Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
1. The job of the disciples was to faithfully distribute the loaves and the fish.
2. They were not to make the men evaluate the bread before they received it but just offer it for their consummation and metabolization.
JER 3:15-16, “then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding. your words were found and I ate them, and your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart
3. They were not to force the bread and the fish upon the people.
4. They were not to condemn the people into eating.
5. Even though it seemed so little before so many people, He gave thanks for it.
EPH 5:20 we should always give thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;
1TH 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Wanted = the imperfect active indicative of thello – a deep desire from the emotion of the soul.
It doesn’t even say it was a miracle. It doesn’t say, “And Jesus multiplied the loaves.” It just says that He distributed the loaves.
He was making them there in His hands…creating fish, creating little biscuits.
Isn’t it beautiful that He used them.
This miracle was not for the crowd. It was for the disciples to learn the importance of working together with Him.
Our Lord took their little trust and their little faith, and He moved them forward and gave them the confidence they needed which is the fact that the Lord could use what they had provided.
All the Lord wants is to use us, not for His own benefit but for our own benefit.
There is hope for you and me He even used the jawbone of an ass to slay a thousand men.
He even used Balaam’s ass to preach.
God can use anything we place in His hands including ourselves.
2TI 2:20-21, Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.
“They ate as much as they would.”
PSA 23:5 Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; Thou hast anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.
1. The Multitude Following: 2. The Missing Faith: 3. The Miraculous Feeding: 4. The Many Fragments:
You never run out of supply, that when you’ve exhausted all of God’s grace there’s more left?
Fragments = chunks of bread and fish.
The things of God are not to be wasted.
God’s gifts and his God given ability and talents which He gives to members of the human race are not to be wasted.
The fact that they were all filled and yet there were still leftovers is a picture of the over-abundance of blessing that the Lord supplies for His followers.
When TLJC raised Lazarus from the dead man’s hands had to roll away the stone.
When TLJC raised the daughter of Jairus, He said “talitha cumi” which means “Child arise” and the little girl had to rise up.
Then He told the mother and the father “Give her something to eat.”
The Lord expects us to do what we can with the fantastic resources that He has made available.
Laziness sometimes disguises itself and speaks with the tongue of faith.
True faith causes us to be motivated to godly works.
True faith is not to be perverted into an idle and false dependence upon God to work for us.
He just provided the next day’s food for those twelve…which would be just another little memorial reminder to make sure that their trust had moved out to meet the test.
MAT 10:8 Freely you received, freely give.
This is also a picture of the 12 having more in the end than they had at the beginning.
ISA 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
PRO 11:24-25, There is one who scatters, yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, but {it results} only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, And he who waters will himself be watered.
In giving to the Lord’s work with proper motivation we never need to worry if there will be enough left over for our own needs.
God never allows a generous giver to be the loser. They had more at the end than they had at the beginning. 1. Giving is a mental attitude of grace and inner happiness rather than the amount donated (2CO 8:2).
2. Giving must be an expression of free will apart from human coercion, emotional revolt or legalistic pressure.
Giving is an expression of the royal priesthood of the believer in privacy and freedom (2CO 8:3).
3. Giving is a soul activity; the amount is never emphasized. Since giving commemorates God’s grace, the believer must give on the basis of his own soul and character.
Giving is an extension of the soul life and must never be related either to the amount or to the stimulation of emotion (2CO 8:5).
4. Giving is also an extension of the daily function of GAP (2CO 8:7).
MBT – You do so well in so many things‑‑you trust God, you’re articulate, you’re insightful, you’re passionate, you love us‑‑now, do your best in this, too.