Luke chapter 9, no lengthy introduction,
just going to dive right in, all right? Verse 11 of Luke 9
says, The people, when they knew it, or that is, where Christ was,
where the men whom Christ had chosen and given this gospel
to and this healing power where they were. So that's where they
went. They followed him. And he received
them. He received them. Those that
were interested in Christ and had a need of healing, it says
in verse 11, he healed them and had a need of healing. Those
who were interested in Christ, who wanted to hear what he had
to say, who wanted to see him, he received them. Those who were
sick, who really needed healing, I mean, they were sick. He healed
them. All that had need of healing,
He received them. He healed them. And anyone that
wants to know Jesus Christ, they'll know Him. If you really
want to know Christ, you'll know Him. Yes, you will. Anybody who
really seeks Christ, He said, seek me, you'll find me. If you
search for me with all your heart, if you've ever lost anything,
if you ever something you value and you look for it, you'll not
quit looking until you find it. Anyone who asks, Christ said,
ask. Now, I mean really ask. How bad
have you ever wanted something? If you ask, you'll receive. Anyone
who wants to know the truth, they'll know it. They'll know
it. And it says, He spake unto them, He received them. Verse
11, And He spake unto them the kingdom of God. Those that look
for Christ, they'll hear the gospel. They'll come where He
is, where His ordained preachers are that preach it, and they'll
hear it. They'll hear the kingdom. The gospel is always spoken of
as the kingdom of God. That's what Christ came preaching,
the kingdom of God. Not the offer, or the free offer,
or God's plan of salvation. The kingdom of God. See that? He spake unto them
the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.
If there's any poor and needy in here, He'll heal you. Well, look, and
if any hunger and thirst, see, there's some people that needed
healing. They really had a need, and He
healed them. He healed them all. See, He healed
all those that had need. That's the problem, isn't it,
with need? And if any hunger and thirst,
if any hunger and thirst after righteousness, You see, this
need and this hunger and thirst is something only God the Holy
Spirit can create in someone. The old saying, you can lead
a horse to water and you can't make him drink. What will make
him drink? Thirst, that's right. What will
make somebody interested in this gospel that we preach? A need,
a hunger and thirst. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.
I realize that. And you can prepare the most
glorious message, soul-filling and satisfying message, but unless
God the Holy Spirit makes somebody hungry. And so that's why I encourage
all of us before we come here, like John. We're going to sit
here and see what John, Lord, make me hungry. I want to see
your glory. Moses said, show me your glory.
He did. He did. Lord, I'm hungry and
thirsty. You'll be filled. He said, Blessed
are those who are hungry and thirsty. They'll be filled. They'll
be filled. Well, there's some people here
that are hungry and thirsty, and they got filled. Look at
verse 12. When the day began to wear away,
at the end of the day, the day began to wear away. Time had
been going on and on, and now it was
at the end of the day. It's at the end of the day. The
day began to wear away. And then came the twelve and
said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the
towns or country round about and get a place to stay and get
some food. We're out here in a desert place.
At the end of the day, twelve apostles saw that the people
were hungry and decided that themselves, they decided they
ought to go back into town and get some food. It sounded like
they all got together and decided this is what we ought to do.
They all ought to go into town and stay for the night and get
something to eat. They concluded there's nothing
out here for them. But they didn't realize that
if you're with Christ, you have to have all things. to have all
things with Christ. One doesn't need to look anywhere,
but to Christ to find all, whether it be food, raiment, shelter,
whatever it may be. He has meat to eat. They could
have gone into town. They could have gone into town
and found a place to stay and gotten something to eat. But
Christ had meat to eat that they didn't know of. And so it is with the people
of this world that look elsewhere, and men send people. They send
them various places to try to find comfort, shelter, and so
forth, and food, something to fill them, fill a need. But the
only filling is with Christ, fullness, in Him dwelleth all
of us. We feed with Him. And isn't that
the job of a shepherd? These fellas, the Lord was teaching
these fellas. They didn't know much yet. Mother
Henry, they didn't. First of all, they got together
without consulting the Lord, and they decided what needed
to be done. And if you listen to their language, they thought,
what are we going to give them? Shall we give them? Boys, boys,
boys, boys. They were just babes, weren't
the same. They didn't know much. They didn't know much. But the
job of the shepherd is to feed the sheep. And Christ is the
good, great chief shepherd. And He was making these fellows
to be His under-shepherd. And look what He said to them.
