Now, our text today is one of the most well-known miracles of Jesus. It is the only miracle that is told in all four Gospels. And that tells me that it's important, that it made a big impression on all the apostles, on all the people that wrote this. Now, knowing the importance of every syllable of Scripture, the challenge for this text is not the fantastical nature of this miracle, but that the simplicity of this miracle belies what it truly means for you and me. And quite simply, the feeding of the 5,000 is not just a marvel because of the miracle itself, but because of the miracle maker, right? And what it says about him. The title of today's sermon is A Sheep Without a Shepherd. And I've organized this sermon into a three-point outline. A shepherd's care, a shepherd's means, and a shepherd's promise. First, a shepherd's promise, verses 13 to 14. I'll read it again. When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart. And when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. Now to fully understand the why of this miracle, I know you've heard a lot over the last few weeks, we really need to know what Jesus heard and why he went to a desert place. Scripture tells us that Jesus knew that Herod, who was the king of the time of one of the areas, believed that Jesus was John the Baptist reborn. Before this, Herod, who was the ruler of Galilee, had married his brother's wife. She was divorced. He married her. And according to Jewish custom, that was not lawful. It wasn't right. And John, being a man of God, he called sin, sin. He proclaimed publicly to all that would hear that this was not lawful. And Herod had him in prison for it. Right? It's not like today where we can kind of speak our mind. Herod had him in prison, right? But because he feared the people, he did not kill him. He didn't punish him. He just kind of kept him in prison for a while, right? And later on, Herod had made like an ill-time oath to his daughter, saying, I will give you whatever you ask of me. And she says, I want John the Baptist's head. And now he was kind of in a corner. So he beheaded him. And around this time, Herod's guilt, Herod's guilt is kind of clawing at his heart. And he believed that the miracles that Christ was doing, and just before this, he sent the disciples out and they were doing miracles. And in his heart, he said, this is proof that John the Baptist has returned to torment me. And it made sense, right, that Jesus would want to leave out of Herod's jurisdiction, right? His time hadn't come. He wasn't afraid to die, but Scripture had to be fulfilled. Jesus had an appointed time to die, and it was on the cross. So the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 was believed to have occurred in Bethsaida, which was near the Sea of Galilee. And this was under the jurisdiction of Philip, which is Herod's brother. And so he was out of danger, so to speak. At the same time, I really do believe that Jesus was mourning the death of John, right? This is the man that Jesus had said was the greatest man born of woman. And in His humanity, I really believe that Jesus certainly must have felt the loss. Hebrews 4.15 says, For we have not had a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted, like as are we, yet without sin. And isn't it miraculous that the God of all creation weeps for His saints, that He is and was moved with compassion for us? Isn't it amazing that God doesn't send us away or tell us now is not a good time, right? He actually tells us in 1 Peter 5, 7 to cast our cares upon him, to bring everything to him in prayer. So it was with this sad news and under threat that Jesus chose to depart and separate himself, and yet the people followed him. Like one would follow a circus or a celebrity or a basketball team, right? They just followed him. And John 6-2 kind of describes the people's motivation. Like I said, I'm going to be jumping around because all four Gospels kind of touch on this subject. And it said, and a great multitude followed him because they saw his miracles, which he did on them that were diseased. And I've always thought to myself as I read this, would I have gone for the spectacle? Would I have followed Jesus where he went because he's healing people and he's doing all these wonderful things and it's interesting? Or would I have sought Jesus because I believe that he was from God? And I wonder what would everyone here have done? And I like to believe the best about ourselves that that we would have gone because this man is preaching about the kingdom of God, this man is of God, this is proof that he is the Messiah that's come. But I'm not sure what I would do. And where Jesus went, his disciples followed. They followed him because he was the Messiah. And all of them were in a desert place or a deserted place. And there was no food, and Jesus had compassion on the multitude. Now Matthew 9.36 says, for when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Mark 6.34 describes it this way. This is another parallel account. And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as a sheep not having a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. Now the Greek word used here is not trivial. Compassion. He had compassion on them, which meant he felt something like deep in his bowels, right? He was very moved by what he saw. He saw them as lost sheep. And I know some of you may not really understand what relationship there is between a shepherd and a sheep. And Jesus kind of uses his illustration a lot because the people of the day would have understood what he meant. And