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Now Unto Him That Is Able

John 6:5-14

FBL Broadcast; June 21, 2020

SJM; Pastor Timothy Graham

Introduction:

As we take a look at the miracle of the loaves; it serves a twofold

purpose for you and I;

1. For one it shows how Jesus Chris has compassion for people

from all walks of life; and His compassion for people moved Him

to take action.

As the peopple of God, we should have compassion for people that

should move us to take action. Many of theme had been following

Jesus for several days. People who were searching for something;

purpose; meaning; trying to make sense of life.

Jesus knew that many of them were just following Him because of the

miracles but they failed to see the master. But nevertheless Jesus

looked beyond their faults and saw a deeper need. They were people

who were lost and in need of a Savior. Jesus was moved with

compassion.

2. But secondly, it reveals the Deity of Jesus Christ; more

specifically it revealed to us that He was Jehovah Jireh our

provider. But the disciples were too preoccupied to make the

connection between the miracle and the miracle worker.

When the disciples saw the multitude there solution was to send

them away. Let them fend for themselves. Jesus said no, you give

them something to eat. In Johns gospel, Jesus poses a question to

Phillip; where shall we buy bread that that these may eat? Now we

are talking about what could have been close to 10,000 people if we

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took into account the children and women that were there as well.

But when Jesus asked Phillip the question, Phillip began to

rationalize in his mind the possibility of feeding so many people in a

desert place with little to no resources. But the bible declares in

verse six that the question that He asked Phillip was to test Him

because Jesus already knew what He was about to do.

Application:

I stopped by to tell somebody this morning that while you are trying

to figure it out; God has already worked it out; He was just waiting for

you to turn the situation over to Him; tell your neighbor to release it;

quit trying to figure it out on your own; God has already worked it out;

Someone said that if you are going to pray don’t worry; but if you are going

to worry don’t pray.

The bible says to trust in the Lord with all of our heart and lean not

unto thine own understanding.

In other words, when you lean, lean into God not away from

God. Lean all your weight and burden on the Lord. He can

handle it. He carried the weight of the world on His

shoulders on the cross of cavalry.

Jesus said come unto me all ye that are burdened and are

heavy laden and I will give you rest; and ye shall find rest for

your souls; take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for

my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Tell your neighbor to

lean into Jesus.

There is a song we used to sand back in the day that

captures how to lean into Jesus.

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What a friend we have in Jesus

All our sins and griefs to bear

And what a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer

Oh, what peace we often forfeit

Oh, what needless pain we bear

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer

Quit allowing the devil to steal your joy; He's worked it out;

while you are trying to figure it out God has already worked it

out;

But the bible says that this He said to test Him; for He already knew

what He was going to do. The word test means to prove; the

purpose of the test was to show Phillip the level of His faith in Jesus

and whether or not his faith was real.

Jesus already knew how Phillip would respond; Phillip had a lack of

faith in the Lord and it was revealed in his response.

How do you respond to the test of your faith in Jesus?

Do respond in doubt? Do respond by trying to figure things out

on our own?

Example:

Abraham stood the test when God said to take his son up on a mountain

and offer him up. And just when he was about to do it; God had already

worked it out; He provided a sacrifice; a lamb that was caught in the thicket.

Application:

I want to encourage all those who are listening to me around the

world that the Lord has already provided a ram in the bush. It’s the

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answer to your problem; it was there before you even took notice

that it was there.

Check this out; it was caught in the thicket; meaning

that the blessing was stuck in the bush; it couldn’t break

free because the Lord put it there waiting for you to take

notice of it; somebody say whoop there it is.

In other words on the other end of the test is the blessing. God

said that while I was proving you; I was really setting you up to

bless you;

God told Abraham after he passed the test in Genesis 22; that in

blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the

stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the sea shore and thy

seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy see shall all

nations of the earth be blessed.

But Phillip's response revealed a lack of faith. After he tried to

rationalize, he concluded that 200 denarai which was 6 months worth of

wages was not sufficient to feed so many people that they should take a

little bit of food.

Andrew had a different response. When he heard the question, he went looking for what resources they did have available and

he brought a little boy to Jesus who had 5 barley loaves and two sardines.

They looked at what they had; and looked at the multitude of

people and in a sigh of disappointed said what we have is

insufficient. Jesus has them right where He want them. Jesus

says give me your insufficiency or what you do have. Jesus looks at

the five loaves of bread and the two sardines. Someone said that

little becomes much in the hands of the master.

The number five is the number of grace. God said that he

was about to take their insufficiency and add His grace or favor to it.

