Let's all turn in our Bibles, if you would, to the book of John. John chapter number 6. It's a beautiful day today. Every day is a good day because the Lord hath made it, but it's especially good when it's a day like this. Gets you a little bit happy to wake up. And I'm not honestly a morning person. by nature, which meaning I don't naturally wake up early. My wife will probably tell you about it if you ask her. But it causes a little bit of prompting to have that happen. But I definitely, if ever an opportunity to wake up early enough on a day like today, it's never regrettable. And you get to see some beautiful things, especially the sunrise. So if you're like that, God bless you. You get to see it more often than I do. It's a nice day today, beautiful day to be out in church. John chapter number six. I'm gonna speak from a very familiar passage here, and I've myself spoken about this topic a few times, and I've heard several messages about the feeding of the 5,000, if you didn't know where we were already, and I've heard varying I say angles or different ways to preach messages out of this passage of Scripture. And we'll begin reading in verse number one of John chapter number six. We'll read a few verses here starting with verse number one. It says, 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 deceased. 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? And this he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of the 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 them and sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down and number about 5,000. 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 12 baskets of the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. I'm going to key in on verse number, more specifically on verse number six this morning as we talk about this passage. But before we do, let's begin with a word of prayer, please. Dear Heavenly Father, we do thank You so much for the day You've given us. We thank You that it's a beautiful day. We thank You, Lord, to be in Your house and to be in church and to sing songs and to be able to give and, Lord, to be able to hear the preaching of the Word of God. I pray that You'd help us in both services. Help us now to be yielded to the Holy Spirit. Fill me with your Spirit, Lord, that we be able to be encouraged, and Lord, also, perhaps maybe even convicted of things in our lives that need to be made right, and Lord, we would, Lord, come to you and be able to do those things which would allow that to be made right. Lord, we ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. So the miracle, the feeding of the 5,000, one of the several miracles that Jesus did on this earth, it is the only recorded miracle that is recorded for us in all four gospel records. And it's a very unique thing. Something's repeated that often. It seems to be that it'd be very important. God is putting an emphasis on that for us. And it's very unique if you take the time to read the different portions of scripture that this story comes from, this record. It also, of course, in Matthew chapter 14, Mark chapter number six, and then Luke chapter nine, and then here in John chapter six. And out of all of the records given to us, there are some very familiar parts that are mentioned all four of the times, but then there's some others that are more general, and then others that are more specific. And definitely out of all the four records, this one definitely mentions some more specific details than the one in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And specifically, it mentions people's names. For example, it mentions Philip's name in verse number five, and Philip's name again in verse number seven, and then it mentions Andrew's name, verse number 8. So we see a little bit more of a specificity. Specificity? Specificness. Whatever. You know what I mean. And we see that there, here. And we know that Jesus now is speaking during this time to specific people. Now, of course, Not everything is recorded for us, only what God has given us here we can look at and know has happened, but he probably spoke to other disciples, very likely. No doubt we know from Matthew, the Matthew portion of this story, that specifically it states that there were 5,000 men plus women and children, and of course it says in the other passages that 5,000 men were fed, so we know that to be just the men. There could be many more ladies and children, of course, for that. So you have different aspects of the story and it's neat you get four different aspects recorded for us all by the Holy Spirit through these men and different parts of the story that are emphasized that we can still learn from and see what the Holy Spirit has for us. So here in John chapter number six we see some specific names being mentioned. And we see and understand that this is one of the most familiar miracles recorded for us in scripture. And in verse number six, he makes this statement as he speaks to Philip, and he asks Philip a question in verse number five, whence shall we buy bread, and that these may eat? Now if you remember the scene, Jesus has, it says in the previous verses, gone up into a mountain and there he sat with his disciples and people are following the Lord as normally, it's a very usual thing for him to perform miracles. People are astonished, amazed. People hear that he's coming or around and people want to go and see this man. who claims to be God and also can do miracles and heal the sick, heal the lame, and they'll walk again, and most of those especially would cause a lot of attention for people to be drawn near to him. And so as people are seeking him out, he sees them all and he Of course, another passage says, he saw them and he's moved