{"id":989,"date":"2011-07-16T07:58:26","date_gmt":"2011-07-16T07:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=989"},"modified":"2011-07-16T07:58:26","modified_gmt":"2011-07-16T07:58:26","slug":"christ%e2%80%99s-almighty-power-a-lesson-about-the-office-of-ministers-the-sufficiency-of-the-gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=989","title":{"rendered":"Christ\u2019s almighty power, a lesson about the office of ministers, the sufficiency of the Gospel"},"content":{"rendered":"

And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.\u00a0 When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, \u201cThis is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.\u201d\u00a0 But He answered and said to them, \u201cYou give them something to eat.\u201d And they said to Him, \u201cShall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?\u201d
\nBut He said to them, \u201cHow many loaves do you have? Go and see.\u201d And when they found out they said, \u201cFive, and two fish.\u201d Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.\u00a0 So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.\u00a0 And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all.\u00a0 So they all ate and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.\u00a0Mark 6:36-44<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

These verses describe one of our Lord\u2019s most remarkable miracles. Of all the great works that He did, none was done so publicly as this, and before so many witnesses. Of all the miracles related in the Gospels, this is the only one which all the four Gospel-writers alike record. This fact alone (like the four times repeated account of the crucifixion and resurrection) is enough to show that it is a miracle demanding special attention.<\/p>\n

We have, for one thing, in this miracle, a lesson about Christ\u2019s almighty power. <\/em><\/strong>We see our Lord feeding five thousand men with \u201cfive barley loaves and two small fish.\u201d We see clear proof that a miraculous event took place in the \u201ctwelve baskets of fragments\u201d that remained after all had eaten. Creative power was manifestly exercised. Food was called into existence that did not exist before. In healing the sick, and raising the dead, something was amended or restored that had already existed. In feeding five thousand men with five loaves, something must have been created which before had no existence.<\/p>\n

Such a history as this ought to be specially instructive and encouraging to all who endeavor to do good to souls. It shows us the Lord Jesus \u201cable to save to the uttermost.\u201d He is One who has all power over dead hearts. Not only can He mend that which is broken\u2013build up that which is ruined\u2013heal that which is sick\u2013strengthen that which is weak. He can do even greater things than these. He can call into being that which was not before, and call it out of nothing. We must never despair of any one being saved. So long as there is life there is hope. Reason and sense may say that some poor sinner is too hardened, or too old to be converted. Faith will reply\u2013\u201dOur Master can\u00a0create<\/em> as well as\u00a0renew<\/em>. With a Savior who, by His Spirit, can create a new heart, nothing is impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n

We have, for another thing, in this miracle, a lesson about the office of ministers. <\/strong><\/em>We see the apostles receiving the bread from our Lord\u2019s hands, after He had blessed it, and distributing it to the multitude. It was not their hands that made it increase and multiply, but their Master\u2019s. It was His almighty power that provided an unfailing supply. It was their work to receive humbly, and distribute faithfully.<\/p>\n

Now here is a lively emblem of the work which a true minister of the New Testament is meant to do. He is not a mediator between God and man. He has no power to put away sin, or impart grace. His whole business is to receive the bread of life which his Master provides, and to distribute it among the souls among whom he labors. He cannot make men value the bread, or receive it. He cannot make it soul-saving, or life-giving, to any one. This is not his work. For this he is not responsible. His whole business is to be a\u00a0faithful distributor<\/em> of the food which his Divine Master has provided; and that done, his office is discharged.<\/p>\n

We have, lastly, in this miracle,\u00a0a lesson about the sufficiency of the Gospel for the needs of all mankind. <\/em><\/strong>We see the Lord Jesus supplying the hunger of a huge multitude of five thousand men. The provision seemed, at first sight, utterly inadequate for the occasion. To satisfy so many craving mouths with such scanty fare, in such a wilderness, seemed impossible. But the event showed that there was enough and to spare. There was not one who could complain that he was not filled.<\/p>\n

There can be no doubt that this was meant to teach the adequacy of Christ\u2019s Gospel to supply the necessities of the whole world. Weak, and feeble, and foolish as it may seem to man, the simple story of the Cross is enough for all the children of Adam in every part of the globe. The tidings of Christ\u2019s death for sinners, and the atonement made by that death, is able to meet the hearts and satisfy the consciences of all nations, and peoples, and kindreds, and tongues. Carried by faithful messengers, it feeds and supplies all ranks and classes. \u201cThe preaching of the cross is to those who perish foolishness, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.\u201d (1 Cor. 1:18<\/a>.) Five barley loaves and two small fishes seemed scanty provision for a hungry crowd. But blessed by Christ, and distributed by His disciples, they were more than sufficient.\u00a0Let us never doubt for a moment, that the preaching of Christ crucified\u2013the old story of His blood, and righteousness, and substitution\u2013is enough for all the spiritual necessities of all mankind. It is not worn out. It is not obsolete. It has not lost its power. We need nothing new\u2013nothing more broad and kind\u2013nothing more intellectual\u2013nothing more effectual. We need nothing but the true bread of life, distributed faithfully among starving souls. Let men sneer or ridicule as they will. Nothing else can do good in this sinful world. No other teaching can fill hungry consciences, and give them peace. We are all in a wilderness. We must feed on Christ crucified, and the atonement made by His death, or we shall die in our sins.-J.C. Ryle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.\u00a0 When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, \u201cThis is a deserted place, and already […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,64,68,62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-j-c-ryle","category-successful-saviour","category-christ-his-person-and-excellencies","category-pictures-and-types"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=989"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":990,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989\/revisions\/990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}