John chapter six. This is a very familiar story. I'm sure everyone in here. Has
heard it, read it. But it's very, very important. So much so, so very important
that it's recorded in all four gospels. Anything written in scriptures
is vital and important and has eternal consequences. For the
hearer of it, well, this is written four times. This is recorded. Why? Why is this story recorded by
all four? Why? To show Christ's miracle-working
power, to show that he can feed five
thousand with five loaves and two fish. Well, look over at
John 2. John chapter 2. I'm not going
to have you turn to too many scriptures this morning. It should
be easy to follow along. We're going to stay in John 6.
We'll look at Luke 24 briefly. John chapter 2. Some of you remember this. He
says here concerning him in verse 23. John 2 verse 23. Now when he was in Jerusalem
at the Passover, in the feast day. Many believed in his name
when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself
unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any
should testify of man. But he knew what was in man. It's in man by nature. to be
all taken up with sight of the eyes and signs and wonders. The just shall live by faith,
not sight. Well, back to the text there
in John 6. Christ didn't come to work miracles. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
come to work miracles, though He worked many miracles. that
was not his chief mission. But he came to glorify
God and save his people. And though Christ healed the
blind, though he did heal several blind
people, persons. Yet the miracle behind that miracle is how Christ came to heal spiritually
blind, to give spiritual eyes. He healed the deaf, those who
could not hear with these ears. But the miracle, the miracle
behind that miracle And the reason he came was to give spiritually
deaf people ears to hear the truth, the gospel. He raised
the dead with the miracle, which that points to. Over in Isaiah
61, which he read when he came of age, Jewish age, in the
synagogue, he read that. And he talked about the blind
receiving their sight and the poor having the gospel preached
to them. The dead in trespasses and sin
is what Christ came to do, raise people from their sin. Hungry,
he fed these people here. But that's not what this is all
about. See, the physical miracles, everybody
in our generation, they're looking for a miracle, but physical miracles
are always just temporal. Right? If that's why Christ came,
then he would have healed every single person that had any disease
at all. The physical miracles are temporal. They last temporarily. dead, those dead that were raised
from the dead, Lazarus, died again. Didn't he? These hungry people that were
fed here, well, it wasn't eight hours later that they were hungry
again. Right? But the miracle of miracles that
Christ works and what he came to do lasts forever. All right, let's look at it down
through here, John chapter six, beginning with verse one. After
these things, Jesus went over the sea of Galilee. Many things
had transpired. And we've been looking at John,
the gospel of John together, and you've been marveling right
along with me at the amazing things that we've seen and heard. But a lot more happened than
that, than what we've seen. There's a lot more went on than
is written down. I was thinking about this yesterday,
how Christ lived thirty-three and a third years on this earth. And we have four short accounts
of his life. There's a passage of scripture
that says, if all the things were written, which he had said
and he had done, says the world couldn't contain the books on
the subject. That's why eternity, it's going
to take an eternity to tell of his person and his worth. I look
forward to it. Well, after these things, it's
verse 2, a great multitude. He passed over and went over
the Sea of Galilee. which is the Sea of Tiberias,
and a great multitude followed him because they saw his miracles
which he did on them that were diseased. These people, these
people that followed him, a great multitude followed him because
they saw a magician work miracles. And that'll get you a crowd. Would you believe that I've even
seen. Magic acts in so-called church
houses. I mean them bring in these fellows
that are just magicians to entertain the people. I have it's a it's just it's
a beyond me. At any rate these people saw
magician working miracles and saw a physician healing people
that's what they saw. That's what they were taken up
with. And it's no different today. Not one wit different today men
and women are no different today than they were 2,000 years ago,
a multitude of people followed Jesus to obtain some miracle
from Him. You know it's so. Turn your TV
on and you'll see multitudes flocking to these miracle-working
crusades and much talk of Jesus, but very little, if any, true worship of the person and
the work of Jesus Christ. Very little, if any, gospel being
preached from those pulpits. We know it's so, and it's sad. It's sad. They see the miracle
worker in a position named Jesus, and that's what men are after.