with compassion towards them. He saw the people, he saw their need, and he turns and he says, it looks specifically to Philip, whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? So he said, hey, do we have money where we can buy food for these people? And Philip says, it says specifically in verse six, he said this to prove him. to prove him, and then it says, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, said, 200 penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them. So apparently they had about 200 penny worth of bread, or perhaps making a statement of fact of even 200 penny worth wouldn't pay for, but I assume he's mentioning how much they probably had, is not sufficient for them that every one of them may take a little. So it's not even enough for everybody to even take a little bit. You know, if we have a church fellowship and we're gonna have a pizza night, okay, and we say, which we haven't done in a while, but if we do a pizza night, we can say everybody is allowed to have one-tenth of a slice. Well, that's not very much pizza, you know, and maybe even less than that. He's saying, pretty much, if we had a fellowship, if we do this, Lord, if we try to feed all these people with this much money, we're not going to have a lot to give the people and it's not really going to be much that they're going to be filled on, for sure. So Philip gives him an answer, but it's said in verse number six, and this he said to prove him, to prove him. This word prove given to us in this passage, from what I could research and study, is only given to us in this form of this Greek word one time, and that's here in this passage of scripture in John chapter six. Of course, the word prove is translated for us in other places in scripture, but not from the Greek word here. But it is very similar used in other places from a different Greek word having a different meaning, just like the word love has a few different root words. And so we want to see and understand what exactly it means. The way it's used here, it means a test or more specifically, to put to the test. To test or put to the test. Just for reference of another scripture, if you look at Romans chapter number 12, verse number two, it says that we ought to, he says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, and goes on, he says that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, correct? That word means very similar test, but it also means to examine or test, something that you would examine or test. This one meaning more specifically to put to the test. And we oftentimes are put through a test. Jesus will prove us, does he not? And he does that for our own good. He does that for our benefit and for his. In just a week, we're going to have, actually this week, we're going to have final exams at the college. And the teachers do not give final exams for our own enjoyment. We don't give final exams to mock or make fun of students. We don't give exams for any other reason other than to prove the students to see what it is that they have learned from the lectures and from the notes and from the reading and perhaps other material and things the teachers put together. So the student can then prove to the teacher what it is that they've learned and the teacher's going to prove them. to see what they've learned. And so as they take that test, you grade that test, and if they pass, maybe they learned quite a bit, maybe they look like they learned a lot, and they guessed a lot, but hopefully they do well, and they prove that they've done well, and they know what it is that was taught. Jesus will teach us things. He does teach us things through life, and He will often want to prove us. to prove you and me, so we can be better fit for His ministry, so we can be better fit for His use, so we can be better Christians to carry out the Great Commission to love and honor the Lord. But if we were to step for just a moment aside before I get to the main outline and think for a moment, what were some things that perhaps Jesus Of course, being God, robed in flesh, was man without ceasing to be God, had struggles with. And when we say that word struggles, of course, we don't mean that he had any sin. We believe that he was without sin, of course, Scripture tells us that. And he couldn't be God if he had sin. And so, but there are things that he perhaps struggled with. He was a man robed, God robed in flesh. So he hungered like we hungered. He thirsted like we thirsted. All those things are things that he dealt with. Truly living a life here on earth, he knows a lot about us. He's the creator God. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He struggled with some things. And if you have to ask yourself, what is probably the greatest thing he ever struggled with? It's an interesting question. What's the greatest thing he ever struggled with? As we see him healing others and saving others, and as we see him dealing with people's problems, What is it perhaps that he struggled with? I have a few things here listed that could be, I guess you could say, potential number one problems. But the first problem I think of is no doubt some would say his greatest problem might be dealing with organized religion. How many of you have ever witnessed to someone who is not a Christian, or you don't believe to be, doesn't bear fruit, or someone who may not believe the Bible to be true? And there are people that claim to have the truth but don't have the truth, and they're messed up perhaps in some area of their doctrine. Close, but not close enough. Maybe they're far off. And you witness to them and it's quite difficult sometimes to help them realize the fact of the truth of the gospel that they're lost without Christ. They need