Would you turn with me to the
sixth chapter of the book of John? While you're turning there,
I want to let you know that tonight I'm going to be. Speaking on
this subject, what is really important? What is really important, and
we're also going to observe the Lord's table tonight together. John chapter 6, I'd like to read
the first 15 verses. After these things, Jesus 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. And Jesus went up into
a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples in the Passover.
The feast of the Jews was nigh. When Jesus then lifted up his
eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto
Philip, When shall we buy bread that these may eat? And this
he said to prove him, for himself knew what he would do. Philip
answered him, two hundred penny worth of bread is not sufficient
for them, but every one of them may take a little. One of his
disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There
is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes. But what are they among so many?
And Jesus said, make the men sit down. Now, there was much
grass in the place, so the men sat down in number about five
thousand. 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 fish fishes as much as they
would Now, two sardines and five barley biscuits. That's what
this amounted to. Two sardines and five barley
biscuits. Verse 12, when they were filled,
five thousand men, not including women and children, he said to
his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing
be lost. Therefore they gathered them
together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five
barley loaves which remained over and above unto them that
eaten. Now then those men, when they
had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth,
that prophet that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore
perceived that they would come and take him by force to make
him a king, He departed again into a mountain himself alone. I've entitled this message, Five
Biscuits and Two Sardines. Now, there are only three events
in the life of our Lord that are recorded by all four Gospels. Do you know what they are? First, the death of Christ. It's
interesting, His birth is not recorded by all four, but His
death is. The death of Christ. Second, the resurrection of Christ. And thirdly, this miracle that
we just now read about, the feeding of the five thousand. And that
gives us some idea of the significance of the feeding of the five thousand. Now there are some who say that
this was the greatest of his physical miracles. Matter was
brought into existence at this time that was not there before. He literally called into being
that which was not there before and he called it out of nothing. There is only one who can do
that. And who is that? God. Only God can create something
from nothing. No mere man can do that. Only
God can bring into existence that which was not there before. Jesus Christ is God. And He makes that known in this
miracle in no uncertain terms. This was a very public miracle. Five thousand men, not counting
women and children, witness this miracle. Now, you can choose to believe
that it is a fairy tale if you want. I realize that. Perhaps some of you do. I can't do anything for you. I believe this literally took
place. I believe that Jesus Christ is
God. Verse 1, After these things,
Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And we know from the other accounts
that he did this to get away from the crowds. Mark's account
tells us that they had no leisure, not so much as to eat. And he
said to his disciples at this time, come yourselves apart into
a desert place and rest a while. That was his reason for bringing
them into the desert, verse 2, and a great multitude followed
him, because they saw his miracles, which he did on them that were
diseased. They saw the miracles which he
did, and they wanted to reap some of the benefit from this.
They wanted a slice of the pie. They saw him heal the sick. They saw his miracles, and they
thought, well, I want to get in on this, too. I want to have
some of the benefit of this. Now, they wanted a better life. They wanted more health. Perhaps
they wanted a better financial circumstance for themselves.
So they thought, well, I'll follow Christ in order to get this.
They followed Him out into the wilderness. Now, we know that
this same crowd ended up leaving Him. You go on reading in this
passage of Scripture, every single one of them left Him after they
heard His doctrine. But initially, they followed
him because they were impressed with what he could do. Now, what
that tells me is, you know, when people follow Christ at first,
there's always a bad motive at first. Nobody begins to follow
Christ with a good motive. It never happens that way. But
I'll tell you this, if that doesn't change, if a good motive does
not enter in, you'll end up leaving Christ just like this bunch did.
They ended up leaving. But they initially are impressed
with the miracles that he performed, the sicknesses that he healed.
And they thought, well, I want to get some benefit out of this.