Now, they got together, and this is what they decided. We're going
to send them away into town to find a place to stay and something
to eat. But here's what Christ told them, verse 13. You give
them something to eat. Give ye them to eat. You give
them something to eat. Don't send them away. You feed
them. You feed them. Or they say, well,
we don't have much. We don't have anything. Five loaves and two fish. That's
all we got right here unless we go and buy. We can't feed
them unless we go buy something. And all we have here is five
loaves and two fishes. Why? You know, I'm certain it says
all we have here is five loaves. I'm certain that Christ, where
do you think they got, now these fellas, they were with Christ three and
a half years. They never worked a job. They sure didn't beg for
money. They sure didn't send out letters
asking for support, didn't they? Where did they get everything
they got for three and a half years? I mean, every meal they
ate, every article of clothing they wore, every place they laid
their head, where did they get it? Christ. He provided. He provided Lord
Jehovah Jireh. They were with Jehovah Jireh.
The Lord will see to it. I guarantee you, I guarantee
you, there wasn't a day that went by where they weren't walking
along. Where are we going? I don't know. And they'd be walking along,
I'm hungry, you hungry? Yep. He doesn't know. Where are we going to get food? Where are we going to stay? You think so? John, you think
so? You think as the day went by they didn't think, those thoughts
didn't pop into their head? We don't, we don't, we, this
place is full up. Bethlehem at this time of year
is full up. We'll never find a motel room. Well, where are
we going to stay? What do we call it? Tax time
came up. Taxes. And whoever the publicans
were came out, boys, yo, yo, oh no, oh no. Lord, go fishing,
boys. Go fishing. You see, Christ, where'd they
get these five loaves and two fishes? Huh? Christ gave it to them. And besides, I'm sure that they
didn't have any money to go to town and buy anything with. Do
you reckon? Do you reckon they had any money? Why, you already
told them. Look, you remember verse 2? Look
at it. Take nothing for your journey, stage, crib, money. How easily, how quickly they
forget. It will be provided for you. I'll provide for you. Maybe the five loaves and two
fishes were what they had left over. Maybe somebody, wherever
they went, said, Hey, John, wait, don't leave yet. Here, take.
Here, I've got a little something for your trip back. You and the
boys, you and John, you and James, here, wait a minute. I insist,
take these seven loaves and three fish, and they cooked it on the
way home. They had five and two left over.
All right. Well, who gave it? Who really
provided it? Somebody, a man may have put
it in their hand, but it was the Lord. Because He told them,
don't, and it will be provided for you. Don't take any money.
They didn't have any money. They didn't have any money to
go to town. And so they didn't consider that
all things were by grace. And people, we lose sight of
that fact, don't we? Huh? Don't we? Don't we lose
sight of that fact every day? Where am I going to get it? Where
am I going to get it? Where'd you get it to begin with? How am I going to pay for that?
Where'd you get it to begin with? Then I need this, I need that.
Yes, right, you're poor and needy. Where's it going to come from?
The God of all grace. Isn't it all of grace? Aren't
you, are what you are by the grace of God? Don't you have
what you have by the grace of God? Don't you? Huh? Everything
is grace. If you ever become like old Nebuchadnezzar
and say, look at what I've done. If you're one of God's own, like,
he'll bring you down like an animal. Until you see that the
most high ruler among the, in the kingdom of heaven and men,
and giveth it to whomsoever he will." It's all a gift. It's
all of grace. It's all of grace. And they lost
sight of that. It's all of grace. And they lost
sight of the fact that He didn't run out, you know, when He left
them and they went and they came back and now they were empty.
He's got more. They lost sight of the fact,
didn't they? He's got more grace. He's the God of all grace. And
He giveth more grace. It's for the asking. But no,
they did some planting. Well, we better, we better, we
better. And do you know what? They hadn't
provided for themselves one meal, had they? Not one meal had they
provided for themselves. Christ had provided it all. And
here they said, well, how are we going to provide for these?
