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Ridgecrest Baptist Church is located in Dothan, AL and exists to Reach the lost, Build the believer, and Connect people of God to the mission and purpose of God.
All right, this morning you can see that I want to pick back up in our series the story of Jesus. This is the twelfth message we're working through the book of Mark, preaching through the book of Mark. And this morning I want to talk with you about another significant event in the story of Jesus. It's the miracle, it's sometimes referred to as the miracle of multiplication and the feeding of the 5 ,000. In his excellent book titled Miracles, highly recommended to you by Eric Metaxas, he answers the question, what is a miracle?
Webster's definition defines a miracle as an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs. He writes more colorfully and memorably, C .S. Lewis once explained that a miracle is something unique that breaks a pattern so expected and essential. A miracle is established that we hardly consider the possibility that it could be broken at all.
Now when it comes to miracles, most miracles are such a part of our ordinary routines that we don't appreciate what God is doing for us. I think we miss a lot of miracles that are just part of the order that God has established for us. Vance Havner said this many years ago, he said, Too many times we miss so much because we live on such a low level of the natural and the ordinary. The ordinary and the explainable, that we leave very little room for God to do the exceeding abundant thing above all that we can ask or think.
The fact is, there's just a lot of miracles going on around us that we simply take for granted. Would you agree with that? In fact, your presence here demonstrates some form of miracle because you're breathing. And you're only breathing because God allows you to breathe. But a lot of the miracles of God are actually worked through the natural order of things. The miraculous divine design of our Creator.
If you go to the book of Romans in chapter 1, you will read where Paul wrote and said that even the heavens testify to the divinity of God. In Colossians chapter 1, in verse 17, Paul writes and says that God is before all things and in Him all things hold together. You realize that means that if God were to take His hand away from the natural order, of the universe, it would implode.
In talks on university campuses, Christian physicist and MIT professor Ian Hutchison asked, can a scientist believe in miracles? And by the way, he's also written a book by the same title. And Hutchison sometimes begins his talks on these university campuses by jokingly saying, can scientists believe in miracles? Then he says, we can answer that question pretty easily. I'm a scientist and I believe in miracles. So the answer is yes, a scientist can believe in miracles.
And then he goes on to note that most of us don't understand the Bible's view of miracles. Hutchison says that we tend to view God as mostly hands -off, standing on the sidelines, letting nature look after itself. But then on rare occasions, reaching in, God does to tweak things by the odd miracle that He performs here or there. But Hutchison goes on to, He goes on to argue that according to the Bible, God continuously holds the universe in the palm of His hands. It exists because of His continuous creative power and will, if He were to stop exerting His upholding power, the earth will stop paying attention to every part of how the universe operates and would instantly cease to exist, he writes.
So he defines a miracle this way. A miracle is an extraordinary act of God by which, God upholds the universe in a manner different from what is normal. In Hebrews 1 and verse 3, the Bible says that He is a radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature. But listen, it says, And He upholds the universe by the word of His power.
Don't be confused. Science can explain many things, not everything. But science can explain many things. But science is not the cause or the sustainer. It is the miracle power of God that sustains and upholds all things. And in today's passage that I want us to look at, we see one of those extraordinary, miraculous acts or events of God that defies the ordinary laws of nature and of science and reflects the amazing power of Jesus Christ.
If you're physically able to do so, why don't you stand with me as we read our text this morning. A bit long, but bear with me if you will. Beginning in verse 30 of chapter 6 of Mark's Gospel, the scripture says, The apostles returned to Jesus and told Him that they had done all that they had done and taught. And He said to them, Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.
Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran their own foot. And they ran their own foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. And when He went ashore, He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began to teach them many things. And when it grew late, His disciples came to Him and said, This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat. But He answered them, You give them something to eat. And they said, Shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat? And He said to them, How many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they had found out, they said, Five and two fish. And then He commanded them all to sit down in groups on the ground, on the green grass. And so they sat down in groups by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven and He said a blessing, and He broke the loaves and gave them. And He gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And He divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up the twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were 5 ,000 men. Father, thank You for this miraculous event to remind us of the miraculous power that You have over all things, over this universe, over our lives, over the natural order of things. We thank You. And Father, we need it. We need it to make miracles in our lives. And Father, there are those who are listening to my voice this morning by live stream or television or radio in this live audience, and many of them need a miracle. They need You to touch down in their life. Thank You that You still do that. We don't command You to do those things. We don't need those things to believe, but we sure do appreciate God when You touch down and do miraculous in us, through us, and around us. Speak to us this morning through Your Word. Let us receive it, Father, and strengthen our faith by it. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you. You can be seated. The miracle of the feeding of the 5 ,000 is so significant that all four of the Gospels tell this story. It is really the story of Jesus using the natural to do that which is supernatural. It's a rich passage. It has a lot of applications that we don't have time to digest, but there are some things that we see just kind of in passing that this story reaffirms, like the importance of getting along with Jesus. It reaffirms the importance of spiritual rest, the development of faith, the instruction of men and women in the truths of God. And the context and setting are based on Jesus' desire to retreat and refresh Himself and His disciples. They not only needed spiritual restoration, but they also needed physical rest and physical food. And notice it says leisure. They needed some time to get away. I mean, that's a whole other message that I'm not going to get into, but it reaffirms these things. That's the setting. That's the context. They were tired. They've been doing ministry. They needed to get away. Jesus says, come, let's get away. Let's go to this desolate place. Let's go to a place that's more isolated. That's what Jesus was saying to them. So we can rest and recharge our batteries and those sorts of things. We're not sure how much of this they were actually able to do upon their arrival. The Bible says, they came to this desolate place, a place of retreat. But in the end, because the people got there first, they would have to eventually go on to Bethsaida and try again. So with that in mind, kind of as the context and the background of what's going on, let's look at this miracle and some lessons that it provides for us. The first thing that I want you to see this morning is the pursuit of the crowd. It says in verse 33, did you notice that they ran there on foot? Somebody saw. Jesus getting in the boat with the disciples and the word got out. That's all it took. There they go. There they go across the sea again, the Sea of Galilee, most likely. We don't know for sure where they're going, but they're headed across the sea someplace on one of the other shores in a more desolate, more isolated location. But the people saw them and the people ran. It says literally they ran. They pursued Jesus. And it was most likely because not so much they wanted to be in the presence of Jesus, but it was most likely their pursuit was based on the fact they had some needs and they knew Jesus could meet those needs. It's not a bad reason to pursue Jesus, by the way. I guess the ultimate reason to pursue Jesus is just to get in his presence. Would you agree with that? Just to be in his presence. But it's not a bad thing to pursue Jesus because we know that Jesus has what we need. And that's what they did. In fact, we see that reflected. If you paid attention in this series, we've kind of talked about that. It seems to be an underlying thing. Doesn't it? That everywhere Jesus goes, the crowds go. This is that year of popularity and nobody's afraid to identify with Jesus. The bad guys are plotting a strategy to take him down. But right now, everybody is trying to get to Jesus. Whatever their motivation for getting there, though, Jesus did not rebuke them. I'll talk more about that in just a minute. But I think there's an important principle here for us. And that is that Jesus is the source of mercy. He's the source of miracles. And so, always find your way to Jesus. Have you ever wondered why Jesus allows us, though, to have problems and needs? I mean, you know, we could just simply say, well, he's Jesus and God and he knows us and he loves us. We all agree with that. Why doesn't he just take care of everything all the time, anytime we need it? And I think the answer is simpler, though, than what we might realize. I think the reason he allows us to have these needs and these problems is because the problems and the needs cause us to run to Jesus, to run to him. It causes us to turn to him. Now, there are a lot of reasons you may have problems, by the way. They're not always because Jesus has caused you to have a problem. I mean, some of your problems may be because you've simply made a dumb decision. You ever had a problem from a dumb decision? Do like this. I think that's all of us, right? It's our own doing. Sometimes we've got a problem because we've done something. We've done something to create a problem for ourselves. Sometimes it may be that we're experiencing a problem or a need because of the consequences of somebody else's dumb decision. You ever experience the consequences that way or had a problem because of somebody else's decisions or somebody else's actions? And then sometimes it might simply be the product of living in a fallen world. The world is broken. It's characterized by sin, and that sinful behavior sometimes is the catalyst