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Mission: I'm Possible (Luke 8:12-17)
15 Plays12 days ago
Sunday Message recorded 03 August 2025
by Senior Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church - Columbus, TX, USA
1700 Milam St.
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
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Transcript
Gratitude and Divine Glorification
00:00:06
Speaker
Good morning. right This morning earlier i was praying that God would be glorified in our service and I feel like that he has been. And so I thank you so much for lifting up his name.
00:00:19
Speaker
His name is glorious and wonderful. I thank the Lord for all that he does for us.
Introduction to the Miracle of Feeding 5,000
00:00:25
Speaker
You know, this morning we're going to look in Luke chapter 9, verses 12 through 17. Verses 12 through 17. And this is where Jesus fed the 5,000.
Stephen Tice's Faithful Service and Retirement
00:00:37
Speaker
Thursday of this past week, a man that fed at least 5,000 or more finished up as the manager of HEV, Stephen Tice. Stephen, we appreciate your faithfulness.
00:00:51
Speaker
You would pray over people in the aisles, your customers. You inspired those that were employees. You lived in your life there at HEB.
00:01:03
Speaker
You lived out the Christian life. And the people that were going in, whether customers or whether employees, they saw Jesus in you. And we just wanted to say thank you today for 33 years at HEB. Thank you so much. um i do appreciate so much. There's a wise man named Aaron Peters that said that jesus Jesus finished his work in 33 years and Stephen Tice finished his work in 33 years. So anyway, he's just trying to be like Jesus, folks. That's it. But anyway, i want us to look closely at this passage today and see what the Lord would speak to us through his living word.
Significance of Gospel Miracles
00:01:55
Speaker
You know, the New Testament records 37 miracles of Christ during his earthly ministry.
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Speaker
Yet out of those 37, did you know that only two of them were recorded in all four of the gospels? The feeding of the 5,000 is one, and in his resurrection was the other one.
00:02:15
Speaker
John MacArthur said that this one, the feeding of the 5,000, is actually the most extensive miracle on a visible scale. It took place near the end of his Galilean ministry.
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Speaker
somewhere in the spring of A.D. 29.
Challenge to Feed 5,000: Disciples' Dilemma
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Speaker
And you're going to hear as we read through this passage that Jesus gives them a challenge in verse 13.
00:02:42
Speaker
He gives the disciples a challenge. And what he's going to tell them to do they got 5,000 plus people sitting out there and he's going to say to them, you give them something to eat.
00:02:54
Speaker
Now, the context of that, as you'll recall, was a quiet break. They'd been on a big mission trip. They were tired. Jesus knew it. And so he says, why don't you come away and let's ah go for some quiet, restful time.
00:03:08
Speaker
But they were interrupted by the multitudes. But i wonder if today, if God has ever given you an impossible assignment. Has he ever said he wanted you to do something you're thinking, Lord, I just can't do that.
00:03:24
Speaker
I believe that his command would have been weary for those disciples.
Missionary Work and God's Assistance
00:03:29
Speaker
In February of 1994, Jody and I stood on a platform in a church in Virginia during a commissioning service that was hosted by the International Mission Board.
00:03:40
Speaker
They said we were gonna be missionaries to Japan. And remember the guest speaker that night was Dr. Jerry Rankin. He was the president of the IMB and he was gonna tell us how what it was like to be sent on mission for God.
00:03:56
Speaker
and i'll never I'll never forget him saying to us what it was like when he stood where each of us were standing. He and his wife had been commissioned to go to Indonesia many years prior to that.
00:04:11
Speaker
But I remember him saying these words, that moment when we stood there, we felt like a turtle sitting on top of a fence post. He said, we became deeply aware of our own unworthiness, of our inadequacy.
00:04:26
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We knew that we had not gotten to where we were all by ourselves. I think if each one of us in this room were honest, we would admit that God has helped us to accomplish all that we've accomplished in our lifetime, hasn't he?
00:04:42
Speaker
It wasn't just us. He helped us to be able to accomplish whatever it is that we have accomplished.
Faith and Divine Possibility
00:04:51
Speaker
There are several verses that are sprinkled throughout the Bible that remind us that what is impossible with man, it's still possible with God.
