[0:00] Well, let's turn in our Bibles to the Gospel of John, chapter 6.
[0:20] The Gospel of John, chapter 6. And we'll read the first 21 verses.
[0:32] John, chapter 6, at the beginning. After these things, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.
[0:46] And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles, which he did on them that were deceased.
[0:57] And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
[1:09] When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto them, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
[1:27] And this he said, to prove him. For he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
[1:48] One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said unto him, There's a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many?
[2:02] And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down.
[2:14] 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.
[2:29] And likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he saith unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
[2:48] Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above, and to them that had eaten.
[3:04] Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is our truth, that prophet that should come into the world.
[3:15] 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.
[3:29] And when even was now come, his disciples went down into the sea, and entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.
[3:43] And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship, and they were afraid.
[4:03] But he saith unto them, It is I, be not afraid. Then they willingly received him into the ship, and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.
[4:23] And may God bless to us the very reading of his own truth. We will sing once more to God's praise, this time from Psalm 65, and we'll sing verses marked one to four, once again four statutes, four stanzas.
[4:48] Psalm 65. Psalm 65. Praise waits for thee in Zion, Lord, to thee vows paid shall be, O thou that hear art of prayer, all flesh shall come to thee.
[5:13] Down to the middle of verse four. We surely shall be satisfied with thy abundant grace, and with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy place.
[5:28] Psalm 65, verses one to four. sinner or see thou, and heart of prayer, all flesh shall be known, O but los ingrained shall be, And the prayer of the prayer, O flesh, shall come to thee.
[6:09] And the prayer of the prayer, O flesh, shall come to thee.
[6:39] And the prayer of the prayer, O flesh, shall come to thee.
[7:09] O flesh, shall come to thee. O flesh, shall come to thee.
[7:21] O flesh, shall come to thee. Surely shall be satisfied with thy abundant grace.
[7:39] And the goodness of thy life, O flesh, shall come to thee.
[7:57] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[8:09] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[8:21] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[8:33] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[8:48] Amen.bliè, amen. Evet. Anda young. Mayいます. Amen. Ken, providing mujer, amen, He would do.
[9:06] Why is this miracle recorded in the Bible? When there are many other things that John could have written but didn't.
[9:21] In chapter 20, verse 30, he ends the chapter by saying this. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.
[9:42] But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name.
[9:57] Why was this miracle written? When there were plenty other miracles he could have written about, he tells us that you might believe.
[10:15] Have you read the book of John? The Gospel of John? Do you believe? Others did.
[10:30] Others did. Always remember this about John's writings. John wrote his gospel that we're looking at so that you might believe.
[10:43] Why did John write his epistle? He tells us in chapter 5, verse 13. He says, These things I write unto you which believe, that you might know you have eternal life.
[11:04] You see, people having read the gospel did believe. Tragically, not all.
[11:18] Tragically, not everyone. Which group are you in? Do you believe what he has written? Do you?
[11:29] He wrote it that you would believe. But here's another question I ask. Why is this miracle of feeding the 5,000 recorded four times?
[11:47] As I'm sure I've, well, maybe I didn't say it before, but I'm sure I thought I would have said it before. That John wrote his gospel 20 years after the others.
[12:03] Matthew has written, and he wrote about this miracle of feeding the 5,000. Mark has written, and he wrote about feeding the 5,000. Luke has written, and he has written about the miracle of feeding the 5,000 to 10,000.
[12:24] Are you inclined to say to John, Look, John, you've just told us that there are many other signs that are not written. Why do you repeat a fourth time something that we've already three accounts of?
[12:38] Why are you doing it? Wouldn't it be better to write about some other thing that neither Matthew, Mark, or Luke have written about? Why haven't you done that, John?
[12:51] Answer? Well, there's two answers. Number one. The author of the gospel of John is not really John.
[13:07] It's the Holy Spirit. And John only wrote what the Holy Spirit prompted his elbow and said, John, put that down.
[13:17] Put that down. No, John, don't miss that out. Put it down. Ah, but there's three other accounts. John, you're moved by the Holy Spirit. Write what the Holy Spirit moves you to write.
[13:30] But you know, there's another reason given to us in the text we've chosen, or at least in verse 6.
[13:41] This, he said, to prove him. Or, as it could be translated and is in other versions, to test him.
[13:56] For he himself knew what he would do. God puts you and me into spots, trials, to test us.
[14:13] Now listen. God never, ever tempts anyone to sin.
[14:24] Satan tempts to sin. In the New Testament, the word, the Greek word for test, or trial, or prove, is exactly the same word that's translated tempt.