behind some of the problems that we face. It might be that God's just simply testing or developing your faith. That's part of what's going on in this story, and we see it reflected again in the next story. Or it could be that it's a direct attack by the devil. He can only do what God allows him, but sometimes God allows him to assault you and create problems in your life, and sometimes that's the reason we've got a need or we've got a problem. It is an attack from the enemy. But whatever the case, it is always, all of the reasons are reasons to pursue Jesus. Amen? In fact, Jesus even invites us to do so. You remember in Matthew 11, he said, Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I'll give you rest. So pursuing Jesus, listen, if you don't get anything else from this point, get this. Pursuing Jesus is not a once and done event. It's a lifestyle to pursue him. Second thing. I want you to see from our passage is the passion of the Savior. Verse 34 says that he had compassion on them. They ran ahead. They got there. They were waiting on him when the boat landed, and he saw them, and he had compassion. Even though the purpose of Jesus going to this desolate place was for refreshment for himself and for his disciples, instead of getting angry at the crowd that followed, he had compassion on them. Now, I don't know about you, but if I'm worn out and I'm exhausted, I've been doing ministry and all of this kind of stuff, and I ran ahead and I got to a desolate place just to retreat and refresh with some friends and everything, and I looked out, and there's a multitude there waiting, and we know it was a lot of people, as you'll see in just a moment. I might have said, Can you believe this? Just trying to get a break. They won't even give me a break. Could you believe that? But he didn't, did he? He didn't rebuke them, and he didn't get angry on them. He had compassion. He had compassion on them. That's why Jesus is Jesus. He had compassion on them. The word for compassion here, listen, interestingly, is only used when it is used in the New Testament about Jesus or to denote something that characterized who he was. And it's not just pity. It wasn't like he felt sorry for them or he felt pity on them. It suggests that he desired to help them. Because he recognized they had needs that only he could meet. It was compassion. You know, Jesus still looks at us that way. And so when he looked at them, he looked at them as people with more than just physical needs. Jesus also saw the need of their souls. It was compassion for them physically, but it was also compassion for their souls spiritually. He had compassion on them. He has passion for us in the same manner. Both for our problems and our needs. Do you know both of those things in your life are important to Jesus? Your problems are important to Jesus. Your needs are important to Jesus. I love the stories told during President Thomas Jefferson's tenure. There were a group of Jefferson and his companions that were traveling across the country on horseback. Imagine there was an era when the presidents, by the way, didn't have secret service and all that sort of stuff. And they traveled. They traveled just like anybody else through towns and wherever they were going. This group was traveling on horseback. They came upon a flooded river which had washed the bridge away. As a result of that, each rider in the group was forced to cross the river on horseback. Fighting against the deadly currents that were sweeping down through this flooded river. And one traveler who wasn't a part of President Jefferson's group was watching from a little ways off. And after seeing several people cross the river safely. The stranger wandered up to the president. Tapped his boot. And said, sir, can I have a ride across the river? President Jefferson looked at him and agreed without hesitation. The man climbed onto Jefferson's horse and the two of them made it safely to the other side of the river. He dismounted from the president's horse. And as he slid off the back of the horse to dry ground. A man in the group with the president looked at him with irritation and frustration and said. Why on earth? Why on earth would you ask the president of the United States for a ride across the river? Why didn't you ask one of us? And the man was shocked. And he said, well, I had no idea that he was the president of the United States. All I knew is that written upon some of your faces was the word no.
But written upon his face was the word yes. And I needed a yes face today. Listen to me. Jesus is and has always been the yes face that you need today. Jesus is the yes face. Jesus sees your real condition. It says he had compassion because they were like sheep without a shepherd. They didn't know that really. They knew they had needs. They knew they had problems. But they didn't know that they were sheep without a shepherd. But Jesus did because Jesus saw their real condition. He knows everything about us. He knows everything about you. He knows everything that you're facing. He sees your real condition. Others may not. We're pretty good at covering, aren't we? But you can't cover from Jesus. He looks at you and he sees inside of you. And he knows what your problems are. He knows what your struggles are. He knows your condition. Not only does he know your condition. Jesus cares deeply about you. It said he had compassion on them. He cares. That meant he cared deeply. Deeply. Because he loves unconditionally. Why does Jesus care about you the way he does? Because he loves you as much as you can be loved. He loves you with no conditions. He doesn't say I love you because. Or he doesn't say I love you if. He says I love you in spite of. That's what Jesus does. And so when he looks at you, he doesn't look at you even like you look at you. You sometimes look at yourself. And maybe you're ashamed. You sometimes look at yourself and maybe you feel sorrow. You look at yourself. But you don't see yourself like Jesus. Because when Jesus looks at you, he loves you. He loves you in spite of. He loves you not because you've done something for him. He loves you not conditionally if you will do certain things for him. He just loves you. And that's what the idea here is. That when he looked at them, he felt compassion. Why? Because he cares deeply. Jesus cares deeply. Jesus sees your real condition. But then Jesus wants you to know the truth. It says, did you notice that he began to teach them many things? As I was studying through this story. And I've preached this story from other gospels through the years. But something jumped out at me in this statement. He began to teach them many things. Notice that they did not ask Jesus to teach them anything.
