3rd Response to Jesus- Faith for materials

Matthew 14:13-21

Matthew 14:13-21, When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. 15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.” 16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” 17 And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” 18 He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. 20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. 21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Chapter 13, Kingdom Parables were spoken. Chapter 13, Jesus says how the world is going to react to them. What it’s going to be like out there as they labour and minister in the harvest. From this passage at the end of 13, through the beginning of 16, we find Jesus out now in the harvest, proclaiming the message as the rejected King, still calling men to come to His kingdom.

The major mark of this period of time of the King’s rejection until His return to be received in power and glory. During this period mixed good and evil will remain here in this church age. To illustrate this, Matthew gives us from Matthew 13:53 till

Matthew 16:12, eight incidents in the life of our Lord which illustrate the kind of response that there will be to the King.

They are masterfully presented. The first response: Matthew 13:53-58- Unbelief! The second response is Fear that Forfeit’s Christ! The response is that faith for only materials! Same incident is recorded in

Mark 6:30-34; Luke 9:10-17 and John 6:1-14

When we come to this miracle, His popularity reaches a pinnacle. In fact, the result of this miracle is that the people in general in Galilee want to take Him by force and make Him the king.

• They are fascinated by Him.
• They are in awe of Him.
• They willingly follow Him.
• This is a high point.

But it also marks the beginning of His withdrawal! Because just prior to this very high point of popularity has been the murder of John the Baptist. This time it is not only religious hostility from the Pharisees and the religious leaders who manifested that in Matthew chapters 11 and 12, but there is political hostility as well.

Herod the monarch who rules the area of Galilee, who is very threatened by the Lord Jesus, as he was by John the Baptist. Because of the hostility of both the religious leaders and the political leaders, the Lord now begins to withdraw following this miracle.

Even though they saw Jesus as the King yet there was superficiality and shallowness.

Really Jesus is under threat by His enemies: the Pharisees, and the Herodians. Jesus is even under threat by His would-be friends the crowd, who want to push Him into some political monarchy. This is not at all in God’s design, as was made evident by the words of our Lord in John 18 when He said, “My kingdom is not of this world.”

So, because of all these converging pressures, one side His popularity, and on the other side the departure into seclusion that begins from here on. The last year of His life, He spends most of His time only with the twelve disciples, readying them for what is about to happen in His death and resurrection. Preparing them for the task at hand, as they will be the foundation for the building of the church.

This miracle as a very climactic moment in the life of Jesus Christ. 1. Jesus wants alone time with God. V 13, When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.

Did Jesus afraid of Herod? Not at all! But He would not expose Himself needlessly to the imminent danger of such a person as Herod, whom He later called a sly fox. If Herod was intimidated,

• by John the Baptist,
• by his own wife,
• by the people around him,

that he murdered John the Baptist, he would stop at nothing to murder the one whom John the Baptist announced as the True King. Jesus knew full well that Herod’s father, Herod the Great, had murdered every male child in the vicinity of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in order that he might stamp out one who was supposed to be a king.

Herod Antipas, his son, would perhaps do no less if he were convinced that Jesus was a threat to his reign. Our Lord withdraws privately by boat across the Sea of Galilee to a wilderness place.

Lord knew that the people also saw the Messiah as a political ruler, who would overthrow the Herodian dynasty. Overthrow the Roman monarchy, establish independence and freedom for the land of Israel. Our Lord knew that that was the people’s perception, He knew that’s what would come back to Herod, and only complicate and endanger both He and His disciples to a greater extent. So, Jesus sought privacy.

Now it wasn’t easy to find privacy in Galilee. Galilee was 50 miles long and 25 miles wide. There were 204 towns. The population was 15,000 people. Galilee was very densely populated, thick with humanity. To find a place of seclusion would be a very difficult.

He went there by boat privately. Now it wasn’t only because of the threat of danger imminent in the situation regarding Herod, He went there for some other reasons. I believe He went there also because He needed refreshment.

• He needed rest.
• He needed solitude with the Father.
• He needed time to contemplate the meaning of the death of John the Baptist.

• The cross loomed imminent in the future.

By the way, it was only a year now till He would be crucified. It also is indicated to us by Luke and Mark, who write of this same incident, that His disciples were with Him. They had now returned from their short-term mission of preaching and teaching the kingdom, healing diseases, casting out demons throughout Galilee.

It was time for fellowship with His disciples. It was time for them to report to Him. It was time for a debriefing on the mission. It was time for further preparation for what was now ahead of them. The hostility had mounted, religiously and politically. It was a time of important instruction for them.

