Christ is the bread of life who uniquely satisfies the deepest needs of all humanity, as demonstrated by the miracle of feeding the five thousand. This event, recorded in all four Gospels, highlights Jesus' compassion for a lost and hungry multitude in a desolate place, contrasting their spiritual emptiness with His abundant provision. The miracle illustrates that Christ's death and resurrection (symbolized by the loaves and fishes) are sufficient to meet the world's needs, offering complete satisfaction to all who receive Him. The abundance of leftovers and the orderly manner of distribution underscore that Christ provides more than enough, urging listeners to accept Him for true fulfillment.
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Send them away that they may go into the country round about and into the villages and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat. He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. They say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred penny worth of bread and give them to eat? He said unto them, How many know have ye? Go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five and two fishes. He commanded them to make all sit down by accompanies upon the dream's wrath. They sat down and ranked by hundreds and by sisters. When he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven and blessed and great the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before them, and the two fishes divided him among them all.
And they did all eat, and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments and of the fishes. And they that could eat of the load were about five thousand men. May God have his blessings with his word. May those be the following on this, but I'm sorry. Now tonight I want to speak on more than enough, or as we announced it, completely satisfied. This is one of those miracles of the Lord Jesus that is found only... in all four of the Gospels. There are some of his miracles you will find in just one of the Gospels, such as the turning the water into wine.
And then other of his miracles you will find in two of the Gospels, some you will find in three, but the feeding of the five thousand you will find in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. During this show there must be some special importance attached to this miracle in the life of the Lord Jesus. I believe the thought may be that bread is a universal food. And here you have the Lord Jesus emphasizing the need of bread, and he himself is the bread which came down from heaven, simply meaning this, that Christ is the one and the only one who can meet the need of all the world.
And all the world needs him. Then again, as you know, the coloring of the various Gospels. Matthew's Gospel has definitely a Jewish coloring. Mark's Gospel gives the emphasis upon the servant, and Luke's Gospel that of the man, and John's Gospel that of the Son of God. Makes no difference, then, Christ is the one who meets the need of all. Whether it be the Jew as an individual or the Jewish nation, Christ is the one who meets the need. of the Jews. That's Matthew's gospel. Then it's responsibility of every true servant, as you have in Mark's gospel, to preach and present Christ as a bread which came down from heaven.
Then as you have them, as the Son of Man, the compassionate Son of Man, in Luke's gospel, man everywhere, as an individual needs right. And then in John's gospel where you have the Son of God and the children of God brought before you why Christ is the one who first of all satisfied the heart of God himself. The Bible says he's the bread of God which came down from heaven. Can you stop and take on that? The bread of God. The one God feasted upon, the one God fed upon in ages past, is the one who came down from heaven.
I am the bread of God which came down from heaven, he says. And so he's the one who not only feeds the heart of God, but he also feeds the heart of the people of God, that's John's God. I say this, I don't care who the Christian is. The child of God, the one truly saved, loves to hear the old-fashioned gospel. They never tire hearing. You may tire hearing of some lines of preaching. I know God's people sometimes get weary of the collection plate sermon. They get tired of that, and they get tired of this program and that program, and they get tired of maybe one line of truth.
But here is something that no Christian will get tired of hearing. That is Christ in the gospel. He's always fresh. There is stale bread and there's fresh, but here is fresh bread. It never gets stale. Christ in all his glory. Now you notice here the multitude was assembled in a desert place, and how true that is of many alike. The life of the sinner is a desert place. In other words, there's very little light or in evidence there. As you go across the desert, why, all you see is sand and rock. It's very bleak and lifeless and dry.
And many a sinner today can say that's true of my life. There's very, very little real joy, real light, real peace. My life is like a dead. How true it is. You know many a person has lost his life crossing a desert. Here's such a thing as the mirage of a desert. Here's a person crossing the sand, his water supply runs out, and he begins to weaken. Then he sees what he thinks is true. A lake, a lovely house beside it, and sees around it.
Oh, he thinks water. And with renewed energy, he struggles off, only to find that the lovely lake is retreating. As he struggles off, finally he falls on the sand of his perishes. What did he see? Was it a real lake there? No. She was a mirage of the devil, an oxford and a needle. Praying that's just like a young person. starting out in life when the devil holds the mirage before. He makes some promise, though the young heart was after it.
Finally, he thinks, I'm about to reach it. It's very my grasp, only to find the elusive grasp. And he calls a victim of the hopeless search of true satisfaction in this life. Look at Hollywood. how many a young girl or would-be actress has left home, made her way to the west coast, row the castle she's built in the air, the dream she's had of finding the ladder of Harlem, and she reaches Hollywood, the city of shattered lives and broken hearts and broken homes.
