Matthew 14: Jesus Feeds the 5,000 - Brown Bag Lunch Sermon

Jesus departs to a desert place after hearing about John the Baptist's death.

He is followed by a great multitude, and Jesus shows compassion towards them.

Jesus heals the sick and demonstrates the importance of praying for others in need.

A crowd stays with Jesus after being healed, showing their gratitude and appreciation.

We're going to talk about this because this is going to be a little mini-series for the next few weeks. And we're going to talk about Jesus. We're going to talk about the blessing about Jesus. About the miracles that He performed. And we're going to start in verse 13 with this miracle of Jesus. And it says these words in Matthew 14, starting in verse 13. It says, when Jesus heard of it, it being the death of John the Baptist, he departed fenced by ship into a desert place apart. Now, he went away to kind of just mill over the fact that John the Baptist, his forerunner, was now gone. Now the interesting thing about a person that is gone That is a Christian that is gone You want to It grieves you But you should not grieve for them Because they are in a much better place Now it bothers us It hurts our heart that we no longer have them But they're in a much better place than we are Much better place than we are. And I think that's what Jesus was thinking. He just wanted to get away and just kind of think about his friend, his forerunner, and maybe grieve just a little bit, but rejoice that John had now received the blessing of being with God. So he gets into a ship and he goes into a desert place. and when he got there, people had heard of the fact that he was there. And they, what, followed him. That was typical. Wherever Jesus entered the place, people, the rumor mill started rolling, right? And I like this rumor mill. I can't stand rumor mills most of the time. I hate it when people start saying, did you hear about? I don't want to know it You know what I mean? I don't want to know it If it's a bad rumor Don't tell me I don't want to hear it If it's some good news That's a different story If it's something bad Leave it to yourself I don't want to hear it Here's some good news That started rumoring around That started spilling around And everybody would say Hey I heard the miracle workers in town Oh, did you hear it? Oh, I... And it just started going. It just started going. And everybody heard about it. And then people started to follow him out of the cities. And Jesus, in verse 14, went forth and saw the great multitude and was moved with compassion towards them. And he healed their sick. That was the interesting thing about Jesus. Jesus had a lot of compassion. And I think that's something in this generation that we miss a lot. When I talk about Christians, I'm talking about Christians here. I'm saying, how many of us truly have compassion for people that are in trouble, that are people that are in need? When people are sick, do we pray for them? When people are hurting, do we just kind of put our arm around them and say, you know what, I'm here for you? Do we text them? Do we call on the phone? Do we message them on Facebook? Do we do things like that? Or do we sit there and say, it's not me. You know? That's the thing. I think sometimes we are very lax as Christians when it comes to that thing. When we see somebody hurting, we don't text them. We don't message them. We don't pray for them. We sit there and we're only worried about our own little sphere. Our own little surrounding group of people. And that's a shame. Jesus was not like that. Jesus would see a need and he would have compassion. I love that. He had compassion on those people and he healed their sick. He prayed for them. When they had a need, he prayed for them. Hallelujah. Now the interesting thing is, once they got healed, they didn't want to leave. I love that. I love that because see so often what happens we've seen it and you've seen it everywhere we all know this person gets sick what do they do? they call Christian on the phone and say pray for me and I mean this is harsh maybe in a little way but I don't mean it harsh but I'm sitting here and I'm saying we see people they get sick and they go pray for me But what about coming to church and getting on your knees and having the church gather around you and pray for you? Think about what I'm saying. See, we don't want to do that. Oh, just, I'll pray. You pray for a medicine. I'm going to tell you. I'm sitting. I'm getting at the altar. I'm having the church surround me and pray for me. That's what I'm going to do. Because I know there is what? Strength in numbers. That's the point. when you have two or three agree as touching anything according to God's word, what does it say? It will be done. And that's why I want to be here. The Bible itself says, if one be sick, let it come to the church and have the elders pray over it, right? The Bible says that. But yet so often that's what people do. Oh, just pray for me. Just pray for me. come and we can pray for you. Maybe, just maybe, God will raise you up right then and there and He'll heal you. I know an amazing story, and I've told it many times, but I remember it. My dad told us a story that he was a brand new Christian. Brand new Christian. Just got saved, was in the church for a couple weeks, and there was a man who came into the church. Brand new, into the church, but he was having trouble. He had a deformity. His one