Oh Anne, we love you and Tom,
and we hope the Lord makes it that we're all back here in a
few years. We're praying for that. Turn back to Luke chapter 9.
Now there are only three events recorded
by all four gospel writers. The death of Christ, the resurrection
of Christ, and the feeding of the 5,000. This is the only one of our Lord's
miracles that is recorded by all four evangelists. Now, I don't believe I'm able
to call it the most important miracle because I certainly lack
the ability to make that call. But I do believe that there is
no more important miracle for us to understand the gospel than
this blessed miracle of our Lord. I hope the Lord uses this to
give us a greater understanding, a greater love, and a greater
appreciation of the gospel. And I pray that the Lord causes
it to beget life in somebody. Now at this time, matter was
brought into the universe that had not been there before. A miracle of creation. matter brought into the universe
that was not there before. Now in verse 12, and when the day began to wear
away, they then came to 12 and said unto him, send the multitude
away, that they may go into the towns and countries round about
and lodge and get vittles for we're here in a desert place.
There isn't anything to eat here. And we don't have any way of
getting anything to eat. Send them away. Now, these are
the same people that the Lord healed. Remember, we consider
he healed them that had need of healing. Everybody that had
need of healing were healed at this time. And cannot he who
healed them provide for them food? That's easy enough to answer,
isn't it? Of course he can. And as a matter of fact, Matthew's
account says, they need not depart. Aren't those precious words?
Send them away. And the Lord says, they need
not depart. Now the disciples wanted them
to go into the villages and buy food. And the Lord said, you
give them to eat. And in John's account of this
same miracle, the Lord said to 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. This he said to prove Philip. And I got to thinking about this,
you know, the Lord is going to test us. He's going to prove
us. He's going to test us with adversity.
He's going to test us with prosperity. He's going to test us with failure.
He's going to test us with success. He's going to test us in so many
different ways, isolation, loneliness, sickness, whatever the case,
you will be tested. I will be tested. You know what
I found in his test? I flunked. I flunked. Matter of fact, I don't remember
ever going through a test where I felt like, I got through that
well. I did well. No. Philip flunked. He said, We can't do it. We only have
200 penny worth of bread. There's nothing we can do about
this. He will test you, but this test is a blessing because this
test is going to drive you once again to your need of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, aren't tests a blessing
in that sense? I want the Lord to test me. I
don't want to be tried in some respects. I'd rather get out
of all trial. But I want the Lord to test me in the sense
that it will drive me to his son. I want that to happen over
and over again. Now he said to Philip, whence
shall we have bread that these may eat? He gave this to test
him, but Jesus himself knew what he would do. I love that. The Lord knows what he's going
to do. You know, you and I, we don't know what we're going to
do. And we don't know how we would respond to any certain
situation. We may think we might act this way, but we might act
the opposite. We don't know what we're going to do, but he always
knows what he's going to do. And do you know, salvation is
what he does. Look in Luke chapter eight, verse
38. Now the man out of whom the devils
was departed beside him, that he might be with him. But Jesus
sent him away saying, return to thine own house and show how
great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way and
published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had
done unto him. I love that, don't you? You go
tell what God's done. He went and told what Jesus had
done. And salvation is what the Lord
Jesus has done for me. The first thing that I thought
of about what he's done for me is before time ever began, he
stood as my surety. He said to his father concerning
me, I will be surety for him. Of my hand shalt thou require
him. If I bring him not unto thee
and set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever. He said, all you require of Todd,
you look to me for. I'll take care. Now, is that
great? He kept the law for me. He didn't have to come down here
and get the law. He was over the law. He didn't have to come
down here and keep the law. He's God, but he came down here
and he kept the law for me as my substitute and he willingly
willingly went to the cross for me as my sin-bearing substitute
and put away my sins. He was raised for me. He was raised for my justification. And right now, He sits at the
right hand of the Father as my intercessor, representing me.
This is true of all of God's people. Salvation is what He does. And when the day began to wear
away, then came the twelve and said unto him, Send the multitude
away, that they may go into the towns and country round about
and lodge and get bittles, for we are here in a desert place.