V 13, “He departed from there,” There being Capernaum, the city where His ministry had centred in Galilee. Jesus sought a private, secret place. He tried even to go secretly, but was unsuccessful, because the crowd was constantly watching Him.

Luke 9:10, And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. A place called Bethesda, or Bethsaida. Basically, there were two of those.

• One on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee on the western.
• The other one on the east was identified as Bethsaida Julia, because it was named by Philip the tetrarch for the daughter of Augustus Caesar.

Luke says that is where He went. About a mile south of that Bethsaida, there was a grassy hillside which swept up from the plain by the Sea of Galilee to a high mountain. Jesus took His disciples, got out of the little boat, and ascended that slope, and found seclusion.

Desired time with them to be in prayer, planning, instruction, rest, and refreshment. But the desire for privacy is overruled.

2. Shallow soil. V 13, But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. The city’s 204 of them: towns and villages in Galilee began to empty their people into an accumulating mass of humanity, walking.

Traveling by foot across the northern end of the Sea of Galilee to go to the place where they had noted Jesus was going in the little boat. Jesus went beyond them into the mountain with the twelve and sought the time of solace and quiet.

But the crowd begins to collect.

John 6:2-4, Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. 3 And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. 4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. Not only the people collecting out of the towns and villages, but pilgrims on the way to the Passover who would have swelled the crowd in addition.

They had seen Him heal diseases. People are always drawn who legitimately had banished disease from their land by His multiplied healings. The crowd begins to accumulate from Capernaum, Chorazin, Bethsaida west, and Bethsaida Julia, and all the other little towns and villages around Galilee.

Many of them were thrill-seekers.

• They sought Him, not because they wanted to believe what He said!
• They sought Him, not because they wanted to worship and adore Him.
• They sought Him for the simple reason they saw the diseases that He healed.
• They wanted to get in on the wonder working.

We might say that they are like the shallow soil of the parable of the soils in Matthew 13.

• They are like the weedy or thorny soil.
• There is an initial curiosity.
• There’s an initial interest and excitement.

Before this event is over, they want to take Jesus by force and make Him the king. The seed has taken some root in the ground, but the soil is very shallow and very weedy. Their love of the world, and their

love of riches, and their desire not to pay any price at all causes them ultimately to vanish from the scene and walk away from Jesus Christ.

• Their perspective is totally self-centred.
• They are self-indulgent.
• They want to follow Him for the healings.
• They would like Him to pull off a revolution and throw out their oppressors.
• They would like Him to establish a dream land.

They are like the thrill-seekers today who follow Jesus for their own self-indulgent purposes. They also are not the true worshipers whom the Father seeks. Their commitment is choked out by the love of indulgence and by their shallowness.

3. Christ Mercy. God even pities and extends compassion and mercy in Christ to these thrill-seekers. These very shallow people even those who do not understand, will not believe, and ultimately reject the truth. V 14, And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.

Jesus went out of that mountain place where He was with the disciples. The crowd by now had become swollen. The accumulation ultimately reached 5,000 men. We can be assured that there would be at least 5,000 women, and very likely even more than that for women were uniquely drawn to Christ.

In addition to that, the multiples of children would be beyond the ability to number or calculate. In those days, children were a blessing from the Lord in the sight of the people. They desired to have as many as possible in most cases. There may have been 25,000. That may be conservative, including the men, the women, and the children.

Great crowd has found its way to the soft, grassy slope down by the Sea, as Jesus comes out of the mountain. Jesus felt their pain, He felt their hurt, He felt their need, and He went forth toward them and He healed their sick.

He did not say go away we are having a private meeting. Jesus’ heart went out to them. He was passionate. He felt the pain in His own heart.

Jesus felt pain, genuine emotion, as when He stood over the city of Jerusalem. Tears ran down His cheeks.

Matthew 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! Jesus stood over the grave of Lazarus. Again, the tears coursed His cheeks, as He wept over the identification of pain and emotion in the death of one whom He loved and whom His friends loved. He represented God, just as Jeremiah did!

Jeremiah 13:17, But if you will not hear it, My soul will weep in secret for your pride; My eyes will weep bitterly And run down with tears, Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive. Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, who was in mourning, and in weariness, and in anxiety so often in his ministry as he saw the needs of men.

Psalms 146:8-9, The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;

The Lord raises those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked He turns upside down. God’s heart goes out to those in need.

It is not an issue of whether they will respond or reciprocate by believing. God’s heart goes out to those in need anyway. It was not just that that would demonstrate divine power. Jesus could have demonstrated divine power by having them fly, or leap tall buildings in a single bound, or walk on water, or create food, or any number of ways to describe and demonstrate divine power.

