Alright, Brother Jimmy asked me to begin a new series today and you've got the paper for it. Today's lesson is A Lad with No Name and the series title is More Than a Name. So, these are going to be lessons from unnamed people in the Bible. And I will tell you who they are but they don't have a name. So, before we get into the lesson, Just by way of introduction, each of us are given a name at birth. I don't think anybody picked their own name, did they? And sometimes we'd say, well, I wish I had another name. But what does a name do? Identify. Yeah, that's the exact words I was thinking about. Wow, two great minds working together. When somebody hears your name, what do they think of? Just a thought, you don't have to answer that out loud, okay? What do you think of when you hear the name Judas? Or Benedict Arnold? What's the word that comes to mind? Traitor, yeah, okay. What about Paul, like the apostle Paul? What do you think of there? Brookhouse greatest apostle. Okay. We're having missions month. So missionary. Okay. All right. How about the sweetest name in the Bible? Jesus? What do you think about there? Let's look at a couple of verses that talk about Jesus real quick. Okay. Philippians chapter two. I'll just read these. If you want to turn there, that's fine. Verses seven through 11 is what I'm going to read. about Jesus, but He made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found fashioned as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." He wasn't trying to make a name for Himself. But listen to verse 9, "'Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He didn't come here to make a name for himself. He came here to save the world. But God hath highly exalted him. Well, I don't want to get ahead of myself, but he's the perfect example for us. There's an example this past week. President Trump was talking about somebody that had donated $130 million to help with the expenses for the military, and President Trump would never give that person's name. Finally, the name did finally get out, but that man did not want any recognition. I thought that was kind of interesting because most people today Especially people that have money are just kind of proud to say, I did this or I did that. But you know what? You don't have to have money to be that way. Most of us, because we have pride, we kind of want to be in the limelight. We try to do things and get credit for it. I'm trying to remember the exact phrasing of this, but there was something I heard a number of years ago. Whenever we do something, we should be happy if someone else gets the credit, and then all the glory can go to the Lord. If we try to do it and get the credit ourselves, then first of all, we've got our blessing right there, and we probably won't get an eternal blessing for it. Someone has said that it takes a lifetime to build a good name, but you can lose it in just a minute. So our reputation that we build behind our name is very important and valuable. Proverbs 22 verse 1 says, a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver or gold. It's more valuable than riches, a good name. Ecclesiastes 7.1, a good name is better than precious ointment. If you've had to buy perfume, you know how precious that is. I don't buy perfume, but I've heard it's pretty expensive. or it can be. Proverbs 10 verse 7, the memory of the just is blessed but the name of the wicked shall rot. So in reality our reputation is far more important than even our name. Whether your name is Bill or Andrew, Jill or Rosemary that is secondary to the testimony that you bear. And such is the case with the characters and scriptures that we are going to study in this series. God has withheld their name from the record. But the lessons they taught with their lives are still living and instruct us today. As God said of Abel in Hebrews 11 verse four, he being dead yet speaketh. So it's my prayer that as we go through these lessons of unnamed individuals in the Bible that it will teach us to have a lasting impact for the Lord Jesus Christ. So the first individual we're going to study today is a boy, a lad with no name. Now his name's not recorded, but his generosity touched the lives of thousands of people. So let's just look at some goals for our lesson today. As we go through this lesson, and we may not get through the whole thing. Brother Jimmy is a master at landing that airplane or helicopter without a, you know, he just, he can put it down quick. So we may have to do that today. And we don't have a clock up here anymore, so all right. And I'm going to intentionally try to get done a little early just because of other things I've got to do today. So Brother Eddie's not here today, so I'll be leading the singing. And I'd like to talk to Miss Hannah about the choir just a little bit. So y'all just pray for me. So some of the goals for the lesson today, though, understand that our inner character is more important than our outward perception. determined to always be in the right place with the right people doing the right things. These are things that hopefully we already know, but hopefully this will be a good reminder. And you know, even if you're a grandparent, you still have influence. As a parent, obviously you have influence. If you don't have any children, if you don't have any grandchildren, you