And he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We
have no more but five loaves and two fishes, except we should
go and buy meat for all this people. Now evidently there was
a little boy there. We know from one of the other
accounts they got this from a young boy. I guess he brought his lunch.
five loaves and two fishes, five biscuits and two sardines is
what it was. Wasn't much to eat. Now, do these
five loaves and two biscuits or two fish represent anything? They may, I don't know. I thought,
what about the law, the five books of the law? and the prophets
and the Psalms. The scriptures are split up in
that way. The law, the prophets and the
Psalms. Remember when the Lord spoke concerning the law and
the prophets and the Psalms concerning me? He brought the loaves and
gave them to the Lord. Now, in Matthew's account, he
said, bring them hither to me. Now remember who has them now. If I had five biscuits and two
sardines, what could I do with them? Well, I could eat them
myself and maybe leave you some crumbs. There's not much I could
do with them. But when the Lord has them, he
said, bring them to me, the one who created the universe, the
one who is God, the one who is omnipotent. He said, bring them
hither to me. Now look in verse 14, for there
were about 5,000 men. We know from the other accounts
that that's not including women and children. So there was at
least 10,000 people there. And he said to his disciples,
make them sit down by fifties in a company, make them recline.
You see, you can only eat this meal in a resting position. You can't appreciate it any other
way. He said, make them sit down in
these companies. And they did so and made them
all sit down. Verse 16. Then he took the five
loaves and the two fishes and looking up to heaven. There's something very powerful
about thinking about the Lord looking up to heaven. I can't do that. I look down. I get down on my face and I pray.
But as far as looking up to heaven, this is he who had no guilt.
He who had no sin. He could look up into heaven.
And what did he do? He blessed them. He break them. And he gave to
the disciples. He blessed. He break. And he gave. Now don't you want
his blessing? Do you know he has power to bless
you? And oh, his power to bless. If he blesses, you're blessed,
aren't you? I so much want his blessing. Oh, bless me, Lord. Bless me. Let your mercy and your grace
and your favor and your blessing come to me. Whatever it is, bless
me. He looked up into heaven and
he blessed and he break. Now, every blessing we have comes
because he was broken. Now this is the reason why you
can expect God's blessing to come to you. God's blessing isn't
going to come to you because you deserve it in any way, but
because he was broken. That's what we observe in the
Lord's table, the broken body. He broke the bread. And every blessing that I receive
comes from Christ and Him crucified. Because He was broken, because
He was crushed on Calvary's tree. Now God has a reason to bless
me. If it wasn't for the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and
Him being broken, God couldn't bless me. I mean, He could damn
me. He could judge me. But He couldn't
bless me, not remain just. But now because of the broken
body of the Lord Jesus Christ, oh, His power to bless. He blessed, he break, and he
gave. He gave, oh, how freely he gives. And sometime between the giving
of thanks, the distribution of the bread and the fishes to the
disciples, and then to the multitude, a miracle took place. Matter
was brought into existence that was not there before. Now only
God can do that. Only God can create something. God creates something from nothing. That, He doesn't have to have
anything to work with. He doesn't have to have anything
to work with. He creates something from nothing. And isn't that
so regarding salvation? He doesn't have anything. He
doesn't have to have anything to work with. He does what he does by
creation. You can't really understand salvation
if you don't understand it as a creative act. In creation,
two things are stressed that can't be separated. Omnipotence. All power. Only God, the infinite,
eternal God, can create. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was,
eternally was, in the beginning with God. All things were made
by Him. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. That's who the Lord Jesus Christ
is. He made the universe by an act of almighty power. And the
other thing that's stressed in creation is sovereignty. There's
nothing that can hinder His will. If He wills it, He comes to pass,
like me, and darkness flees, has no choice. Whatever His will
is, must come to pass. Oh, don't you see the mighty
power of the Lord Jesus Christ in this act of creation, when
He brought matter into existence that was not there before. Now,
in the New Testament, salvation is said to be a new creation. It's creating something from
nothing. There was nothing there and God
created something. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
5. Verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, Oh, that's where I want to be.
In the Lord Jesus Christ. I reckon I would say this every
time I preach. Here's how I want to be in Christ. I want it so
all God sees is Christ. I want to be in Him and all God
sees is Jesus Christ the Lord. Now that's where salvation is.
That's where all God's blessing is. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, our Lord. If
any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed
away. Behold, all things are become
new and all things are of God. Now, I never forget hearing a
man preach from this passage of scripture, and he says, if
any man be in Christ as a new creature, old things are passed
away. Behold, all things are become new. And then he said,
I don't have the same sinful desires I used to have. I don't
do the same things I used to. I'm different. I used to desire
these things. I don't desire them anymore. I just wouldn't
say, you liar. Nobody believes that. At least
I don't. Maybe all those other fellows
did, and they were intimidated by it, but I sure don't believe it.