They didn't ask him. Jesus, would you teach us? They were there for what he could do. And he knew that, right? Because he knew all about them. He knows all about us. But they didn't ask him. Oh, now that we're here. Oh, forget what you can do for us. Just teach us. Maybe there were some. I'm sure there were some that wanted to sit there and hear the wisdom. Because they were always amazed. The Bible says when Jesus spoke, they were amazed at his wisdom. Where did he get this kind of wisdom? But they were there for their needs. But Jesus knew one of the needs that they had. And that you and I have. Is that we need the truth. And so Jesus began to teach them many things. Jesus knew that the truth would change their lives. You shall know the truth. And the truth will set you free. And Jesus wants you to know the truth. Because the truth is like a miracle. That brings freedom from bondage. And freedom from the lies of this world. They pursued Jesus. Because of what he could do for them. They experienced the compassion of Jesus though. And that compassion caused them to hear the truth. And it produced the third thing that I want you to see this morning. I want you to see the problem of the disciples. I love this part. So the disciples. We don't know. You know we speculate about some things like this. What were the disciples. He had been teaching them for a while. At least it was late in the day now. And the disciples began to realize it's going to be dark before long. It's time. It's time for dinner. The disciples were the first Baptist.
They wanted the service to get over. So they could go eat. And so. But what they did is they were cunning. They were clever enough. And so what they did is they said. Now master look at all of these people here. It's getting late. And they've got to be getting hungry. And there's no food here. Really what they might have said. We don't know. They might have been really saying. Look I'm hungry. Are you hungry? The only way we're going to get. To eat is if we send these people away. And we get some food. So they are probably a little clever. And say to Jesus. Hey don't you think we ought to dismiss the service. We've gone on long enough. Your message has. They've got it. They got it. And Jesus says well. And they said we're in a desolate place. And because we're in a desolate place. What? There's no. There's no food nearby. The grocery store is not nearby. There's no McDonald's nearby. There's no Bojangles down the street. And. Heaven knows there were no Krispy Kreme.
And so what does he say? The disciples say. They say let's send them away. So they can go into the villages. And the towns nearby. And they can eat their dinner. Maybe they even added something like. You know maybe we can pick this up tomorrow. Or something. But it's time for everybody to go eat. And Jesus stuns the disciples. He says you give them something to eat. You give them something to eat. Now. This wasn't a trick. Jesus wasn't trying to trick the disciples. Obviously. Obviously. Jesus knew that the disciples didn't have the resources. To accomplish. His command. Jesus didn't say. Oh we don't have enough food. Jesus knew. That this is not a trick statement. This is a test statement. Sometimes Jesus will test your faith. And it immediately. The disciples began looking at the logistics. They began to think. Okay. Let's see. 200 denarii. It'd take 200 denarii to feed this mass. You think about a crowd like we have here today. And you multiply that. At least four times plus. And they're counting up. It'll take 200. 200 days wages. In order to. That's a small fortune. That's about seven months worth of earnings. It was a request beyond their physical capacity. And that's exactly what Jesus. Wanted them to wrestle with. This was a test statement. Sometimes. If you're going to see the work of God. He's going to test you on the front end. He's going to test your faith about it. The problems that come our way often produce the need for a miracle. It takes a problem. And sometimes it takes the problem being such that we can't figure it out on our own. And they knew that. The disciples knew that. We don't have the answer here. We don't know how we're going to do this. He's telling us to. What does he know that we don't know? It's a test. It's a test question. But as the