A Lesson on Faith
Matthew 14 & John 6
February 26th 2012
AM
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
I.
Introduction (John 6:5,6)
A.
It was in a desert, late one very tiresome day that
our Lord chose to teach one of His greatest lessons - a lesson on trusting Him!
A lesson on faith. It was His favourite lesson to teach!
B.
All four Gospels refer to an event we call, the
Feeding of the Five Thousand
C.
All four go into great detail about the event - how
miraculous it was, how impossible it was! And yet, how simple it all happened!
D.
And it was not just a once off event, but Jesus fed
these thousands of people out in deserts, with almost nothing at hand, TWICE
(Matthew 14, and then in the next chapter Jesus feeds over 4,000)!
E.
Evidently, there is something really big for us to
learn from this event in the life of our Lord
F.
And it is something that we all, today need to learn
for ourselves!
G.
Let’s Read through Matthew 14:13-21 and then John
6:1-14)
II.
Message
A.
The Disciples’ Complaint
(Matthew 14:15)
1.
It was a day when nothing seemed to go right
a.
It would be a very long, long, tiresome day,
surrounded by needy and hungry people in by an unforgiving desert, and then they
would end up in a sinking ship for the night in a storm that would make Goliath
faint!
b.
This day was NOT a good day for the disciples!
2.
Everyone woke up to the news of a tragic loss - John
the Baptist had just been brutally beheaded by king Herod
3.
Thousands upon thousands of people left their homes
and small villages in
4.
Loads of needs - people were sick, and hungry for some
hope (Mark 6:32,33)
a.
They had come to hear Jesus - to learn of Him, and
hear about the
b.
They had come to get answers, and to get restored
c.
They were looking for leadership, for a sense of
stability
d.
And they just kept coming
e.
How do you tend to thousands and thousands of people
without getting very worn out?
5.
But it was getting late - a very long, tiresome day
(Mark 6:30,31). They were Tired
6.
They were in a desert - there was nothing around them
for miles in all directions. Jesus had brought them out into the desert on
purpose (Mt 14:13)
7.
It was past the time that anything could be done for
all these people!
8.
When the disciples only saw desert sand, and too many
people, and too many needs, and too little time...
9.
Jesus saw some things much greater!
B.
The Disciple’s Request
(Matthew 14:15)
1.
Send the people, all of them away – get rid of them!
2.
Let them fend for themselves!
3.
What would 20,000 people look like? No wonder the
disciples just wanted to run and hide!
4.
But these “Christians” were thinking only about
themselves - deciding that the crowds of people needed to take care of
themselves!
a.
No compassion. No desire to heal any of the crowd
b.
And no real effort in ministry – Jesus was left to do
all the healing and teaching (Matthew 14:14) when they were fully able and
equipped.
C.
Jesus’ Challenge
(Matthew 14:16)
1.
Let them stay!
a.
They don’t need to go anywhere
b.
Not when “I” am around
2.
You feed them – all of them!
a.
Huh?
b.
These 12 men were not independently wealthy. They did
not have loads of money
c.
They were broke. They only made money when they went
fishing or built cabinets and doors, and they hadn’t been doing that for quite a
while at this point
d.
And yet, here was Jesus telling these empty-pocket
believers to feed every last person in that crowd!
3.
Wow! When the Lord calls us to do something, it is
always bigger than we could do naturally
D.
What Jesus Sees
(Matthew 14:14,16,19; John 6:5)
1.
The disciples only saw a mass of people that were
starving after a whole day out in the sun
2.
Jesus saw souls – hungry souls
a.
The crowds had come out to hang on every word of
Christ
b.
They were starving for stability in an upside down
world
3.
Jesus saw a bunch of faithless disciples who needed to
learn about faith
4.
Jesus saw a little lad just sitting down with his
small lunch basket of food who would believe in Jesus MORE than all 12 of the
Apostles of Christ!!!!
5.
Lastly, Jesus saw heaven – He saw where all of our
supplies actually come from!
6.
So, He asks them quit seriously, “Where can we get
some bread?” (John 6:5)
E.
The Joke (Matthew
14:17)
1.
The Disciples quickly checked their own bags and their
own pockets, and found them empty. None of the other disciples had any more
money to give, or food, or credit cards, or vouchers
2.