salvation. They need Christ who died on the cross for them to give them the gift of salvation. They need to accept that free gift if they're going to see heaven someday and to live the Christian life. And sometimes it can be more difficult to get that person to a position where they realize that truth than it is if they're not really in any religion whatsoever. And it's different, the Lord works in hearts different ways. But no doubt he had difficulty that way. The Pharisees and the Sadducees no doubt gave Jesus a terrible time, if we look at it from our human perspective. No doubt they despised him, they called him names, they tried to catch him at any moment to trip him up in some way of teaching him law, truth, when he's the one who wrote the law. He's the one that is truth. So you have definitely some issues there. Probably in some ways, Organized religion was certainly something that Jesus dealt with and it was an enemy. A second problem could be the fact that he faced poverty. The Bible says in several places that the Son of Man had nowhere to lay his head, didn't have a place that he called his own. He moved from place to place, he slept in places that perhaps maybe were not always pleasant, didn't have a lot of money, not a lot of wealth, but he came to the earth to seek and to save that which was lost, that was his purpose. Wealth was not his main purpose. To have comfortable living was not his main purpose, but yet it was to do the will of him that sent me, he said, to do God's will. So we could say perhaps as a human being, he could struggle with perhaps poverty, not having a place to rest, somewhere to call his home, The Bible says in Matthew 8, 20, Jesus was poor. His disciples were poor. And certainly they knew poverty, but this is probably not the largest problem that Jesus faced. We could also mention other problems that probably he faced. Loneliness. No doubt we all face loneliness at times. He faced the Roman government. We've all faced government. He faced the problems of transportation. They didn't have vehicles back then, although God is omnipresent. He can be everywhere at once. Being robed in flesh, he decided that specifically so he could one day die for us. He was limited. And he transported from one place to another, walking, riding. That's something he faced. I'm sure none of us in here have ever been frustrated about getting somewhere on time, but it happens. And no doubt, he probably faced issues of transportation. But I believe if we were to look further, there's probably other things we could probably surmise that he probably had problems with, trouble dealing with. But I think the probably number one thing, if we were to study scripture and see and understand that Jesus had problems dealing with, would be simply the fact of a communication, not that he was not capable, but more on our end, of being able to communicate his burden to others. Being able to communicate to others what it is he had a vision for. As you can see very clearly in this passage, With this miracle, Jesus, in other portions of this story, says, Now, if we read the book of James, we understand that Jesus, God, is interested in the whole man. He's interested in body, soul, and spirit. We have to have food in order to live. That's how God made us. God knows that. We have to have, we have soul, without the soul, the body's dead, okay? And then you have your spirit, without spirit, you can't live. But the spirit is made alive, according to the scriptures, when we have Christ as our savior. And so, he knows us, in and out, he's the one that created us. And no doubt when he saw these people, Jesus knew they were probably hungry. Not probably, he knew. But when he saw them and was moved with compassion, it wasn't just the hunger that he saw. It was the hunger of their soul. It was their spiritual hunger as well. It was seeing that they needed something far greater than just food. He was wanting to help them. Compassion simply meaning yearning to want to help. And so when Jesus saw them, he asked his disciples, we see here specifically Philip, we're going to help these people and buy food for them to eat. And he said this to prove him. What is Philip going to say? Is Philip gonna say, no Lord, they need more than that. They need more than food, they need you. But Philip didn't say that. And so I believe one of the things that Jesus often, probably, perhaps had problem with is trying to communicate his burden to others. You say, what do you mean? Well, if you think about it, he went 12 years with these men, these disciples, who followed after him, three and a half years, and they never really caught the vision that he had. It wasn't until the Holy Spirit came did these men go from being disciples to actual apostles, and they carried out the work that God had called them to do. It's not until then that they realized more of what it is that God really had for them to do. They graduated. But he went for 12 years with these men, excuse me, 12 years, 12 men for three years, sorry for the conflict, and they never felt what he felt. They never caught the heart of the matter that Christ felt for others. They didn't feel what He felt. They didn't see what He saw. When He saw people, they often saw something else, did they not? How often times do we also do the same thing? Jesus has something for us to do, and when He tells us, we don't see it the way He sees it. So what happens? We don't do it. Or we give excuses as to why we can't do it. Or perhaps we do it, but we do it begrudgingly. Or perhaps we give excuses as to why it just can't happen. But yet God tells us to do something. And He does it, and He wants to prove you and me. I believe this is probably one of the greatest problems that Jesus faced. To get