You're not. You can't even provide for yourself, let alone somebody
else. You see that? And what he gave
them, now he said, he said to them, now they'd been provided
for, and what they had been eating that he'd provided, he said,
now, you give them something to eat. Well, they said, well,
all we have here is five loaves and two fish. It's what we've
been eating on, and that's all that's left. Give them what you've
been eating. Give them what you've been eating. You see that? Christ said, you
have food that I gave you, give that to them. Feed them with
exactly what I've been feeding you. And over in John 6, don't you
have to turn there. We're not going to turn anywhere.
I realize it's very taxing to flip these pages. Excuse my facetiousness. But we're going to stay right
here the whole time. Nobody should get tired of talking.
But over in John 6, it says that they said, what are these among
so many? All guts, five loaves, and two
fishes. What are these among so many? What's so little and
yet so many? What are these among so many?
In verse 14 here, it says that there are about 5,000 men. In
the Scriptures, it doesn't mention women and children. Because the
man's the head of the house, and they just count a man as
the household. Alright? And so how many people could
this have been, counting women and children? Five thousand is
a lot. And where are we going to get,
what's five loaves and two fish a month? Five thousand people. Well, about seven, eight, ten,
twelve. Some of them had children like
the Williamses there. It might have been twelve thousand
people. Five thousand of them kids, you
know. What's this among so many? Well, here's the whole point
of this story, if you hadn't seen it already. And the meaning
of the miracle. Now, the Lord didn't, and I guarantee
you that all the average preacher would see in this, and the average
church member would see in this, was what a miracle how the Lord
provided them something to eat. That we don't have to worry that
we'll eat, we'll never go hungry. That's not what this is about.
Not at all. That's not it at all. What we eat, the bread in this
world we eat, goes out in a draft. But the bread that man's going
to live by, it doesn't return void. It's not voided. You're going to live by it. You're going to live by it. And
it's only what Christ provides. Now do you know what this story's
about? As with every miracle, all right? All right, the whole point is
to show us the salvation of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Salvation 100% by Jesus Christ. His doings, His provision. That's what this is all about.
That's what it's all about. By one man's obedience. Many. were made righteous. You
see that? By one man's sacrifice, many
sinners are atoned for. By one man's provisions of righteousness,
many are totally covered. By one man, many are filled with
the fullness of God. See, Christ's righteousness,
that's what this is talking about. Christ's righteousness and blood,
loaves of fish. Christ's blood, Christ's righteousness. He covers all His people. Go
to the sands of the sea for number. Christ's blood pays for all the
sins of all God's people. Go to the stars of the sky for
number. He doesn't give us the exact number here, does He? Which
no man can number. But man, you see how the numbers
in the Scriptures are symbolic? You see that? We're going to
see that in the Revelation. 144,000. Does that mean that's
all there is? No. Any more than that is just
5,000. people out there, persons. It's about that man. OK. But just a word, what's it take?
What's it going to take to provide for all these people? What's
it going to take? Just a word from Christ. Just
a word from Christ. See, He created everything by
a word, and everything He provides for us is going to be from a
word. Just a word from Him. Just a word from Him. will save
a soul, will fill with peace, till your cup runs over. These
people are not only going to be filled up, but they are going
to have more for later. Look at verse 14. It says there
are about 5,000 men, and he said to his disciples, ìMake them
sit down by fifties in a Make them all stand up and be
recognized. No, no. Make them sit down. You've got to go down. Make them
sit down. If they're going to be fed, they've
got to sit down. Beggars. Where do you find beggars? When we were in Mexico recently,
the streets were full of them. What were they doing? They weren't
walking around the streets. They were down on the ground,
begging, begging. If we're going to get something
from God's Word, we've got to be still. We've got to sit down. That man, where did you find
that man that the Lord removed the devils from? What was he
doing? Seated, clothed in his right manner, sitting at the
feet of Christ. Mary sitting at the feet of Christ.
Oh, Martha was busy. And she received. Seated. Seated. We ought to be seated.
We ought to be seated before Him. Sit down. Make them sit
down. You see, the Lord is our shepherd. And He maketh us to lie down
in green pasture. Now, here it says, by fifties
and company. Now, the Lord is in the particulars
now. Hairs. He says, by fifties and company. We got about 50 people in here
this morning. We got about 50 people in here
this morning. Why do you think he said that? Because our Lord
has groups, companies, fifties, little groups here and there.