Now, stop talking about that. What's he mean when he says,
all things are passed away, behold, all things become new? I've got
a new standing. That old guilty standing is passed
away. It's gone. I now stand justified
before God. I have a new heart. I've got
a heart that was not there before. It's not the old one being changed.
It's brand new. A new creature in Christ Jesus. I have a new being. I have a
new motive. Revelation 21, 5, Christ says,
Behold, I make all things new. Now, I love thinking about that
verse of Scripture. I make all things new. If you
could see What's gone on in my heart in the last 24 hours, you
wouldn't listen to me preach anymore. Although I have no doubt
that what's gone on in your heart's just as bad. We're all in the
same boat in that sense. But I do know the way we are.
If you knew what had gone on in my heart just in the last
24 hours, the thoughts, do you know what? The Lord has given
me a new history. You look at what's going on in
my life in the last 24 hours, it's all perfect. There is no
sin in it. It's nothing but righteousness.
It's nothing but that which is well-pleasing to God. Now, I only know that by faith,
but I know it. I have a new history. Not just a forgiven history,
a new history. Galatians, turn with me to Galatians
chapter 6. Verse 15, For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new
creature, one that was not there before, a new creature, a new
creation. And as many as walk according
to this rule, a new creation, peace beyond them and mercy upon
the Israel of God. Ephesians 2 8 through 10 says
by grace you save through faith and that not of yourselves It's
the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast for
where his workmanship were His creation. Created in Christ Jesus
unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them. This is the creative act of God.
That's what salvation is. It's God putting something there,
creating something that was not there before. Ephesians chapter
4 verse 24 says we're created unto righteousness and true holiness
and there's nothing we did to get that way. It's a creative
act of God. Do you find this good news? that
it's actually God's work of creation. How much help did God have in
physical creation? Did He consult you about anything? Did He ask
your opinion about anything? Did He need your help or your
thoughts on what He ought to do? No! He created with no consultation
from us. And salvation is the same way.
He does everything in creation. He does everything in salvation. Salvation is a creative work
of God. Colossians chapter 3, would you
turn with me there? Verse nine, lie not one to another. Don't tell each other lies and
don't try to present yourself to be something you're not. Seeing
that you put off the old man with his deeds and have put on
the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of him that created him. And here's the knowledge that
you have if you're a new creature in Christ Jesus. If you want
to know what you know when you've been born of God, here it is.
Where there's neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all. Jesus Christ. I know this. Jesus
Christ is all to God. And I know he's all in this book.
And I know he's all in salvation. And I know that he himself is
all to me. And when we sing that song, all
that thrills my soul is Jesus. He is more than all to me. And the fairest of 10,000 in
my blessed Lord I see. I think, you know, that is really
all that thrills my soul, him. I mean, he thrills my soul. Back to our text. Luke chapter
nine. Then he took the five loaves
and the two fishes and looking up to heaven, he blessed them
and break and gave the disciples to set before the multitude.
And during this creative process, and they did eat and were all
filled. And they were taken up fragments
that remained to them, 12 baskets. They did eat and they were all
filled, every one of them. They were filled to complete
satisfaction. I know what it is to be satisfied
by a meal. I know what it is to not be satisfied. There's nothing like being satisfied,
is there? Man, after I had that esophagectomy,
I couldn't eat enough. I mean, I had to eat these small
amounts of food, and I was never satisfied. I always felt cheated.
I always felt, you know, every meal I was thinking, am I going
to spend the rest of my life like this? I mean, it bothered
me. I can eat plenty now, but I couldn't then. I was never
satisfied, and I felt that way constantly. Never satisfied.