So they follow him. Verse three. And Jesus went up
into a mountain. And there he sat with his disciples
and the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was now I think it's
interesting how when John talks about these Feasts that were
recorded in the Old Testament, like the Passover. I mean, that's
the most important of all the feasts. He calls it a feast of
the Jews. It had degenerated into nothing
more than a man-made religious ritual. And John calls it a feast
of the Jews. And you know, you could say that
regarding so much that goes on under the name of Christ and
under the name of religion. Boy, people have all kinds of
stuff they do. And we see it all over the place. But it's
nothing more than man-made, just like John calls this feast of
the Jews. Verse five. When Jesus then lifted
up his eyes and saw a great company come unto him, And you know,
both Matthew and Mark's account tells us he was moved with compassion
at that sight. He saw them as sheep without
a shepherd. And he was moved by compassion. Now, this tells us something
about the character of our God. Now, these people, they had a
bad motive. They just wanted to becoming
rich somehow by what he did. They had a bad motive. Yet, anyway,
he was moved by compassion. This tells us about the character
of our Savior. He's glorious. When Jesus had
lifted up his eyes and saw great company coming to him, he saith
unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?
And this he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would
do. He asked Philip this question.
They were in a wilderness area. And Philip is presented with
an impossible situation. Where are we going to come up
with the goods for these people to eat? Now, there are 5,000
men, not including women and children. A conservative estimate
would be 10,000 people. Now, you think of just feeding
this crowd with two sardines and five biscuits. Everybody
couldn't get more than a crumb. And we're talking about a crowd
50, 100 times bigger than this. He fed this crowd with two sardines
and five biscuits. But he says to Philip, where
are we going to get the food for these people? And he asked
Philip this question, not because he didn't know the answer. He
asked this to test Philip. For he himself knew exactly what
he would do. Now you can write this down.
You will be tested. That's kind of an uncomfortable
thought, isn't it? You will be tested. God himself is going to test
you. I think of that scripture in
Genesis 22. Verse 1, After these things God did tempt, God did
test Abraham, saying, Take now your son, your only son, who
you love, and offer him up as a burnt offering to me on a mountain
that I'll show you. You will be tested. God's going to throw prosperity
your way. He's going to throw poverty your
way. He's going to throw success your way. He's going to throw
failure your way. You will be tested to prove whether
or not you're real. Don't you want to know if you're
real? I sure do. You will be tested. Now, he gave
this question to Philip. When shall we buy bread that
these may eat? Where's the food going to come
from? He did this in order to test Philip. But I love what
it says, too, in John chapter 6. It says, Himself knew what
He would do. That word do, it means to make,
to create, to produce, to cause. He knew what He would do. You
see, the salvation of the sinner is found wholly in what He does. Holy 100 percent, the salvation
of the sinner is found in what he does, what he makes, what
he creates, what he produces, what he causes. Every aspect
of salvation is what he does. I've got to think. I just got
to thinking about that. You know, the fact that salvation
is what he does. Let's start at the beginning, what he did.
You know, he stood as a surety for God's elect before time began. And at that time, all the responsibility
of my salvation was given to him. He bore all responsibility. Isn't that comforting? I love
thinking about that. Everything that God requires
of this sinner, everything, Underline that everything that He requires
of every one of His people, He looks to His Son for. And His
Son became completely responsible for me. I tell you what, when
I think about that, it just makes me relax. I feel loose. I'm just thankful. He became
responsible for me. He came in the flesh and kept
the law. That's what He did. He died on
the cross as a sin-bearing substitute and actually put away the sins
of everybody he died for. That's what he did. He raised
himself from the dead. That's what he did. And he did
it for our justification. That's what he did. He ascended
back to heaven to intercede for those he died for. That's what
he did. He gives them life. That's what
he does. If I have life, it's because
he gave it to me. And it's his life in me. Christ in you, the hope
of glory. Every aspect of salvation is what he does. Now, I want
you to turn to a real familiar passage of Scripture, but I want
to emphasize something a little bit different. It's in Colossians
1. Colossians 1. I want us to notice the pronouns
him and himself in this passage of scripture beginning in verse
20. And having made peace. Through the blood of his cross. By him. To reconcile all things
unto himself by him, I say. Notice Paul's emphasis here. He did this. By him, I say, I
want you to make sure I hear you hear what I'm saying. He
did it all. I say, whether they be things on earth or things
in heaven and you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works yet now have he reconciled. He did this
in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unapprovable in his sight. Who makes this
presentation? He does. He. Himself, He presents you before
His own presence. Holy. This is what the blood
of His cross did. Holy. Unblameable and unreprovable
in His sight. He knew what He would do. Salvation is what He does. Now, let's go back to our text
in John chapter 6, verse 7. It appears to me that Philip
sort of flunked the test. Philip answered him, 200 penny
worth of bread is not sufficient for them, but every one of them
may take a little. You know, that's the way we think. You
know, I guess that's what they had in the purse, 200 penny worth.