But the reason Jesus gave them the ability to cure disease is because He was not only demonstrating divine power, but divine compassion, and the heart of God toward those who hurt. Jesus felt pain in His heart. He was grieving when He saw the crowd. He healed their sick.

The word “sick” is a special word. It means “the strengthless ones” who, no doubt, had made great sacrifice to even be there. How they had made it in this foot journey speaks of their concern, speaks of their hope that they will find some healing when they get there, and they did.

Our Lord healed them. He sets aside His rest.

He sets aside His refreshment. He sets aside His priority of time with the disciples. Wonderful thing, because it gives us hope in our need, that God is never too involved in the running of the universe and all the biggies of the priority plan but that He can set it aside to stoop to one who has a need.

The deeds of pity overrule even the design of the people. V 15, When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”

Now the disciples are very concerned with the feeding of this group. They have had a long journey, and that has incited their hunger. There has been a busy. Jesus steps out of that position with the disciples on the hill and starts to do His healing.

John 6:5, Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” Jesus plants a problem in Philip’s mind.

Philip, I Am going to go down, and spend the day with these people. Mark and Luke, add that He not only healed them, but He taught them concerning the kingdom of God. Jesus spent the day healing and teaching. But before He even started that, He plants a question in Philip’s mind: “Where are we going to buy bread to feed this group?”

Now there are several reasons why He asked that to Philip. Reason 1. Because Philip was from that area and would have known the resources, the places where such food might be gained. Reason 2.

John 6:6, But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. Philip basically was like a lot of us he was thick.

John 14:8-10, Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak

on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Philip must have gone and reported this to the other eleven. We have got to figure out a way to feed these people while the Lord is doing all this. They wracked their brain all day and never came up with an answer.

John 6:7, Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.” May be that is what they had in their little treasury that they used to buy their own resources. Andrew comes, and he sort of tongue in cheek says this.

John 6:8-9, One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”

They used to take those little barley cakes. Barley being the cheapest grain and the poorer the people use barley, and bread cakes like a cracker. They would take the fish and they were commonly pickled then use like a relish on that little bread.

There are two problems, Lord. One, we don’t have any food. Two, we don’t have enough money to buy any food. They have a whole day to stew over this. This is a day-long test. Lord goes on about His business of healing and bringing the people the knowledge of the kingdom.

And they’re fuddling around, trying to figure out how to solve the problem. V 15, When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”

The Jews had two evenings

one was 3 to 6, other was 6 to 9. This was the first evening, prior to the setting of the sun. That was their solution. Send them away. These disciples have seen everyday Jesus doing miracles. They could have simply said Lord you make it!

But they are thick. It’s like a man standing in front of a waterfalls asking if anybody knows where he can get a drink. V 16, But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” Very simple. He is making them face the fact that they don’t have any food.

Jesus just wanted to be sure it was solid in their knowledge, the admission of no resources. V 17, And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” All we have is five bread cakes and two fish that’s it.

Great spiritual lesson for all who serve God. You haven’t got it, and you can’t get it, any more than they could. Strange that nobody said, “Lord could just create it.” 4. Divine power. V 18, He said, “Bring them here to Me.”

What you do have, give Me, so that you really have nothing.

You can imagine that they are sort of sitting back, saying that we will never be able to feed this crowd, but maybe we can hang on to the five loaves and two fish, and the little kid will get lost, and at least we can eat.

V 19, Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.

He does a very strange thing. He commands the multitude to sit down on the grass. It is the spring of the year. The grass sloping down to that little plain would be a beautiful place to sit. The air is cool, and they are all in the nice grass, and they are going to have a picnic.

Mark 6:39-40, Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. Lord made them to seat the people in groups of ⁵⁰ and ¹⁰⁰ with aisles in between, so they could serve them. Of course, the disciples are obeying the Lord, and they can’t figure anything out. They still don’t know what is going on.

They are all seated, wonderfully in order, prepared to be served. Only thing is, there’s nothing to serve them. V 19, And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.

Jesus was thanking the Lord for these things in His hand, as if we are all going to have a wonderful feast.

John 6:11, And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.

The miracle is almost hidden. No fanfare. It doesn’t say He got up on top of the mountain and said, “Food.” Doesn’t say that angels flew all over, and trumpets blew, and the earth shook. He just started handing out bread and fish, and they just never stopped.

He just created them.

It must have been good, because it had never been touched by the curse, you know. The best bread they ever ate, and the best fish and it just kept coming. But He gave it to them, and they started passing it out. V 20, So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.

They all ate as much as they wanted. It must have been the best food they ever ate. They were totally satisfied. They had all they wanted. Of course, there was some left. When they collected all the fragments, how many basketfuls did they get?