No different today. Well, look at verse 3. It says,
Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. He went up into a mountain. The
multitude followed him and he went up into a mountain. The Lord Jesus Christ did not
come to try and save everybody. Nor did he come to try to convince
everybody that he was the Christ. Not at all. There's a passage
of scripture that says he will not cry. It's Isaiah 42, isn't
it, John? He will not cry, nor cause his
voice to be heard in the streets, nor lift up his voice in the
street. Jesus Christ came to save all
that the Father had given to him before the world began. And though he was often in a
crowd, you'll often find him in a crowd because he drew a
crowd everywhere he went because of the miracle. Yet you'll find
him saving people individually. You'll find him going to a well
in the middle of the day when nobody else is around to talk
to one woman. That's the way he saves. That's
the way, that's why, that's what Christ came to do. The good shepherd,
the Lord and shepherd of his sheep seeks out his own and he
deals with them individually. Individually, go to a well. Sometimes
in a crowd, a vast crowd of people, he has to look up a tree to find
one of his own. Look at verse 4. So he went up
into a mountain. Look down at verse 15 in the
same chapter. Look at verse 15. When Jesus
therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force
to make him a king. That sound familiar? The crowds
of the multitude saying, and the preachers telling them, make
Jesus Lord. Uh-uh. Look at verse fifteen. He departed again into a mountain,
himself alone. Oh, no. You're not going to make
me Lord. Right? So, he went up into a
mountain. There he sat with a few chosen
individuals, his disciples. There's something right there.
I didn't dwell on it, but there's something there. There he sat
with his disciples. Well, read on. Verse 4, And the
Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. Now, there's much here. The Passover, a feast of the
Jews, was nigh. Do you see anything wrong with
that? statement. And there's nothing wrong in
the sense that it's written exactly the way it should be written.
What God said here is right, but do you see what's wrong with the Passover feast? You see, originally the Passover,
which was back in Exodus what? Yeah, I started to ask you, Jennifer. Back in Exodus, the Passover,
when it was instituted, was called what? What was it called? The Lord's Passover. The Lord's Passover. Well, here
it says, and we saw in another place, didn't we, Sherry? We
saw where it said The feast of the Jews. The feast of the Jews. Well, see, it had degenerated. The Lord's Passover had degenerated
into party time. Party time, not worship time. It had become a circus instead
of sacrifice. And doesn't that ring true? Huh? It had become a circus when all
that the Passover was supposed to be was worship of God around
the sacrifice. Nothing more. Stand. Nothing
more. Eating unleavened bread and drinking
wine in remembrance of the Lord's mercy and grace and love and
electing grace to sinners, saving them from the wrath to come,
it had degenerated into a circus and not sacrifice. Now, that's exactly what's happening
today, exactly. So very many follow Jesus, believe
in Jesus, carry on their feasts and assemblies. If we look it
up in Isaiah chapter He said, these things are a stench in
my nostril. What's going on today in God's name is just a big circus
when it's supposed to be a sacrifice. Preaching of the gospel in that
only. Well, the first Passover, now listen, the first Passover,
the Lord's Passover was a time of judgment, time of judgment. to all outside, not under the
blood. The blood, see, that first Passover
was blood, blood, blood. It was all about blood, blood
on the doorpost, blood on the doorpost and on the lintel. God
said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Well, whatever
feast we may be having needs to contain a lot of the blood,
needs to be centered around the blood. We're sinners. And if God's going to pass over
us and not judge us, he's going to have to see the blood. Every
sinner's going to have to hear the blood. Have to hear it. It was a time of judgment to
all outside that were not under the blood. It was a time of mercy
to all those that were under the blood. A time of mercy. And even now. Now listen. He
said here in verse four, he said, The Passover was nigh. The Passover is nigh. A time of judgment. I say this
a lot, don't I? So should every true preacher.
