INTRODUCTION
1. Among the miracles of
Jesus that attracted great attention was the
feeding of 5000 with five
loaves of bread and two fish
“After these things
Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. 2And a great
multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that
were diseased. 3And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.
4And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. 5When 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? 6And this he said to prove him: for he
himself knew what he would do. 7Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of
bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, 9There is
a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are
they among so many? 10And 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. 11And
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. 12When they were filled, he said unto his
disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
13Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the
fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them
that had eaten.”
a. Many came to believe in Him as the Prophet to come
“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.”
“The LORD thy God will
raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto
me; unto him ye shall hearken;”
b. Some wanted to take Him by force and make Him king
“When Jesus therefore
perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he
departed again into a mountain himself alone.”
c. People sought to follow Him
“The day following, when
the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none
other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that
Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were
gone away alone;”
“When the people
therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took
shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. 25And when they had found
him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou
hither?”
2. Jesus, who knew the
hearts of men
perceived their selfish
motives...
John 2:25
“And
needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.”
a. They were interested
only in the food, not what the miracle
indicated
“Jesus answered them and
said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the
miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.”
b. Prompting Jesus to
warn them about the food for which they labor
“Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which
endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for
him hath God the Father sealed.”
[The words of Jesus in
our text reveal there are "Two Kinds Of
Food", one that perishes and another that endures.
I. THE FOOD WHICH
PERISHES
A. WHAT FOOD IS THIS...?
1. Literally, it
is the food we eat
a. It quickly perishes,
even with the benefit of preservatives
b. It fails to satisfy
for long, soon we are hungry and thirsty
again
“Jesus answered and said
unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:”
2. Figuratively,
there are other "foods" which soon perish
a. The food of human
wisdom
b. The food of folly
c. The food of mirth and
pleasure
d. The food of great
wealth and industrious labor
-- Which Solomon found
to provide no lasting fulfillment
“And I gave my heart to
know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is
vexation of spirit.”
B. DO NOT LABOR FOR SUCH
FOOD...
1. This does not mean we
are to make no effort to supply our needs
a. A Christian is to
provide for his family
“But if any provide not
for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the
faith, and is worse than an infidel.”
b. If a man does not
work, neither should he eat
“For even when we were
with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he
eat. 11For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working
not at all, but are busybodies. 12Now them that are such we command and exhort
by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own
bread.”
a. The "food"
which perishes should not be our priority in life
“But seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto
you.”
b. A lesson that Martha
needed to learn
“Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain
village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. 39And
she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his
word. 40But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said,
Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her
therefore that she help me. 41And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha,
Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 42But one thing is
needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away
from her.”
[Sadly, many people
expend much time, energy, and money for "food" which
soon perishes. Jesus would have people direct their life's
efforts
toward...]
II. THE FOOD WHICH
ENDURES
A. WHAT FOOD IS THIS...?
1. In other texts,
it is the Word of God
a. By which man truly
lives
“But he answered and
said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
b. Which Job treasured
more than necessary food
“Neither have I gone
back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth
more than my necessary food.”
d. Which David valued more than gold and fine food
“More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold:
sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”
2. In our text,
it is Jesus, the Word of God
a. Jesus, (Word) of God
“In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
“And the Word was made
flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
“No man hath seen God at
any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath
declared him.”
b. He is the true bread
from the Father in heaven
“Our fathers did eat
manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
32Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not
that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33For
the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the
world. 34Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.35And Jesus
said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never
hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
c. He is the bread of
life who offers everlasting life
John 6:47-51
“Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48I am that bread of
life. 49Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50This is
the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not
die. 51I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of
this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh,
which I will give for the life of the world.”
B. LABOR FOR THIS
FOOD...
1. Jesus must be the
primary focus of our labors, in which we
strive:
a. To believe in Him, for therein is everlasting life
John 6:28-29
“Then said they unto
him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29Jesus answered
and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he
hath sent.”
John 6:40
“And this is the will of
him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may
have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
b. To follow Him, for He has the words of eternal life
John 6:66-69
“From that time many of
his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67Then said Jesus unto
the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to
whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69And we believe and are
sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.”
c. To know Him, for that is eternal life
“These words spake
Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come;
glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2As thou hast given him
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him. 3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
d. To obey Him, for to
those who obey He is the author of
eternal life
“And being made perfect,
he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 10Called
of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.”
2. Are we laboring for
the food which endures to everlasting life?
a. Let Paul's attitude
be our example
“But what things were
gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8Yea doubtless, and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung,
that I may win Christ, 9And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith: 10That I may know him, and the power of
his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable
unto his death; 11If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the
dead. 12Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but
I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of
Christ Jesus. 13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto
those things which are before, 14I press toward the mark for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15Let us therefore, as many as be perfect,
be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal
even this unto you.”
1) Seeking to know the
Lord more and more
2) Never content with
our current understanding, always
pressing further
b. Let Peter's
exhortation to diligence in growing in the
knowledge of Jesus
Christ set the standard
“And beside this, giving
all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6And to
knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8For
if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“But grow in grace, and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now
and for ever. Amen.”
1) Seeking to become
like the Lord more and more
2) Always abounding,
always growing in grace and knowledge
**If you would like to give your heart to Jesus today, repeat these words below:
'Dear Heavenly Father,i come to in the name of Jesus; Forgive me a sinner and wash me in your precious blood. Make this heart of stone to be made flesh, so that your word may be sown in it. Any addictions that i may have, remove them now in Jesus name! I've accepted Jesus Christ as my savior and believe that He died and rose from the dead! And from this day forward, i commit my life to you and seek for guidance and understanding in your word, as i walk in your path of righteousness, In Jesus name i pray, AMEN!!!'
If you have recited these words and meant them in your heart, you are saved and if the Lord would come today, you will be ready to go to Heaven!! I will keep you all in prayer, to continue to walk in the ways of Jesus Christ our Lord. READ, PRAY, SEEK and TRUST in Him and you will overcome this wicked world! **
I have also provided a link to the Full Gospel Holiness Church below, where you will find sermons from the word of God (no comprising to sin) but the Full truth to the Word of God! You can also view our contact information to email us or call us for prayer. May God bless you!
http://www.fghconline.com/