these men to share His burden. As teachers, we, I mentioned, we give exams, we teach students. I can honestly, I can say something that I yearn is when I teach, getting someone to feel the same way I feel about a subject. It's something that's there. I want these students to realize the importance of missions. I want them to understand the importance of doctrine. I want them to understand the importance of the Word of God. I want them to understand the importance of lost souls. They need to understand all those things. And in a way, you want them to understand it the way you understand it. Has anybody ever, not spiritual things perhaps, but about other things, maybe wanted others to feel the same way you felt about something? I mean, you're passionate about something? Anybody ever felt that way about something? Maybe you don't like snow, you're passionate about it. You're gonna tell other people you want them to feel the same way. Someone else feels the way they like snow, you gotta tell them about it. I have sort of a funny story that would relate to this. I assume everybody in here like ice cream. Amen, that's right. Solid amen there. It's hard to find really good store-bought ice cream. There's some out there, but they're not all the same. And I know when Rocky Farina was here in the church, he had his ice cream place, and he gave me a couple tips about how you can identify good ice cream. It's very interesting. If you want to know, I'll tell you more about it later. But anyways, one of the best store-bought ice creams I've ever had was introduced to me down south. It's not available up here, unfortunately. It's called Bluebell. Bluebell ice cream. Has anybody ever heard of Bluebell ice cream? Oh, a few of you. Very good. It is probably the most creamy, textured, delicious ice cream of different flavors you could ever have. Ever. And, you know, so there's only a few up here you can try to have. So every once in a while, if I go down to either Virginia or down further south, I'll try to get myself some Bluebell ice cream. And I'm pretty passionate about it. I like it a lot. And I called my wife when I was coming home from a trip one time, and I told her, honey, I'm going to have a surprise for you when I come home. She said, oh, you know, she got all excited. She said, that's great, wonderful. What she didn't know was I had packed very carefully in super planned frozen way to keep Blue Bell ice cream the most preserved way I possibly could in a cooler. And you know, you wrapped it in newspapers, shoved a lot of ice in there, put as much, any techniques I could find a way to keep it cold, I did. It's about an eight hour trip from like where I was in Virginia to here. So I had to move, you know, and if an officer pulled me over, I'd be like, I got Bluebell, I gotta go. And so I was ready, I was moving and I was on my way. I got home and my wife, oh, you know, what did you, I opened up the cooler, I said, I got Bluebell ice cream. Her countenance changed. Now, I guess I didn't realize that she was not as excited about Blue Bowl ice cream as I was. She loves to tell this story. She's told people before. And so I brought that home. I was excited about it. I brought home three flavors. Man, strawberry, rocky road, and a pistachio, I think. Really good. But when I opened up that box and her face was not as excited as I was, I thought, why not? Do you not understand that this is the best ice cream in the world? That was what I thought in my mind. I realized I shouldn't say anything more, and I did something else nice for her. But she didn't feel the same way about it that I did. There are other things in life, besides Blue Bell Ice Cream, that we may be passionate about, that when we talk to other people, we would love for them to feel the same way. I'm sure that there's ways, which Mr. Pantaleo teaches his music classes, that he's passionate about music, Maybe other people won't feel all the way the same way but he wants to communicate the fact of his burden. This is important. You need to understand the importance of music and the music you decide to listen to and the way you use it in different ways, ministries and others. Other teachers that teach other subjects, communication and getting you to understand and feel the same way. When I have been, I was just yesterday in Rhode Island, or no, I was on Friday, excuse me. I'm helping another church in Rhode Island with their sound system and their live streaming. And then yesterday I was at Harbor Light Baptist Church. We were able to get them up and running, so they have a sound system today. And we're going to go back and finish up some stuff for them. But whenever I, they have me do maybe a section of time, some of the churches will have like a training and I'll I'll talk to the sound men and I'll discuss with them. Sometimes it's difficult to translate and get to them, communicate the idea of the importance of the sound ministry. Now, not everybody feels the same way, but if the sound man is doing what he ought to do, hopefully there's no distractions, and hopefully he does what's right, and when it's appropriate, he'll take the heat when there's a problem, but he deals with it a certain way, he knows how to fix a problem, and knows the fact that he helps the service be transparent. If you never think about sound system while we're up here, then that's a plus because that can be hard to do sometimes. So there's a relation of a burden. Another example. I try to communicate to them, this is important. And Jesus many times tries to communicate to us the importance of something that he wants us to know and understand. And he wants to prove us. He wants to prove us. And I believe that this is one of the greatest problems that we face