title of my message says. No food. No problem. You see problems are a dilemma for us. But they are an opportunity for God to manifest his power. For us. On our behalf. And through us. In order that the world might see. Matthew 19 .26. But Jesus looked at them and said. With man this is impossible. But with God all things are possible. So you look out at your problem. You look out at your need. And you say this is impossible. This. This is not going to happen. I don't know how to pull this off. It is now an opportunity for God to do the miraculous. The miracle that is about to happen. Is about more than physically feeding hungry people. Do you understand that? He's going to feed them physically. But it's about more than that. That's just half of the story. This story is about growing his disciples faith. And Jesus would remind them of that. In the story. The very next story of Jesus walking. On the water. In fact look at verse 52. In that story. It's the end of that particular story. He says. For they did not understand about the loaves. Isn't that interesting? You see after this miracle. They got in the boat. And they. Well they began to try to make their way across the sea. And you remember Jesus came walking on the water. And they didn't recognize Jesus. They thought it was a ghost. He's trying to send them off to a retreat. And they think it's a ghost coming. They're fearful as you recall. And by the way. This story in the gospel. You know it's repeated in other places in the gospel. But it doesn't tell the part where Peter got out of the boat. And tried to walk to Jesus in Mark's gospel. You want to know why? Because Mark was the penman. But do you know who was the author of the gospel of Mark? It was Peter. Peter didn't think that sinking story in the water was worth repeating. So he didn't tell Mark about that. But the other gospels do. But at any rate. You know so Jesus. Jesus he rebukes them for their lack of faith. And then verse 52 says. For they did not understand about the loaves. Isn't that interesting? At the end of that. He's saying see. He tested their faith. He tried to develop their faith with the loaves. And they didn't get it. And so when he came to them on the water. They were faithless once again. And he says they didn't get the loaves. They still hadn't connected the docks. You see the physical feeding was more than just a physical story. It's a spiritual story. It's a faith developing story. And they didn't get it. By the way. Past miracles are really an opportunity for us to trust God for future miracles. And to strengthen our faith. You see this miracle. Jesus wanted to strengthen their faith with. So the next time their faith would be more intact. And the next time even more so. Past miracles and past moves of God equip and strengthen our faith. For even greater things to trust God about in the future. So what are some takeaways from this thought here? Well. God sometimes puts us in circumstances where only he can come through. Sometimes he puts you in those. Have you ever been in that place? You thought well God has to come through. He says you give them something to eat. They're in a place that only he can come through.
God also. Gives us instructions that he expects us to obey. You give them something to eat. Listen is an imperative in the Greek. I've taught you through the years enough to know that an imperative is a command. Jesus isn't saying. You think we could give them something to eat. He says you give them something to eat. It's a command that they are to obey. We must obey the instructions of God. Even when we're facing what seems to be to our eyes the impossible. That's why we walk by faith and not by sight. Faith and obedience are. Partners. Working together for God. And then. We can expect God to enable what he commands. Did you notice. Jesus said go find out what we do have. Well we have. You know five loaves and two fish. And Jesus says okay. Bring that to me. And then he commands the people. Another imperative. He commands people all right. Sit down in groups of fifties and one hundred. And you know. Five loaves and two fish wouldn't even feed fifty. They might get a nibble off of it. But expect God to enable what he commands in your life. If God commands something expect him to enable it. And you do what he says do.