An odd young girl makes the grade, and up she goes. And we only get part of it. As I learned while out in Hollywood a couple of years ago, the newspapers only popped a fraction of what was on in that city. Many a young girl, although she has been successful, has gone into her room, and she's pulled the trigger and blown her brains out. What's wrong? Wasn't she successful yet? Didn't she make money yet? Didn't she have plenty of friends yet? Did she not enjoy all kinds of pleasure yet? But she proved the emptiness of the whole affair.
It was just a pretty bottle of birth that she brought. She found out quite a million that without Christ this world is a wilderness. It's a dry, it's a barren place. But you'll notice here, in the wilderness, there were those who felt their need and the land to where the Lord Jesus was. And although we look out upon the world today in this vast wilderness, and we see men and women everywhere, seeking satisfaction, trying to find contentment, trying this and experiencing that, that ending of all ways is a walk to you.
I've tried this and I've tried that, but I'm still distant, said it. For thank God, friend, here and there you do find in this old one who's anxious. One who has discovered there's no real joy in material things, that there must be another answer, and that answer is Christ. And so you'll notice how they gathered around the Lord Jesus out in this wilderness. And you have mentioned made of his compassion. He had compassion upon the mortgages, for they were a sheep not having a shepherd. Our compassion at our Lord Jesus Christ is tonight, as he looked down upon this poor old world, and he sees very women as sheep not having a shepherd, wandering and saying into a lost eternity, oh the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ tonight, as he looked down in this sheep, He sees those young, promising, talented lives being wasted.
Oh, how you would love to win them to himself and use them for his glory. For the world has caught their eye. The glitter and the glamour of this poor scene and the attractions and the allurements and the promises of the dead. And the Lord Jesus has looked down upon them. And he's full of himself. He loves them. He wants to win them to himself. You'll notice here the disciples saw the multitude gathering around the Savior. How little they knew of his heart. They said, send the multitude away.
Imagine them asking the Lord Jesus, just send the multitude away. Why he was only too happy to have them come. How little the disciples knew of his city. Send the multitude away? No. He didn't want that. He would slander when they came to him. You know, friends, there are many women today who are engaged in that very business, sending men and women away from the only one who could meet their needs. Why, Christ was the only one who could have met the name of the multitude? And he was going to meet their needs.
He knew what he would do. But here the disciples, they send them out of you the way, sending that crowd away from Christ. That's what some are doing today. If you came up to me tonight, friends, and asked me how you could go to heaven, what must you do to be saved? And I said to you, go and join the church. are descending you away from the one who can save. If I told you, go and get that time, are descending you away from the only one who could meet with me.
If I were to say, go and have a good time, my, what a focus. You can't have a good time without trust. I will be sending you away from the only one who can save and who can meet your need and who can satisfy. Send the martyrdom away. But do you notice that you compare Matthew's account with this? The Lord Jesus used this language. He says they need not be part. Howard must have stabbed him to the very core of his soul when his disciples suggested sending the crowd away.
Would he love them? and he wanted to meet their needs. And he said, they need not be part. You need not be part of Matthew. They need not be part. Friend, you need not be part tonight. And I'd be the last one to urge you to be part if you don't know Christ. You need not be part. You don't have to go anywhere other than here to get paid because the Lord here is ready to save. There's no geographical privilege ground. There's no peculiar or particular spot where God will meet you. No church altar designated by the Almighty where He'll come to terms with you.
Friends, you know where the Lord will save you? Right where you are. When will He save you? Right now. You don't have to go anywhere else. You can be saved right on that bed. The Lord says you need not depart. Oh, but you say, I cried with you. I've gone through all this time and time again. I've taken the preacher's hand many times. It doesn't seem the worst with me. I've allowed given up the idea of ever being a real Christian or getting the real thing. I would like to have the real thing.
I would like to know I'm saved. I would like to know I'm going to heaven. I would like to know my sins forgiven. I would like to know I have everlasting life. I would like to know I'll never perish. I would like to know it. Then you need not be far. You may know all that and much more right tonight. For Christ will meet your needs. Geney knocked the pot. You'll notice here what he told them to do. He should make all sit down on the green grass. And then he proceeded to meet their needs.
How did he meet their needs? He took five loaves and two dishes. He took the loaves and then he broke out the dishes. He gave the loans and the fidgets of the disciples and the disciples of a mortgagee. You know, if I were to minister the Christians on this subject, I would entitle it Christ grand in emergency. Did you ever find them grand in an emergency? It is a hungry crowd. The Lord Jesus proved himself grand and glorious in that emergency. when he took five loaves and three cities and met the needs of the crowd.