Twelve. Isn’t that interesting.

How many disciples were there? Twelve. Amazing. As great a wonder as the ability to create was the ability to create exactly the amount that satisfied everybody, with exactly twelve baskets left over for the disciples.

Now that’s the economy of God. He doesn’t waste His miracles.

What about the Lord? There wasn’t any for Him. That was going to be another lesson for the disciples. If He was to eat, guess where He had have to get it? From them. V 21, Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

What was the reaction of this group?

John 6:15, Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

They tried to take Him by force and make Him a king. That was all they needed free food. Anybody who could heal all the diseases, cast out demons, raise the dead, and give free food, could overthrow the Romans, bring a revolution.

This has got to be the king, and so their political aspirations reached a fever pitch, and they tried to force the issue.

V 22, Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. Jesus sent them away. Then He had sent the multitudes away. Now the dull disciples were gone, the enthusiastic crowd was gone. He was in the solitude of the Father, alone.

He had just put on a display like the world has never seen or will never see until Jesus comes again. He had demonstrated such incredible power.

5. Third response

In that crowd, there were true believers who said, “This is the Messiah.” There were those who really believed, who really saw that this was the Messiah. There were some who even asked the question.

John 6:28-29, Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

John 6:37, All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

John 6:44, No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. Jesus knew that in that crowd were the gifts of the Father, the elect remnant, the true believers. This was for them. This whole day was for them.

• They saw divine power in this man Jesus Christ.
• They saw before their eyes, creation for this was a creative miracle.
• They saw divine compassion.
• They saw the heart of God in that individual.
• They saw that great integrity – no waste.
• They also heard kingdom teaching.
• They heard words that were inexplicable in coming from a human mind, that spoke of the mind of God.
• They also saw a symbol of the Lord’s ability to meet spiritual needs, as they who hungered and thirsted after righteousness would be as filled as they who hungered and thirsted after food.

So, the elect remnant was taught, and were given enough to confirm their faith.

So, there was an establishing of the twelve, and there was a confirming of the believing remnant. The rejecters. The shallow soil. The weedy, thorny soil. The thrill-seekers. Those who looking for material blessings. They were revealed.

John 6:22-27, On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone— 23 however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks— 24 when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?” 26 Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

Self-indulgence. Jesus said, “Unless you will eat My flesh, and drink My blood.” “Unless you will take in all that I am, all that I say, all that I do; unless you totally and fully receive Me, you have no part with Me.”

John 6:66, From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.

They were gone. The whole thing just revealed the thrill- seekers. Many of them walked no more; but it doesn’t say all of them. Some of them continued to walk. Then there were the disciples.

John 6:67-69, Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” 68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Do you know what this did for the disciples? It made them sure. For the elect remnant, it brought them to believe and continue to follow. For the thrill-seekers, they turn around and left.

Application for those who decide to follow

Jesus.

The Lord was teaching here. There are the twelve. This was for the training of the twelve. There is the elect remnant, and this was for the confirmation of the faith of the elect. What did Jesus teach here in the training of the twelve?

He was always involved in training the twelve. He was always involved in doing things that they might learn.

What did they learn from this? What practical lessons that they could apply to their ministry, that you can apply to your ministry? 1. Withdraw from needless danger. Jesus taught them to withdraw from needless danger. There’s no virtue in a martyr complex. Sensibility says you withdraw from needless danger.

Jesus did not go to Herod Antipas and try to show off who He is!

2. Seek rest and solitude. Jesus taught them that it was important to seek rest. Solitude for refreshment and the restoration of strength for the task. The Lord needed that, and He knew they needed that. Jesus knows you need that place of solitude, quiet, solace, and refreshment.

3. Spend quality time with those who work with

you. Jesus demonstrated to them how important it is to spend time with those who labour with you. He took the twelve. They needed time together. There was a mutual stimulation there, a mutual strength. That was all part of discipling, was to share His life with them, and they with each other.

4. Show compassion those who are in need. Jesus taught them the lesson about compassion for those in need.

He showed them the heart of God, which was a heart broken over the needs of men. Not just spiritual needs, but even physical needs reached the heart of God. Jesus taught sacrificing rest and leisure to meet others’ needs demonstrated the caring heart of God.

It is easy to get to the place where you feel your priority right is the right to leisure, when our Lord demonstrates that the priority is to meet needs and you sacrifice leisure for that. 5. Not just physical but spiritual needs.

While you are meeting physical needs, you also teaching the truth of the kingdom. We can’t just have “a social gospel,” that it is not enough to do just that which men need physically. But while He was healing, He was teaching them the things of the kingdom of God.