sheep, if you're unfamiliar, they're dumb, they're directionless, they're defenseless. Right? They need a good shepherd to kind of herd them together, to protect them from predators like lions and bears. And in the same way, we are spiritually dumb. We are defenseless. We are directionless. And we need a good shepherd to protect us from the spiritual darkness that surrounds us, and the spiritual darkness that's inside of us. In John 10-11, Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd that lays down his life for his sheep. So when Jesus saw the people and saw that they were a sheep without a shepherd, it was like saying he saw a bunch of helpless babies just walking around aimlessly. That's what he felt. That's the compassion he had on them. So though Jesus ministered unto them, he was preaching, and he was healing them physically, he was also preaching about the kingdom of God. He was there telling them about the coming kingdom. He was telling them about what to expect and how they should be, you know, like on the Sermon on the Mount. And before we move on, I just want you to understand that the purpose of Christ's miracles was not just for the miracles, but to prove that He was the Messiah, that He was the one that was sent by God to take away the sins of the people. Acts 2.22 explains that, ye men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as you also know. So he's saying this was a man that was approved of God. This is a man that you've seen because of the miracles, because of the wonders, and because of the signs, you know for a fact that this was a man from God and that you should have listened to him. on top of the resurrection that comes later. And indeed, when John the Baptist, who was at the time in prison, sent his disciples to ask Jesus, are you indeed the Messiah? He's in prison. He's going to die. We just found out he's beheaded. And he's wondering, was my life meaningless? Right? I was there when he said, this is my son whom he is well pleased, but things are not looking well for me right now. Is my life pointless? And Jesus answers him very simply. He says, go back and report to John what you've seen and what you've heard, right? The blind receive sight. the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached. You see that pattern? I'm doing all these things that only a man of God could do, and the good news is preached. It's followed up with the kingdom of God, with what God requires of us. And I don't want you to understand, Jesus' compassion was not only for the physical ailments. Right? We hear a lot about the healings and the healings, but he was more concerned about the burden of sin that was on the people. The miracles were themselves a means to an end. The purpose wasn't just to heal sick, and I know this is going to sound bad, but the sick who were eventually going to die. Right? That couldn't have been the purpose of the Messiah coming on earth in the flesh, to just kind of get them through the situation at first and then they're going to die right after, right? Right? But it was to make known that He was the Messiah sent to save the elect. And this reminds me, I went to a bookstore one time with some brothers, and we were having a debate. And a lady walked by, and she said, oh, Christians, hey, you know, we started talking, we were having a good conversation. And she says to me, I believe in God because I had cancer, and He healed my cancer, and I believe in God. And I said, oh, amen. And we were talking some more, and we started going to the substance, and she didn't know anything. Her faith was built on the fact that God had saved her this one time. And I'm thinking to myself, as a young Christian, well, what happens if you get sick again? Will your fate go away at that point? What happens when you eventually are on your deathbed? Where is your faith going to be, right? So our faith cannot be in the miracles. It cannot be in the things that, whether we're having a good, if everything is going well in your life right now, That's not, oh, well, amen, praise God. And when it goes bad, you're like, I don't know. Not really sure what my faith was. So if we who profess to be Christians are walking around and seeing all these people, are you having compassion on them? Are you saying, ah, it's kind of tough. That guy lost his job. Or, it's kind of a messed up day and that disease is really tough. Or are you looking and saying, these are sheep, not a shepherd. These are people on the way to hell. These are people who do not know God. And I know the truth. And I have five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes to tell them about the truth of God. Are you concerned that way about the people that you see? Or are they just obstacle in your way to easy life? I could get home, but I got to drive this guy home. No, it's an opportunity to preach the gospel. So when Jesus saw the multitude, he had compassion on them. Now, how can we truly call ourselves Christians when we see men and women and children walking headlong into hell and we say, and we don't tell them the good news. So when you read that Jesus had compassion, I don't want you to think about, oh, there were some sick people, he just, you know, he felt sorry. No, no, he said, they need to hear the gospel. I wanna rest, I'm tired, but they need to hear the gospel. And that's a shepherd's care. Now what shepherds means. It's a long text, so I'm gonna read verse 15 and 19 again, 15 through 19. And when it was evening, the disciples came to him saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past. Send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto him, they need not depart. Give you them to eat. And they say unto him, we have here but five loaves and two fishes. And he said, bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass. And he took the five loaves and the two fishes. And looking up to heaven, he blessed and break, and he gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitude." Now, I've always read this scripture believing that the disciples, they saw the people, they were moved with compassion, they go to Jesus, say, Jesus, let's send these guys home, right? They look hungry, it's a deserted place, let's send these guys home. And I'm like, wow, that's, you know, that's good of them to notice that. But John's account kind of shows a different picture. In John 6, verse 5 through 6, he says, when Jesus then lifted up his eyes and he saw a great company come on to him, he says unto Philip, when shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do. So Jesus asked them earlier in the day to provide food for the people. And then hours and hours later, after Jesus has been preaching and teaching and healing, the disciples come to Him, and rather than coming up with a way to feed the people, they say, you know what, send them home, send them away. That's the solution. That's the solution. And now, remember, the scripture says the 5,000, we all talk about the feeding of the 5,000, but it was more than 15,000. It's possibly 20,000 people, because there were 5,000 men, but there were women, and there were children there, and they were greater in number. So the disciples in their flesh, they're like, how are we gonna feed so many people? They're following Christ. This is a command from the prophet, from the man, from God, telling them to do something. And they've been struggling while he's preaching and teaching. They're like, what are we going to do? How are we going to do this command? This is impossible. And remember, they were in a desert place. There were no supermarkets. There was no DoorDash. There was no all-night fast food restaurants. It was an impossible task. So when the disciples come to Jesus in verse 15, and they say, send the people away, Jesus knew. He wanted to know what would their answer be when they were faced with the impossible. And I want you to think as we go through this, what is your answer when Jesus or God puts it on your heart to do something difficult? So when Jesus says to them, they need not depart, give them something to eat. They don't have to go anywhere. You give them something to eat. I could imagine the disciples, their hearts just dropping. Like, have you ever been given a task by someone you love and respect and you're like, I can't do this? You know, how do you tell them, like, I know you have a lot of faith in me, but I cannot do what you're asking me to do. And this was the disciples' pattern. This is what they normally did. In Matthew chapter 19, the children are coming on to Christ, and they're running around, and the disciples are distracted, and they say to Jesus, tell the children to go. Let's get them away. And Jesus says, no, no, don't forbid the children from coming on to me. Don't stop the children from coming on to me. This is the kingdom. Right? In Matthew chapter 15, verse 23, the Canaanite woman which is not a Jew. They didn't have respect for people who weren't Jewish. He comes out and she cries, Jesus, have mercy on me. She sees him healing everyone else. He's like, have mercy on me. And the disciples, they're bothered. They say, send her away. Just send her away. Now, these are the men who are with Christ. He's preaching of the kingdom, and they're telling to send people away because it's difficult, it's hard. But Jesus didn't do that. It makes me laugh. I know it's not funny. It makes me laugh to think of their response. What is our mission as Christians? To reach the lost. And it's a fact that everyone who comes to Christ knows and has to recognize that they're broken inside. And we all realize that we calm everyone with sin just kind of pouring over us, right? And as a church, our solution cannot be to send them away. Oh, I don't like how he looks. I don't like the tattoos. I don't like the language. I don't like how she dresses. That person is a little, it's a little creepy the way he comes in. That's not our job. It's the, hey brother, welcome to the church. You know, do you want to hear about Jesus? There was a guy that came from another church, I think it was North Carolina, and he was so inspiring. He was like, I just want to talk about Jesus. He didn't want to talk about sports. He didn't want to know what my day was. He just wanted to talk about Jesus. We have to have a heart like that. And I would say that we need to pray to Jesus to change our hearts about that person, change our perspective about that person, and to heal that person. That's what we should be doing. That's what the disciples should have been thinking about. And I know some of you are here who are unsaved, and you're thinking, no one understands the darkness in my heart. No one understands the difficulties I've faced. No one understands what I've done. And I want to tell you that Jesus understands. And I want to tell you that the people here who look polished and ready, and they seem so godly, they know. And they will understand whatever you tell them. And Jesus mends broken hearts, and he dries tears. Now, knowing all of this, it seems unfair. Knowing the situation, the 20,000, 15,000 people, the lack of resources, the lack of money, the lack of