today, that Jesus tries to communicate to us in sharing his burden with us. And it's really up to us to want to learn and understand. Now quickly, I want to give you four things here in this passage of scripture of proofs Ways that Jesus proved. Now it says only specifically in verse number six, he said this to prove him, talking about Philip, but I believe if we look at this passage, we'll see ways that he proves others. Number one, look how he proves the multitude. Proves the multitude. Verse number one, it says, after these things, Jesus went over to 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. So you have to ask yourself, why is the crowd following Jesus? Well, it's because of the miracles that He performed. It says even specifically, which He did on them that were diseased. The people were following after Jesus because they were amazed. They were in awe. They were sensationalized because of the miracles that He did. Now, Jesus performed the miracles really for one purpose. He did it to show who God was. And that's how you and I as Christians ought to do our ministry, or to live our lives, is to point everyone to Christ. It's not for ourselves. It's not for other gain. But these people here are not seeing that. It's not Jesus' fault. It's their fault. And they're following after Him because of the miracles He performed. Now, to catch their attention, it does that, it fulfills its purpose, but it's all to point men to God. But they did it because of the sensationalism. They looked on him, perhaps, maybe even as a Houdini of the day. Tricks, things that he could perform. Now, others saw it and were led to the truth. And you ask yourself, why is it that you come to church? Why is it that you read your Bible? Why is it that you serve the Lord? Why is it you have the motives that you have for the things that God's given you to do? Hopefully, we can go through this checkbox list and say, you know, Lord, my attitude is where it ought to be. My spirit is where it ought to be. My attitude is where it ought to be. Everything is in line with how God wants me to view what He's given me to do. It's not for my gain. It's not for wealth. It's not for fame. It's only for the honor and glory of God. You know, a Sunday school teacher that comes into their Sunday school class with that attitude and that spirit will do a lot more for the Lord than the other. A preacher that comes to the pulpit that has that mindset and attitude and spirit will accomplish more than the one that does not. Anyone in any ministry that has that mindset and spirit will accomplish more than if they do not. So, why are we doing these things? The crowd, of course, if they were to be proved of God, proved that they did not do it for the right reasons, or not all of them. Doing what God has given us to do for the right reason is so important. We have to watch our motives, and we can learn that from the crowd. Secondly, the proof of the disciples. Verse number three, And there he sat with his disciples. So he's sitting with his disciples at this time, and people are following, and it comes about, he sees the people, he's moved with compassion, and he's drawn, and we have a continuation of the story. And as we see from Philip specifically and others, it's interesting to note, if you look at the other records, that it doesn't mention the names, but it says, as a group, it'll say, the disciples said, send them away. It puts them together as a group. Now, God doesn't lie, he's honest. I don't think he'd put them as a group and say that if it wasn't true. So it says, the disciples said, send them away. So it sounds like they were in agreement. And when he asked Philip this specific question, it wasn't just Philip that felt that way, it was all of them. And so the disciples, if we were to turn to verse 66, actually, of John chapter six, just further on, Verse 66 says, from that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Not just talking about the 12, but others that were following after Christ. You have them not following after God. You see, not all that will follow him will stay. If you realize by the end of the Lord's ministry when he dies on the cross, when he's going to die on the cross, you realize that all the disciples forsook him. saved John, and even Peter, he followed from afar off, the Bible says. They didn't stay with him. They all left him. You see, you better serve God and worship God for the right motives, or you won't stay with him. We have to oftentimes check ourselves and ask God to search our hearts so we can fulfill what it is God has us to fulfill, but also to do it with the right motive, to have the right mindset, You see, when you have the right motive and the right mindset, singing in church becomes a whole new thing. Reading your Bible becomes a whole new thing. Witnessing to other people becomes a whole new thing. Giving your offering becomes a whole new thing. Helping other Christians becomes a whole new thing. You see, because your motive and your desire is to want to please the Lord and to see others encouraged in Christ. It's a wonderful thing. We need to check our motives. The disciples needed to check their motives. And oftentimes, Jesus did things to prove them. He wants to prove us. Notice thirdly, not only the proof of the disciples, but notice the proof of Philip. Look at verse number four again. In the Passover, a feast of the Jews was nigh. Verse five, when Jesus then lifted up his eyes, he saw a great company came unto him, and 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. He himself knew what he would do. I'll say this, Jesus knew what Philip would do, but Jesus already knew what he was going to do. He knows all things. And so he did this knowing what was going to happen. And