That's a scattering of corn on the mountaintop, but little churches,
little local churches. Ain't many of them too much bigger
than 50. You know that? I've been to them all. All that
we know of. Ain't many of them too big, is
it? Forty, fifty? Some of them twelve. That's enough.
Make them sit down by fifties in a company. What's a good round
number, fifty? Our Lord has a local church all over the land that
he's feeding right now. Right now. What's he feeding
them with? They're all eating the same thing. The man that's
doing the feeding, he's feeding. And the people that are getting
fed, they're feeding. What are they feeding on? Look at it. It says, verse 16, He took the
five loaves and two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed
them, and break them, and gave to the disciples to set before
the multitude. Now, the first thing I want you
to notice is this little big word, He. Do you see that? These people were
fed. These people were provided for.
These people had everything they needed, right? How? Because He
did it. He did it. He did it all, didn't
He? He took the five loaves, and He took the fishes, and He
looked up to heaven, and He blessed them, and He broke them, and
He gave. You say, He gave it to the disciples. Yeah, that's right. They're just
waiting tables. That's all. He provided it all. They're just
waiting tables. They're just giving to the people what He'd
given to them. What were they eating? Five loaves
and two fishes. He multiplied five loaves of
bread and two fish. Bread and meat. What is this? The gospel of Luke, chapter 24.
What are these five loaves and two fishes? Luke 24. Turn over
there with me. Does anybody like to make a guess?
Anybody have any idea? with the five loaves and two
fishes. I'll give you a little secret. We've looked at this
before. Five loaves and two fishes. What could it be? It's just a
good round number the Lord came up with? Let's see here how many
loaves that I'll put in the scriptures that I'm going to multiply. Five
and how many fish? Two. Well, that's seven. That's right.
That's good. But what do these represent? Look here at Luke
24. You know the story, don't you?
Disciples on the road to Emmaus, and how the Lord, look at verse
30, came to pass as he sat at meat, with them he took bread,
meat and bread, loaves and fish, meat and bread, fish and bread.
All right? He took bread at meat and blessed
it. They were one and the same. The
meat and the bread were in one thing, and break, and gave to
them, and their eyes were opened. And what happened? By the breaking
of this bread, their eyes were opened. What happened? It says
they knew Him. They knew Him. Look at it. And He vanished out of their
sight. And verse 32, And they said one
to another. Now here it is. Did not our heart
burn within us while he talked with us by the way, while he
opened to us the scriptures? Verse 35, they told what things
were done in the way, how he was known of them in the breaking. of bread, the Scriptures, the
bread, all right? What's these five loaves and
two fishes? Look at verse forty-four. He said unto them, These are
the words, this is the word that I spake unto you while I was
yet with you. All things must be fulfilled
which were written in five books, and the prophets and the sages. The Law of Moses, how many books
in it? I already told you. Prophets. There are one testimony
of Jesus spirit of prophecy. And the song. Sorry, I'd love
to pick. Pablo. Do fish all the word of
God. Brexit for you and you're going
to know him. And you're going to eat of him.
You're going to be provided for him. The Word of God is the bread
that He breaks and blesses and opens the eyes to know Him, to
fill with all His fullness. These five loaves and two fishes
now have been filling millions of hungry and thirsty sinners
from the beginning. It's the only thing God uses. It's the only thing. And look
at verse 16 back in our text here. What a gospel picture verse
16 is. This is glorious. Look at verse
16. It says, He took the five loaves
and two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them. He gave to set the fort. Five loaves and two fishes in
Christ's hand. You see, He had it in His hand.
In Him dwelleth all the fullness of Godhead. In Him are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And it's not going to be given
unless He distributes it. Unless he reveals the Word to
you. In Christ, the Word, and he multiplied it, it says. In
Christ, the Word is magnified before our eyes. And because
Christ came, it says that he took the five loaves and two
fish. A body hast thou given me. This is my body. It says he looked, remember,
at the Lord's table when it says, and he looked instead fastly
toward heaven. He blessed. He looked up and he blessed. Christ came,
he lived, he died, he rose, he went up. Christ looked up to
heaven. We're blessed. He blesses us. He took a body. He blessed it. For our sakes and for their sakes,
I sanctify myself that they might be sanctified." He broke it.