00:05:02
Speaker
I want to give you real quickly just the top five that come to my mind. So if you are facing an impossible challenge, an impossible you know circumstance in your life, you might want to jot some of these down.
00:05:14
Speaker
The first one is found in Matthew 19, 26.
00:05:18
Speaker
where Jesus says, you know, with man, this is impossible. But with God, with God, all things are possible. Matthew 19, 26. So the angel Gabriel said to the Virgin Mary, when she was given an impossible task, an impossible assignment, for nothing will be impossible again.
00:05:39
Speaker
with God. See, he's not talking about with Mary herself in the flesh. He's talking about with God. You know, even in the Old Testament, biblical characters were speaking of the greatness of God in the face of fearful odds.
00:05:55
Speaker
Jeremiah, for example, wrote these words in Jeremiah 32, 17. Ah, Lord God, ah lord god It is you who have made the heavens and the earth. By your great power and by your outstretched arm, nothing is too hard for you.
00:06:16
Speaker
Passages like these remind every disciple that with every impossible assignment that God gives us comes a promise. you know what the promise is? This mission is not impossible. This mission is I'm possible.
00:06:33
Speaker
Not we, but he. He's possible. He can make it happen. Later in the Gospel of Luke, the doctor recounts what Jesus said after the rich young ruler walked away, sad from Christ. And some of the disciples began to talk among themselves and they said, well, if he doesn't want to be saved, then who can be saved?
00:06:58
Speaker
Remember, the context was not money. The context was not material things. The context was salvation. So Jesus replied, what is impossible with man is possible with God.
00:07:11
Speaker
Maybe you're thinking today, is it possible for God to receive me, to accept me? Is it possible for God to accept me? Does God want me in heaven?
00:07:25
Speaker
you know, biblical characters like Job inspire us and feed our faith. After losing all 10 of his children in a tornado, all of his livestock, his health crashes later, he said to God, I know that you can.
00:07:43
Speaker
I know that you can do all things. No purpose of yours can be thwarted. Job 42.2.
Biblical Promises and Miraculous Provision
00:07:53
Speaker
See, those were just the top five passages speaking to the unlimited ability of the Almighty. But each of us must answer the question the Lord asked Abraham and Sarah.
00:08:06
Speaker
Abraham was about 100 years old. Sarah was barren. And yet the Lord had promised them son. And here's the question. It's real simple. Then the Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh and say, well, I really have a child now that I'm old?
00:08:25
Speaker
Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.
00:08:37
Speaker
i think we need to answer that question in 2025. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Sarah laughed. Abraham believed.
00:08:50
Speaker
But what is your answer to that question? Is anything too hard for the Lord? Now let's read our text that's found here in Luke 9, 12 through 17.
00:09:01
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I think it's recorded in all four gospels. And so I'm acknowledging that what you're about to hear, humanly, it was impossible, but with Jesus.
00:09:14
Speaker
It was possible. And I believe with all my heart, it really happened. Four of those gospel writers, they recorded it. And so we know that the word of God is true. So would you stand in honor of God's word? And let's listen as we hear once again, this incredible miracle of the feeding of the 5,000.
00:09:35
Speaker
Now the day began to wear away. And the twelve came and said to him, send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions.
00:09:49
Speaker
For we are here in a desolate place. But he said to them you give them something to eat. They said, we have no more than five loaves and two fish unless we're to go and buy food for all these people.
00:10:07
Speaker
for there were about 5,000 men. He said to his disciples, have them sit down in groups of about 50 each. And they did so and had them all sit down and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them.
00:10:27
Speaker
And then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd." And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, 12 baskets of broken pieces.
00:10:43
Speaker
Let's go to the Father in prayer. Lord, for some of us, we have a vision that burns deep within our hearts. You have convinced us based upon the revelations that are given to us in the word of God.
00:10:59
Speaker
You've convinced us that nothing is too hard for you. We see the greatness of God. But it could be that someone here struggling because they're only looking at circumstances and they're thinking, wow,
00:11:13
Speaker
This is just too hard for God. So would you restore to them the greatness of God? Help them to see in scripture why these things were written were to instruct us today.
00:11:27
Speaker
And so this is still true in 2025. So Lord, speak to us this day about how great that you are. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
00:11:38
Speaker
Thank you you, may be seated.