And then I would. Say God uses what's available. The loaves and the fish that he had. Jesus didn't panic. They did. You sense a little panic in the disciples. How are we going to do this. This is going to blow our. Our ministry when people say. Finally Jesus hit the wall. Finally Jesus couldn't pull it off. But Jesus sits them down. He says bring me what you have. And it is a reminder for all of us. That God uses what is available. I thought about as I was working on this. The great story in second Kings for one of my favorite. All time stories in the Bible. How God supplied the. The needs of the widow. Elisha through Elisha the prophet. You know she she only. He says well. What do you have. She said there the creditors have come. They're going to take my sons away. You know my husband. He died and he used to be one of the sons of the prophets. He was in Elisha's rabbinical school. Kind of they traveled throughout the land. They were our tenured evangelists. And he said my. My husband has died. We can't pay the bills anymore. My the creditors have come. They're going to take my sons. And and so she came seeking a word from God. And the prophet said well what do you have. I think that's the answer. That was his. Is that was his question to her. She's he she says I have one small jar of oil. He says then go and borrow jars and don't get too few. And if you remember the story she she went to all her neighbors and she began to collect jars. I think her neighbors probably thought she had lost her mind. Because they probably there's a small community and they most certainly knew. They most certainly knew what was going on in her life. And that she was about to lose her sons. They were going to be taken as indentured slaves. To pay off the debt. And and how was she going to make it. And and so now what she said she's lost her mind. She's so gone. She's knocking on doors saying can I borrow your jars. You got any jars I can borrow. And that's what she's doing. She's getting all these jars. And the prophet said don't get too few. She brought them back. She didn't have a clue. She just went and did what she was told to do. From the man of God. Who gave her a word from God. She went and got these jars. You remember the story. She came back. She began to pour. And and. And the oil. The little bottle of oil she had just kept multiplying. God kept multiplying it till she ran out of jars. And they told her you take and sell the jars. Pay off your creditors. And you and your sons can sell the rest and live off of it. God uses what's available. How many jars do you have? How many fish do you have? How many loaves do you have? God takes what you have and he uses it. God is not restricted by what you have. You see there are a lot of times when you face a problem. You face a need. Your your tendency is to go well I don't have the resources. I don't have what I need. I don't have what other people have. I don't have access to what other people have. Listen God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. And then by the way in the scripture he says all the the gold is mine. God owns it all. And all God says is you bring me what you have. You remember another story. You remember the story of the widow's mite. You remember he Jesus says she gave more than everybody else. By the way don't you don't you look forward to getting to heaven and meeting the widow. Because I got a feeling she's going to have a pretty substantial kingdom inheritance. But Jesus says she gave more than all the rest. Jesus doesn't ask you to give what you don't have. Jesus asked you to bring what you have. What's important is not what you have but what you do with what you have. And so the impossible problem facing the disciples was really a faith building opportunity from Jesus. Are you facing one of those impossible situations right now? Maybe a lot of people don't know about it but you do. You're facing the impossible right now. I want to tell you you bring to Jesus what you got. You give it to him. You let him take it from there. And that leads to the fourth thing that I want you to see this morning. And that's found in verse 41. He looked up to heaven and said a blessing. It's the prayer to the father. So Jesus took the bread and he looked up to God and he and he prayed a blessing over it. Church father Augustine said this. He said God is more anxious to bestow his blessing. His blessings on us than we are to receive them. And so Jesus took the loaves and the fish and he blessed them.
This was a prayer of Thanksgiving. We've just celebrated Thanksgiving. I hope you took some time over whatever it was that you did to celebrate Thanksgiving and gave thanks to God. But this was a prayer of adoration for the gift of God. The Bible says all good and perfect gifts come down from the father of lights with whom there is no shakiness. No shakiness. No variableness. Or shifting shadow. And so this was a prayer of adoration. Thanking God. God I thank you that you provided exactly what we need. Have you ever thought about doing that when you're in that time of need? God here's what I have. I thank you that you provided what I need. Here it is. I present it to you. It's yours. And I thank you for it. But then Jesus not only took the loaves and blessed them. Jesus took the loaves and fish and he broke them the Bible says. He broke the loaves. He broke the fish. The first is a prayer of adoration. But this is a prayer of multiplication.
Adoration. Thank you. Multiplication. And now God I give it back to you. Multiplication and miracle. You see Jesus blesses and Jesus multiplies what we give and what we have and makes it useful. And there's an important kingdom principle on display in this. And the principle is this. That God blesses both the gift and the gift. The giver. A little boy. The Bible tells us gave his meal. Now think about that. Those five loaves and two fish. That was his dinner. He's the only smart one in the bunch wasn't he?
And yet he gave it. He didn't hold on to it. There's no indication that the little boy protested and said no this is mine. If I give this way I won't have anything to eat. The little boy gave it. He gave his meal. And not only was he blessed. You can be certain. Listen. Don't wonder if the little boy got blessed.