Have you known as a Christian the Lord Jesus approved himself grand in a certain emergency? When a need arose, an immediate need, something had to be done then. You couldn't afford to wait. It was a present need. And the Lord has proved himself. A very pleasant help in time of trouble, grand in the merchant. And so he took the five loaves and the two fishes and he divided them among the disciples and the disciples and the monitors. Now the five loaves, five in Scripture is very significant. Five is a number of weakness.
David took five smooth stones out of the brook. to slay the Goliath. He only used one, but he used the other four-on-four Goliath later on, four other giants, though he wasn't wrong when he stole five. You know, five inscriptions very significant. Did you ever stop to think of the five-word text? Prepare to meet thy God. Ye must be born again. What think ye of Christ? Christ died for deep ungodliness. I want to go on mentioning the five-word text in your Bible.
Five loaves. These five loaves suggest you leave. And here's the Lord Jesus Christ. And he takes five loaves. Another five loaves that he multiplies great enough to meet the need of the mortals. But he had to blink for me. Is there any significance in this? Do you remember in the upper room when he instituted the Lord's Supper, he took that local bread, and he said, This is my body, which is broken for you? Did he keep transubstantiation? Did he mean that that bread was actually his body that a certain religious organization teaches a thousand signs?
No. He didn't turn that Luke, okay, into his actual body. No man can turn a waper into the body of Christ. When the Lord Jesus would have Luke in his hand, said, this is my body, he was seeking figuratively, like he said on another occasion, I am the door. Was he a literal door? Certainly not. He was speaking figuratively. He was aware of answers to heaven. On another occasion, he said, I am the true vine. Was he a literal vine? No. He was suggesting that he was a source of fruit berries. When he said, this is my body, he didn't mean that local bread was actually his body.
It was figurative, symbolic of his body. And he took that local bread, and he threw it. But in breaking that thread, he was teaching how very softly his body would be broken and bruised upon that rock. For the five loathed feet of Christ crucified in Egypt. The peaches were the base of death. They were down in that water, weren't they? Water in Scripture speaks of death and judgment. These two fishes were brought up out of the water. And they seek a resurrection, coming up, light coming up out of water, flesh and flesh.
And if the by-low sick of his death on the cross, his crucifixion, his body being broken, the two fishes seek of his resurrection. And then that's the God. turned to Corinthians fifteen, and what is the gospel? Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture. There are the five loaves. He was buried, raised again in the third day according to the Scripture. There you have the two fish. That which came up. And out with the five loaves and the two fishes, he met the need of the mortgages. How did he meet the need of the world today, and the need of the individual by his death of mental death?
and only through that he would be patient. Living he loved me, dying he shamed, sharing he carried my sins far away, rising he justified freely forever. One day he's coming, oh glorious day. And so he met the need of the crowd with the five loaves and the two fishes. He meets the need of man today by his death and resurrection. But you'll notice on one condition he says, make all sit down. Everyone had to sit down. That's kind of humiliating, isn't it? You could see in that crowd, possibly a proud fantasy, who because of the excitement of the occasion, to see this miracle worker, he didn't notice who was standing on either side of him because of the crowd and the press.
When the order came to make all sit down, he'd been standing up stretching his neck to see the Nazarene. When the order came, they called to sit down. Then he began to look around, and here he saw on one side of him a fallen creature, a woman of bad that he picked. But on this side, he saw a publicist. And you know how those Pharisees loved the publicist. And sinners, Go, the poor fellow, straight, where can I go? Is there an hour, St. Paul? No, the crowd struck, he can't move.
And by this time all sat down and there he stands up and all his supposed dignity. It's kind of embarrassing, quite conspicuous. But we ought to sit down. There's nothing else for the poor fellow to do in all his pride and conceit, but sit down. You have to get down to the same level, man, as that publican of that sinner. You've got no gladdened vision till you do, the Lord says make all to thou. Let me say this, friend, the ground around Calvary's cross is all level. There is no elevated spot for the privilege we educate.
There's no front door to heaven for the wealthy, and the blue blood in the back door for the poor drunk this evening, there's only one door to heaven. There's not cake or a certain glass and dry bread in the down and outing. One door to heaven that white, one dye, red. That's the Lord Jesus. Make all sit down. And this proud man had to come down. He had to take his place alongside the poor publican in the middle before he got any bread.