The Passover is nigh. A time when God says, I send
in my death angel to judge. And he's still saying, When I
see the blood, I'll pass over to you. When I see the blood,
pass over tonight. John sees that he's near. Christ's
coming. His coming day is a day of judgment
for all those outside, not under the blood. But I'm telling you,
if you're under the blood, it's a time of mercy. It's a time
of gathering. And then will be the feast. Then
will be the feast. Well, Christ does a miracle here. in this story. Did you notice
how that those four verses were by themselves? Those four verses were by themselves
and it gives that symbol of a new parenthesis or a new paragraph. So the Lord's coming is now.
And it drew our attention to that. And then it tells about
this miracle that Christ performed. in light of the near, nearing
Passover. The Lord is coming. Unless he
does this same miracle for us, we're not going to get mercy.
All right? Now follow along with me. You're
going to get a blessing. You're going to get a blessing. But
you reap what you sow. Gather yourself and listen up.
All right? There's so much here. All right? Unless Christ does
a miracle for us now, in the same way that he did this one
here, unless he provides for us what is needful, what's impossible
for us, we're going to perish. Now listen to me. Christ is the
one thing needful. Man doesn't live by bread alone.
We're going to live seventy years, and if by reason of strength,
eighty. But after that, the judgment. The man's going to live by bread,
though. The man's going to live by bread. Christ is that bread. The bread
of life. Christ is the water, which if
any man drink, any woman drink, they'll never thirst again. Which
if any man eat the bread of life, they'll live forever. Christ
is the bread. Christ here. And what this speaks of, this
whole story, is the Christ's righteousness which we need.
Gotta be imputed to us. Christ's righteousness, and He
does that by faith. Christ's blood shed for us. It's
got to cover our sins, our guilty soul. Christ's Word, His Gospel,
we've got to have it revealed to us. We've got to eat it. We've
got to say, except you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you
have no part in me. Do you know what that means? Christ said, except you eat my
flesh and drink my blood, you have no part in me. Do you know
what that means? Have you eaten the flesh and
the blood of Jesus Christ? We'd best go and learn what this
means then, hadn't we? Huh? Christ said you have no
part in me unless you do that. All right? All right. This miracle
is a picture of this. You remember what the first miracle
Christ performed was? What? Deborah said, making the
wine. That's right. That's right. The first miracle he performed
was turning water into wine, making it wine. Right here, he's
going to make bread. He does, and the notable thing
about this miracle now is, is he makes them out of nothing.
He makes what wasn't there before into something. He just makes
wine appear. He makes bread appear from nowhere. And this is all a picture of
that miracle-saving work of Christ's shed blood and his broken body
for his people. All right, let's look at it.
Verse 5. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great company
come unto him, he said unto When shall we buy bread that these
may eat?" A great crowd coming. He was seated up in the mountain
with his disciples, and here comes this great big crowd. They
followed him wherever he went because of the miracle. And he
turned to Philip and said, Where are we going to get bread? Where
are we going to buy bread that all these people may eat? They've
got to eat. Where are we going to get the
food to feed them and the money? Where are we going to get the
money to feed all these people? Where are we going to get the
food to fill them? Look at verse 6. This he said to prove
Philip. He knew what he was going to
do. And this is written to prove
you. What's this all about? Where
are we going to get bread? Where are we going to buy bread?
I got to eat. Except you eat my flesh and drink
my blood. Where are we going to buy this bread? Where are
we going to get the money to buy this bread? Huh? Got to have
it or you'll die. You'll starve to death. Huh? Now the question runs much deeper. It runs much deeper than that.
Listen to me. There's a great multitude coming.