00:11:42
Speaker
Commentator and scholar Mal Couch writes that this was a different kind of miracle than the rest.
Commentary on the Feeding of 5,000
00:11:49
Speaker
This was a multiplication work that defied logic.
00:11:55
Speaker
You read it on the surface, it doesn't make any sense. And yet just a few verses later in chapter 11, verses one through four, Jesus is directing us to pray. And what he says we should pray is give us this day our daily bread.
00:12:12
Speaker
You know, since the Lord blessed five loaves of bread and two fish, let me give you five statements of truth for the next time that you face an impossible circumstance.
00:12:24
Speaker
Let's go for verses 12 and look at the first principle. It's a statement. It's a truth statement. The deficiency of the location. I don't know about you, but I've learned in my short lifetime, maybe you've learned the same thing. It's never a good idea to tell Jesus what he ought to do Well, all 12 of the disciples, apparently based on verse 12, says, Now the day began to wear away and the 12 came and said to him, Here's what you ought to do.
00:12:55
Speaker
You know, the disciples were unanimous. This place is deficient. But you know what in reality was deficient? Not the place. Because you know the rest of the story. You know what happened in that place, right?
00:13:11
Speaker
It wasn't the place. Their assessment of the place based upon humanity and what we can do, it was accurate. But you see, their real deficiency was in their understanding of the person of Jesus Christ.
00:13:25
Speaker
They didn't really know who he was. Maybe someone here this morning, you don't really know who he is. And that's why you don't have any faith whatsoever that he can help you.
00:13:39
Speaker
You know, it never occurred to the 12 that Jesus was actually able to handle that situation in that inadequate location. The disciples noticed three deficiencies with that place.
00:13:54
Speaker
Maybe you're looking at your circumstances, you're looking where you are, you're looking where you live, you're looking in your family, and you're saying, well, it's all deficient. The Lord can't do anything here.
00:14:05
Speaker
I just want to remind you of these three things. It says first, for example, that the day began wear away. You know, I think it was an unlasting place. They weren't going to stay in that place forever, right? They were going to leave that place.
00:14:21
Speaker
Maybe you're beginning to realize my days are wearing away. Maybe you have a terminal illness. Maybe you're saying, I don't know how much life I have left. But you know what?
00:14:33
Speaker
God can still work right where you are, right where you are in life, right where you live, right where you work, right where you study, right where you go to school. But also there's an unfulfilling place.
00:14:47
Speaker
When they say, you know what we need to do, Jesus? Here's what you need to do, Jesus. You need to send the crowd away. In other words, there's not enough here in this place, so you better just send the the crowd away. It was an unfulfilling place.
00:15:05
Speaker
That's what they were thinking. Why do we always think that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence? But also you'll notice that they did point out to Jesus, you know, after all, this is a desolate place.
00:15:19
Speaker
It was an uninhabited place. This is such a small place. There's really not a lot of people who live here. But I looked up that word and it doesn't mean a desert.
00:15:31
Speaker
It means a deserted place. It means the people who lived in that place were not very many I don't know why it is that sometimes it gets into our young people's heads that, you know, for me, I'm gonna have to go to a bigger city.
00:15:47
Speaker
I'm gonna have to go somewhere greater. You know, I've been here 18 years and i if I could do it all over again, you know what? I'd raise my family right here. I would.
00:15:59
Speaker
This is a great town to live your raise your family and to live and to work and to serve and to be a witness for Christ. There was a lady named Ina Ogden. I'm sure you didn't know her. She was born in 1872 and she passed away
00:16:18
Speaker
But Ina was given a great privilege. She could go on the Chautauqua tour and she was gonna be a witness for Christ on this Chautauqua tour. But you know what happened? When she was packing and getting ready to go on this incredible dream of a lifetime, her father was seriously injured in a terrible automobile accident.
00:16:40
Speaker
And she was the only caregiver that could take care of him. So she did. at first she struggled with bitterness and then she thought, but there's blessing in this.
00:16:51
Speaker
She knew the Lord, she walked with the Lord. And so she began to think through things and pray through things. And God was speaking to her with scripture. And you know what he gave her? He gave her a song.