But not only did that little boy get blessed. So did over 5 ,000 other people. Because he came and he gave what he had. And listen. It says 5 ,000 men. It's likely it was closer to an audience of 10 ,000. Because that doesn't include women and children. It's just the men. 5 ,000 men it says. Plus the little boy. Plus their families. Maybe up to 10 ,000 people were fed by 5 loaves and 2 fish. And that leads to the last thing that I want you to see. And that is the provision for the followers. I love verses 42 and following it says. And they ate. They all ate and were satisfied.
And they took up 12 baskets full of broken pieces of the fish. They all ate and they were satisfied.
Jesus didn't break the bread and multiply it and say now. This is the best I can do. Just tell everybody to take just a little bit. We got to make this go for 8 ,000 people. Just take a little bit. Did you see that guy? He pulled off a whole hunk.
That's not what's going on. There's not food rationing going on here. You ever thought about that? It says they all ate and they were satisfied. It's kind of like Thanksgiving.
Right? Were you all satisfied? I know some of you were because you're still sleeping. You ate and you were satisfied. And some of you were satisfied. Satisfied the next day and maybe yesterday. I was satisfied all the way through yesterday lunchtime. I just kept eating it. I was satisfied. And every time I ate, I'd say I'm not having any more of that. You give me about 12 hours, I'm ready for more. But they all ate and they were satisfied. Isn't that cool?
God didn't ration out. When God provides, he doesn't just say here, you just a little bit here. He gave in abundance. And then have you ever thought why 12 baskets full were left over?
You remember that in verse 31, it says that they had not had enough time even to eat. The disciples and Jesus. Not only did Jesus feed the multitude, he let the disciples each fill a basket for themselves. To take with them. To be with them. So Jesus not only supplied the needs of all of these people, he supplied the needs of his closest followers, the disciple. And each received his own basket full of what I almost. Almost alternately named this message fish and chips.
Each disciple got his own basket full. I want to encourage you with something this morning. I want to encourage you with the miracle power of Jesus. Jesus doesn't always intervene like this. But he can. And we need to remember two things. In advance, we need to remember Jesus knows exactly what you need.
Matthew 10 .30 says, Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Or the lack thereof.
He knows the hairs on our head. You know why he really says that? Do you know what the point of that is? He does, by the way. But the point of that is he wants you to know he knows everything about you. If he knows how many hairs are on your head, he knows everything about you. That means that God's got your number. He's got your number. And if he knows everything about you, he knows every need that you have.
Not only does Jesus know what you need, Jesus has what you need. Matthew 6 .31 -33, that great passage. Do not be anxious saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all of these things. And your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and what class? The kingdom of God. All of these things that you need. He didn't say all of these things that you want, but all the things that you need. He said, if you'll seek me first. It's the basis, you know, we still have the wristbands. And by the way, I still wear mine. I hope you do too. God first. And it has Matthew 6 .33 on it. Seek first the kingdom of God. And all of these things will be added to you. Over the last four years, from time to time, we've heard a lot about supply chain issues. Right? Having supply chain issues. We can't get products where they need to go. That sort of thing. Supply chain delivery issues. Now, I want to tell you something. That happens in our world, but that doesn't happen in the kingdom of God. God never has a supply chain delivery issue. In fact, think about it. He, God, fed Elijah in the wilderness. And you know how he fed him? He fed him with the first all -air delivery system. Right? Right? Right? Right? A precursor to Instacart. The Bible says that ravens brought Elijah his food. God can get to you what you need, no matter where you are. And what I love about this story is Jesus often provides more than our immediate needs with this inexhaustible supply that he has. David Finch, he explained that Lake Tahoe is the eighth deepest lake in the world. Did y 'all get that? What a spiritual truth. No, I... But it is. And they found that out first on July 4th, 1875. Two fishing fishermen discovered the deepest point in Lake Tahoe to be 1 ,645 feet deep. And they did it by lowering a champagne bottle on a fishing line from the side of their boat. Well, years later, after sonar had been developed, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, actually confirmed that that was indeed the depth. Lake Tahoe is so large that if the lake were tipped over, its contents would cover California in 14 1⁄2 inches of water. Tahoe could provide every person in the United States with 50 gallons of water per day for five years. Just the evaporation from Lake Tahoe over the course of one year could supply a city the size of Los Angeles for five years. That's just the evaporation. And Lake Tahoe is small compared to Lake Superior, which is 100 times larger, and the world's largest lake, which is actually called the Caspian Sea, which is almost 600 times larger. But the fact