food, it's understandable that the disciples would feel that it was impossible. Even today, with all the modern enhancements, with all the technology, with all the abundance, I think it would be really hard for 12 of us to go outside and see 20,000 people. It's just not possible. But you want to know what's really impossible? It's going out and spreading the gospel to all the earth. It's loving your neighbor as yourself. It's turning the other cheek. It's being humble, being kind, being loving, being gentle. It's speaking the truth in love. Are you guys seeing a pattern here? It's impossible to do the things that God commands us to do. It's impossible to do the things that God commands us to do. So it's understandable and it's human to look at these things as being beyond us or impossible. But the disciples who were walking with Jesus for over two years and have seen all the miracles, this should be unforgivable, right? They didn't consider the creator of the universe. They didn't consider Jesus to be the answer to this problem. It's a lack of faith, in my opinion. Now imagine this. Jesus has spent all day tending to those lost sheep. He's worn down. He's been preaching and teaching and healing thousands of people. And the disciples come to him and says, Jesus, send them away. They need food. They need to go back to their daily lives. We can see that you're tired, right? You need rest. I see you do miracle after miracle after miracle. They can come back tomorrow. You guys have been, you're outside evangelizing all day. You've been there for three hours. You know, someone comes up to you and they want to talk about the kingdom. You got to go home. You're tired. No, no. They can come back tomorrow. You're going to preach next Saturday. It's going to be OK. But Jesus doesn't follow that logic, right? He says, feed them. Now remember, they were there. Remember, it says in the Bible that the things that Jesus has done, if they were able to just Like, write it all down. It would be thousands of books. There's no way to capture it all. But we have some of the highlights that has happened before this point. Jesus heals Peter's sick mother-in-law, right? He cleansed the man from leprosy. He healed his paralyzed centurion servant. There was a paralytic that they let down from the roof, down. And he healed them. These disciples were there for all of that. Jesus even calmed the seas, right? Imagine a man being able to make the seas calm. Knowing all this, the disciples say to Jesus, oh, we only have two fishes and a couple of loaves. I don't think that could do anything. They're saying, Lord, it's impossible. It's not practical, right? We only have so much money. We only have so much resources. We just, we don't have enough time. Like, we can't do what you want us to do. And I ask you, is that news to Christ? Was he unaware of the situation? Is he unaware of the obstacles that you face in your life, whether it be at your job or your relationship or the health or the bad knee or the back? Is he not aware of that when he made the command to go and teach? all the nations? Did he not realize that you would have political issues and financial issues, and sometimes you didn't want to go to church that day, and you didn't really want to go on Saturday to evangelize? He was aware of all that, right? But you have to remember, and I said it, some of you giggled, that we're dumb, directionless, and defenseless. It's hard to do any of these things without Christ. So I could understand how the disciples felt, but it's still... I'm trying to be in their shoes, but I've seen Jesus do the impossible, and now we've reached the point He can do it. Now, I want to get a little bit more into the miracle, right? How does Jesus feed the people? Does He create food from thin air? Does He make food fall from the sky? Does He just kind of... and everyone is full? He doesn't do that. He doesn't do that. He says, OK, we have two fishes and loaves, and then he starts to demonstrate the method by which he expects us to work in his name in the world. He causes a meager amount of food to multiply exponentially. Verse 19, and he commanded the multitude to sit on the grass. He took out the five loaves, it was five loaves, five loaves and two fishes, and he looks up to the heaven and he blesses, he breaks, he gives the loaves to the disciples, and then the disciples give the loaves to the multitude. One, he asked them to make them sit. He puts them, Luke says, in companies of 50. 50 here, 50 there, 50 there, 50 there. What was the purpose of that? Well, he wanted to make it easier to distribute the food, easier to get it out, but also he wanted to get an accurate count of the amount of people that were there. Now, I remember a couple of years ago that our former president, he was using hyperbolic language, and he says, there was a group of students who won a championship, they came to the White House, and he says, I gave them enough burgers to go to the ceiling. And then there were some news people who were checking the facts. They went there, they did all this research and stories about how much food it was and how it wouldn't touch the ceiling. And I'm like, this is a waste of time. But I say this because even then and now, people don't believe things unless you have numbers and facts and data. They're going to doubt it. And I think if they had said, hey, heard about that guy Jesus? He fed a bunch of people the other day. Yeah, it was a bunch of them. Like, it's not the same as saying 5,000. It's not the same as quantifying the number, and it was a lot easier