leg had been deformed and it was shorter. And he had trouble walking because one leg was shorter and it was hard for him to walk. And he came to church that night to have the church pray for him. My dad great new convert sitting on the front pew That what my dad always wants front pew Okay sitting on the front cue listening to my Uncle Charles actually not my brother but we call him Uncle Charles Uncle Charles preaching, preaching Hellfire and Bringson, you know, that they used to do back in the day, you know. And he called for people that had a need, and this man got up and struggled to get to the altar. and he got to the altar and he knelt before God and he prayed and the church gathered around him and they began to pray and I'm talking they began to pray I mean that prayer that's loud I'm not talking a cacophony of noise I'm talking about a bunch of people touching the heart of God at the loud parts where the angels in heaven can hear them praying together They were praying for this man. And they were praying with everything that was in them. And I remember my dad saying, I could feel the very presence of God right in that little part of that altar as they were praying. I felt God there. And he said, and it wasn't long until the prayer ended that the man said, he raised up his hands. and he was crying and Uncle Charles helped him up and you know what had happened? God healed that man's leg right there in that place. He didn't have to go to the hospital. He didn't have to go to a doctor. He didn't have to go have surgery. He didn't have to have anything done. He believed in God, the people of God prayed, and the miracle came, and that's the point. And people know where to go when there is a need. But I think the major problem is most people, as I said, they know where to go. But we've come to a point in technology that it's just text it or call it in. I don't want to phone it in I don't want to phone in my prayer request I don't want to text in my prayer request I want somebody to pray for me I want somebody to lay their hands upon me I want somebody to believe for me and I want to be there when it's time to pray but sadly that's not what we do in this generation and I think that's why we don't get the blessings sometimes that we need because we kind of phone it in sometimes These people didn't want to phone it in. They followed him. Hallelujah. They followed Jesus. And they stayed there because they couldn't leave. Because it was too good of a service. Hallelujah. They didn't want to leave. It didn't matter how long he got. I'm going to preach today. Okay. Sometimes we get a little upset because the preacher is going past 12 o'clock. And we go, oh, I don't want to do that. I remember my dad preaching one time And there was a It came 12 o'clock and man people left They were serving me It was 12 o'clock man it's time to go home man No matter what Once 12 o'clock Belly was rumbling and it's time to go I'm thankful We don't have that here But I will say that's what a lot of people do But preaching gets a little Long winded and it's time to go home It's time for preaching to shut up so I can get home. These people were not like that. They had felt the blessing of God. They had felt the touch of the Master's hand. And they were like, I'm not going to leave. This is too good to leave. Now, interestingly enough, it says in verse 15, And when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, This is a desert place, and it's now past time. In other words, time's past now, but Jesus decided to let Him go home. Because they wanted to eat, and we ain't got the money to feed them. They were thinking of the pocketbook. I don't know, the church was there saying, we ain't got enough. It's not too, the pocketbook's not too deep this time. There's not a lot jiggling in there. We can't pay for all these people to eat. So we need to send them away, Lord. I love this. The multitude. Send them away that they may go into the village and buy for themselves. Right? And Jesus said unto them, they need not depart. Give them any. Again, I can hear the church verse saying, and I'm saying, not enough funds. Not enough funds. Right? Well, interestingly enough, they said unto him, we have nothing but five loaves and two fish. Now, I want you to understand, this is a brown bag lunch. This is a little boy in the crowd that stopped by, had a little lunch, and his mom prepared for him. And I want you to understand, this ain't fish like trout. Okay? This was fish like them little sardines. Now, I don't know how many people like sardines, but I can't eat something that's looking back at me. I'm going to tell you, man, I just can't do it. I just can't do it. If somebody likes sardines, I may have just turned them off right now. I don't know. But, I mean, I just can't, man. I can't, man. I can't do it. It's like you go, no, that's okay. But this poor dude, he had two fishes, two little sardines, and he had five crackers. That's the term loaf. Loaf means little crackers. So he had five crackers and two sardines. Not a lot of lunch, but enough to sustain, right? And they brought him and they said, this is the only thing in the crowd. We got two sardines and five crackers. What can we do with this? What can we do with such little? What do I say all the time? Little is much. There you go. If God is in it. Amen. That's the point. Little is much if God's in it. And that's what Jesus, when he said, he said, this