Lesson of the Loaves Mark 6 May 2005 am

Lesson of the Loaves     Mark 6:32-44

In many Christian circles the Holy Spirit is either neglected, forgotten, or misunderstood.      ---So often Christian work is so rigidly programmed that it seems we need no longer depend on Him--yet Jesus said, "Without Me you can do nothing." ...

The late Dr. A. W. Tozer, author and pastor, said, "If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference."

Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends. George Muller

#1  never assess a difficulty in the light of your own resources.
#2 little is much if God is in it.

#3 in following the Lord; He will always lead you into in impossible situation!                 ”Christ will lead you into many situations that will seem impossible, but don’t try to avoid them.  Stay in the middle of them, for that is where you will experience God.  The key difference between what appears to be impossible to us and what is actually possible is a word from our Master!  Faith accepts His divine command and steps out in a direction that only God can complete.  If you attempt only things that you know are possible with the visible resources you possess, those around you will not see God at work. You will be the one who receives the credit for a job well done, but God will have no part in it.”

*Have you received a word from the Master that awaits your next step of faith?…………….if you will proceed with what He has told you, no matter how incredible it might seem, you will experience the joy of seeing the Lord perform a miracle, and so will those around you!!!!

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First - Jesus fed five thousand with five loaves and two fishes. The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle of the Lord that is recorded in all four gospels.

The miracle is recorded in Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9 and John 6.

 I want us to consider the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand as being more than just a demonstration of the power of God by Jesus…It’s more than the Lord Jesus looking upon a group of people who had followed him all day listening to his teaching and were now tired and hungry and he was going to feed them miraculously. There's much more to be discovered in this than that.
 Reading: Mark 6: 45-52
This is the story of what followed the miracle of the loaves. The disciples enter into a boat to cross over to the city of Bethsaida. Jesus was going to meet them there. When out in the lake, a storm arose that threatened to capsize their boat and endanger their lives. Fear and anxiety gripped the disciples’ hearts and they began to panic in the throes of the strong wind and waves.

Now notice in verse 52 that Mark tells us that something that had happened that afternoon should have helped them that night on the sea.

Verse 52 reads, “For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.”

 ***I strongly suggest to you that in the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus was teaching them something that would be a help to them in the midst of life's storms. When Jesus performed this miracle, it was not for show, nor was he performing to impress the disciples. He was teaching them. They were being given a lesson in God's School of Higher Learning.

Let's take a look at John Chapter 6.
Verse 5
"When Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, He saith unto Philip, Where shall we buy bread that these may eat?"

It's at this point in John 6:5 that Jesus looks at the weary multitude--then turns to Philip and says to him, "Philip, what are we going to do? Where are we going to get enough food to feed all these people?" Now Philip was the logical one, the practical one, to ask this of because Philip was from this area and he would know where to go and buy food.
Verse 6
"And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do." Jesus had asked Philip this question to test Philip takes out his little calculator (at least he would have if this happened today) and begins to work it out mathematically. Philip
adds it all up and says, "Lord, according to my figures, if we had a whole years wages, we still wouldn't have enough to buy bread to feed this group." And that was true.
 
I.  Never Assess A Difficulty In The Light Of Your Own Resources.

Simply put, this means--Never look at a problem and then try to work it out depending entirely upon your own resources.
Someone in the logistics section of the army was once asked how much food it would require to feed Israel each day in their travels from Egypt to Canaan. (Logistics is the moving of something from one place to another and figuring out all that is needed to get the job done.) The answer was that it would take 12 million pounds of food daily. This was an unbelievable amount of food to come up with each day. But the source of Israel's food was not themselves, but God.
Philip, like so many of us do, tried to solve the insurmountable problem in the light of their own resources.

Ø      Philip, up to this time, had left Jesus totally out of the picture.

 But we do the same thing so many times, don't we? We figure--we sweat--we agonize about something that we can't do anything about in our own strength, and finally in desperation we let God in on it

Faith is a response to the Word of God.

Verse 9:  Andrew:
"There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two fishes..."

Now he should have stopped there, but he added these words, "but what are they among so many?" And with these words he blew it.

First--what he has is transferred to Jesus. Secondly-- what he has is transformed by Jesus.

 This is a good example of the principle of dedication that is given to us in the Scripture.

 It may be small in quantity. It may even be small in quality.

 But if you transfer it to Jesus, it will be transformed by Him.

We can have little and it will remain little as long as we keep it. But if we have little and give it to God--God multiplies it.

****A solid Biblical fact and it is simply this: Little Is Much If God Is In It.
Let me state the first and second lesson again.
Lesson one- Never assess a difficulty in the light of your own resources.
Lesson two- Little is much when God is in it.
Let's go back to Mark 6 one more time. Jesus had just given the twelve disciples an object lesson about his power, ability and care in the feeding of the 5000.

Ø      First you teach and then you test and the process is repeated over and over until the lesson is really learned.

Ø      Jesus is saying by his actions, "I've taught you the lesson. I've fed the 5000. You've seen what I can do. Now get in the boat. It's test time.

 Now I ask you; did Jesus know a storm was coming when he sent them forth on the sea? Sure he did.

God even gave them something to jog their memory during the test time.

 Remember there were twelve baskets of fragments left. There were twelve disciples. Each would have had a basket when told to get into the boat. Each had a reminder of the power of God.

 So get this picture fixed in your mind. Here's a boat with twelve men in it. Each has a basket of miracle food between their feet. And in the midst of the storm they are crying out,

 "Oh, what are we going to do?"

Portable camcorders have a battery pack for power. Instructions typically recommend that users allow the battery pack to completely discharge before recharging, especially the first few times. This actually increases the endurance of the battery.

In like manner, our trials "discharge" us, emptying us of our dependence on human strength and increasing our capacity to receive God's limitless power.

Little girl not finishing her vetagablesl. "Eat your green beans."  She replied, "Dad, I'm full to the top. “You won't pop," he responded. "Yes, I will pop!" she said.    "Risk it!" he said. "It will be okay." "Dad, I could not eat another bite."   So he asked, "How would you like a double helping of pumpkin pie squares with two dollops of whipped cream on top?"     "That sounds great!" she responded as she pushed her plate back, ready for dessert.     "How can you have room for a double helping of pumpkin pie squares with two dollops of whipped cream, and not have room for six measly green beans?"        She stood up tall out of her chair and pointing to her belly said, "This is my vegetable stomach. This is my meat stomach. They are both full. Here is my dessert stomach. It is empty. I am ready for dessert!"

What we eat reveals what we hunger for.

"Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water…. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably, earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing."

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

#1 never assess a difficulty in the light of your own resources.
#2 little is much if God is in it.

#3 in following the Lord; He will always lead you into in impossible situation!

”Christ will lead you into many situations that will seem impossible, but don’t try to avoid them.  Stay in the middle of them, for that is where you will experience God.  The key difference between what appears to be impossible to us and what is actually possible is a word from our Master!  Faith accepts His divine command and steps out in a direction that only God can complete.  If you attempt only things that you know are possible with the visible resources you possess, those around you will not see God at work. You will be the one who receives the credit for a job well done, but God will have no part in it.”
*Have you received a word from the Master that awaits your next step of faith?…………….if you will proceed with what He has told you, no matter how incredible it might seem, you will experience the joy of seeing the Lord perform a miracle, and so will those around you!!!!