They looked to Judas Iscariot and found out they only
200 pennies in the poor bag that he carried everywhere
3.
And then Andrew stumbled on a young lad who was
holding up a small basket of food as if it would help!
4.
Reluctantly, Andrew brought him to Jesus and asked
with a snicker and a chuckle in his voice, here is some food! But he was joking!
“But what is it compared to all the people? What is this compared to the need?”
5.
Question: Which was MORE?
a.
The small bag of money had 200 pennies in it – that is
enough to buy bread for about 75 grown men. Hmmmm. Feeding 75 out of 5,000 would
mean about 98.5% of the crowd would still go hungry
b.
And then there is that little lad’s lunch! HAH! That
is even SMALLER! It would just barely feed a BOY, not even ONE of the men would
be satisfied with that small lunch!!!!
6.
OBVIOUSLY Jesus would see the futility of trying to
take care of this great need – it just couldn’t be done!
7.
Yet, I’ll give you ONE guess which supply Jesus
accepted as more than enough!
F.
The Surprise (Matthew
14:18)
1.
Jesus surprised them all! Absolutely no one had any
idea what this all meant for them!
2.
Bring THEM hither to me!
a.
Not the money, not the bag
b.
But the five little bread loaves and two little fishes
3.
That lunch is plenty! Actually, that is MORE than
enough!
a.
As it was with Gideon!!! 30,000 was NOT enough, but
300 were! Go figure!!!
b.
As it was with David! A suit of armour and a spear and
sword were not enough to defeat Goliath, but a sling and a stone were! It will
NEVER make sense!
c.
As it was with Moses! 40 years of the best Egyptian
education would never lead
4.
We don’t need more and more money, more and more
talent, more and more abilities
5.
Not if we have Jesus!
6.
He just wants us to mix what we HAVE with some faith
(Heb 4:2)! Things don’t work in the Christian’s life unless mixed with faith and
confidence in the Lord Jesus!!!
G.
The Lesson (Matthew
14:18-21)
1.
What do YOU have?
a.
Jesus didn’t want any griping and complaining about
what they didn’t have, and how tired they were, and how impossible the situation
was!
b.
God always has to spent so much time trying to
convince His people that they already have more than enough… when He is with
you!
c.
Oh, I hope you learn this greatest of truths!!!
d.
What do you HAVE?
1)
Okay, so you have a pretty rotten past – but if Jesus
Christ is IN you and has changed you, even a small bit, you have a testimony of
God’s GRACE!
2)
Maybe you have very little money – same here! But it
all ought to just belong to Jesus – not to the church, or to a charity, or to
the government, but it is HIS and if He ever wanted it, there would never
be any hesitation!
3)
Maybe you have almost no talent – GREAT! All the more
ways for GOD to get all the praise and honour when he takes what you give to
Him, and something wonderful happen!!!
2.
Will you let it go?
a.
Money is never the problem – the LOVE of money is the
problem
b.
What if that lad had been stingy?
c.
The disciples would have never learned about giving
and about faith and trust
d.
What are YOU doing or NOT doing that is keeping your
family from seeing what faith can do?
e.
How much of our lives actually are yielded to God?
Without any arguments!
1)
Your career?
2)
Your health?
3)
Your wallet?
f.
One of the most wonderful acts of worship is surrender
g.
When was the last time you surrendered the grip on
what you own?
h.
If God asked you right now, WHAT DO YOU HAVE? What
would you say? What would you hide and hold back?
3.
Will you Trust Only Jesus?
a.
Not in the amount of money that we all may have. Bill
gates is worth $65 billion – not enough!
b.
Not in your mental abilities and cleverness. Emil
Krebs was fluent in 68 languages, and studied 120 more!
c.
Forget your physical abilities.
d.
Don’t trust the size of a church or religion. 1
billion RC’s, 1 billion Muslims. 1 billion Buddhists
e.
Don’t even trust the size of your faith – a grain of a
mustard seed is more than enough (Luke 17:6)!
f.
ARE YOU GETTING ANY OF THIS???
g.
Trust, rely on, rest in only the faithfulness of Jesus
the Messiah and Saviour of the world!
h.
In our hands, the money would never be enough
i.