is all we got in the crowd, Jesus. Jesus said, that's all we need. That's all I need. That's enough. That's enough to sustain. That's enough to do what we need. Just give it to me and we'll take care of it. I love this. And he said, bring them hither to me. Verse 19, and he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass. I want you to understand, that is something very, very interesting too. We don do that in this generation But did you know back in Bible times the teacher sat and the audience stood Why? Maybe we ought to talk about that one time. No, I'm kidding. But I don't know how that happened, but somehow along the lines, it switched. Now the audience sits and the teacher stands. I don't know how that happened, but that's what it was. But Jesus at this point said, okay, we've stood, we've talked, we've done, we've prayed, we've pleaded with God, we've had miracles, we've done all this. Now it's time to settle down. I love it. Now, I don't know if there was somebody in the crowd saying, wow, there ain't a whole lot here. How's this going to feed this multitude? I don't know if somebody was like that or if they said, hey, you know what? God's been healing people here. I'm sure he can feed us too. Because I'm going to tell you something. If God can heal you, God can feed you. Amen. That's the point. If God can take care of you, God can take care of you all the way around. If he can supply your needs, he can supply all your needs. Amen. That's the point. Hallelujah. I love this. He gave and told him to sit down and he took the loaves and the two fists and he looked up to heaven and he blessed. And he break. and he gave the loaves to his disciples and the disciples to the multitude. Now, I would have loved to see this. I would have loved to see this miracle. I want you to think about this. He breaks the crackers and yet he comes back. He breaks the sardine in half and he comes back. this must have been something amazing to see but Jesus kept breaking putting aside breaking putting aside breaking putting aside breaking and they began to fill up baskets and they began to spread it out to all the multitudes and I love what it says here and they did all eat everyone got it no taste hallelujah No one was left out Oh that's good Oh that's good That's good Think about it You come to church You're not going to be left out You're going to get a blessing If you come expecting a blessing Ain't nobody going to be left out Hallelujah Somebody say amen Hallelujah I love that I love that They did all eat This is beautiful They all ate and were what? Filled. Satisfied. They were completed. They didn't need no more. They were completely filled. They were satisfied. Sometimes you get Thanksgiving time and you get a little bit too satisfied, right? It wasn't that way. It wasn't that way. I've kind of learned now the way I'm trying to keep better than me and all. I've learned to get to my limitation now. Last night we were having a big salad and some chicken and all. And I ate and I was like, oh, I think I'm just about to hit my limit. If I eat anymore, I'm going to get sick. So I'll stop. Because I was filled. I was satisfied. And that's where these people were. They were filled. They were satisfied. And I'm going to tell you, this is good. When Jesus fills you, you're satisfied. Hallelujah. I'll say it again. When Jesus fills you, you're satisfied. Amen. Hallelujah. That's the point. Hallelujah. They were satisfied. And they took up the fragments that remained. And get this. Twelve baskets were filled. Talk about an abundant supply. Talk about more than you need. That's what Jesus is. Jesus is all I need Jesus gives me more than I need Jesus supplies all my needs He gives me more than I deserve He gives me more than I can handle sometimes But I'm thankful for the blessings Hallelujah I love it And they were who were eaten Were get this 5,000 men Not including the women and the children Wow Now you can imagine Say every man had a wife That's five and five That's ten thousand Okay What about Maybe each couple have two kids That's twenty thousand That's a lot of people And there might have been more Who knows We don't know the exact number But we do know this That at least probably somewhere around twenty thousand If not more people Not including the disciples because I'm sure they got theirs too. They all got fed and filled out of two sardines and five crackers. Now tell me that's not a miracle. Hallelujah. That is the miracle of God. That's the miracle of supply. That's the miracle that God will do for us if we're willing to trust in Him. But so often what we do is we don't put our trust in Him. We sit here and we say, well, now, Lord, I need this blessing. but look look why are we going to put a but in there? can't we just say Lord I thank you you're going to supply my need and leave it why do we always have to say but if you don't but if you choose not to I have not read it here where it says God may supply all your needs it doesn't say that if we love God, if we put God first, it says God will supply all my needs all your needs it doesn't have a but there it doesn't have a little asterisk in the corner that says there might be a caveat to the situation no, it doesn't say that If you love God, if you put God first in everything you say and do, God will supply all your needs. Now, what is a need? I need a mansion. Do you need a mansion? No. I need the fanciest car in the whole