00:17:03
Speaker
And the song, you might've heard it, it's it's dated now, but it's still got such an incredible message. But it says, brighten the corner where you are. brighten the corner where you are See, rather than wishing you were somewhere else, why don't you say, God, I want to be the brightest witness that I can be right where I am.
00:17:25
Speaker
You ought to listen to that song. It's ah an incredible song. You know, 25 million copies of that song were printed. There was an evangelist named Billy Sunday. He heard that song and he said, you know what? I'm going to have that song sang at every meeting I
Faithfulness in Daily Life
00:17:42
Speaker
have.
00:17:42
Speaker
And other evangelists began to do the same until, I don't know, those who study, you know, Christian songs and so forth, they estimate that Bright in the Corner, Where You Are, was heard by over 100 million people. 100 million people sang that song.
00:18:01
Speaker
And yet here's the deal.
00:18:04
Speaker
Ina Ogden, she was home with her dad. She was just pouring out her love and her appreciation, her respect for her father. And I'm thinking, isn't that something? But maybe she thought at first, this is a deficient place.
00:18:20
Speaker
This location is just no good. Well, let's move from the deficiency of the location that's mentioned in verse 12. We know it's desolate. We know the disciples are in agreement. You got to get out of here.
00:18:33
Speaker
Well, the second one was the insufficiency of the resources. How much is enough? You know, the disciples do a quick, you know, they itemize things, they add up things, they do an assessment and they said, you know what?
00:18:46
Speaker
All we can come up with here is five loaves and two fish. The first American billionaire was John D. Rockefeller. Someone asked him one time, how much money would be enough?
00:19:02
Speaker
To which he replied, hmm, enough. Just a little bit more. And so maybe that's the way you feel. I just gotta make a little bit more. it's We're hardly ever content, right?
00:19:15
Speaker
But I mean, when these guys hear this incomprehensible order, You guys, you 12, give them something to eat. fun Man, oh man.
00:19:30
Speaker
Well, they have a reasonable objection. They said, we have no more than five loaves and two fish. So in other words, what they're saying is, we don't have enough.
00:19:41
Speaker
There are meager resources in order for us to be able to fulfill what you've called us to do. And then someone in the group says, what about if we went and bought things? And they're saying, went and bought things for all these people? Are you kidding?
00:19:57
Speaker
It was an unfeasible option unless we're to go and buy food for all these people. And so you can just see that their hands are probably like this. And they're saying, I don't really think that's possible.
00:20:09
Speaker
Luke puts in a parenthetical statement here when he says, you know, there were about... 5,000 men. i think that's ah that's a key word there, men. 5,000 men.
00:20:21
Speaker
doesn't really know how many, but he says there's about 5,000 men. But Matthew, if you were to read in the parallel accounts, Matthew 14, 21 says, oh, there was about 5,000 But then he something else, besides women and children. Okay.
00:20:37
Speaker
but then he says something else besides women and children That's why John MacArthur estimates that if there were women and children there, as well as 5,000 men, he said, you could have had a crowd that was 20,000 to 25,000. So the question is, would it even be possible for God to provide that much food for that many people with just five loaves and two fish?
Creation and Divine Power
00:21:09
Speaker
I would remind you that when God created the universe, you know what he used to create it He didn't have five loaves and two fish. He had nothing. Theologians call it ex nihilo.
00:21:21
Speaker
It's a Latin phrase. It means out of nothing. So if you were to read not Nehemiah 9.6, John 1.3, Colossians 1.16, what you'll hear is God created everything, but he created everything out of nothing.
00:21:40
Speaker
How did he do it? Well, I like Psalm 33.9, because Psalm 33.9 tells us how Jesus could take five loaves, two fish, and how it can just supply the need.
00:21:54
Speaker
Here's what Psalm 33, 9 says, speaking of creation. For he spoke and it came to be. He commanded and it stood firm.
00:22:08
Speaker
Wow. He spoke and it came to be. He commanded and it stood firm. Go back sometime and read Genesis chapter 1. Did God always use something in order to create each thing?
00:22:23
Speaker
No, he didn't. As a matter of fact, if you were to go through there eight different times, it says the same thing. In Genesis 1.3, 1.6, 1.9, 1.11, 1.14, 1.20, 1.24, 1.26, eight times, enough.