This is my body broken for you. He gave it. He gave it. He imputed His righteousness
to us. Do you see that? Isn't that a
beautiful picture of the gospel? Salvation is by grace in Christ. Salvation is by the Lord. He
took, He looked, He blessed, He brightened, He gave. See that? There's your gospel. He took, he looked, he blessed,
he broke, he gave. Who did the providing here? Who
did the filling here? In verse 17, it said, They did
eat. Was there any doubt about it? And they did eat. And what happened? Well, they
were filled. They were filled. You know, that
was just old common bread before the Lord tested it. And then
it turned into, well, there's butter and honey on this bread.
How'd that get here? There's sweet bread in it. There's
sweet bread. And they were filled. Oh, they
were filled. Filled. I often thought of that
meal that the Lord prepared for His disciples on the shore. Remember,
they'd been fishing, and He called them to shore, and He was sitting
there grilling some fish. No human being has ever eaten
a fish dinner like those boys ate that night, except maybe
these 5,000. Oh, they said, John, where did
you get this fish? What is it? I'm not sure. But the Lord gave it to them.
That bread, did you make it? Oh, no. No, sir. The Lord made
this by hand. He gave it to us. He did. He
did. Where'd you get it? He, he, he,
he. We thought we didn't. How ignorant we were. He did
it. Where'd you get it? This is what?
He did it. He gave it. He supplied it. This is of Him. Give Him the glory. We're just
waiting tables. And look at this. It said there's
some left over. Verse 17. They've taken up the
fragments that remain to them, twelve baskets. Twelve baskets full. Twelve bushel baskets. A basket
full. Why twelve? There's going to be some left
over. There's going to be some other people to feed on down the road.
Twelve. Well, our Lord sent the apostles
out, didn't he? Twelve of them. He sent them. A basket full for each apostle.
And this is the preaching and the epistles of the apostles.
Epistles of the apostles. Basket loads. Oh, you can't. You can't replenish the Word
of God. That wasn't all there was to
go around. And none of it was going to return void. It's not
going to lay around wasted. He said, no, no, no, no, it's
not going to be one crumb. My word shall not return void. He said, boys, go get the fragments.
We're not going to waste them. The Word of God is not going
to be wasted, trampled underfoot. It's going to be used every jot
and tenth of it. Five loaves and two fish? Just
like you ate. Give them something to eat. Leftover. Guaranteed. You ever
eaten any leftovers that tasted better than they did when you
first picked them? Have you? There's some things I like better.
I like cold fish. You know that? I like fish better
cold, later on, leftover. And I tell you, I've looked at,
I've heard and looked into some of the Word of God, and thought
it was glorious, but later on it was even more tasty, even
more tasty. So, are you hungry? Christ is
bread and meat for sinners. I wonder if anybody is asking
about something to drink. You got to have something to
drink. If you can't eat without having
something to drink, you know, if you're hungry, you're generally
thirsty. Well, he said, make them sit down, make them lie
down. Where do you reckon they were sitting? Where do you reckon
he led them? I bet you there's some still
water right over there. Well, he is the water. He is
the bread. Five loaves, two fishes. Give them something to eat. I don't have much. I haven't
got my sermons in from the denomination yet. You haven't been eating
it yourself, have you? You've got plenty. There's plenty. There's basket loads. Give them
something. It'll fill them. It'll fill them
up. All right. Joe, you got a number
picked out? What's that? 209, stand in the same pattern as the first. Five verses, two
chords. 209, stand here. Sing the first and the last stand.
First and the fourth. Mark the grace of our loving
Lord, Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt. Come, let all the Calvary sound
out for us, That we're the blood of the Lamb fostered. Pray, pray that the fire is lit
within. Praise, praise God. Grace that is greater than all
our sins. Marvelous, infinite, matchless
grace, freely bestowed on all who believe. You are longing to see His face. Fill your soul, my dear, with
grace to see. Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that will pardon His sins
with His grace, grace. in all my sins