I don't know, I don't have any idea how much money that's supposed
to represent. But I guess he's thinking, well, each one could
get maybe a crumb. But that's about the best we could do. That's
not going to satisfy this multitude in the wilderness. That's not
going to do any good. Evidently, he glunked the test. Verse 8,
and one of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith
unto him, Well, there's a lad here which hath five barley loaves. Now, barley is what the poor
estate. And these were biscuits. I mean,
these were not big loaves of bread. These were just biscuits
and a couple of small sardines. I reckon what this fellow did
was maybe his mom packed him lunch that morning. And that
was what he was going to have for lunch that day. He was carried
around with him. That was his lunch. He had no idea what God
and His providence was going to do with those five barley
loaves and those two small fishes. Boy, he was in for a surprise,
wasn't he? Well, he had five barley loaves and two small fishes,
but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, verse 10, Make the men set down. Now, let me tell you this about
Christ's food, about God's food. It can only be eaten while you're
setting down. If you're up moving around, if
you're doing something, it ain't going to happen. I just stop right now. May God
give us grace in our hearts right now to sit down. Sit down, not
up and doing something. Sit down and listen. He said,
make the men sit down. As a matter of fact, you'll find
from verse 11 that the only people who got any food were the people
who were sitting down. Notice the loaves were distributed
to them that were set down. Maybe maybe all of them didn't
sit down. I don't know. But the only ones who ate were
the ones who were sitting down. And I think this is interesting.
You know, there are 13 different words in the New Testament translated
to sit. But the word here means to fall
backwards. To fall back. You're only going
to eat this food falling back. in faith, and the grass they
sit on, I have no doubt, represents the green pastures of this Word. Now, verse 11. All these men
sat down in this grass. There was much grass in that
place. So the men sat down, a number about 5,000. We know, like I
said from the other account, it says that was just the men,
not including the women and children. Verse 11. And Jesus took the
loaves And when he had given thanks, you know, there's something
very special about that. When the Lord sits down to eat
and this we're talking about the Creator, he gives thanks
to his Father. Now, shouldn't that be the character
of every child of God? Thankful. Thankful. The Lord was thankful. 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 much as they would. Now sometime between
the giving of thanks, the distribution of the bread and fish to the
disciples, and the distribution to the multitude, an almighty
miracle took place. matter was brought into existence
that was not there before. He actually created something
from nothing. Now, I started to say this was
the first time this had happened since the creation of the world.
But I believe it happened one time before this. It happened when the Lord took
a body. You see, he didn't come from another man the way you
and I did. A body was made for him. Matter was brought into
existence that was not there before. And here this mighty
miracle takes place once again. Matter is brought into existence
that was not there before. He called into being that which was not, and he called
it out of nothing. This reminds us that he does
not need anything to work with. That's such a blessing. That
will encourage every sinner who has nothing, not one good thing
to recommend them to God. He doesn't need anything from
you. He calls that into existence,
which was not, and He calls it from nothing. You see, creation
illustrates God's salvation. You know, the whole Gospel is
found in the very first verse of the first book of the Bible.
In the beginning, God created. You find the Gospel right there.
Now, you think of this issue of creation. There are two things that seem
to me to stand out in Christ creating something from nothing,
bringing matter into existence that was not there before. Two
things stand out to me about that. First is the power of Jesus
Christ. He's omnipotent. He has all power,
not just real strong. He is omnipotent. Whatever he
wills, he has the power to do. There's no want of power in Him.