00:22:38
Speaker
says the same thing and god said god said and god said and god said see maybe you would say i don't have you know enough And God says, i can take care of that. That's not a problem.
00:22:57
Speaker
Do you believe that I am able to take care of that?
Trust in Divine Provision
00:23:01
Speaker
So it brings us to this third thing in verses 14 and 15. Once God tells you what to do,
00:23:08
Speaker
then the question is, do you expect him to come through for you? Is there expectancy of provision? I believe that the next two verses, namely verses 14 and 15, I believe that they portray expectancy.
00:23:23
Speaker
They demonstrate dependency upon the Lord to provide for the need. Let's say that you and I were one of the 12. Let's say that we're mixed in there.
00:23:35
Speaker
And Jesus says this, He says, you know what I want you to do? Have them sit down in groups of about 50. Now, just think about that. You know, they're thinking, okay, we just told him all we got is five loaves and two fish. And the next thing he says is, i want you to have them all sit down, arrange them in groups of 50. Okay.
00:23:56
Speaker
Can you imagine when the people said, what's going to happen next? How is he going to do it? what What's happening here? And they said, I don't know. And maybe this one gets asked again. Maybe the same group, you know, this 50, they ask the same question. How's he going to do it?
00:24:10
Speaker
I don't know. He goes to the next one. How's he going to do it? i don't know. How's he going to do it? I don't know. it Probably over and over there until finally, you know, somebody like Peter, plain spoken, he probably said, shut up and do what I say.
00:24:22
Speaker
You know, he said, sit down in groups of 50, you know. So that's probably what's happening out there. It would have been crazy. But you know what? They just simply trusted.
00:24:34
Speaker
He said it. And so they they said, you know what? If he told us to do that, then let's just do it. They don't they don't even know what he's going to do. It hasn't happened yet. All they were told was have them sit down in groups of 50. And look what happens next.
00:24:50
Speaker
They just sit down. They started having all the people. They did so and had all of them sit down. Do you know that biblical expectancy is not like jumping off of a limb? It's not taking a flying leap into the dark.
00:25:06
Speaker
No, not at all. I believe that biblical expectancy has backbone because you're acting on something God told you to do. And so if God told you to do it, it's like, think about, for example, our spinal column.
00:25:22
Speaker
Do you know that without your spinal column, you wouldn't be able to stand up? You couldn't do a thing. I mean, that gives some rigidity, right? Well, there's something God is expecting from you and me, even though he's the one that's going to have to do it. I want you to notice three things that were a part of this expectancy of provision. If they really did believe he was going to do this,
00:25:46
Speaker
then here's what they did. First, they had to prepare through organization. They had to say, you know what, we got to get ready. And so Jesus said, have them sit down in groups of 50. So they did.
00:25:59
Speaker
You know, if you took 20,000, let's say, and divided it by 50, that would be 400 circles of 50. That was um incredible. I mean, have you ever seen anything when you have like one basket?
00:26:14
Speaker
You have one basket of, let's say, gifts, and you've got a crowd. Let's say 300, you know, not 20,000, 300. three hundred You've got one basket, and you say, hey,
00:26:27
Speaker
this is This is free for all of y'all. Man, you better get out of the way, because they are going to, it's gonna be rough, you know. I remember in Nicaragua, we took some children's toys, we took these junior soccer balls, and all these different kind of things over there one time, and we were going to pass out these gifts, and we stood at the back of the bus.
00:26:49
Speaker
Pretty soon, we were getting in the bus, and we were passing them out the back door, because man, it got rough. And anyway, there was one lady over here telling me something in the side window. And I was like, she's speaking in Spanish. So I said to one of the Mingo kids, I said, what is she saying? And he said, I don't think you want to know what that lady said. She's saying that her son didn't get a soccer ball and her son wants a soccer ball. He doesn't care a thing about that Barbie doll.
00:27:17
Speaker
And I'm like, oh you know, so anyway, he said, but the way she's saying it, it's not very nice. So anyway, I'm like, okay, okay. But we got to prepare through organization whenever there may be something you have to do. But the other thing is we proceed By obedience.