[14:44] It can work both ways. God never tempts to sin. But Satan does.
[14:57] Satan does. God permits Satan to tempt, to test you.
[15:08] But as we read here, as we read here, God doesn't test to prove to him you're a genuine Christian.
[15:21] God permits temptation to strengthen your faith. Our text tells us, verse 6, this he said, to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do.
[15:37] But Philip didn't know. The disciples didn't know. And it's helpful for us to know we're Christians. And of course, John is very fond of that. Because he's written as a whole letter in the epistle of John.
[15:51] Remember, verse 5, verse 13 tells us. The main reason he wrote, there's several supplementary reasons in the epistle of John. But the main one, at the end, says, these things I've written to you believers, to you who believe, that you may know for certain that you possess eternal life.
[16:13] So, you see, now, as we said, Matthew, Mark, and Luke also tell us and give us little different incidents about this feeding of the 5,000.
[16:28] We'll really refer to what they all say about it. Andrew, where did Andrew look? We are, Jesus is proving them here so that they will discover, to discover where they will look.
[16:48] Where will they look for resources? You see, Andrew, we know from the other accounts, looked to his stock and trade. He said, feed them.
[17:01] I've got five loaves and two fishes. Come on, that can't feed them. He was looking to his stock and trade. Philip, he was saying, we've only 200 penny worth of bread.
[17:15] He was looking to his financial resources. Isn't it interesting that Luke records where Jesus looked? Andrew looked to stock and trade.
[17:28] Philip looked to financial. Luke tells us, Jesus looked to heaven. What a lesson. What a lesson.
[17:40] We're to look to heaven at all times. Especially when we're going through trials and temptations. You and I, as Christians, we're duty bound to spread the gospel to every creature.
[17:58] I often think of the Great Commission. Matthew 28, 18, isn't it? The Great Commission. He says to them, to the eleven, he said to the eleven, go tell every creature.
[18:16] To the eleven. Of course, he does address the eleven as the assembled official church. And you say, how could these eleven reach every creature?
[18:29] Well, of course, as I said, he's addressing the eleven as the church of God official.
[18:40] For all generations, they are to spread the gospel to every creature. And you and I have to learn we have to look to God for resources.
[18:54] we do that. It's as difficult today to get people to come to church as any day. But we have to look to God.
[19:06] Only God can change the heart. Only God can turn sinners to even desire to want to go to God's house. But that should not stop us looking to God to empower us and enable us to have confidence going out to spread the gospel to every creature.
[19:29] Well, he's testing them here. What is the test? As we've said, now, it's very helpful to note, he's not here testing their obedience.
[19:45] He's testing them where will they look when they lack their resources. They're unable to perform their duties.
[19:57] They've only got five. Now, these loaves, they were really very, much more like rolls. They weren't as large as our loaf of bread.
[20:09] They were just, they were small like rolls. How can five rolls and two small fish, tiddlers, how can that feed 5,000 men plus their wives plus their children?
[20:27] Possibly 12,000. How can they do it? But Christ commanded them to do it. But he says, how can we? He's teaching them here where to look when you don't have the resources to obey him.
[20:48] how can we, well, with no food and no money to buy food.
[20:59] Well, Jesus demonstrates how. Again, from the other Gospels we learn, Jesus said to them, what have you got?
[21:11] What have you got? And of course, the whole key here is a young lad prepared to give up his lunchbox. He took his lunch with him.
[21:25] Now, I often think of that boy. He could have said, hey, look, I thought ahead. I looked ahead.
[21:36] I came prepared. Have I to go hungry just because other peoples were negligent? The adults, the grown-ups? Have I to go hungry because of that?
[21:47] He could have said that. But he gives up his whole lunchbox. You know, I ask myself, what would I have done?
[21:59] And I think, if I'm honest with myself, I would have said, well, I'll take one tiddler and I'll take a wee roll and you can have the rest.
[22:14] I wonder. I don't know. I don't know what would have happened. But the boy gave the lot. He gave the five rolls of the five loaves and the two fish.
[22:26] He gave the lot. What a lesson. Want a miracle? Do you want a miracle? Learn to give everything to Jesus.
[22:40] It is important to know, to find out, first of all, what you do have. Find out what resources you do have because it may be hidden. It may not be obvious.
[22:52] And nothing's to be wasted, as we'll come to note. give everything to Jesus. Isn't that the lesson with a barrel of meal and the cruise of oil?
[23:05] There was enough for the widow and enough for her son. One meal each. But Elijah says, me first.
[23:17] Me first. Give it to me first. Give it to God first. You know, I find it very challenging about tithing.
