Dedicated To The Men of God Who Preach the Word of God As It
Is To Men As They Are
"Preach The Word"
THE SECRET TO GOD’S BLESSINGS
Text: John 6:1-13
Introduction: The miracle of the feeding of 5000 appears in all four
gospels. This is the only miracle that appears that way. Because this is so,
we might be able to say that it was a universal miracle, in that it was
given to all four Gospel writers who wrote to all people groups. It could
also be said that all should universally appreciate the truth of this
miracle. This miracle shows the way God blesses.
Nothing is more comforting and re-assuring to the child of God than to have
God’s blessings. This study gives us seven principles involving the way that
God blesses us, and it also tells us how we can receive those blessings...
May we be helped as we study these Principles.
I. THE MIRACLE OF THE BLESSING. (Vv. 1-9)
Jesus is going to do a creation miracle to demonstrate His power over His
creation. We must keep in mind, that there are two different kinds of
miracles. There is the providential miracle and the creation miracle.
The providential miracle is the miracle that involves God’s work of
providence, with the emphasis being on His providence. The word providence
comes from two Latin words, pro meaning “before”, and video meaning, “to
see”. Providence means that God within His Omniscience “sees before”. One
will notice God’s providence is also at work even when a creation miracle is
taking place, such as noted in verse 6 when he said, “for he himself knew
what he would do”. An example of a miracle of providence would involve
someone praying for a need to be met, and then God touching someone’s heart
to meet that need.
A creation miracle is different in that it involves a miracle that uses
God’s creation powers. The turning of the water into wine would be and
example of this kind of miracle. Here, the feeding of the 5000 is another
example.
The miracle being described here is that of the Lord meeting a need. The
people are very hungry, but have no means of satisfying their appetites.
May we now notice these seven principles concerning the way that God
blesses.
A. First Principle: God Shows The Greatness Of The
Blessing In Direct Proportion To
The Need. (Vv. 1-7).
In God’s economy one will discover that greater the need, the greater the
blessing. He knows just what we need, and He knows when we are in need. In
verse six, we are told that Jesus knew what He was going to do about the
situation. In verse five, Jesus asked Philip concerning their need, not for
information for He knew their need but to prove or test Philip.
B. Second Principle: God Shows That He Can Take
What We Have And Make A
Blessing. (Vv. 8-9).
The little lad had just a little lunch, but “little is much when God is in
it”. It may help us if we remember:
1. God Owns Everything
2. God Has Given You Something
3. That Makes You A Steward
4. You Must Give Account Of Your Stewardship
Had the little lad been selfish with what he had, and had he been unwilling
to share, he would have missed the blessing of seeing so many fed because of
his generosity. I feel that the Lord would have taken care of the need in
some other manner, had the boy not been willing to give, but the lad would
have forever missed the blessing. He would have been a poor steward of what
God had blessed Him with.
II. THE MANNER OF THE BLESSING (Vv. 10-12).
In this section, we find that the Lord initiated the blessing, but the Lord
called upon the disciples for the purpose of involving them in carrying out
the blessing.
This should remind us that everything that we are capable of doing is
because of His provisions. The blessings came to the 5000 because first
there was obedience.
A. Third Principle: To Receive God’s Blessings There
Must Be Obedience To God.
1. Notice How Foolish The Command Must Have
Seemed.
They were told to sit down for a meal when they seemed not to have anything
to eat. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “Now faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. Hopefully as they were sitting
down they were exercising a kind of faith that is described in Hebrews 11:1.
They had already witnessed his miracles as noted in verse 2. Yet, even with
the previous miracles having already taken place, they may still be doubtful
of Jesus doing anything for them at this sitting. We all are so prone to
forget the past blessings of the Lord.
2. Notice How Faithless The Crowd Must Have
Been.
When the Lord said, “Make the men sit down”, He may have said that because
of a natural reluctance on the part of the great multitude to sit down to
eat when there seemed to be nothing to eat. Let us think about that for a
moment.
This is the way that it is when there is a real need, before God blesses.
Everything seems so impossible, and so hopeless. That is exactly the way
that it is until the Lord brings the blessing.
To have the blessings of God come upon you, it will always be in obedience,
and also after believing God’s Word. For our church to receive the blessing,
we must preface that blessing with sound Bible teaching, and preaching,
knowing that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God…”
B. Fourth Principle: How much of a blessing that you
receive is based upon your desire.
(V.11).
The Word of God reminds us that we have not because we ask not. I do not
believe that when Jesus was feeding the 5000 that He only gave them a taste.
A taste would have been wonderful with them being hungry, but having all
that they wanted would have been much better. That was exactly the case when
this miracle took place. They were able to have all that they wanted.
This fourth principle is greatly illustrated in 2 Kings 4:1-7. Also, the
principle of God using what you have (principle two} is illustrate in this
Old Testament passage. A mother who had two sons, lost her husband to death,
cries to the man of God for help. He asked her what did she have in the
house. She told him nothing but a pot of oil. He said go to all thy
neighbors and borrow empty vessels making sure that you do not borrow just a
few. The prophet knew that she had a great need and wanted her to be blessed
according to that need (principle one).
When she got all the vessels inside and shut her door, pouring the oil into
the vessels, she continued to do so until the last vessel was full. In other
words, she had all the oil that she wanted. According to this fourth
principle that I have shared with you, she was able to have what she
desired. God’s supply was just as large as the women’s faith and obedience
was.
C. Fifth Principle: God does not want the blessings
taken for granted. (V. 12).
When the instructions were given that they were to gather all that remained,
he wanted them to not take the added blessings for granted. If you get more
than you think that you need, that only means that you needed more than you
thought, or that God wants you to be a blessing to someone else with the
extra. When you establish in your own heart the need, and pray to God for
the provisions to be met, and then God does more than you expected, then
very carefully pray for further instructions from the Lord as to how the
extra should be used.
III. THE MAGNITUDE OF THE BLESSING. (Vv. 13,14)
The blessing proved to be more than enough to meet the need. That is the way
the Lord blesses. Thinking back to verse number nine, it reads, “There is a
lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are
they among so many?” In this verse, the numerical combination of each
ingredient is of great significance. As I think of the number of loaves
being five, I am reminded that number five once again is the grace number
and number two is the number for witness. The fish also has been a symbol
for the Gospel witness. It was as though the Lord was communicating and
showing forth His grace to the hungry multitudes, witnessed by all. To me it
was no accident that the numbers add up this way. Speaking of “adding up”,
the addition of five plus two equals seven, which is a perfect or complete
number, showing that the Lord could take a big problem and bring about a
perfect solution. When God met all of their needs and then provided extra,
He wanted them to share with others what He had provided. This brings us to
our sixth principle.
A. Sixth Principle: God wants the blessings to be
Shared and continued. (V. 13).
The whole concept of Christianity requires that there is an ongoing sharing
mentality. This is the reason that we are told, “Give and it shall be
given”. For the Lord’s work to be perpetuated, there must be the constant
surrender of what we have so that He can make it more or bigger.
The little lad surrendered his little lunch, and people are still talking
about it!
B. Seventh Principle: When God blesses, Truth is authenticated. (V. 14).
“Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This
is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.”
A miracle of God is an opportunity for His power to be manifested. God works
miracles through His people to show Himself strong.
Conclusion: As previously mentioned, this miracle appears in all four
Gospels as a testimony to its importance. I trust that it has challenged us
to trust God even more. Remember, “Little is much when God is in it”. Also,
“Remember that much is much when God is in it”.
Sermon By Dr. Max Alderman
