What kind of Christian are you?
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What kind of Christian are you?
What kind of Christian are you?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a 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?
john 1:1-5
john
john 6
And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth 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? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.
john 6
My question to you all this morning is
WHAT KIND OF CHRISTIAN ARE YOU?
WHAT KIND OF CHRISTIAN ARE YOU?
are you the kind that has faith as tall as a mountain and want to do great things in the kingdom
or are you the kind that has no faith at all and does nothing
or are you the kind thatrelise on the faith of others to carry you through.
Each one of us will find ourselves in one of the three categories.
As we read the well know story of the feeding of the five thousand did you see yourself in any of the people portrayed.
let me remind you of the charictors.
1. Jesus 2 Philip 3 Andrew 4 The Lad 5 multitude 6 Disciples.
1. Jesus 2 Philip 3 Andrew 4 The Lad 5 multitude 6 Disciples.
2 Andrew
2 Andrew
Here we see 4 individuals and 2 groups of people. As we look at these a little closer we will find ourselves in their story.
1.Jesus the son of God
1.Jesus the son of God
As we look through the scriptures we see that He had a large amount of faith. So often i remind us of what the trinity the tri un God head did
God thorght it.
Jesus brought it.
the Holy Spirit wrought it.
God had the idea Jesus spoke it out and the Holy Spirit gave life to it.
Here in our reading we see that Jesus was to cross over the sea of galilee but a great multitude followed him
God had the idea Jesus spoke it out and the Holy Spirit gave life to it.
They followed because they had seen the miricles that he had done and wanted to see more.
People never get fed up with following the spectacular. In fact people will glamor to see a man or woman who can perform these spectacular acts.
But Jesus was not like any man he did infact on many occasions tell those that he had healed to tell no one.
But what was special about Jesus other than he was the son of God.
The answer is in that 3 verse of the passage we read
And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.
John 6:3
What was he doing?
on a mountain speaks to us in so many writings as communing with God.
we find that God met with Moses whilst leading the children of isreal on a mountain and there God Gave the 10 commandments.
we find that it was on a mountain that God answered by with fire the prayers of elijah.
It was on a mountain that God met with abraham when he offered was asked to sacrifice his son.
it was on the same mountain that David saw the angel of the Lord
And it was upon this very mountain that the temple was built.
and Jesus himself went often up a mountain to pray.
Although the text dosent say that jesus prayed we can be assure that Jesus would spend time talking to his father before spending time with the people.
The thoughts of God the communication with God was just as important on a day to day basis as it was right back at the foundation of the world.
All of the God head in perfect unity for the Holy Spirit to bring about a miricle or healing to bring Glory to God.
Jesus saw the multitute he new what they wanted be he also new what they needed.
what we want is not what we need
and what we need is not what we always want.
And what we get is not always what we want.
And here was going to be one of those times when the multitute would get what they didnt want but what they needed.
Just as a side john would have been up the mountain with jesus and he passes out to the reader at the begining of chapter 6 : 4 that the Passover a feast of the jews was nigh.
the time when they remember the passing over of the angle of death in the land of egypt and the protection that was offered to everyone who had the blood of the lamb upon the lintel and down the door posts.
you might think that this was a throw away verse but it was not
Jesus looking down the mountain side seeing a flock without a shepherd knowing that he the great shepherd was going to be the Lamb that passover lamb to give his life for this flock was just beautiful.
No line of text is ever a line that should never be there.
Seeing this flock of people this multitude of people looking for someone to follow without thinking of the dangers of just wondering, not thinking of what they should eat or drink or weather the area was safe to be in.
Jesus seeing a need that no other had thought of asked a simple question of Philip.
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?
john 6:5
This was a question asked by a caring Shepherd
Jesus Looking down the mountain seeing that this nearly exhusted multitude would need feeding if they were going to be able to move from this place on the mountain side to a place of safety.
Jesus not only looks upon the spiritual need of the multitude but also upon the physical need.
Jesus not only looks upon the spiritual need of the multitude but also upon the physical need.
"Nobody gets a blessing if they have cold feet and nobody ever got saved while they had toothache!" William Booth
"Nobody gets a blessing if they have cold feet and nobody ever got saved while they had toothache!" William Booth
Jesus new that to be able to feed them spiritually you sometimes have to feed the physically.
William Booth
William Booth
Here was a flock without a shepherd Jesus became the Good Shepherd
Jesus saw that the flock needed food Jesus became the bread of life
John is the one who recalls to us all of the I am s
John the beloved was able to see what other of the disciples missed.
Jesus neww what was to be done and was ready to do it, because he had spent time with the father
All Jesus had to do was speak the word and the Holy Spirit would bring to pass what Jesus had spoken.
Our Father knows the end from the beginning Jesus Knows what his work is to be done and the Holy Spirit performs the miricle to bring Glory to God.
When we look out down the mountain side of life from that place where we spend time with God what do we see. ?
Do we see people who need help, who need food who need a saviour who need to be drawn closer to God
Or are we overwhelmed with the greatness of the task and say as Philip said
Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
John 6:7
I don’t know wether there was a conversation with Judas the carrier of the moneybag to see how much money they had that day to callculate just how much bread they could buy.
But the reply was there was not enough.
All our resources are not enough all our money in the bank are not enough but the question still stands
Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat.
Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat.
Jesus was asking philip to see to where he would go to feed so many.
Philips answer was in the physical realm
But Jesus was looking at both the physical and the spiritual.
Where shall we go that these people may eat.
This question is still the question that as a church we should be asking and in our answer we should be revealing Jesus.
When we look around and see a hungry people we should reveal Jesus
Jesus is the only one that can meet the needs of the world today.
the song the need of the world is Jesus
The need of the world is Jesus
to satisfy it longing soul
the need of the world is jesus
to answer it many prayers.
Here we see that Jesus was ready to answer the need of the people but Philip didn’t have the faith to believe that the meagre offering of money would suffice such a great need .
As A church we have great buildings great people but little money but this shouldn’t stop us from doing that which God asks us to do.
Where God leads he always feeds
Lets not be like Philip and look to the natural when God asks us to do something great for him.