In our hands, a small lunch wouldn’t feed a grown man
j.
But in HIS hands… well!!!!
4.
Will you Expect a Miracle?
a.
Remember, 5,000 hungry grown men were still all
standing around that little group of 13 men, and now they were all expecting to
be fed!
b.
Remember that all those 13 men in the centre of the
crowd has was WHAT?
Only 5 loaves and 2 little fishes!!!
5.
Watch How Jesus Does the Impossible (Matthew 14:20,21)
a.
He blessed the lunch in His hands
b.
He broke the lunch into smaller pieces
c.
He gave the broken pieces into a basket and passed it
to a disciple
d.
That disciple took the basket and gave it to the first
group of 50 men, and then returned to Jesus
e.
Only to see Him handing another full basket to another
disciple, and then another and another
f.
Back and forth these 12 men travelled between the
crowds and Jesus, and the baskets were always already there, full, waiting to be
delivered to the people!
g.
Notice the words (Matthew 14:20):
1)
And they all did eat – 5,000… impossible enough, but
there were another 10-15,000 hungry women and children out in the fields that
ate that little boy’s lunch
2)
AND it gets even MORE miraculous – they were all
FILLED!
H.
The Application to US
– Will we learn this great lesson?
1.
That what we already have is MORE than enough to do
what God asks us
a.
To buy the Walfab building or ANY building or property
for that matter
b.
To start a vibrant, growing Baptist church in
Carrigaline
c.
Jesus took 11 unlearned and ignorant men and turned
the world upside down – they were MORE than enough!
d.
What does Jesus have right here? What could He do with
our children, with our own feeble lives?
e.
Can we not start believing Him for more than what we
see? And for more than we we think we already CAN do?
2.
That our focus needs first to be on our PURPOSE – why
are we here
a.
The disciples were brought out to the desert on
purpose, so that they could feed 20,000 people!
b.
THEY didn’t know that, but THAT was their purpose that
day!
3.
That our next focus needs to be on HEAVEN! Never
forget the source of all our supply
a.
Oh that we learned to pray about everything, and
trusted God for everything
b.
Oh that we learned to expect surprises – we spend too
much time telling God how we want our miracles!
4.
That we need to start trusting God to do the
impossible once again through faith (Heb 11:6). What if we just started living
and GIVING just like that little lad???
III.
Conclusion
A.
It was in a desert, late one very tiresome day that
our Lord chose to teach one of His greatest lessons - a lesson on trusting Him!
A lesson on faith. A lesson on doing the impossible! It was His favourite
lesson to teach!
B.
It was a day that the Disciples Complained
1.
When the disciples only saw desert sand, and too many
people, and too many needs, and too little time...
2.
Jesus saw some things much greater!
C.
The Disciples Quit
1.
Said, Send the people, all of them away – get rid of
them!
2.
Let them fend for themselves!
3.
But these “Christians” were thinking only about
themselves - deciding that the crowds of people needed to take care of
themselves!
D.
Jesus Challenged Them (and Us)
1.
To feed them – all of them! To meet the need, no
matter how impossible!
2.
You see… When the Lord calls us to do something, it is
always bigger than we could do naturally
E.
What Jesus Sees (and
what WE need to see as well)
1.
Souls – hungry souls
2.
Too many of faithless disciples who needed to learn
about faith
3.
Little lads who believe God more than we all!
4.
Heaven – He saw where all of our supplies actually
come from!
5.
That what we HAVE is plenty! Actually, that is MORE
than enough!
a.
We don’t need more and more money, more and more
talent, more and more abilities
b.
Not if we have Jesus!
6.
He just wants us to mix what we HAVE with some faith
(Heb 4:2)! Things don’t work in the Christian’s life unless mixed with faith and
confidence in the Lord Jesus!!!
F.
The Challenge
1.
What do YOU have?
2.
Will you let it go?
3.
Will you Trust Only Jesus?
4.
Will you Expect a Miracle?
5.
Let’s Watch Jesus Do the Impossible
a.
As He blesses and breaks what we give Him, and then
gives it all back to us to give to others!
b.
Until ALL are fed! Until all the world hears about the
living bread from heaven!
c.
That’s what a church is all about!
6.
Let’s trust God to do the impossible once again
through faith (Heb 11:6)