if they were in 50s. All right? It makes it more understandable to anyone when you say 5,000 men, and then there were women, and there were children, they were in the Sea of Galilee, and it was a deserted place. There was no secret stash of food. Once again, this miracle was to show the impossibility of the task ahead. So Jesus, once again, he does this process, right? Looking up to heaven, to God, then he blesses the food, he breaks it, he gives it out, and then it goes out to disciples, and then they go to each of the people, right? This is a pattern that's been set. And I want you to understand what this means for us. Because in John 17, Jesus prays in Gethsemane, before he goes and he makes the ultimate sacrifice for us, he says, I am praying not only for those who are here, but for those in the future who are going to believe on me, even though they've never seen me. The Scriptures are very clear that we will not see Christ until he returns a second time. So every single person here has never met Jesus. They don't have a personal connection. They just have read the Scriptures. They were told the gospel and they believed. He says, I pray for those people. Because the disciples were there and they saw the miracles and they were still confused. But we believe without seeing it, without knowing it for sure. We have faith that the Holy Spirit's given us the faith. So this pattern, so this means that we are his hands and feet. This is the way that God reaches the world through Michael and Aziz and Rose. This is how he reaches the world. Romans 10, 14, chapter 10, verses 14, 15 explains, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. So we are God's means. So you can understand how I spent so much time talking about how offensive it is to turn people away. We're it. The only way people are going to know Jesus is through us. That is it. The method is, God gives us a word, he puts it on our heart, we go talk to that stranger and that stranger says, wow, there's somebody in this world that cares about me. And he says, why do you care about me? I said, I care about you because Jesus cares about you. You see the pattern, you see why it's important that even when you're tired and times are rough and there are obstacles and difficulties in your day, that you still make time for the things of God. And rather than spending time talking about how difficult it is for other people, say, I know of a solution to this problem. I know something that's greater than this job loss, or this relationship loss, or this death. Remember, once again, I want to see a pattern. Jesus did this miracle, and he did it in this way because he wanted it to be an example for us. When he raises Lazarus from the dead, and I know most of you from the dead, most of you know this, he prays out loud, and he says, I did it, I know, God, that you know, but I did it for the people around me to hear this so they would know that I am for you and that you're doing this. He could have just said, Lazarus, get up, but he decided to pray first. So I want us, the people of God, to stop trying to work things out in our own strength. Because the shepherd's means is for us to pray and ask him, Jesus, how do I do this? You've commanded me to do it. How do I do it? God, give me the strength to do it. And I don't mean, and like I said, and I also believe in prayer. I believe that God does miracles today. And I don't mean in a mystical, charismatic way, right, popularized by the churches today, where people are being slayed in the Spirit and all these fantastical things are happening, but I'm talking about how, and if you think about even today, how God is helping the saints to overcome the impossible, the improbable every day, how prayer is helping us. Like, it's helping me in this very moment to do the sermon in front of you. Right? We are his means, so when you're facing difficulty, pray to him to help you. Do not let the obstacles of this world keep you from spreading the gospel. So we learned of the shepherd's care, and the shepherd's means, and now the shepherd's promise. So what does the feeding of the 5,000 mean for us today? Man, was it just something that happened in a particular place, at a particular time, to a particular people, and it's really interesting? I read about in the Bible that someone, food multiplied. Can't do it again today. Miracle is not repeatable, but it happened. It's interesting. But what I think, that when Jesus says to feed the people, He's not referring to meat and vegetables, right? He's not referring to helping everyone that comes in and get their finances right, get them in shape, get them dressing better, having a better self-image about themselves. That's not what he means by feeding them, right? I think he's talking about being the bread of life. Once again, do you remember the Great Commission? What is it? Go and make disciples of all the nations. baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." That's it. That's what we're supposed to be doing. I can tell you all these other things. I can give you a list of things that we as Christians are supposed to do, but if you focus on that one thing, you're doing the will of God. And the truth is that the Great Commission is to reach the lost. We should always have that in the foremost of our minds, right? Whether you're the lowest to the highest, whether you're the person who just got saved five minutes ago, or you're the pastor of a big, gigantic church. Everyone's been given the same task. And I want to ask you also, the multitude that were there, were they there for