Never had enough to eat. Never was whatever it is you
feel when you feel like you've had good food. and enough of
it. But every single one of these
people were completely satisfied. Do you remember what the Lord
said unto these same people the next day? He said, I'm the bread
of life. Same group in John chapter six. I'm the bread of life. He that
cometh to me shall never hunger. And he that believeth in me shall
never thirst. And do you know how I can know
if a man is believed? He's satisfied. He's full. He's not looking for
anything else. If he's looking for anything
else, he has not believed on Christ. Someone who has believed
on Christ is satisfied. You do not want anything else. Now, when I say that, I'm not
saying I'm satisfied with myself. I'm not. You know, David said,
I'll be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness. That's when
I'll be satisfied as far as my own self. But let me ask you
this. How satisfied is God the father
with his son, Jesus Christ? And that's the question I want
you to consider. How satisfied is God with Christ? He is so satisfied that he says,
I can ask no more. And in him saying that to his
son, he says that of me. I can't ask for any more from
him. I'm completely satisfied. God proved that when he raised
him from the dead. He said by that, I am satisfied. God the Father is infinitely
satisfied with his son. He said, this is my beloved son
in whom I'm well pleased. Could he get any more pleased
with him than he was? No. God is infinitely satisfied with
Christ. He's infinitely satisfied with
His righteousness. He's infinitely satisfied with
His sin payment, with His precious blood. Oh, God is so satisfied
that He looks at me and says, I can't ask any more out of Him.
He's perfect. He's complete. He did well. I can ask nothing more. Now listen to this scripture
from Hebrews chapter 10 verses 12 through 14. For every high
priest standeth daily, offering oftentimes the same sacrifices,
which could never take away sin. But this man, this priest, this
king, this God, this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down. the right hand of the majesty
on high from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool for by one offering he hath perfected forever. Do you hear that? God is satisfied with perfection,
and that's the only thing he's satisfied with. He will not be
satisfied with anything short of perfection. It shall be perfect
to be accepted, the scripture says. He hath perfected forever. And when it says perfected forever,
what that means, it's in the perfect tense, perfectly completed,
never to be repeated. It can't get any better. He hath
perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Now, is God satisfied
with that? I know He is. And do you know
my satisfaction is in seeing God's satisfaction. When I see
that God is satisfied with Christ and that He's not looking for
anything else and that I'm complete in Him, I'm satisfied too. I'm full, and I'm not looking
for anything else. I'm plumb, satisfied with this. They ate, and they were all filled. Colossians 2.10 says, you are
full. You are complete. You may not feel very full or
complete. You might feel like there's a lot of things missing.
But if you're in Christ, you are complete, full, can't get
any better in him. Now, after such a meal, There
were 12 baskets left. And you know what that's reminding
us of? That there is no diminishing of His grace. You need not worry
about His grace running dry and Him being gracious no longer.
There's always an overabundance. There was 12 baskets full left. And in John's account, he says,
gather up the fragments that nothing be lost. You know, the
Lord was never extravagant. Don't you all think about this?
The Lord, He didn't want anything to be wasted. Gather it all up
that nothing be lost. Now I entitled this message,
Filled. Filled. Now, what I'd like for you to
do, and what I'd like for myself to do, is not think about how
satisfied we are, but think about how satisfied God is. Is God looking for anything else? Is He satisfied with what the
Lord did? Do you know what it is to trust
the Lord Jesus Christ to the place where you are satisfied
to be saved by Him only. Where He gives all the glory
and none goes to you. And you find sweet satisfaction
in that and you don't want anything else filled up If you look at
anywhere else, you've never looked at him. Turn with me to Romans chapter
15. Verse 13, now the God of hope. I love that name of our God,
the God of hope. I have a hope that I'm going
to stand before God. Perfect. And God gave me that
hope, the hope of the gospel. I've got a hope that everything
that comes my way is working together for my good and for
his glory, because he told me so in his word, all things. What a name for our God, the
God of hope. Now the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing. Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is God? Do you believe that he actually
satisfied the Father? Can you rest in what he did as
all that is needed to make you perfect before God? It's called faith. And what joy
there is in knowing that all God requires of me, I have. What joy there is there, and
what peace there is there. Now the only peace I have, but
I have peace. Oh, it's a peace that transcends
human argument. It's the peace that passes all
understanding. It's the peace that comes from
knowing that all God requires of me, my surety stood in my
place. And he said, I'll be surety for
him. Now that gives me peace. The only peace I have is that
Christ died for my sins. The only peace I have is that
Christ's righteousness is mine. But what peace there is, this
isn't a bare, what peace, the joy and peace of believing. The God of hope, isn't that a
precious name of our God? The God of hope, fill you with
all joy and peace in believing. I'm thankful salvation is a creative
act of God, because if it wasn't, that means there's something
I'd have to do. I sure am thankful it's that way. And we're going
to observe the Lord's table together.