The scripture says God has a people, a great multitude of people which
are as the, in number, as the sands of the stars of the sky
and the sand of the seashore. Great multitude. Great multitude. Do you know something? One sin which is against God demands
everlasting judgment and punishment. I know the world doesn't understand
that, and I don't expect them to, but you who know the gospel
and understand what that's saying. One sin. One sin demands everlasting
punishment. To be guilty of one offending
at one point is to break it off. Well, one sin, let alone all
the sins of all God's people. from the beginning of time. Are you with me? All the sins
of all of God's people from the beginning of time will have to
be put away. It requires a great salvation. Where are we going to get it? How are we going to pay for our
sins? Becky? Huh? One sin demands an eternal payment. That's what hell, that's the
reason hell is in eternity. But all the sins of all God's
people who number as the stars of the sky and the sands of the
seashore, where are we going to get this salvation at? Now,
this he says to prove us. He knows what he's going to do.
He knows what it's going to take. Do you know what it takes? Huh? This I say to prove you. Do you
know, Pollack, what it takes? Where do you get it? Huh? He
said, look at it again. He said, Philip, he said, when
shall we buy bread? It's not where or when or how
we're going to get saved. Is it? Man's got to be saved. Man's got to have the blood applied.
Man's got to have the righteousness of Christ applied. Man's got
to have this sacrifice. Where are we going to get? It's
not me. It's how the gospel is, how he
is, what he's going to do. You see that, Joe? It's all in
that one little statement. He knew what he was going to
do. He said this to prove then. Where are we going to get it?
Nancy, where are you going to get your salvation? You don't
get it, Nancy. Do you get it? You don't get
it. Man doesn't get saved. People
say that all the time. I got saved the other day. You
may have. But you may not be accepted by
the Lord. You may not be saved with God
because you don't get saved. The Lord saves you. It's a big
difference between getting saved and being saved. Big difference. You know what I'm saying. Where
are we going to get it, Philip? So great a salvation. Where are
we going to get the payment to pay for this? Huh? One sin. One sin requires an infinite
payment. We don't have a dime to contribute. Well, look at verse 7. Philip
said, Well, two hundred penny worth of bread is not sufficient
for them, that every one of them take just a little. Two hundred
penny worth. Well, they'd take a lot of bread
and a lot of money just to give everybody a little taste of it.
A lot of bread. But no, the Lord doesn't do a
thing by halves, and He just doesn't give a little. He knows
what he's going to do. He's going to fill them up. And it takes a lot of bread and
a lot of money just to give everybody a little take. And the truth
is the best works of the best men who have ever lived, all
of them wrapped together, would not be sufficient down payment
to pay for one sin. To put away one little sin. All
the tears All the tears and repentance and strivings and prayers of
all men and women who have ever lived wouldn't be sufficient
to put away one sin." You say, that's a little hard, isn't it?
No! It took the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, to put away
our sin. That's the reason self-righteousness
is such an abomination to God Almighty. It takes an infinite
payment. It took nothing less than God
Almighty punching his son between the eyes and making him a bloody
mess to pay for our sins, every last one of them. Not my pitiful
little cry, not my repentance, not my prayers, none of that. It takes an infinite payment.
It won't put, none of these things will put away one little sin. told that the world could hear
this right here, this right here, this one point. Because the whole world of religious
people are going to be standing before God Almighty so confused,
so deceived, thinking that there's something. And they have. They've
been sincere. They've gone to church all their
lives. and won people to Jesus and been
on the mission field? Ken Weimers. Ken Weimers' dad spent 40 years
over there in Africa preaching. But he wasn't
preaching the gospel. And Ken's mother, whom the Lord
saved not too long ago, realized that. And she said, All of that's been for nothing.