still have influence in people's lives. So these things aren't just for you or for somebody else. They're for you to help somebody else as well. Number three, to rely on God's wisdom rather than our own to use what we have for his glory. And four, conclude that it is far more blessed and enjoyable to give than it is to keep. And finally, pray that the Lord would do mighty miracles today through our faithfulness to him. The Lord wants to use us. We've talked about that in the past. Every time somebody gives a lesson they're talking about how God wants to use us. So our outline just to go ahead and you can go ahead and fill this in and that way you can pay more attention when we're talking up here. Number one is the boy's character. The boy's character. So letter A is the right preparation. These all begin with P. The right place is B. C, the right people. And D, the right patients. And that's where I'm going to stop. I'm not going to do number two right now. And I'm getting way ahead. I'm just giving them the outline right now. So you can go back to the beginning, brother. I'm not using a clicker. I got a remote control back there. All right, let's get into the lesson today. We've got some scriptures to read. Let's look at John chapter 6, verses 1 through 9. So John chapter 6, verses 1 through 9 says, So I thought, you know what? What happened when it says after these things? That means something took place before this. Let's go back up to chapter 5 and look at a few things. So in chapter 5, Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath day. Y'all remember that? And you remember what happened? The religious leaders got upset that somebody got healed. Can you imagine? Okay. He said in verse 8, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole and took up his bed. The Jews, therefore, in verse 10, said unto him that was cured, It is the Sabbath day. It is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. Well, I just got healed. So you know what happened there. And Jesus began to talk to them in verse 14. He told after Jesus found him in the temple and said unto him, Behold thou art made whole, sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee. And then Jesus answered the religious leaders in verse 17, but Jesus answered them, My father worketh hereto and I work. Well, they didn't want anybody to work on the Sabbath, even if it was doing something right, doing something that God told them to do. So, we see in the verses 19 through the end of the chapter, and I'm not going to read all these, we see Jesus basically giving them a sermon. Let me jump down to, I think it's 43. In the midst of this, he says, I am come in my father's name. And as I was going through it, just reviewing these verses that happened before and after, this is the things that happened before chapter six, it struck me that Jesus said, I am come in my father's name. We're talking about nameless people, okay, in this lesson. But Jesus said, I am come in my father's name, a very important name, and you receive me not, If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. They refused the name above all names, but they would accept any other name, basically. Just thought that was interesting. So let's get into chapter 6 now. After these things, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased." I'm going to put my glasses on, that might make it a little easier. Now I look like Brother Eddie. Okay. And Jesus went up in the mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. When 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? And this he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, 200 penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, there is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many? There's a lot packed in those few verses. So first of all, we see this first individual is a mere boy. You know, this particular miracle that was performed is the only miracle that's in all four Gospels. I thought that was kind of interesting. But yet, despite that, it's in all four Gospels, the name of this little boy is not recorded. He had a lunch with him. How many of y'all carried your lunch to school when you were little? Anybody? Did your mom write your name on your lunch bag? I was going to bring a paper bag just for illustration this morning. I don't think we have those anymore. Not the little paper sacks. I could have brought a Ziploc, I guess. I don't remember personally carrying a lunch to school. I remember eating lunch at school, but I carry a lunch now as an adult. So I make my own peanut butter and honey sandwich. Or Ron will make it for me most of the time. But this little boy had a lunch, and if his mom had his name written on it, we don't even know that because there's no record of this little boy's name. But the full and satisfied multitudes went home that day. didn't even know where it came from. Well, they know it came from Jesus, but they didn't know where it started with. And we don't know anything about it either. So, number one, the boy's character. So, scripture doesn't record much about this little boy except that he had a lunch. So, we're kind of reading between the lines on some of these things, but all these are biblical principles, okay? So, to have the right character, he had to first of all