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Application:

God said that He is about to do the uncommon in your life

despite your limited resources; despite you not having enough;

and the only way that you can explain it is grace or the favor of God

being poured out upon your life; I may not have much but if you got a

whole lot of favor; God will take what you do have and multiply it in

His hands

Story

In I Kings chapter 17 After the brook dried up God told Elijah to

go to Zeraphath and there he was going to provide for him by

the most unusual and extraordinary means a widow woman who

has no means to provide for herself and her son; she had just

enough for one more meal and they were going to die. But

Elijah said take the little that you have; make me a little cake and

bring it to me first and then fix something for you and your son.

It was during a famine. The Lord had shut the heavens. The

woman obeyed the man of God. And in her insufficiency God gave

her favor which cause the little that she had to sustain her, her son

and Elijah throughout the duration of the drought. You can be in a

desert place; but when you got the favor of God; He will still provide

for your every need. The bible declares that they were in a desert

place but He made them sit down in green grass;

I like the way David put it the Lord is my Shepher I shall not want; He

maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me besides the

still waters; He restoreth my soul.

Even in the valley David said that He shall prepare a table for me in the

presence of my enemies. It doesnt matter how much you have or where

you are; even in desert and dry places God will still make a way; He will still

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provide; He will still lead you to green pastures.

Isaiah 43:19 – God says see I am doing a new thing! Now it shall

spring up! And do you not perceive it? I will even make a way in

the wilderness and rivers in the wasteland and desert places.

God will draw water from a rock in a desert place.

God will make manna come down from heaven in a desert place.

God will cause quail to descend to the earth like a band of locust

in a desert place.

Jesus said bring me your five loaves plus two fish

equals seven; seven is the number of completion.

In Hebrew COMPLETION comes from the root word Shevah WHICH

MEANS TO BE FULL OR SATISFIED; TO HAVE ENOUGH. God said

that when He was done working in your life; you will have everything

that you need and more' you will be satisfied; full and complete;

He told the disciples to make the people sit down in multiples of 5; in

100's and 50's.

And as they take their seat in the green grass in a

desert place; Jesus blesses something that is not

enough.

Application:

Until you are thankful for what is not enough; God cannot bless

you with more. The reason why some people dont break into the

more than enough or the uncommon blessing; is because they are

too busy complaining about what they dont have instead of giving

God thanks for what they do have;

Gratitude will increase your capacity to receive more.

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Jesus blessed the bread; then he brake the bread. The blessing was in the breaking. You cant be blessed and multiplied

until you have been broken. You've been wondering why the Lord

allowed you to go through that circumstance; it was to break you; but the

blessing is in the breaking; God was positioning you to bless and multiply

you;

But sometimes God must break our will;

break a negative attitude;

break a a spirit of rebellion;

break a spirit of control;

break; break the spirit of pride;

break the spirit of wanting to approved of men;

God said I had to break some stuff off of you in order to multiply you

to become a blessing to other people.

When everyone ate to their full their were still fragments left over that

filled twelve baskets. One basket for each one of his disciples. God

does not waste the fragments of our lives.

Application:

God said I am going to use what you was about to throw away; I am going

to use what you thought didn’t matter; I am going to use what you thought

was insignificant.

Don’t discard that experience; God said I am going to use it to bless

somebody else with your testimony.

Don’t discard that hurt; God said that I am going to use it to

encourage somebody else.

Don’t discard that crisis; God said I am going to use to help

somebody else get through what I have already brought you through.

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I like how Joseph put it; you meant it for evil but God used all of my

experiences; the good, the bad, and the ugly to prepare for what I

walked into to; he used every piece; every fragment; every experience as

a stepping stone to take me higher; don’t throw away the fragments of your

life;

The times when we messed up; the times that we failed; all the bad

decisions; all of the fragments; and some of you are wondering God can

you do anything with the fragments of my life;

I like how Paul put it; now unto Him that is able to do exceeding

abundantly above all that we can ask or think; In other words

Paul said that God is able; if he can take a man who persecuted

the church; killed people in cold blood; take all of Paul's

fragments and use it to get glory out of His life;

God said I want the fragment; I want the leftovers; I want what people

didnt want; I want to take the broken pieces of your life and that what

I will use to get glory out of your life. He is able to do exceeding,

abundantly, above all that we can ask or think.

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Most of us have never heard of the name Manoj Bhargava but most

of us are familiar with his product. He was born in India but move to

the United States at the age of 14 in 1967. He attended Princeton

University but dropped out of college his freshman year. He left the

United States; went back home and lived as a Monk for 12 years.