And I'll tell you one thing, friends. You'll have to take your place too. And see yourself just as big a sinner as any man that ever walked the street of Alden. Not that God is encouraging you to sin in order to be saved, far be it. But God wants every man to see that he's undeserving yourselves as I don't care how righteous you may be. I care not how moral or impeccable you may be. You're just as undeserving of God's salvation as the worst criminal that ever walked the street above. For the Bible says all are sins and from short of the glory of God.
And you've got to take that away. That's why the Lord Jesus said to the scribes and the Pharisees, he said, the publicans and the harlot, you enter the kingdom of heaven before you. What a statement. Christ says, Republicans in the harvest will be the kingdom of heaven before you self-righteous Pharisees. Why? A Republican in the harvest would admit, I'm lost. I need to be saved. But a Pharisee says, I don't know too much about that. I don't think I am lost. I think I'm pretty good. I think my goodness shouts for something. And you know the difficulty of the evangelists today, the gospel preachers?
They forget men and the deceit are lost, and that all their sub-righteousness is as God says, filthy rash, that they need Christ. Make all sit down. And you notice they did sit down in ranks by hundreds and by fifty. Now that's not in there. guests to fill in as a packer, every word in the Bible is significant. Isn't it very significant that he said they sat down in ranks or companies by hundreds and by fifths? We saw a whole detail as presented by the four Gospels.
He feels a very orderly thing when the Lord Jesus said to five thousand. There's no confusion here. There's no excitement here. No frenzy. No fanaticism. The Lord Jesus met the need of that crowd in a very ordinary way. And I'm going to say this, friends, God's salvation is very ordinary. There's nothing confusing about it. God is not the author of confusion. The Bible says, a man finds out he's lost. He takes that place And he kept the Lord even twice as a Savior on God's day for my care.
God is not the author of the truth. If there are any orders, no need for any frenzy of analysis. Not at all. You don't hear it associated with any conversion in the bank. They sat down in public by fifty and by hundred. And you'll notice they did all eat. My, I like that. And were filled. They didn't taste. They did eat. And were filled. They taste quality. You know, I love to see men and women swallow the fruit.
Let it in. I believe many people have come to this campaign and just tasted it. But they didn't let it in. They didn't swallow. They didn't swallow. I know sometimes it's kind of bitter medicine to swallow. And I remember many a time when I was a kid, mother wanted to give me some bitter medicine. And when she put in my mouth in a spoon, she didn't let me leave the room till I swallowed it. Because she knows what I would have done if I got to get out of the room without swallowing it, I'd have spit it out. She knew the only way that's going to do me any good was to swallow.
And friend, the only way that the gospel is going to benefit you, for God's word is for you to swallow. There it is. And it says they were filled, not half filled. Oh, I love that word, filled. They were filled. You know, God's salvation, friend, will completely satisfy. No halfway measures. I have never, in my twenty-four years' treatment, but I suppose we've seen thousands of people's public rights. I've never had one come up to me at any subsequent period or any later day in St.
Louis. I accepted Christ that night, but I'm disappointed in him. I never heard one say that yet. I never heard one say, I got saved. I got a letdown. It wasn't all I said. I never heard one say that. The Lord Jesus has always been more than enough. He completely satisfied. He meets every need. He satisfies every longing. They are filled. Meaning this, when the crowd arose and let that see, they didn't want any more.
They were just sick. It said so. They just ate and were sick. You know what it is to sit down to a sumptuous meal and eat all you can. And when you get up and say, well, I'm, of course you're not supposed to use this word in public, I'm sick. Oh, I'm sick. you're a little more polite, you'll say, I'm delightfully satisfied. Well, that's what it is when you accept Christ. You're satisfied. Oh, you're full if you like to use the word full.
Yes, the Lord Jesus does that for all to accept. Now, you'll notice something very small here. He says, The day is far from death. It was at the evening time. The sun was setting when he met the need of a mortiser. But I'm going to tell you, friend, we're in the evening tide of this day. Dispensationally, nineteen hundred years ago the sun arose, the sun of grace from the person of Christ. And for nineteen hundred years the sun has been creeping across the sky. But the day is setting in the rest. This day of grace is about at an end.
Soon the door of grace will be closed and closed forever. The sun is setting. The day is passing. And this is true not only dispensationally, but individually. Maybe forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty years ago your sun arose. In all the full blaze of youth, Oh, now it's setting in the rest. Your day is about one at four. He didn't say, well, thank God my need is now. I'm facing the chum, sir. Completely satisfied.