Jesus would take them at face value in terms of their physical need, but not without trying to turn them to an understanding of their spiritual need.

When you reach out to meet someone’s physical need, it is with a view to turning them to the spiritual dimension. 6. Learn to obey when you don’t understand. Jesus taught the disciples to learn to obey, even if they didn’t understand why.

Can you imagine this group of guys organizing all these people into units of 50 and 100 to serve them food they know they don’t have and can’t buy? But they did it! Imagine when it was all done, they said, “we want to be sure when the Lord tells us to do things that we don’t understand, to go ahead and do them anyway, because something wonderful might happen.”

7. Be orderly. Great lesson here about doing things orderly. God is a God of order. They made them sit together as 50 and 100.

1 Corinthians 14:40, Let all things be done decently and in order.

God is a God of great order. God doesn’t want any stampede for food. This is marvellous how the Lord Jesus sets everybody in the right little garden bed by garden bed, and then has all the disciples moving among them. The God of order.

8. Stewardship. God also demonstrated His economy of stewardship. Nothing left over, except enough to fill twelve baskets full, which would have fed the disciples, leaving nothing. Not a waste. God is a steward of His miraculous power.

God is a steward, if you can imagine, of infinite treasure. How much more are we to be stewards of finite treasure? No waste. 9. God is Generous. Jesus also taught them that God was generous. Everybody got all they wanted; everybody was stuffed.

Everybody ate as much as they cared to eat. God is not a God who gives it out piece by piece, but a God of abundant supply. In ministry should we come to men’s hearts with the heart of God, which is a heart of abundance.

10.Look out for others not for yourself. Jesus taught them that ministry is looking to provide for others, not yourselves. “Give Me what you have got, and we are going to give it to them.” They didn’t even get anything to eat until they had fed everybody everything they wanted.

We can imagine them saying, “How long is this going to keep coming I mean if they run out before we get ours?” But there was enough. They had to go around and collect it. But it was there in exactness. The lesson that we are called to provide for others, and God will be sure there’s provision for us.

Matthew 10, Jesus said, “Don’t take two coats and two staffs, and don’t take a bunch of money when you go. Just go, and

you give yourself away, and charge no man anything; and I will make sure your supply is met.” Learn to share with those who have not. The Lord didn’t take a basket, because He wanted them to learn to share with Him and that’s a great lesson.

From all He gives us, we must give back to Him. He has given us time and He want a return. He has given us talent. He has given us spiritual gifts. He has given us money. He has given us possessions. All has come from His creative hand and He asks that we share it back with Him. That’s what stewardship is. Great lesson.

11.Trust God for the impossible. Learn to trust the power of God to provide what seems impossible. We don’t have it, and we can’t get it. Jesus wants us to be right where we say that Lord, I want you. When you come to the point where you don’t have it, and you can’t get it, trust God to supply it.

The responsibility to feed you spiritually week in and week out to represent Christ, to stand between Him and the world, as it were, Him and the church, and to feed the church.

• I don’t have it, and I can’t get it.
• I depend on Him to provide it.

Begin with your own available resources. Even though it’s little, trust God to make it much. You think you have nothing, and you wind up feeding thousands. God can use small things.

• God used the tear of a baby to move the heart of Pharaoh’s daughter.
• God used a shepherd’s stick to work mighty miracles in Egypt.
• God used a sling and a stone to conquer a nation.
• God used a little girl to lead Naaman to Elisha.
• God used a widow with a little meal to sustain a prophet.
• God used a little child to teach His disciples the meaning of humility and salvation.
• God used Balaam’s ass to preach His truth.
• God used the jawbone of another ass to slay a thousand men.

God can use a small thing for a great end. Jesus likes to have the weak when things happen, we know it’s His power. 12.God wants you to be the channel of blessing. God wants to provide for people through you! When Jesus took the little that He had and broke it, who did He give it to?

He gave it to the disciples! They stood between Him and the multitude. We stand between Him and the multitude! God wants to feed the multitude through us. It’s our availability. It’s our heart of service. We stand between Christ and a needy world.

This is a spiritual lesson for every generation. The hungry multitude is always present. But there’s always the compassionate Savior who wants to multiply it through us if we are available.

Conclusion

The obvious question that is obvious to be asked of you today is that, Which group are you in?

Are you an already committed disciple? Then this adds surety to your faith! Are you one who has sought with an open heart to know the Lord Jesus Christ? Does this not convince you that He is God, and elicit from you true saving faith?

Or are you a thrill-seeker, and have you been following Jesus only for what you can get? Are you coming to Jesus to get some material things only? Are you looking to Jesus only for Physical things? When the pressure is on and the demands are made, you’re gone?