state. Do you need that or do you just need one that's going to get you from point A to point B? Right? I want the best food that I can possibly get for letting me on every day. Do you need that No You just need something that going to keep the body functioning That all we need See God said he would supply our needs He didn't say give us the desires of our hearts like selfish desires. Because so often that's what we want. We go, oh Lord, I need a Ferrari. Let me tell you, if God gave you a Ferrari, you wouldn't be able to pay the taxes on it. Let's be honest. You know? And God knows that. Well, I guess that's possible. He could send a fish, right? Or with the money, yeah? But the idea is, you know what I'm saying. I mean, we don't need these things, right? God's saying he's flying our needs. But what do we have to do? We've got to bring our brown bag lunch. Now, what do we mean by we've got to bring our brown bag lunch? We've got to bring what we have to him Bring him our all I need a blessing Lord I need a touch I need a physical touch I need a spiritual touch I need a financial touch I need something from you God This is going on in my life And I need you to touch me What do I do? I bring all I have to him Reminds me of the story of the little widow The widow was coming to church And they were passing around the collection plate And everybody was dropping in there huge amounts of money. And the little widow dropped in two months, right? And Jesus was standing with his disciples in the back of the church and he went, psst, psst. Look. See that little widow? She didn't more than everybody else in the whole church. Now, the disciples at this point are looking at all these big, high important people dropping in bags of gold and they're going, answer, answer, answer, answer. Lord, what do you mean she dropped in two pennies? These people were dropping in like hundreds upon hundreds of dollars. They don't calculate. And God said, you're not thinking. She gave more because she gave everything. She gave everything she had to the work of the Lord. That's why she gave more. because the people that are giving all this money, it's not affecting them because they got so much. She's giving everything to God. And that is how we get a blessing from God. That's how God supplies all our needs, is when we are willing to give all that we have of ourselves to God. Now, I'm not talking financially, but what I'm talking about is, are you willing to give everything that you have to God? You're saying to yourself, Lord, myself, my family, my funds, my everything that I have, if you need it, you let me know, I will be willing to give to you and to your kingdom. If we are willing to do that, God said, I will pour out a blessing on you so much that you're not able to contain it. And I'm going to go a step further today because I have been doing this for quite a while. I've seen my dad talk about it for many, many years, how my dad would give of himself to people that were in need. And I remember a story. Well, not a story. It was an actual event. My dad, there was a man that was in need. He came to the house and he said, I'm in desperate straits. My family, we're going to be put on the street. I don't know what we're going to do. can you pray for me? Can you help me? Something. The guy was begging my dad for prayer or something and my dad prayed for him and then my dad took our Christmas money and handed it to that man. My mom, bless her heart, she sat there and she said, are you nuts? What did you do that for? Now what are we going to do to run the kids? for Christmas. And my dad said, God will supply our needs. And God did. And God gave it. God gave back. I've done it myself. I've given to the work of the Lord. And I'm amazed at how God blesses me and gives back to me. I'm amazed at it. I'm literally shocked because I know what the Bible says. Give it to me. Give it unto you. Good measure. Press it down and shake it together and running over. Right? That's what it says. And I'm amazed that every time I give to the word of the Lord, every time I give to God, God gives back. And I sit and I go, Wow! Well, Lord, I gave her to you. He gave her all back to me. But that's the blessings of giving all to God. So what I'm saying today in conclusion is this. Maybe you're going through something today. Maybe there's something in your life. Maybe you have a need, physical, financial, spiritual, whatever the case may be. Something in your life that you're going through and you're saying, I need this blessing. I'm saying to you today, give your all to God. Turn all of it over to God. Sit there and say, Lord, whatever you want, you tell me and I'll be willing to do. Just like Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac on the mountainside for God and God supplied the need. Say that way. God, whatever you want me to do, I'm willing and I will guarantee you. When God says, do this and you do it, God will bless you double and triple fold. You will be amazed at how much God will do. Because if the miracle of the loaves and fishes could happen in this and that generation, there is no difference between that generation and 2022. Because God is the same God. He never changes. He's always the same. Yesterday, today, and bless God forever. So there's no difference. But if you're going through something, just turn it over to God. That's the point. Thank you.

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