is, no matter how hard you tried, your use of water could never personally exhaust the limits of Lake Tahoe. You agree with that, right? So imagine, if you will, the limitless supply of God. No matter what your need might be, you can never exhaust the inexhaustible supply of God. He's got more than you can ever exhaust. That's how God's supply chain works. He has an endless supply of care. He has a limitless supply of mercy. He has a limitless supply of needed provision. He has a limitless supply of unconditional love. And it's all there in Christ Jesus, and it's there in abundance, but it's there only to those who belong to Him and call upon Him. This morning, I want to ask you, have you tapped into the limitless supply of God's miraculous power for your life? And if you have never trusted Him as your Savior, start there. This morning, if you're in this situation, if you're in this situation, if you're in this situation, this place and you're not sure that you've ever received the eternal life, the abundant life of Christ, what's keeping you from calling on Him? Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Do you know the greatest miracle of all is our salvation? That He would die for us and offer to us eternal life. It's the greatest miracle of all. And you can have that. You can tap into that right now, right here today. If you're watching on live stream or you're listening by radio, you can tap into that eternal life -changing, life -saving power by calling on Christ right now. Lord Jesus, I believe. Lord Jesus, come into my life. Forgive me of my sins and be my Savior. And whosoever received Him, to them He gave the right, John says, to become the children of God. Why don't you tap into that today? And weary Christian, if you've been wandering around facing the battles and the needs and the problems of life, trying to figure them all out, why don't you surrender the problems to Him? Bring them to Him. Come and lay your burden down. Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give rest to you. So you don't have to carry the burden. You don't have to carry the burden. You don't have to carry the burden. You don't have to carry a load that Jesus never intended for you to carry. You give that to Him today. Father, thank You for this miraculous power that's ours. Thank You, God, that sometimes You intervene in supernatural ways. Sometimes, God, You use the natural order of the created things. Sometimes You use people around us. Sometimes, God, You do miracles that we have just overlooked, we take for granted every day. But I pray for those who are watching or listening, in this live audience, who've never put their trust in You, let them today call upon You, knowing that Your Word is certain, that they can and will be saved. They'll turn to You. For those who have wandered away or those who are facing problems today, Father, that they don't know how they're going to get through or how they're going to face emotional, physical, financial, social, relational. And Father, help them turn their eyes towards You today. Would you speak now before we're gone in this moment of invitation? In Jesus' name, amen. Would you stand with me for our time of invitation? I'll be... I'm so glad that you have tuned in to the broadcast today. I hope you've been encouraged by God's Word. Sure has been a joy to share it with you. And even now, people at Ridgecrest are making decisions for Christ. Perhaps as you've watched this broadcast, you've recognized the need for your own decision for Christ, the prompting of the Spirit. It's caused you to recognize that, you need Christ as your Savior. And the good news is, you can receive Him right where you are. The Bible says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Right where you are, you can call on Him. Say something like this from your heart to Him. Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me. I know I'm a sinner, and I know that You came into this world and died on the cross for my sins. And right now, I invite You to come into my life. Forgive me and be my Savior. I can assure you, if you'll call on Him, based on what God has already told us in the Bible, that He's going to save you. And I know that You're going to save me. And I know that You're going to save me. And I know that You're going to save me. And I know that You're going to save me. And He'll hear that prayer, and He'll answer that. And He wants to begin this new journey in your life with you, transforming you into His image. We'd love to help you with that decision as well. You'll see a QR code on your screen. And if you would scan that, or you'll see contact information, or if you'll contact us about your decision today, we'd love to help you take next steps. There are no strings attached, no fees involved. We'd just like to help you begin that journey with Christ. You may be watching this broadcast today and say, I need a church family to belong to. I already know Christ as my Savior, and I'd like to be a part of the Ridgecrest family. Also, if you will, scan that QR code. That'll take you to a location, and we'll be able to help you make those kinds of decisions, like becoming a member here, or if you've never been scripturally baptized, those kinds of things. So contact us through that QR code or through the contact information on the screen. Well, again, it's been a joy to have you with us today, and I hope you've been a part of this journey. I hope you've been a part of this journey. I hope you've been encouraged by God's Word. Whatever decision we can help you with, by all means, contact us. May the Lord bless you.