All those years spent over there in Africa, though I give my body
to be burned, sacrificed, all that, nothing! It doesn't merit
anything with God Almighty. No favor, no merit whatsoever. There's only one thing that will
make us acceptable to God, the blood of Jesus Christ. That's
why God had to do it. Why did Jesus Christ come to
die? Why did it take that? Because it's the blood that makes
atonement for the soul. And all the blood, that's the
reason the Hebrews, the whole book of Hebrews is talking about
this. All the blood of all the bulls and the lambs and the goats,
that every sacrifice could never put away one sin. Not ever! Not one little, not a little
sin, not a little white lie, whatever that is. Won't put it
away. Not all the blood, not all the church services, not
all the attendance and church prayers, none of it. But one
drop of blood now will put them all away. All of those won't put one sin
away, but one drop of blood will put them all away. This man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down. He made the payment. Where are
we going to get the bread, Philip? Where are we going to get the
money, Philip? Well, he knew what he was going to do. He proved
it. And why is this written? Study, show yourself approved. It's all speaking of Christ,
isn't it, Stan? It's all about his person and his work. I'm
not sure I've ever heard a man preach from this, at least not
along his line. Well, look, grab your seat, Deborah,
all right? Go to verse 8 and 9. One of his
disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said, Well, here's a
lad over here. He has five barley loaves and two small fishes.
But what are they, among so many? What are they? What are they? Oh my. There's a lad. Look back at Luke
24. Luke 24. Oh my. There's a lad over here
who has five barley loaves and two fishes. Oh my. What's that? What are they? What
are they? What are these five loaves? I
read everybody I could read on the subject and none of them
told me. But the Lord told me, look here
at Luke 24, five loaves and two fishes. Luke 24, look at verse
41. This is when Christ arose from
the grave. Now while they had yet believed not for joy and
wonder, he said, have you any meat? And they gave him what they had.
They gave him a little piece of fish and a honeycomb, and
he took it and he ate before Well, he had something to give
to them. Now, he's eating what they gave him, and he's about
to give them something to eat on, something to chew on. So, oh, my, what was it? Five barley loaves and two fishes. Look at it, verse 44. He said
unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you when I
was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were
written in the law of Moses. How many books in the Book of
Moses? How many? Five. And in the Prophets and
Psalms. Concerning me. Five load, two
fishes. That's got to be what it is.
You see, listen to me. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God." A revelation of Christ comes
only through the Word. The Word. The Word of God tells
us how Christ's righteousness is imputed to us, and it fills
us. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness, they shall be what? Filled. He said, the Word abiding in
you, it will spring up. It regenerates, it renews his
strength. Listen, out of the mouths of
babes, lads, out of the mouths of babes and lads, you're looking
at a lad stands for, I'm just a child. I read that all the
time over in Jeremiah. Jeremiah said, Lord, I'm just
a child. I'm just a lad. You got five
burning loans, don't you? And if I break it and bless it,
it'll fill them. Huh? I'm just a lad. Lookie there. Over there stands
David. He's just a boy. And the world
says, What you got there, David? Five millstones? What? There's a giant out there, David.
What you going to do against him with five stones? What's
with it? It'd just take one to do it. Ain't that what this means? Huh? It just takes one word. We've got five loaves and two
fishes. Two fishes. The prophets and
the Psalms. Two fishes. Daniel and David
wrote of Christ. Moses, the Law of Moses, five
books, they speak of Christ. And you're looking at a lad who's
standing here before you. I'm just a lad, yeah, forty-somethings
of just a lad, just a boy. That's what Moses, when he started
out in the wilderness, he was forty years old. He said, I can't
speak. You'll feel just how young and immature you are if you stand
up behind this piece of wood What are they? What do you got
there, preacher? Five loaves and two fishes. That's
it. The world says, what are they?
Among so many. Oh, you got to have other things.
No. The Lord blesses it and breaks it and distributes it. We'll
all be filled. We'll all be filled. And listen
to this passage over in Psalm 8. I love Psalm 8. It says, out
of the mouths of babes and siblings." Lads, thou hast ordained strength. What's strong? His words are
strong, Tyler. Thou hast ordained strength.
Why? Because of the enemy, to steal
the avenger. David had those five stones.
