TEXT: John 6:1-11
1 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.
2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.
3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.
4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,
9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
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Today, I am continuing the daily Just Jesus Evangelistic Campaign sermon series, which is aimed at sharing the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with unbelievers and reminding Christians, in this important election year, to keep the main thing the main thing — and that is reaching unbelievers with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and praying for their salvation, for the problem in America is not only disobedient presidents, politicians, and people, but disobedient pastors, preachers, and parishioners who have refused to obey the Lord’s Great Commission which is to, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” and who have refused to obey God’s repeated commands to “pray without ceasing” for unbelievers, believers, and political leaders. Yes, you should pray for the right candidate to win; yes, you should vote for the candidate that the Lord gives you peace about voting for. But, don’t get caught up in it like the world does. Nothing much is going to change until people get saved and get their hearts right with the Lord.
This campaign is inspired by the following three verses: 1 Corinthians 2:2 which says, “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Acts 5:42 which says, “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” And 2 Timothy 2:4 which says, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”
This series is not for Christians necessarily. However, I do hope you are one of those saints who still loves to hear the “Old, old story of Jesus and His love” — As another hymn says, “For those who know it best Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.” This series is primarily for unbelievers, so they can hear and understand the Gospel and be saved from sin and the punishment of sin which is hell. This is message number 65.
Ray Stedman said, “Very few churches seem to understand that the church is sent into the world to teach the world truth that it never could find out in any other way, truth that is desperately needed to handle life and make it work as God intended it to work. In the secular realms of knowledge there are great missing elements, great blanks, that the people of the world try to fill up in a dozen different ways, but only the church possesses the truth, the bread that can feed the hungers of life.”
The feeding of the 5,000 in this chapter is the only one of Jesus’ works that is recorded in all four Gospels, thus underscoring its significance. It takes place some time after the events of chapter 5; some say it has been about six months. During that time, Jesus continued to preach and perform miracles. He had built up a massive following and, as we will see, this miracle — the feeding of the 5,000 — marked the highpoint of popular opinion regarding His ministry.
John informs us that Jesus went “over the sea of Galilee”; the other Gospels tell us that His purpose for going over the sea was so He and His disciples could get away from the crowds for a while to rest and pray. However, when the multitudes saw that Jesus was leaving and where He was going, they followed Him on foot around the sea. John notes that this was around the time of the Passover, and many of these people would have ordinarily been on their way to Jerusalem. Instead, they wanted to stay with Jesus.
Jesus is up on the mountain with his disciples when He looks down and sees the crowds gathering. Jesus’ reaction is not one of frustration that He is being bothered at a time when He is trying to rest. He immediately thinks of the needs of the crowd. “Jesus lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, [and] he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” Jesus is immediately concerned about the people. They have been following him non-stop all day long, watching Him perform miracles and listening to Him teach. Jesus knows they must be getting tired and hungry.
Jesus decides that it is time to put His disciples to the test. He asks Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” The next verse says, “this he said to prove him.” It is likely that Philip was addressed because he was from the area and knew where the villages and markets were, but this was a moment for all the disciples to demonstrate their faith and spiritual growth. They had seen Jesus work miracles for the past year and a half at least, yet Philip’s response is entirely humanistic. “Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.” “Two hundred pennyworth” is at least eight months’ wages. Philip is saying, ‘We don’t have that kind of money, and even if we got it (by raising an offering from all these people), it still wouldn’t be enough to by everyone even a small slice of bread.’
However, thank God that the fate of all these hungry people did not rest on the feeble faith of the disciples. John informs us that although Jesus asked the disciples what they thought should be done, “he himself already knew what he would do.” As soon as Jesus saw the people coming to Him, He made up His mind about how he was going to feed them.
How many of us are like Philip in our everyday lives? Some of us who are Christians, we know Jesus and live with Jesus, yet we do not utilize the power that that relationship provides. We still try to apply our human-based solutions to life’s problems that would be much better dealt with if we realized that Jesus already has the solutions we need and asked Him to intervene.
Many people would admit that they cannot make it through life on their own — they need help. Yet, so many try to handle eternal life on their own. Like Philip, we have our own human-based ideas about how it should work. But the truth is, we need help with this matter more than any other. And Jesus already has a plan in place. From the foundation of the world, He and God the Father had devised a plan to ensure that every person born into the world would have the chance to be born again if they so desired.
If you desire to be born again and spend eternal life with God in Heaven, here is how you can tap into God’s plan of salvation today.
First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Now that is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.
Romans 10:9 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead, and you want to trust Him for your salvation today, please pray with me this simple prayer: Holy Father God, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. I am sorry for my sins, and today I choose to turn from my sins. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior and I choose to follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.
If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
If you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior today, please e-mail me at dw3@gospellightsociety.com and let us know. There is some free material that we want to send you. If you have a prayer request, please e-mail that to us as well, and we will pray for you until you tell us to stop.
God loves you. We love you. And may God bless you.
Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in over twenty-five foreign countries. He is the author of over forty books. He is also the president of Gospel Light Society International, a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week, as well as president of Torch Ministries International, a Christian literature ministry which publishes a monthly magazine called The Torch Leader. He is heard by thousands each week on his radio broadcasts/podcasts, which include: The Prayer Motivator Devotional, The Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, the Prophet Daniel’s Report, the Second Coming Watch Update and the Soul-Winning Motivator, among others. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Texas Wesleyan University, a Master’s degree in Religion, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Theology degree from Liberty University School of Divinity. He has been married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica for over twenty-seven years. God has blessed their union with seven children. Find out more at www.danielwhyte3.com. Follow Daniel Whyte III on Twitter @prophetdaniel3 or on Facebook.
BCNN1 WP 