He returned to the US in 2004, started a company called Living

Essentials, LLC

In that same year, he went to a tradeshow and came up with an idea

of creating an energy drink without sugar and with less fluid ounces

that could provide energy for up to 5hrs; he went on to launch a

product that we are all familiar with called 5 hour energy. By 2012

sales had grown and estimated 1 billion. Today, his net wealth is

well over 4 billion dollars.

But what has intrigued me most about Mr. Bhargava is not his rise to

fame and fortune; but his compassion for people. He stated in an

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article that talk doesnt help anyone out of poverty. Awareness alone

doesnt reduce pollution, grow food or heal the sick. These things

take doing. He has committed 99% of his wealth in initiatives to fight

poverty.

His mission is to impact peoples lives globally especially those who

live in poverty stricken countries and in areas there there is the most

need; He has concentrated his efforts in three main areas: the area of

clean drinking water; energy and health. To address clean

drinking water his lab called Stage 2; came up with an invention

called the Rainmaker which can convert 1000 gallons of sea water or

polluted water into water suitable for drinking and agriculture.

They came up with a hybrid bicycle called Free Electric; that will

convert human mechanical energy into electricity. A person would

peddle the bike for an hour and it would into produce free electricity

for 24hrs.

Then there is the Renew ECP medical device which promotes good

blow throughout the body, by externally pumping blood throughout

the body, acting as an auxillary heart. Good blood flow is one of the

basic foundations of good health and wellness. He stated that

awareness of the world's problems isnt enough; they require

action.

Mr. Bhargava wont be able to change the entire world; but he is doing

what a large percentage of the population isnt doing; taking action

and impacting lives with the talents and resources that have been

given to us.

As we read the book of John it is different in some respects to the

other gospels. In the book of Mathew it begins with the geneology of

Jesus Christ. But when we read verse one of the first chapter of the

book of John; in the beginning was the word and the word was with

God and the word was God. All things were made by Him and

without Him was not anything made that was made.

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John very purposely and masterfully paints a very clear picture for us

declaring the deity of Jesus Christ. That He was more than just a

man; that He was God wrapped up and disguised in human flesh.

He does not talk about the virgin birth as Luke does in the

introductary chapters of the book; but He accentuates and shines

light on the miracles of Jesus Christ. His miracles confirmed His

deity. That He was God. And what we see in the miracles that

Jesus performed in the book of John is His love and compassion for

people.

We see His love and compassion for people in chapter five when He

healed a man who had been on his bed of affliction for 38 years; he

lay by the Pool of Bethesaida and Jesus comes by and has

compassion on this man and ask him if He would be made whole.

This man whose faith was in a pool of water where supposedly an

angel came and troubled the water and whoever jumped in first would

be made whole.

This man had lost all hope. But Jesus said to get up arise; take up

your bed and walk. What love; what compassion; after 38 years you

can imagine how this man must have felt. But one of the greatest

miracles and in my book that Jesus performed was the miracle of the

feeding of the 5000. What a powerful display of Jesus Deity; He was

more that just a man; He was and is God; but what a powerful display

of His love and compassion for people.

As the miracle of the loaves begins to unfold; we begin in verse one

where it says that Jesus crossed over the Sea of Galilee of the Sea of

Tiberias. In Mark's gospel chapter 6 John the Baptist is beheaded

by Herod the King and the disciples went and got his body and buried

it in a tomb. They meet up with Jesus and told Him what happened.

They get into a boat to go to a desert place so that they could rest a

while and get something to eat. This is when they crossed the sea

of Galiliee in the book of John.

But the multitude saw them depart and when they had arrived to the

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other side of the Sea of Galilee. And Jesus, when He saw the

multitude He was moved with compassion for them for they were like

sheep having no shepherd. It was Jesus moved with compassion for

the people that this miracle took place in a desert.

As the peopple of God, we should have compassion for people that

should move us to take action. Many of theme had been following

Jesus for several days. People who were searching for something;

purpose; meaning; trying to make sense of life. Jesus knew that

many of them were just following Him because of the miracles but

they failed to see the master. But nevertheless Jesus looked beyond

their faults and saw a deeper need. They were people who were lost

and in need of a Savior. Jesus was moved with compassion.

In 2016, as I mentioned in last week; part of the our mission is to

focus on outreach. Going out into the community and showing the

love and compassion of Jesus Christ and watch the Lord work

miracles in the lives of people that we touch; this is the year of the

uncommon.