It stealed that fellow, didn't it? It brought Faith in Christ, who is the Word? Oh, my! Oh, my! And the world may say,
What's that? What is that you're doing down
there? They've turned away their ears from the truth unto fables. What's that? What are you doing
down there preaching? That's not enough. Oh, yes it
is. But they say, what's that among
so many? Yet to the child of God they
say, oh, it just fills me up. I want nothing else. It fills
me up. Listen. Deborah, you're listening
well, so listen to me. Do you remember our study over
in Genesis 43, 45? It said Joseph had a favorite
brother named Benjamin. favorite brother. He was the
favored brother. He was his younger brother. Joseph
was the elder. He was his rightful brother.
Remember that? Just Joseph and Benjamin from the true father
and mother. Legitimate children. It said Joseph made Benjamin's
mess five times greater than the rest of them. I'll tell you that again. He
made Benjamin's mess five, just pull a number out of the hat,
five times more than the rest of those fellows. Y'all are receiving five times
more than the average person out there this morning. I'm telling
you. If the average fellow would get
a hold of this passage, he'd be saying, now, the Lord can
make bread. Yes, He can. He can make stones
into bread. But that's not the miracle here,
and that's not what this is all about. It's how He turns this
bread into salvation for you, and fills you with righteousness. Righteousness. You'd also see
it over in Genesis 45. You hanging on, Debra? Genesis 45, it says, Joseph gave
Benjamin five changes of raiment. Just pull a number out of a hat,
how many are you going to give him? I'll give him some clothes
to wear. We'll give him five. That's a
good number. You know, there are two fish
stories in the Scripture. Two fish stories. One in the
old, one in the new. Both of them had something in
their mouths. The fellow, the fish in the Old
Testament had a man in his mouth. Our Lord said, there's only one
sign I'm going to show this world. It's a fish story. Had a man
in his mouth, and you know what that man said in the mouth? A fish story. In the New Testament,
our Lord sent his disciples down and said, we don't have anything
to pay. We owe, we owe, we can't pay. He said, go down to the
ocean and there's a fish waiting. It's got the price in its mouth. I love it. I love it. What kind of bread is it? Barley? Now why ain't it wheat
bread? Why ain't it oatmeal bread? Huh?
Why ain't it rye bread? Why is it barley bread? You know
why? You know what barley bread is?
It's only for poor people. Barbara, rich folk didn't eat
barley bread. That's the bottom. They ate wheat
and oat and good bread. Poor people ate barley bread.
Only poor people ate barley bread. Is anybody else enjoying this
like I am? Huh? Barley bread! Oh, my! Barley bread for poor
people. He said, go tell them the poor
had the gospel preached unto you. There were some apostles,
and they went out through the world, and all they had was five
loaves and two fishes. And it filled the world with
the gospel of Christ. Blessed by the Lord Himself.
Look at verse 10. We ain't seen nothing yet. Look
at verse 10 here in John 6. The Lord said, Jesus said, Make
the men sit down, and there was much grass there. Oh, the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not walk. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. Settle down down here. Get a
hold of yourself. Green pasture to sit at his feet and be filled
with the knowledge of his person. Make them sit down. Where? Find
the green grass. There it is. Make them sit down. I'm going to fill them up. Watch
me. Fill them up. And the men sat down and numbered
about 5,000. Now, it doesn't mention the women and children.
And generally there's more women and children than there is men.
That's just the law of reproduction. And the Lord seemed to have more
women around Him than He did men. Five thousand, well, that's
just a number to show just how many people there were here.
It didn't tell the whole number. Like 144,000 is not all there
is in heaven. I don't care what some of them
say, you know, there's 144 and the rest of them are just guests. That's what they say. Well, there's
five thousand, oh, there's a lot more than that. A lot more than
that. As a matter of fact, they can't
even be numbered. He's going to fill them up. Fill
them up. Look at verse 11. Huh? Who's going to have to take
this and break it and fill us? Who's going to have to give us
faith? Huh? Who's going to have to pay the
price? Who's going to have to do it? The Lord Jesus Christ
himself. And he took the loaves, and when
he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples
and the disciples to the people. Any doubt what this is speaking
of, huh? This is the gospel, you see. The gospel, though it
comes through a man, it's Christ himself that's distributing it.