[23:30] I'm just speaking personally here. I find it challenging for tithing, but do you give a tenth to the church, to God, or to missions?
[23:43] Do you give a tenth from the top of the pay packet or the bottom? You see, you don't get your full pay. The government get the first lot.
[23:56] Eh? They get the first cut. Do we give ten percent of what we're left or what we give? It's a challenge, isn't it?
[24:08] If God's first, it should be from the top. I've been challenged with that. Well, next notice, Jesus, before he performs the miracle, he commands them in verses 14 and 15, and it's from the other things too.
[24:32] It's quite distinct in the original, those who know it better than I do, sit down first. Sit down. In order to be fed by Christ, we need to sit down first.
[24:50] And you know, we're so busy today, aren't we? We're so busy. We find it hard to sit down. but the Bible has quite a lot to say.
[25:02] Look, sit down and be quiet. Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 17, the words of wise men are heard in quiet.
[25:17] More than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. Heard in quiet. We've to learn to be still and to know that God is Lord.
[25:34] Be still and know I'm in charge. I'm in control. When something goes wrong, when we're in a crisis, up, panicking, sit still, be quiet.
[25:50] 1 Thessalonians 4, 11, study to be quiet and to do your own business.
[26:01] Study to be quiet. We're not listening to God. We're crying out to God. Try listening to God more often.
[26:14] Peter tells us chapter 3, verse 4, in his first letter, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
[26:31] You see a quiet man, you say, ah, him, he'll never get involved. A meek and quiet spirit in the sight of God, and my friend, that's all that matters, in the sight of God.
[26:49] is of great price. I read something, came across it, man, I can't remember, did I read it or hear it, it shook me.
[27:05] Do you want to be holy? Do you want to be holy? Seriously, don't be busy. You can't be busy and holy.
[27:20] And that lesson comes through here. Third thing I want to say is Jesus gave thanks.
[27:35] That's what the Bible tells. He gave thanks for five rolls and two fish, little more than half a dozen rolls to feed five to ten thousand.
[27:47] I find it very, very interesting. You don't find in any of the four accounts that Jesus prayed he'd multiply the food.
[28:02] Doesn't say that in any of the four accounts. Maybe that's why there's four. Doesn't tell us that. He gave thanks. Oh, there's a lesson there, is there not?
[28:14] God. You see, it's one thing to pray for a miracle, it's another thing to pray for something little. Something, sorry, another thing to give thanks for something little.
[28:30] To give thanks, that's what we read. He didn't ask to perform a miracle, he just gave thanks. Remember that the next crisis you're in.
[28:41] look for something to be thankful about. And I think you'll always find, wasn't it good this didn't happen yesterday? Wasn't this didn't happen tomorrow when this is on?
[28:55] There's always something to be thankful for in a crisis. Find it out and give thanks to God. And it's amazing what that'll do for you.
[29:06] look for something to be thankful for in every emergency. Now, the academics tell us in Luke's account of this, chapter 9, verse 16, it tells us the Savior, when he received the rolls in his hand, he broke and gave.
[29:33] Gave it to the disciples to give out. But this, these clever people have pointed out, in the Greek, in the original, the verb broke is in the aorist tense.
[29:52] He broke it. The aorist tense means fete accompli, finished, done, complete. He broke it once and then broke it there.
[30:05] But the verb he gave, the verb he gave is not in the aorist tense. It's in the imperfect continuance tense.
[30:19] Continuing. so what's the lesson? The lesson apparently is this. Once he broke the bread and it was in his hands, while the food was in his hands, the hands of Jesus, the food expanded, the food multiplied.
[30:42] When the broken food was in his hand, now, there's lessons, isn't it? Give something to Jesus, let him break it, let him distribute it, and it will multiply in his hands.
[31:06] Isn't it wonderful that he gave it to his disciples to distribute? Eh? Listen, Andrew failed the test.
[31:24] Andrew looked to stock and trade. Philip failed the test. He looked to financial resources, we don't have the money to buy it, we don't have it, we don't have the money to buy it.
[31:41] He failed the test, both of them. And Christ still employed them, he didn't sack them.
[31:53] Eh? He didn't sack them. You're my disciples, you're my disciples, distribute it to them. Isn't that lovely?
[32:06] How often have you said, when you let Christ down, oh, he's finished with me this time. I've let him down real bad this time.
[32:18] I failed the test, he'll be finished with me. No, no, no, no, no, no. Christ never sacks his people.
[32:34] Not lovely, not wonderful. Andrew, Philip, give it out. The multiplied food, give it out to them.
