He cannot
fail. He is the Son of God. Jesus did
not give his life for nothing. He did not bear one sin for one
sinner who was not eternally saved and brought to glory. all
for whom he died live to God. Is this not the argument of Romans
8 verse 34 where it says, who is he that condemneth? The answer
is given. It is Christ that died. If Christ
died for you, you cannot be condemned. Thus, when Jesus looked up to
heaven, he thanked his Father that he could offer himself in
the place of his people and give himself on their behalf for their
life. He is that bread of life. It
says, He blessed and broke the loaves. Jesus, our High Priest
and Mediator, blesses His own substitutionary life and death
to the salvation of His people. What He accomplished for them,
He gives to them. What He gives to them, He earned
for them. In John 17, Jesus prayed concerning
himself to his father, as thou hast given him power over all
flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him. Do you adoringly wonder at the
Lord Jesus Christ for this? First, he thanks his father that
he can give himself for his people. Next, he blesses his accomplishments
to them by giving them eternal life. The people are sitting
on the grass. Jesus gave his life for the sheep. He feeds the sheep. He keeps
the sheep. All whom the Father gave to him,
he saves. Why did this multitude come to
the desert? Why were they drawn to him? Because
they were drawn by the Father to Christ. In the wilderness
of this world, Christ feeds his sheep, giving them life and faith
in the work he finished in himself for their salvation to the glory
of God. And then it says that the people
all did eat and were filled. Christ is all. He is all to his
people. He is our life. The fullness
of the Godhead dwells in him bodily and we are complete in
him. He satisfies the longing soul. If God has given His Son, if
He has delivered Him up for us, then He will give us all things
with Him. Romans 8.32 says, 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? Therefore, if
Christ died for you, God will give you eternal glory with Christ. You will be filled with Christ. And having Christ, you have all
things. But if you gain everything without
Christ, you have nothing before God. Next we see in verse 19
that He gave the loaves to His disciples and the disciples to
the multitude. God has ordained that through
the foolishness of preaching He will save sinners. 1 Corinthians
1.21 Remember Romans 10.17 How does faith come? Faith comes
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And how does hearing
come? Romans 10.14 says, How shall
they hear without a preacher? Jesus gave the loaves to his
disciples so that they could give it to the people. Christ
gives the gospel to his preachers. They preach him. He blesses that
word to the hearts of chosen redeemed sinners. This is how
God always saves his people. It is by hearing of Christ crucified
in the gospel. Paul and Barnabas preached the
gospel of Christ in Acts 13. It says, When the Gentiles heard,
they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord, and as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed. The gospel is
preached. All who are ordained to eternal
life hear it and believe Christ. This is God's work. He blesses
Christ to his people through gospel preaching. And when he
does, they are filled. Then in verse 20 of Matthew 14
it says, And they did all eat and were filled, and they took
up the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. The gospel
is greater than we can ever consume by our limited understanding
and faith. There is always much left that
we cannot take in. There is an abundance of grace
in Christ that exceeds our ability to receive. The Apostle Paul
prayed that all believers would know the love of Christ which
passes knowledge that you might be filled with all the fullness
of God. Ephesians 3.19 The fullness of
God is revealed in the love of Christ by His saving work as
our Redeemer. And in that same prayer, Paul
worshipped God and the greatness of his grace by saying, Now unto
him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. Truly,
God gave all when he gave his Son. What more could he give? When God gave his Son, he gave
all that he had. He emptied heaven in the gift
of Christ. Now, this miracle is recorded
that we might find Christ to be the bread of life. But how
do we eat the bread of life? That's the big question. How
do I eat Christ? Jesus himself answers the question.
He says in John 6.35, I am the bread of life. He that cometh
to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. We eat food with our mouth, but
we eat Christ by faith. Faith is coming to Christ. He
was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. Romans 4.25 Because Jesus Christ
fully answered God's law for his people, God justified him
with his people and raised him with them when he raised him
from the dead. Come to Christ. See that your
salvation is in Him and what He did. Depend on Him for all. Find your satisfaction only in
Him. There is salvation in no other.
There is life in none but Him. 1 John 5.20 says, We know that
the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that
we may know Him that is true. And we are in Him that is true,
even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. And then in 1 John 5.12, he says,
He that hath a Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. You've just heard a sermon by
our pastor Rick Warda. You may contact us by email or
by phone or download a copy of this sermon by visiting our website
at YSGraceChurch.com