00:27:35
Speaker
We do what God's told us to do. What has God revealed to us in his word we're supposed to do? What were the words of Jesus? He said, have them sit down in groups of 50. You know what it says they did?
00:27:47
Speaker
And they did so. You know, sometimes I think maybe that's why God stopped in your life, in my life. He's waiting on us to do the last thing he said to do.
00:27:59
Speaker
And so he's saying, until you're ready to move, I'm going to just wait. And so we need to say, Lord, help me obey. Help me proceed in my life by simply obeying what you've told me to do already.
00:28:12
Speaker
And then notice that there's also this posture for obtaining. Why didn't he tell them to sit down? Why didn't he tell them, you know, go do this, you know, go fishing? Maybe they were by the lake, but see by the Sea of Galilee. They could have gone down by the lake and, you know, go fishing.
00:28:29
Speaker
That would have been reasonable, right? But he didn't. He said, have them sit down. I think it was a posture that in this case, the Lord was about to bless them. He was about to cause them to receive.
00:28:42
Speaker
You know, it's interesting how all four gospels state explicitly that they had the people sit down. You say, you know what? Salvation is something that you can't work your way there. You'll never be able to earn God's favor.
00:29:01
Speaker
That's why Jesus had to come. And so in order for us to be saved, we have to sit down and say, Lord, all I can do is say, I need a perfect savior like you because I'm a broken, sinful person.
00:29:16
Speaker
And so it's such a picture of faith and rest here.
Faith, Rest, and Divine Supply
00:29:21
Speaker
As a matter of fact, you ought to write down in the margin, John 6, 6, because these parallel passages tell us something.
00:29:30
Speaker
You know, Luke doesn't tell us this, but John does in John 6, 6.
00:29:36
Speaker
The whole time you may be thinking, I can't believe that Jesus would tell them, feed them yourselves, give them something to eat. John 6, 6 says this, he said this,
00:29:50
Speaker
to test them, for he himself knew what he would do. Wow. Isn't that something? It's like they don't know he knows what he's about to do. Probably up until this exact moment when they're having them all sit down, they're still thinking, I don't know why we're doing this.
00:30:10
Speaker
It's not going to go very far. But that's where you go to the fourth truth statement that's found in this passage, especially about the Lord, right? We're talking not what humans can do. We're talking about what God can do.
00:30:23
Speaker
So let's look at the sufficiency of the supply. Verse 16 says, "...and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven," this is Jesus, "...and said a blessing over them.
00:30:36
Speaker
And then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to sit before the crowd." Is it going to work? You know, you could go back in the Old Testament and interview some people and say, you know, is God's supply going to be sufficient?
00:30:53
Speaker
For example, you could ask Moses and Moses would say, you know what? It is. I saw God's supply Enough manna over a 40-year period of time for 2.5 million people.
00:31:06
Speaker
Yeah, I think God can handle 20,000 that day. He's already had 2.5 million over 40 years. Every single morning they woke up and the manna was there.
00:31:18
Speaker
But then what about if you were to interview Elijah? Elijah will say, well, I'll tell you what happened in my day. I remember there was this widow and her son and all they had was just a handful of flour and a little bit of oil in a jar.
00:31:33
Speaker
And I saw God take care of them the rest of their lives from that little bit of flour, that jar. You could go to Elisha. And he would say, well, I saw the Lord take care of my preacher boys. You know, Elisha had like a preacher's college or a bunch of guys were following him. I mean, big is one hundred men were following him and learning from him.
00:31:56
Speaker
He said, you know what? I saw one time when I had 20 loaves and God blessed those 20 loaves. And I saw all 100 men get the food that they needed.
00:32:08
Speaker
You could interview Isaiah the prophet and he said, you know, God gave me visions, visions of the future, and I saw a day coming when the Messiah is going to offer a banquet out in the desert.
00:32:20
Speaker
If you wanted to look at that, you could look at Isaiah 25, 6 and 9. But here's the thing. When you'll simply do what Jesus modeled for us here in verse 16, it's kind of incalculable.
00:32:34
Speaker
It's like, how could you ever come up with a formula that would get you to where this came out? What do we need to do to see the sufficiency of the Lord's supply? Well, first thing would be, you gather up what you have already.
