You Can’t Out Give God!
John 6:1-13TPT
Picture this, I'm at the marriage supper of the Lamb, I worship God with every bite. By the time dessert is served, revival is about to break out.
What’s served?
I’m not sure, but I know this, “It will be better than a fillet mignon with a blue cheese crust, with extra butter sauce. It will be better than the best pizza I’ve ever tasted.” God loves good food! P.H
This morning, I want us to look at, John 6:1-13, verse by verse:
John 6:1TPT After this Jesus went to the other side of the Lake of Tiberias, which is also known as Lake Galilee.
Tiberias was the largest Jewish city in the Galilee province, located on the western shore of Lake Galilee.
John 6:2-5TPT And a massive crowd of people followed Him everywhere. They were attracted by His miracles and the healings they watched Him perform. 3 Jesus went up the slope of a hill and sat down with his disciples. 4 Now it was approaching the time of the Jewish celebration of Passover, and there were many pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem in the crowd.
5 As Jesus sat down, he looked out and saw the massive crowd of people scrambling up the hill, for they wanted to be near Him. So he turned to Philip and said, “Where will we buy enough food to feed all these people?”
George Muller, September 1805–1898, witnessed probably more miracles than anyone ever. Along with pastoring one church for, 66 years, Muller establish the Ashley Down Orphanage in Bristol, England. He cared for 10,024 orphans while establishing 117 schools for their education throughout England. Adjusted for inflation, George Muller raised $150 million for those kingdom causes.
That is an incredible sum of money by any standard, but what makes it even more remarkable is the fact that George Muller never ask anyone for anything, not a single penny.
He would state, “I made a covenant to God only.”
According to his journal, Muller experience 30,000 specific answers to prayer. Time and time again, food was dropped off on their doorstep right when they ran out, Donations were made right before a bill came due, or a plumber offered his services right when the problem needed to be fixed.
Again, Jesus ask Phillip the question, “Where will we get enough food to feed these people?”
John 6:6-7TPT Now Jesus already knew what He was about to do, but He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. 7 Philip answered, “Well, suppose if we were to give everyone only a snack, it would cost thousands of dollars!
John 6:7 Or “two hundred pieces of silver.”
This equates to about eight months’ wages.
Philip didn’t answer Jesus’ question: “Where will we buy enough food to feed all these people?”
Philip was focused on how much money it would cost, but Jesus’ question was, “Where will we buy bread?”
Jesus’ where, equals vision, Proverbs 29:18KJV Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Jesus is the vision. Where, speaks about- people, places and things.
Philip asked, “How much?” Cost could vary. Inflation? How much? Questions like these cause anxiety, and worry.
Jesus was testing Philip. Jesus wanted to supply all that was needed and for Philip not to consider their limited resources. --Jesus is enough!
John 6:7b... it would cost thousands of dollars
to buy enough food!”
Again, Jesus ask where?
In God’s economy, 5 plus 4 =20,000 meals, with 12 doggie bags left over!
God proclaims in, Psalm 50:10NIV for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
Think about this, It makes sense that he would ask Philip, because Philip was from Bethesda, 9 miles away. If anyone should know where to get food, it should be Philip.
Know this, You can know where to get bread but someone still has to serve it, and eat it.
Paul wrote in, Philippians 4:19TPT I am convinced that my God will fully satisfy every need you have, for I have seen the abundant riches of glory revealed to me through the Anointed One, Jesus Christ!
Jesus has an abundant riches of glory!
“In my experience, the will of God rarely adds up. By definition, a God ordain dream will always be beyond your resources and beyond your ability.” P.H
In other words, you cannot afford it and you cannot accomplish it. Not in your lifetime! But God can do more in one day than you can accomplish in 100 lifetimes.
Farther in John 6, The people following Jesus wanted to see more miracles. They proceeded to tell Jesus how Moses supplied for the Israelites.
Listen to, John 6:32-35NLT Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.” 35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life.- Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.