food? Are you guys here for food? Well, we had meals and miracles. Some of you here at six o'clock, there was good food, things that were provided. Were you here for just the food? Did you hear, hey, this church, they're giving out free food. That's not why you came. Is that what the world needs, though? Do they need another food pantry? Is that the primary reason that the church is here? Do we only have two choices? Feed the lost, which means the material thing is giving them things, or sending them away? Come back when you have your entire life in order. she dresses, her skirt is too short." Come back when you know how to dress better. Come back when you're more of a Christian. Then we will kind of accept you. Right now, we can't accept you. Now, I believe that we're commanded to do both things. We're commanded to provide for each other We're provided to be a welcoming place where anyone can come in, even if we don't agree with their views politically or whatever else they believe, that this should be a home for them to come and say, this is the kingdom of God, I will be accepted. So when Jesus is healing the people, when he's doing these miracles, he's constantly preaching about the kingdom. The healing, the miracles were a byproduct of that. And I want you to remember what I said before, that Jesus refers to the people as the sheep without a shepherd. Sheep without a shepherd. Sheep without a shepherd. And he's constantly referring to us in that way. If you read scriptures, he's constantly referring to us that way. And in John chapter six, verse 32, 33, this is about this account. He specifically says it. He said, then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, which means truly, truly, I say unto you, Moses gave you not the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. And so Jesus is saying, when Moses, when they went to wilderness, he brought down food six days. Right? But what happened? They were hungry again. They had to bring down more food. They were constantly hungry. And they what? They all died. They all perished. But Jesus who's coming, he is the true bread. He is what gives life to the world. Do you understand? When Jesus was tempted by the devil for 40 days and 40 nights, what did he say? He says that man cannot live by bread alone. Then why are we fascinated with the 5,000 about the feeding? Jesus had compassion on them. He didn't want them to be starved. He didn't want them to be hungry. But the purpose of it wasn't the miracles themselves. It wasn't to feed them food, but it was to make them know that He was the foretold Messiah. He was the direct representative of God, because only God could do these things. And I don't want you to be ignorant about that fact. I want you to know that Jesus is the true bread from heaven. He is what you are hungering for, not the miracles, not the best life, not if all of your problems were solved and everything was perfect would you come to him. He is what you need more than anything else in this world. So the promise of the shepherd to his sheep is that Christ came not to condemn the world, but that in order that through him the world might be saved. The promise is not that you will get everything you desire in this life, but that you will not die in your trespasses and sins, that you will not be judged according to your own sins, but through his blood. And yes, Jesus will provide, God will provide for your material needs. There hasn't been a day since I've been a Christian where I was really concerned about what was gonna happen in my life, because I knew that if I prayed and I would stick my head, God was gonna take care of my needs, right? Not my wants. It wasn't gonna necessarily be comfortable. There was a lot of things that happened to me now that I look back that would have destroyed me before I was a Christian, right? But I know that he's gonna provide for my needs, right? In fact, he laid his life for us. He died for us. And at the point when he's explaining this to the people, you would think that Jesus would kind of tone it down. After he says, I'm the bread of life, life goes through me, the disciples are there, he goes on and he says something even more extreme. He says in verse 53 that, except that you eat the flesh of the son of man and you drink his blood, there is no life in you. Think about it. A man comes to you and he says, if you don't eat my flesh and drink my blood, there's nothing there for you. And so a lot of the disciples, they abandoned him at that point. Even after the feeding of the 5,000, they said, this guy, I can't deal with this guy. They were offended. And I asked, what would you do? What would you do if you had heard that? That the only way to make it into heaven, to be with God, was to eat another man's flesh and drink his blood. But Jesus always spoke this way in parables, because he wanted to see who was following him in spirit and truth. He didn't sugarcoat things like we do. He wasn't interested in the large crowds or for popularity. Actually, in verse 26, 27, talking about the same account, he says, you've sought me not because you saw the miracles, but because you ate of the food. You were filled. He says, labor not for the meat that perishes, but for the meat which endures unto everlasting life. which the Son of Man shall give you, for him hath God the Father sealed." So there you go. It's not talking about food. That's why a lot of them were there. That's why a lot of them stayed, and that's why a lot of them followed him again. But he's saying don't labor for that. Now, I remember a time when