what was Philip's response? We don't have enough money. We have 200 penny worth, but that's not enough to buy them enough food. But see, Jesus, when he asked the question, already knew Philip's heart. Not just the response he was gonna give, but the motive behind it. Jesus knew Philip's response. And before we respond to what God has for us to do, God knows our response. He knows your heart this morning, and he knows my heart this morning. And if God is dealing with us in some way, he knows how we're going to respond. But he does it to prove us. Do you think Philip saw the same thing that Jesus saw? Of course not. He saw only their stomachs. He saw the flesh. Jesus saw hungry men and women, hungry souls. Are we seeing what Jesus sees? When we look around us and we see the community around us and we see the surrounding United States, do we see what Jesus sees? You say, oh, it's just so terrible, the political situation, or maybe perhaps other situations that are being dealt with, or, you know, the COVID situation, it's just, it's terrible to look at. But when you look at people, do you see what Christ sees? Do you see opportunities, maybe, perhaps, that God gives you to be able to witness to others? You know, despite perhaps any terribleness that the season of COVID brought, it's been said before and it's worth mentioning again, God's done some wonderful things during the last two years. I personally have gotten to know probably about 30 or so pastors that I wasn't as familiar with before. Helped churches, seeing the ministries that are reaching people that weren't reached before. Many churches saying offerings are up rather than down. I mean, how is that possible? God doing wonderful things despite what looks bad. God is capable of doing that. When we see what God sees and not what others see. So if that's true and if we see what God sees, why would we have to beg people to come to church? Why would we have to beg people to go visiting? Why would we have to beg people to give of their time or beg for workers for certain situations? I have a little song here. I'm not going to sing it for you. I don't know if I would sing it right. But there's an evangelist, you've probably heard before, Harold Leake. He's passed away now, he's since gone on to heaven. He has some wonderful songs he writes, and he used to play the guitar. And he really, you know, oftentimes he would say he preached when he sang, and that's really the truth, because his songs were not just for amusement, they were the honor and please of the Lord, but they had so much truth, they really prick you sometimes. And he has this song he sings, it's quite hilarious, but he sings it with an ultimate truth. It's called I Just Can't Do It. I think I've probably mentioned it before. I just can't do it. By the end of the song, he ends up putting a pacifier in his mouth, singing the song, which looks ridiculous. But the song is about people who just say they just can't do it, and they give all the excuses of why they can't do it. They don't want to serve God. They want to just stay in their own little pile of poo and do nothing but sulk, complain. That's what a baby does, right? They need their diapers changed. Sometimes we need our spiritual diapers changed once in a while. So he sings this song. Churches have their problems. You're aware of this, no doubt. But have you ever really tried to consider what the main problem is all about? Some blame the preacher. Some blame the deacons. Some blame the people in the pew. But could it be maybe that so many church babies sing a song when there is something to do? They sing, I just can't do it. That's all there is to it. Don't ask me to try. Get somebody else and let me sit here on the shelf and collect a lot of dust until I die. I didn't join the church to have a place to work. I do my work through the week. I'll try to wear a smile and come once in a while. But it's not a church job that I seek. It says, now someone is needed in the nursery. Praise the Lord for nurseries. So one of the ladies is requested to use this opportunity to serve. But in a whining tone, she begins to moan and uses the excuse of her nerve. And it carries on with the chorus and she sings, I just can't do it. That's all there is to it. Don't ask me to try. And it continues on. Next verse says, well, a family moved away just a week ago today, and in the choir they left an empty space. Uh-oh. So you try to find another, a sister or a brother, who will stand up there and sing and fill their place. But you don't try along till you hear this song from three or five or six or seven. You know, it's a mighty good thing we believe we're saved by grace because our works would never get us into heaven. And they sing, we just can't do it. That's all there is to it. Don't ask me to try. I'll do most anything, but don't ask me to sing standing up there in the choir. I can sing for hours in the car or in the shower. It sounds pretty good just to me. But I can't get loud when singing to a crowd. I just can't do it, don't you see?" One more verse. Well, the junior's teacher telephones the preacher Sunday morning, and she tells him that she's sick. Now the preacher's way behind, and it throws him in a bind, because he's got to find a substitute quick. So he tries to get a sister, even tries to get a mister, to take the class just for this time. But when he asks for help, oh, they both begin to yelp, and there's a little song that they whine. And they sing, I just can't do it, that's all there is to it, don't ask me to try. You see, I don't know the Bible, and I'm afraid I'm liable to plumb, have a heart attack, and die. I thank you for calling, but I ain't good at talking." Well, except that is on the telephone. It's the same old