[32:45] You're still in my employment, you're still in my service. I still love you, Andrew and Philip. I still love you. Well, the sequel, they were all filled, they were all satisfied.
[33:08] What comes from Christ satisfies. What comes from Christ satisfies. let Christ feed you.
[33:24] Let Christ feed you. Isn't it astonishing there was more left over than you started with.
[33:38] Twelve baskets full. And now these were big baskets. There were two different kinds of baskets, but the word is used here in the original is the larger basket. You couldn't fill one of them with five rolls and two tiddlers and there's twelve baskets.
[33:59] Eh? You know this? God is bigger than mathematics. Christ is bigger than mathematics.
[34:12] I mean, five rolls two fish doesn't go into one basket. Look at twelve baskets full. left over after feeding five to ten thousand. Only God can do that.
[34:24] God is bigger than mathematics. And here's what proves it to me. There's a reverse in Joel chapter two verse twenty five and I'm sure you know it.
[34:40] I will restore to you the years which the locust has eaten. Are you here today? You're not young.
[34:54] You've spent years serving yourself. You've spent years serving sin and Satan.
[35:06] And you say they're all wasted. No. Not in Christ. Not if you confess your sins to Christ. they're not wasted. I can restore to you the years that the locust has eaten.
[35:24] God can do that. Christ can do that. But only Christ can do it. No one else can do it. God Christ far far bigger than mathematics.
[35:40] Are you wondering are you too late to be a Christian? Are you too old? Oh you've left it late?
[35:52] No question about that. But it's not too late. It's not wonderful. Isn't the gospel wonderful? It's late, late, late, but never, ever too late.
[36:07] I will restore to you the years which the locust has eaten. And then, of course, he says, gather up, that nothing be left, that nothing be lost.
[36:24] More than enough, God often gives us more than enough, but that does not mean waste. That does not mean waste.
[36:36] Serious when a government's policies lead to waste. I find it quite serious. The government's policy leads to waste. You've heard of the butter mountains and all these things.
[36:50] Policies leading to waste, bad. It's not right. More than enough does not mean waste. Use it. Give it to others.
[37:01] There's plenty others that can happen to. Well, one other thing in conclusion.
[37:14] What problem are you facing this week? Is there something happening on Tuesday afternoon, Thursday night, you're apprehensive about it.
[37:26] it's a test. It's a test from God. It's a challenge.
[37:40] Are you in a predicament where I know what my duty is, but I can't do it? I haven't got the funds, I haven't got this, I haven't got that, I haven't got the next thing, I don't have the resources.
[37:56] What's the lesson of all this? Give what you have, find out the little that you have, give it to Jesus and let Jesus break it.
[38:11] Let Jesus break it and watch it multiply in his hands. Some of our most precious things need to be broken by Christ in order to be blessed.
[38:34] That's my last word, some of our most precious things, need to be broken by Christ in order to be blessed. Give yourself, give your whole self to Christ.
[38:50] May God, the Holy Spirit, make his word effectual to every one of us. Let's bow our heads. Our Father in heaven, we bow our heads and come to you and ask for your Holy Spirit to take the things of Christ and to make them ours.
[39:19] Oh Lord, bless your word, bless your word to us we humbly pray. Hear us in mercy, answer us in peace, keep us in your love, keep us in your fear, wash all our sins away in that fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, for sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all, the guilty stains.
[39:53] Hear us in mercy, answer us in peace, as we pray only and all in Christ's name and for Christ's sake. Amen.
[40:04] Now we'll conclude our service by singing from Psalm 145.
[40:21] Now there are two versions of this psalm, but we sing the first version, which is the common meter version. So the first version of Psalm 145, I'm saying verses 15 to 19.
[40:38] The eyes of all things wait on thee, the giver of all good, and thou in time convenient bestowst on them their food.
[40:51] Thine hand thou opens liberally, and all thy bounty gives enough to satisfy the need of everything that lives. the Lord is just in all his ways, holy in his works all.
[41:05] God's near to all that call on him, in truth that on him call. He will accomplish the desire of those that do him fear.
[41:16] He also will deliver them, and hear their cry will hear. Psalm 145, first version, verses 15 to 19. the angel of the queen of the the giver of all is where thou enter and convene and une Sergio Christose the best for his name.
[42:12] Tele de Christose to satisfy the need of everything that lives.
[42:32] The Lord is just in all in which holy in His words all.
[42:48] God's nearer, dear Lord, that call on Him, and that on Him call.
[43:04] He will not only shed His light, although I do Him fear.
[43:20] He also will deliver them, and He their cry will hear.
[43:37] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all, now and forevermore.
[43:54] Amen.