He's all-powerful. Only an all-powerful God can
bring something from nothing. You think of the power involved
in doing that. And the second thing that occurs
to me about this is the will of the Lord Jesus Christ. All
He had to do is will something to take place, and it takes place.
If He wills it, it is. Just when He willed creation,
it was the Lord who said, let there be light, and there was
light. He was the Lord who created the heavens and the earth. All
things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything
made that was made. What power is in His will? All
He's got to do is will something and it takes place. I understand
why that poor old leper came to Him and said, Lord, if You
will, You can make me clean. Listen to me. If you pray that
prayer, Lord, if You will, He can make you clean. He can. The power of His will. Act seems
so clearly in creation and creation illustrates God's salvation.
Let me quote some scriptures to you. In Second Corinthians,
chapter five, verse 17, we read, if any man be in Christ. He's
a new creation. He's a new creature, he's something
he was not before. We read in Galatians, chapter
six, verse 17, for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision avails
anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creature, a new creation. We read in Colossians, chapter
three, verse 10 of the new man, which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him. We read in Ephesians, chapter
two, verse 10, that we are his workmanship created. created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Now, creation illustrates salvation. And, you know, salvation is older
than creation. I don't understand that, but
salvation is whatever creation took place that long time ago,
but salvation was before the end. Because Christ is called
the Lamb's Flame from the foundation of the world. And creation is
given to illustrate salvation. That's God's purpose in it. Now,
in creation, I am made to be what I was not. Isn't that what
takes place in creation? I am made to be what I was not. Now let me tell you one thing
I was not. I was not righteous. I was not holy. I was not acceptable
to God. There wasn't anything about me
in my fallen state that God could accept. I was not any of these
things. But I made to be what I was not. I made to be righteous. I made
to be holy. I made to be accepted by God. I made to be beautiful to God.
Now, I was not. But I made to be that. At salvation
I am made to be by the power of God what I was not. You see, with God nothing shall
be impossible. Do you believe that He is able to save you the
same way He created the universe as an act of His will by His
mighty power? Do you believe that? Now how
can that be? I mean, I am sinful. How can
all of a sudden I be righteous? I don't have a holy nature. How
can I have a holy nature? How can I have this perfect standing
before God? I mean, does God just stamp His
fingers and all of a sudden it's different? No, not at all. Here's
what takes place. Christ was made to be what He
was not. He was made flesh. You know, the Scripture says,
and the Word was made flesh. You know, there was a time when
Jesus Christ had no flesh. He's the eternal Son of God.
There was a time when He didn't have a body the way He does now,
but He was made flesh. And in the flesh, He kept God's
holy law perfectly. He never thought of sin. He never
did a sin. He knew no sin. He knew no sin. And ain't none of us understand
what that means. I mean, we can't even grasp that. He knew no sin. But he who knew
no sin, what happened to him? He was made to be what he was
not. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, For
he hath made him to be sin. He was made to be what he was
not. That we might be made to be what
we were. He was made to be sin who knew
no sin, that we might be made, might be created, might be produced,
might be called to be the very righteousness of God in Him. That's what every believer is.
What confidence we have. This is how we can draw an eye
into God's presence and feel assurance. Every believer is
the very righteousness of God. We're made to be what we were
not. You see how creation illustrates this thing of salvation. We have the disciples, back to
our text in John 5. And Jesus took the loaves, verse
11, and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples
and the disciples to them that were set down. That's who took
this. And likewise of the fishes. As
much as they would. Don't miss this. As much as they
would, whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Take as much as you want. There is no danger of running
out. His grace is an inexhaustible
barrel. I read that scripture to open
this service. My grace. God's grace. Is sufficient. For you little fish. You don't need to worry about
drinking up the ocean dry. The ocean says, don't worry,
my water is sufficient for you. And that doesn't even tell the
story of God's grace. His grace is sufficient for you. They took as much as they would.
Now look at verse 12. When they were filled. Totally filled. They were full. They were full. It may be some
didn't have as big an appetite as the other. I realize that.