You see, if they hear him, they'll hear me. If they won't hear you,
if they say, good preacher, good preaching preacher, and go on
about that, and they didn't hear my voice. Christ distributes the bread
to the disciples, and they distribute it to the people that were sat
down. They were sent down. And likewise, look at this, I
love this, the fish is as much as they want. Have you ever seen a sign on
a restaurant somewhere, all you can eat, $3.95? Have you ever
seen that? I remember one place, where was
it? Some restaurant somewhere years
ago that they had this, and during a conference, a Bible And Don
Fortner and somebody else, I forget who it was, went in. Now, if
you don't know Don, Don's close to 400 pounds. And they went
in and they ate all they could eat. Do you know they quit that
special about the next week? They took the sign off the wall. Well, the Scripture says, come,
open your mouths. All you can eat. And it won't
cost you a dime. Come, buy wine and milk without
money, without pride. All you would. How much do you
want? How much blessing do you want out of the word, Barbara
Ross, huh? Open your mouth. Open up! I ate last night at someone's
house, and I got filled. I got filled up. Oh my. And I've come before by God's
grace. And I've just been filled to
overflowing. Filled with joy. Have you? Have you? He said, as much as
you would, you know, you'll get as much as you, however big your
basket is, is how much you'll go home with. Yep. However big
your basket, how big your need is, You come here empty, you
reap what you sow. Well, he distributed as much
as they would. Oh, they could eat free. Look
at, read on. When they were filled, verse
12, when they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather
up the fragments that remain, let 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. Then those men, when they had
seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of the truth, that
prophet that should come into the world." Real quickly, turn
over to John 17, and we'll close with this. John 17. He said,
when they were filled, after he had distributed the bread
and the He said, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing
be lost. Therefore they gathered them
together, filled twelve baskets with fragments of five barley
loaves which remained. And then these men said, This
is of truth. This is that prophet. All right. Hang on, Jeanette. Look at John
17. Look at verse 8. The Lord is
praying to the Father. He says, after he'd given thanks,
he broke the bread, and right here he says he's praying to
the Father, "...I have given unto them the words which thou
gavest me, and they have received them." Over in John 1 it says, "...received
him, to them he gave eternal life, filled with righteousness,
covered by the blood, and had known surely..." They know now. that I came out from thee, and
had believed that thou didst send me." And you know other
sheep he has which are not of this foal? Them also he must
bring. How's he going to bring them?
How's he going to fill them? Well, let's take up twelve baskets
to feed those that are coming afterward. The apostles were like to wear
baskets, full of barley, to feed those
that were coming after. They were going to be lost. They
were going to have to hear the Word. They were going to have
to be filled with righteousness. I know what I'm going to do.
I'm going to take up the baskets. And this tells me, too, that,
you know, we looked through that, and I didn't tell a half of it.
Well, there's twelve basket-loads of sermons on this passage. The
half has never been told. But I'll give you one more little
tidbit. You ready for this? Are you ready, Deborah? Do you know what—I don't know
if I can tell you this or not. I got so excited when I saw it.
Do you know what Gomer was redeemed with by Hosea? Do you know what
Hosea bought Gomer with off that auction block? Twelve bushels of barley. Oh my, I know of a surety, this
is the word of the living God. It's too glorious. Now who, how
long would it take men? It can't be done. What a marvelous,
miraculous woven tapestry that tells us, that shows us the picture
of Christ crucified from cover to cover. I just marveled. Did not your heart burn within
you? He broke the... He's revealed to us in the breaking
and breaking. All right. Joe, do you have a...
Do you have a... 127. 127. Let's sing the first and the
second stanza. First and the second. To reclaim hallelujah What a
Savior! As He came and saw me through
In my place my memory stood Sealed my heart with His blood Hallelujah! Thank you and you're dismissed.