Psalm 37:25KJV I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
John 6:8-9TPT But just then, Andrew, Peter’s brother, spoke up and said, 9 “Look! Here’s a young person with five barley loaves and two small fish... but how far would that go with this huge crowd?”
Andrew gives Jesus something to work with. 2 small fish, and five loaves of barley!
There is an old song that’s called, “Little is much.” Little is much when God is in it!?Labor not for wealth or fame; There’s a crown, and you can win it, If you go in Jesus’ name.
Jesus states, John 6:10TPT “Have everyone sit down,” Jesus said to his disciples. So on the vast grassy slope, more than five thousand hungry men sat down.
Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is God.” And, Psalm 36:8, says that the children of man “feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.”
Notice, Verse 10, simply sit down and rest to be fed the living bread.
Hebrews 4:1NLT God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it.
Jesus longs to feed His people! Again, Jesus simply say’s, “Sit, and rest!” Trust.
John 6:11aTPT Jesus then took the barley loaves...
In, John 6:11, Barley is the first crop to harvest in Israel. It is a picture of the resurrected Christ. A barley loaf becomes a picture of Christ given to us in resurrection life.
Jesus becomes the first fruit of resurrection life.
1 Corinthians 15:20-23NLT But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.
Again, Jesus became the first fruit, or, our Barley loaf.
John 6:11aTPT Jesus then took the barley loaves and the fish and gave thanks to God...
“Giving thanks means to be grateful, Gratefulness generates or, manufactures worship. Wednesday and Sunday worship is wonderful, but real worship goes into every area of my life.” P.H
Worship desires to enter into ‘ones’ entire area of ‘ones’ lifestyle. Worship is a way of life! P.H
Jesus then gave it to His disciples to distribute to the people. Miraculously, the food multiplied, with everyone eating as much as they wanted!
Notice, John 6:11, When tempted by the devil, Jesus refused to turn stones into bread to satisfy his own hunger. Yet here, Jesus--multiplied bread to satisfy the hunger of others.
Philip was hoping to give each one a little to eat, but Jesus’ supply is always abundant to satisfy the hunger of all.
John 6:12-13TPT When everyone was satisfied, Jesus told his disciples, “Now go back and gather up the pieces left over so that nothing will be wasted.” 13 The disciples filled up twelve baskets of fragments, a basket of leftovers for each disciple.
Did you know that John Wesley was a better giver that he was a preacher, which is saying something. He lived by a simple maxim: make all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can. During his lifetime, Wesley gave away approximately 30,000 pounds. Adjusted for inflation, that equals $1,764,705.88 in today's dollars.
The beginning of Wesley's generosity was a covenant he made with God in 1731. He decided to limit his expenses so he had more margin. His income ceiling was 28 pounds. That first year, John Wesley only made 30 pounds, so he gave just 2 pounds. The next year, however his income doubled. And because he continued living on 28 pounds he had 32 pounds to give away. By the third year, his income increased to 90 pounds. And because he kept his expenses flat, he was able to double down on his giving.
John Wesley's goal was to give away all excess income after bills were paid and family needs were taken care of. History records, Rev. John Wesley died with a few coins in his pocket, but he had a bank-roll in Heaven.
Again, the total population of Galilee region was approximately 40,000 at the time of Jesus- Christ. So roughly half of them crossed the sea of Galilee by boat or hiked by foot to get to the mountain side where Jesus had set up camp.
In, John 6:5, When scripture says Jesus saw a great crowd coming toward Him, it's no understatement.
You see, Jesus sees the big picture, He sees the full you. No reserves. He sees you completed.
Colossians 2:10AMP And in Him you have been made complete [achieving spiritual stature through Christ], and He is the head over all rule and authority [of every angelic and earthly power].
In closing, Begin giving thanks for what you have. Give thanks for the 2 fish, and the 5 loaves of barley. Be forever grateful.
Remember, the most celebrated giver in the gospels is the widow who gave next to nothing.
She won the giving game with two mites! But she won because she kept nothing for herself.
Again, what I am saying is, “You can’t out give God!”
Benediction.