Some ate a lot. Some didn't take that much to
get them full, I guess. But I know this about every one
of them. Every one of them ate till they were full. Till they
could not eat anymore. And this word means when they
were satisfied. When they were satisfied. Now, it's only what Christ does
that will truly satisfy. Now, when I talk about satisfaction.
Here's when the Bible talks about satisfaction being satisfied,
so here's what this is a reference to, really, it's it's it's not
just talking about not desiring anything else. You know, I want
more of the Lord, don't you, in the sense that I want to know
Him more. I want to follow Him more closely. I want to walk
in His... I want to be like Him. I want
to glorify... I want more of the Lord in that sense, and you
do too. We all want more of the Lord. So what is this thing of
being satisfied? I'm satisfied with this. My conscience
is not gnawing at me that I need something else other than Christ. I am satisfied to be saved by
Him. I know that God is satisfied
with what Jesus Christ did on the cross. God told us that when
He raised Him from the dead. God is satisfied with Christ,
and I am too. My conscience is completely satisfied
that when God looks at me because of the blood of Christ, Because
of the righteousness and merits of Christ, because of the intercession
of Christ, when God looks at me, He is satisfied. And I am satisfied with God's
satisfaction. I'm satisfied. I'm filled. Colossians,
chapter 2. Verse 10, verse 9, For in him, in the Lord Jesus
Christ, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in a body, and
you are complete. You are completely filled up
so that you cannot hold any more. You cannot get any more saved. You cannot get any more holy.
You cannot get any more accepted. You cannot get any more love
than you are right now. It can't be improved. You're
full. Well, I'll tell you what, I'm
satisfied with that. I am satisfied. You are complete, nothing lacking
in Christ Jesus. You don't lack a thing. Now, if you're not filled up. If you're not satisfied, it's
because you've never eaten of this bread. If you did, you would
be satisfied. Ephesians 319 speaks of being
filled with all the fullness. Of God, every believer is filled
with the fullness of God, you're satisfied and dissatisfaction
only comes from not eating. Not believe you are. They were full. Now let's let's
go on reading verse 12 when they were filled. He said into his
disciples. Gather up the fragments that
remain that nothing be lost. Now this is I think this is an
interesting set. You know the Lord if I. If I
could create and bring into existence matter that was not there before,
I wouldn't be worried about anything falling through the cracks, would
you? And yet our Lord demonstrates to us something about responsibility.
Here, He says, gather up the fragments. Don't be wasteful.
Gather up the fragments that nothing be lost. Now, He had
creative power. He could have made plenty more. But He says,
gather up the fragments that nothing be lost. Verse 13, Therefore
they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets. I
imagine each one of the disciples had a basket that they were giving
to the multitudes with. Therefore, they gathered them
together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five
barley loaves which remained over and above unto all them
that had eaten. You know, when you're full, there's
always going to be over and above left. You cannot diminish the
storehouse of His grace. There's always over and above
that which was left. Now, a mighty miracle had taken
place. Verse 14. Then those men, when
they'd seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, they drew a
proper conclusion. They said, this is of a truth. That prophet that should come
into the world. They knew this is no run-of-the-mill
prophet. This is that prophet that Moses
spoke of, that prophet that should come into the world. And that
was a proper conclusion, wasn't it? He was that prophet that
should come into the world. They drew a proper conclusion,
but there's something wrong. Look what it says in verse 15.
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take
him by force to make him a king, he left that place. He's aborted
again into a mountain himself alone. You know what that tells
me about these fellas? They saw the miracle, but they didn't
get it. They did not learn what they were supposed to learn from
this. As a matter of fact, we know as we go on reading in this
chapter that every one of them left the Lord in time. Every
single one of them. They didn't get it. Since when
can you make him king? You make him king, he is the king. And whenever he's around somebody
who's got the audacity to think that they can make him king,
he's going to leave. He's left that place again and
departed by himself, alone. Can't help but wonder how that
fish tasted, how those barley biscuits tasted. Can't help but wonder. I'm sure
it tasted great. But here's the question I'm leaving
myself with and I'm leaving you with. Have I ever eaten of this
bread of life and been satisfied? Yes, I have. I am right now. May God give us the grace to
be satisfied with Him. Let's pray together.