Another thing you'll notice here, there were twelve baskets of fragments left over. I loved it. Well, baskets of fragments left over. I wonder why. Well, now, how many disciples did he have who were passing out the bread? Didn't he have twelve? And don't you think the Lord considers his laborers? When they got through ministry to the need of a molly, he said, if they've all right, Peter, there's your basket. John, there's those. James, there's those. The disciples got a basket of feet. He not only thought of the modern, he thought of the laborers.
And friend, those of us who preach the gospel always take home a basketful. Don't think that you folks out in the audience are the only one that's getting something. I haven't preached yet from what the Lord didn't get me a few crumbs to take home. Something I never saw before while I was preaching that the Lord would give. He always has a basketful. to the laborer. Twelve baskets of the tribunals left over. Also, twelve tribes of Israel. He's going to meet their needs in the future, twelve baskets of the twelve tribes and Israel as we gather.
He's also teaching another lesson here, and that is, he's teaching no waste, but it shows that nothing be lost. What a lesson here for a Christian. not to be stranded in a group. I was in the home one time, excepting with a lady's hospitality, for a nice Sunday meal. And after dinner she said, well, let's go and sit in the backyard. And I didn't have enough sense, but as I went by the back door, I went to lift the garbage can. Why, I don't know. But as I did, I saw a whole loaf of bread stuffed in the garbage can.
And I don't think that is any better than to open my mouth. I said, boy, what waste for a Christian? A whole loaf of bread. She said, you're no business looking at our garbage can. You no business throwing away bread either. Yes, gather up the fragments of nothing be lost. It doesn't be whose system, the experiment, the way, that it can be used. The Lord is teaching us. Another lesson he's teaching here, that more than enough in Christ, the mind and heart and feeling that's more fulfilling, that's more than enough in Christ to save the whole world.
If anyone had walked away from that scene that day, and had complained, I'm hungry. What would the Lord have done? He'd appointed to those twelve baskets of fragments and said, Friends, who's to blame? If you're going away hungry, who's talking to you? He twelve baskets of fragments left over. You could have had your need met, and if you're hungry, you're to blame. And friend, if any man or woman, boy or girl dies without Christ, who's to blame? You can't blame God. He gave His son.
You can't blame Christ. He gave His life. And you can't blame me. I've tried to show you the way. Who would be to blame if you lost your soul? You would be. Well, that's what you're fighting. That means silence the mountain, or every complainer of success. God will refer to the twelve bodies. Meaning there's enough in Christ to meet the need of everyone, and then some left over. If there were a hundred planets the size of ours, in heaven is my gift with approximately two billion people.
There's enough in Christ for me. give enough power in his blood to save every person on every planet in all the universe of God that there are more inhabited than this one. And after Christ saved every soul on every planet, the devil be powerless. He has power in the ground. He can't exhaust the power of the blood of Christ nor his capacity. to save and satisfy every soul that comes with it. More than enough, twelve baffles by the Lord.
Let all think. And so in conclusion, you have a great multitude, thousands, our great compassion, Christ, our great me, hunger, a great rich, piety, our great provision, bread, A great commission, give ye, he said, and a great satisfaction all day. The Lord Jesus will send you tonight. I love those words in Luke fifteen and seven. The prodigal used them. He says that he thought of the Father's house.
He said, in my Father's house, they have bled enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger. Friend, in Christ they have bled enough and to spare, and yet there are millions of men living today, perishing with hunger. Perishing with hunger, all of these wanderings for you, would realize their needs, anything with hunger, cheating on us, when God has in his pantry, in Christ, prayed enough, and spared more than enough.
Well, that's what the pride is left over. Do you want to be really satisfied? Completely satisfied? Then we urge you to come to Christ. He is the bread which came down from heaven to give life to your soul. So God grant us, we may see your nature except Christ tonight and be saved and be satisfied. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus, we come into thy presence. We give thee thanks for thy son. how wonderful a Savior he is.
He blessed me for his presence. He blessed me for the work he did for us on the cross. He praised me that he now sits with thy right hand, able and willing to meet the need of anyone's servant. He thought that someone would know, to see what a life they've lived in, what their life is now. a desert place. And may they come to Christ and have their need met in heaven. The ask that it means this.
Amen. Number one hundred forty-four. One forty-four standing in these things. We're just going to sing one verse, the third one. And friend, if you'd like to be saved, give me some. And let us show you how you may be saved and saved tonight. Or maybe you trusted Christ during the meeting. If you'd like to confess it, we'll give you this opportunity. Don't forget the meeting tomorrow night. We leave our sorrow to be back again tomorrow night with a very precious subject on the power of God, the power of Satan, and the power of the light of the day it comes and we bring verse three of the final verse.