have the right preparation. And there. All right, so in John chapter 6 verse 9, it says, there is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes. So we know that there were 5,000 men plus women and children. That could be potentially a crowd of at least 25,000 people that were sitting on that hillside for a good portion of the day. And we don't know. This is the only person we know that had any lunch with them as a little boy. So only one little boy in this entire crowd thought ahead and prepared. And I'm pretty sure it was probably his mom that prepared that for him. You know, too often we look forward to the performance moments of our life, but spend little time in preparation. And when I say performance, that means what we seek to accomplish, OK? So if you have something you're trying to accomplish, unfortunately, in the spiritual realm, a lot of times we say, well, the Lord will help me do it. Well, that's true. But how about this? Psalm 119 says this. This is an example of our preparation and our performance. Thy word have I hid in my heart. There's the preparation. So what's the performance? That I might not sin against thee. If we don't prepare, how are we going to do what God wants us to do? And this little boy, he was prepared in this situation. He had a lunch. So if we neglect to prepare our hearts and minds through the study of God's Word and prayer, we fail to prepare for Him to use us. In Ezra chapter 7 verse 10, talking about Ezra. He was trying to stir the people up to revival, but God didn't just use him because he was wanting to do something. He was preparing to do something. In Ezra 7 verse 10 it says, For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, that's God's word, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. God uses his word. And I tell the choir sometimes as far as, you know, we're singing, we're preparing to quote-unquote perform. It's not a performance, okay, but it's an activity and we're trying to accomplish something for the Lord. That's what performance means, trying to accomplish something for the Lord. In preparation for that, our performance, if you will, is not going to be any better than how we do in choir practice. Our practice is what is reflected later on. If we don't practice or if we have, you know, if we don't try, if we don't put effort into it, then when we get out here, then the Lord's not going to bless that. And I'm talking about really our heart preparation mostly, okay? And I remind them, we should be having a revival while we're up here practicing, not just when we get out here. because the Lord is speaking to us when we're practicing as well. So the right preparation is very, very important in order to have an accomplishment for the Lord. And number two, or letter B, we need to be in the right place. Verse nine in chapter six says, there is a lad here. Now I'm sure there are probably other little boys there, but this is the one that's pointed out in scripture. It doesn't say if he was with his parents or with his friends. It appears, just what we can see, it appears that he was there by himself. But you know, knowing little boys, and I have a grandson that's seven years old, and I was a little boy at one time, too. But what do we like to do when we're little? We like to get out and run and play and play ball, play with our friends, go fishing. I mean, there's a gazillion things little boys love to do. And that little boy could have been doing any of those things. But he chose to be with Jesus. Just a thought. And I know you're here. Nobody had to make you come, OK? The ones that need to hear this aren't here. But you can be the encourager, OK? So I just wrote this down. Our Sunday school crowd is probably made up of folks who are mostly God motivated, and trying to encourage others to do the right thing. So you don't have to be prompted to be here, probably. Maybe your spouse has to say, OK, it's time to get up. You've heard the story of the man that said, I really just don't feel like going today. I just don't think I can do it. And his wife said, honey, you've got to get up. You're the pastor. We don't have that problem in our church, do we? Okay. Does a friend or family member have to remind you to spend time with God each day? You know, it's good to have accountability, and it's good, especially if a spouse encourages you. But we shouldn't depend on that. We should be motivated ourselves. Joshua 24, verse 15, this is talking about Joshua. He wasn't waiting for the crowd to provide the momentum to serve the Lord. It says in verse 15, And if it seemed evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And the best way to be a testimony to those around you is to always be where you should be on Sunday. You know, your neighbors should be able to set their clock on Sunday morning by when you leave the house. Okay, they should know where you're going. Not forsaking, Hebrews 10, 25 says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. So this little boy had the right preparation, he was in the right place, and let her see he was around the right people. So when Jesus asked the disciples to get food to feed the hungry, it just so happened that the only person with food was standing next to Andrew. Was this a coincidence? What do you think? There are no coincidences with God. And