00:32:48
Speaker
You gather up what you have already. It says, and taking the five loaves and the two fish. You gather up what you have already, then you look up with gratitude.
00:33:01
Speaker
Once again, Luke doesn't say that he gave thanks, but if you were to read Mark's version, the parallel passage in Mark, in Mark chapter 8, verse 6, when he looked up, you know what he did? He said, I give you thanks, Father.
00:33:14
Speaker
I give you thanks for these five loaves, these two fish. Have you thanked the Lord? Are you using what he's given to you? Then the next thing you do is you offer up with a request.
00:33:26
Speaker
You offer up this request. Please, Lord, would you bless? Would you bless what little I have? Would you just bless it? Boy, that's incredible that Jesus said a blessing over them.
00:33:38
Speaker
And then you divide up the supply for distribution, taking care of your family. You're taking care of whatever it is that God has placed in your life. And then you round up the disciples to help with that distribution.
00:33:51
Speaker
That's what tonight, you know, tonight when we have the ice cream fellowship, we're gonna have a ministry fair. And those ice cream tables are gonna be surrounded by more tables.
00:34:02
Speaker
And we calling we're calling those ministry, the ministry fair, ministry tables. And so you'll be able to walk around and talk to some of those individuals in our church who are serving.
00:34:13
Speaker
They may be serving in a servant's heart and dealing with cancer patients and caregivers. They may be serving in outreach. They may be serving in missions. They may be serving at the clothes closet. But you can walk around those tables and there will be a volunteer there at those tables that will tell you what they're doing.
00:34:33
Speaker
And wouldn't it be great if you and I walk around those tables and we said, you know what? I've never been over to the clothes closet. But I want to thank you that you're ministering to those people every single Monday and every single Tuesday.
00:34:49
Speaker
You know, appreciation goes a long way. So I'm just thinking you need to round up disciples to help with these things. But then you also follow up after the supply is shared.
00:35:01
Speaker
I wonder if some of those people there that day thought, you know what? We don't have to go to work anymore. We don't have to. We don't even have to go to HEV anymore. We just sit right here and let the Lord just give us the bread. Man, we can have bread and fish for life, all 20,000 of us.
00:35:21
Speaker
You know, John 6 verse 14 tells us what it was really all about. It wasn't about the multiplication of the bread, the multiplication of the fish. Now, you know what it says in John 6, verse 14? It says that miracle was a sign.
00:35:38
Speaker
It was a sign pointing to who Jesus was. That's what they were supposed to learn.
Misunderstanding Jesus' Divine Role
00:35:43
Speaker
They were supposed to learn, wait, he's the provider. He can do things I can't do. He's the son of God.
00:35:50
Speaker
and so that's what it was all about. But you know what some of them said? Some of them said, you know, do you like the taxes old King Herod puts on us? And they said, no. And they said, how about Jesus for king?
00:36:05
Speaker
Why don't we have him be king and we can all just sit here on our blanket and we don't have to go to work. And he'll just give us food and fish every single day that we live.
00:36:16
Speaker
And so what they did, according to John chapter six and verse 15, right on the heels of this miracle, perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force,
00:36:31
Speaker
to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountains alone. You see, Jesus wasn't going to have it. You see, there's a place for work in God's economy.
00:36:43
Speaker
There's a place for, I work, I earn, I take care of my family, I have some extra, so I will share what I have. I'll give it to God's work. I'll share with other people in need. There's a place for that.
00:36:56
Speaker
but This is not some you know passage about being lazy. This is the passage telling us who Jesus is. Well, let me close with that last thing, the supremacy.
00:37:06
Speaker
That's what we ought to say is, you know what I learned from this? The supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. I like what one Bible scholar, r Kent Hughes, he said that what you have here in chapter 9, verse 17, is an explosive revelation of Christ and His adequacy.
00:37:28
Speaker
And really, it fits into this whole thing that Herod had asked in Luke chapter 9, verse 9, who is this about whom I hear such things? Well, Luke's trying to answer that question.
00:37:42
Speaker
He's trying to answer that question before, you know, he even gets to this passage. Remember when we were in the previous chapter, 8, and they were out in the storm in a boat? He said, you know what? He's Lord over nature.