Pastor Peter and a bunch of us, we went to Manhattan, and it was a very big church, and we went there to feed the homeless. And it was a very big ministry. And I was happy. I was excited to go. I was ready. I was like, hey, we're going to hand out food. This is wonderful. And then the head guy came and he just gave me some instructions. And he said, you can give them whatever you want, but you can't talk about the gospel. I almost lost my cool. I was a young Christian pastor. Peter had to kind of calm me down. And I was so upset because I was like, well, what's the point of this? Right? They were prioritizing the food, the government funding, over spreading the good news. It was a shock to me. Is that what you think we're here to do? Got the AC on, we got food, we got good music. That's not what we're here for. And that's why I say we got to do both. Now, if I am in here, and I know one of you is On your last leg, I'm going to help you. I'm going to give you something. I'm going to help feed you. I'm going to say, stay with me. But I'm more concerned about whether you're going to hell or not. I'm more concerned about what your eternal life is going to look like. I can do both. I can chew gum and walk at the same time. Right? But the disciples are saying, come back after all this stuff is taken care of. Jesus can talk to you then, get the food sorted out, and then come back. But I'm saying to you that our mission is to expose a light on sin. Do you want to be Judas who goes and he takes the money that he gets from Jesus being killed? Or do you want to be John the Baptist who's beheaded because he says to Herod, no, that's wrong. You can't marry your brother's wife. This is wrong. He goes to prison. All the things he talked about, that's what got him in prison. I would rather be John the Baptist. And Jesus came because we are at war with God, and He was reconciling us with God. So when He says, feed them, they need not depart, He's not talking about food. Not the food of the flesh, but he's talking about that these people are here where they're captive. Pastor Peter told me one time that when I'm driving someone from point A to point B and they're in the car, they're a captive audience. I could tell them. I'm going to tell them about the kingdom. I'm not going to talk about football. It's a wonderful time. And I did that. Every time I drive in someone from work, I, hey, you know, Jesus, you know, I am a Christian, you know, and I just go into it. I don't care if they're uncomfortable, right? This may be the first and the last time they speak to a Christian. So the miracle itself, the multiplication of the fishes and the loaves, is not the point. Jesus is the point. The miracle maker is the point. He is the only way. There is no other way. And anyone that tries to go through a different way, he's a thief and a liar. So in conclusion, are you feeding the world? Is Christ's mission being fulfilled? Or are you just satisfied with being an attending Christian? Oh, I've gone four or five times straight. Is that your goal? Is it to kind of come in on the radar, don't cause too much trouble, not be singled out, and then go home? Or do you instead recognize your complete inability to tip the scale, right? Do you go on your knees and say, God, I give my life to you freely. My sins have been cleansed by your broken bones and your pierced flesh. That's why I love the song, Jerusalem, because it talks about this progress where it is broken. And then we see him risen. That's not, hey, yay, this is wonderful, and we go back to our lives. The Son of God came down to earth, He condescended, and He died for me. My life is no longer my own. And I'm saying this not to shame you, but to encourage you, right? Because the disciples made that mistake. They were human. They saw the stuff, they knew all the stuff and they still were falling, right? But I'm saying that starting today, starting now, go forth and feed the people. And for those of you who don't know Christ, but they want to know Christ, Jesus says, come on to me, those who are poor, and heavy laden, and I will be your rest." He will be your rest. So there's some godly men and some godly women here who we can talk to about this, and they will understand. Whatever you got to say, they will understand. So I believe that Jesus was talking about feeding them the true bread of life. And we can do the same. and the truth that we know in our very souls that man shall not live by bread alone, but by the will of God through Christ Jesus. Let's pray. Oh, Heavenly Father, great God in heaven, Lord, we thank you for your son, for his sacrifice. Oh, Lord God, let us be a people, not for the miracles, not for the flash, oh Lord, but let us be a people that are grateful for the salvation that your son gives freely. Lord, I pray that we will walk out of here, Lord, with a new image and perception of the people around us. And Lord, that we will continue to work on the one command you've given us very clearly, which is to reach the lost, to preach the lost, to let them know that there's a God in heaven who cares for them. Oh, Lord God, I pray that you will take away the weariness from us. You remove the obstacles out of our way so that we can do this great commission freely. Lord God, I pray that we will read our Bibles daily, that we will pray daily, that we will sing unto you daily, O Lord, of the great God that we serve, that we may be an example and a light to the world. I pray, O Lord, that we will leave here changed men and women. And I pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.