I've probably said this before, because I like this phrase, has it ever occurred to you that nothing has ever occurred to God? Think about that. So verse 6 tells us that Jesus already knew what he would do. And this he said to prove him for he himself knew what he would do. The Lord knew way before any of this ever happened what was going to happen. And he knew that little boy was going to be there. And it's interesting that the disciples They said, there is a lad here which has five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many? Who was he talking to when he said that? He was talking to Jesus. You know, I mean, I wasn't there, so I can only imagine. Those guys really still did not have a clue of who Jesus was. I mean, they'd seen him perform miracles, but they still was not really registered with him that he was the son of God. He was part of the Godhead, the Trinity. He was part of the creation. I mean, he helped create this world. He spoke it into existence. And I know that, you know, we're humans and we can't even comprehend all that. But he was asking God, what's these little things, you know, compared to the crowd that's here? But little did he know what God was going to do. So Jesus knew the boy with the lunch wouldn't get lost in the crowd. He knew the boy wasn't looking for friends or activity or trouble. He was there looking to hear Jesus. So he was around the right people. So, conclusion of this, when we associate ourselves with the right kind of people, we put ourselves in a position where God can use us. Proverbs 13, 20, and every one of us should know this verse and every child should know this. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. It's very, very important who you hang around with. Now, as Christians, We need to be a friend to sinners, but they don't need to be our best buds. You've heard of people that have ended up spending time in prison because they were with the wrong people. They may not have even committed the crime. They were just there. Maybe they drove the car, or maybe even just sat in the car, just associated with those people. You have to be careful who you hang around with. So God isn't looking for people who are sleeping in on Sunday or wasting their time on the internet to use His miraculous, He's not looking for those people to use in His miraculous work today. He looks for people who are delighted in His Word with His people. And Psalm 1 verses 1 and 2 say, Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law does he meditate. Day and night. I thought I was going to get halfway through this lesson, but I'm going to have to wind her up. It is 10, almost 10 after. Tell you what, we've got time to do this last point. OK, let's do the right patients, and then we'll quit. So speaking of bringing your lunch, If you took your lunch to school yourself and you had a break before lunch, you may have been tempted to do this, to get into your lunch. You know, especially if your mom put some snacks in there or something. So this miracle appears to have taken place toward late afternoon, just before the people were actually going to be going home. Yet this little boy's lunch was still there. He must have been paying attention to what Jesus was saying. He wasn't thinking about that lunch. He was well prepared in the right place with the right people. But if you're not patient for God's timing, that can mess the whole thing up. So it's possible that there were other people there that had a lunch or brought a lunch. If so, we don't know anything about them, maybe because they already ate it. I don't know. I'm just speculating, okay? Scripture doesn't tell us any of these things, but the Lord gives us an imagination. You've probably noticed in Scripture, and even in your own life, that God's timing is always perfect. He is never early, and He is certainly never late. You don't have to raise your hand, I'm sure that there's more than one of us who's gotten ahead of God's timing. I saw that. And when we do that, what happens? We mess something up, don't we? Because God's ways are perfect. To everything there is a season, Ecclesiastes tells us, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. And our timing often is different than God's. So that's why we really should be really close to Him so we can know the timing on things. Isaiah 55 tells us, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. So prepare yourself by being in God's Word daily. and by spending time in prayer before him. Be in the right places, stay faithful in your home and in the local church, fellowship with the right people, make good and godly friends who will encourage you spiritually, then let God work. When these four priorities are part of your character, God can and will use you. Psalm 37 7 says, rest in the Lord and wait patiently on him. Well, I just landed the airplane. Okay, let's pray. Lord, as we have been encouraged from your word today, help us to apply these things in our lives, Lord, so that we can be used by you. We know that you're faithful, and help us, Lord, to be faithful. Continue to be a brother to Jimmy. We thank you for him and Miss Sheila. Just continue to encourage them throughout the day. Look forward to their return, and we look forward to the rest of the day, what you have for us. In Jesus' name we pray.