00:37:55
Speaker
Do you remember whenever they go and they get out of the boat in the country of the Gerasenes and a wild man comes down charging at them in the cemetery? Man. The demoniac in the graveyard, he learned, you know what? Those disciples would say, he's Lord over the supernatural.
00:38:13
Speaker
There was a lady who had tried so hard, she had been to many physicians, but she couldn't seem to cure the illness. It had been with her for 12 years. And she said, if I can just touch the hem of his garment.
00:38:25
Speaker
She did, and you know what? She was made whole. It all changed. She learned he's Lord over health. There was a little, there was a dad whose little girl, 12 years of age, had passed away.
00:38:38
Speaker
And he's just, he's just so broken. But he learned that Jesus of Lord even over death. Death's not the last word over a Christian. We go to be with him in heaven, glory.
Christ's Adequacy and Provision
00:38:51
Speaker
And here we are now at the feeding of the 5,000, we see, you know what? He's not only Lord over nature, the supernatural, health, death, need. He's Lord over need, Lord over our needs.
00:39:04
Speaker
He can help us with what we need. If you want any additional reading on the supremacy of Christ, just read Colossians, just read Hebrews. Those two books of the Bible are all about the true supremacy of the Lord.
00:39:22
Speaker
When I lived and served as the pastor of Fairview Baptist Mission, deep within the Peace River country of Alberta, Canada, it's about 850 miles above the US border, I was mentored by a rancher and a pastor in his late 70s named Keith Hale.
00:39:40
Speaker
And toward the end of Mr. Hale's life, he told me, he said, Vic, always remember something. He said, if God is your partner, then make your plans big.
00:39:52
Speaker
And you know, it wasn't about, he didn't live a luxurious life. It wasn't about buying expensive things, having a lot materially. wasn't about being wasteful.
00:40:04
Speaker
I think it was about 2 Corinthians 9, 8.
00:40:08
Speaker
Whenever you go through your life, remember this verse, and God is able, not you're able, and God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
00:40:29
Speaker
I think it's Matthew and Mark. They both recorded Jesus saying something about mountains. You got any mountains that are sort of standing between you and what God's called you to do? Between what you think God wants to do?
00:40:44
Speaker
Well, remember that they can be removed when we call out to him. They're not just removed by trying harder. They're not removed by anything that man can do.
00:40:54
Speaker
Here's what Jesus said about that. He said, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you'll say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you.
00:41:12
Speaker
Why? Because you have now invited God to be involved in the equation. So once again, it's not about my sufficiency or your sufficiency or even our collective sufficiency.
Invitation to Accept Christ
00:41:26
Speaker
It's about his sufficiency. I guarantee you, he is sufficient to save you. If you're here today and you don't know Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, we can meet about that. We can begin the conversation now and talk about it. But I want us to stand. I want to lead us in a prayer and ask God to bless our time.
00:41:46
Speaker
We call this last song in our service, and the The invitation. It's not my invitation as much as is the Lord's invitation. The Lord's inviting you.
00:41:58
Speaker
Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. The reason we get rest is because he did all the heavy lifting on the cross. So what we have to do is come in repentance, come in faith and say, I trust you, Lord. I want you to be my Lord and my Savior. I surrender my life to you.
00:42:18
Speaker
Let's pray. Lord, thank you so much for this time to end our service by simply extending a gospel invitation. We've definitely noticed today you can do things we can't do.
00:42:29
Speaker
Maybe somebody here is like me. When I was 18 years of age, I tried so hard. to turn over a new leaf, turn over a new leaf, to be a different person. And I just couldn't do it.
00:42:41
Speaker
I just couldn't do it. But Lord, it was it was when I was right at the end of my 18th year of life, about to turn 19, that I finally got it.
00:42:53
Speaker
That you said, it's not about you making yourself a new person. It's about me. turning your life inside out and causing you to be somebody brand new.
00:43:07
Speaker
If anyone be in Christ, he's a new creation. All the old things, they've passed away. Old, new things have come. That happened for me, and I believe it will happen for others if they'll just simply cry out to the Lord who is so far exceedingly above all that we ask or think. So bless this time of invitation in Jesus' name, amen.
00:43:36
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.