story for all the way from earth to glory. When you need them, they'll sing this little song. And he continues on, I just can't do it. But then he continues with the last verse, the last chorus, and he says, but praise the Lord for the people who have the heart, motive, and mindset who say, well, I think I can do it if you just point me to it. I'd be so glad to try. You see, I want to please my Lord and get a reward when I see Him in the sweet by and by. So with the help of my King, I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. So if there's something to do, I promise you, I'll be glad to do it. Don't you see? See, it's our motives that we have to check. Why are we serving the Lord? Why are we doing this job? Why are we doing this task? And definitely, Philip gave the wrong response. He didn't respond the right way. He was concerned with getting their bellies full. And that was the depth of his spirituality. How about your spirituality today? You say, well, Brother McIver, I come to church three times a week. So do cultists and other false religion followers. You say, Brother McIver, I give my tithe and I give demissions. I clean the church. I fix things on the property. Well, there's a lot of other people that do that for other false things. You see, your spirituality is not measured entirely by your works. It's measured by the amount of control you let the Holy Spirit into your life. We need to allow Jesus to work. We need to have the right motive in doing what God's called us to do. And the last thing, I want you to see the proof of Andrew. Verse number eight. After Philip gives his answer, you have Andrew here. It says, one of the disciples, Andrew, Simon's brother, Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two fishes, but what are they among so many? Now, I've heard a lot of negative things about Andrew's response. Andrew's response was, well, we have a lad here with the five loaves and two fishes. But then his next response is, but what are they among so many? So in one way, you'd say Andrew gives a good answer. He has an opportunity by which he sees something that could be used. He may not be seeing the entire picture of more than their bellies being full, but he steps out in some faith and says, there's a lad here. And then some people would say, but he didn't really believe because he said after that, what are they among so many? Can God really use this? Is this possible? So really, did he have the right kind of faith? But I would submit to you that if we had enough people who would take the small step to trust God with something, God takes care of a lot of the rest. I wonder how many Andrews we have today. How many people that perhaps see something that God sees and says, well, God wants me to do this, I'm not sure, but I'm not sure how God's going to work all this out. God tends to take care of his own. God will never leave us nor forsake us, the Bible says. Andrew changes the whole climate just by his suggestion. Just one man. Jesus tested Philip, Philip failed. Then Andrew comes along and he says, there is a lad here with the five barley loaves and two fishes. You see, if we often will just give God a little bit and see what He does with it, we'll see that we can give God more. We're going to sing as our monthly chorus, one step at a time, O lead me Lord Jesus, one step at a time show me the way. When we submit ourselves to God and do what He wants, we take small steps and see where God has led us. I think probably one of the most exciting things, when you're yielding yourself to the Holy Spirit and following after God and see where God leads you, looking in hindsight since you've submitted to what God had you to do, and seeing the small steps along the way that God has led you. And even things you thought back then, you thought, why did God have me do that? Why was I involved in that? Why did I participate in that? What's the purpose? And then years down the road you realize, oh, there was a purpose in that. I remember hearing one preacher talk about his job working in landscaping and being able to carry a wheelbarrow and doing other things. It was just a job. But then he realized later on down the road he was in the ministry and he was asked to perform landscaping for the church. I mean, ideas and examples, small things, but things that God allows to happen and brings us to a place where he allows you to use that for the Lord. Little things along the way, you realize, this is why God had this in my life. And there are some things we may never fully understand or know while we're here, but God still allows those things. He wants to prove us. He wants to prove you and He wants to prove me. And when the Lord tests us, we have to ask the question, is He going to find a Philip? Give excuses. Lord, it's not possible. How can this be? Leave Abraham and Sarah. You're gonna have a baby. She laughed. But God still fulfilled his work. He knew what he was going to do. There's other examples in scripture. God wants to prove us. He wants to test us. And we want to prove, we should want to prove to God what he wants us to do. So if you have a choice this morning, who do you want to be? Do you want to be like the crowd? Do you want to be like the disciples? Or do you want to be like Phillip's response? Or do you want to be like Andrew? You want to be like Andrew. This may not be entirely along the same line, but I thought of it when I was in college and I had wonderful friends and I dated a few times, but it never worked out. but the Lord had a plan and a purpose in it all. I remember I graduated, and I stayed and worked on staff for a short time, and I had come to the place where I said to the Lord, you know, Lord, I'd like to be married someday, but honestly, truthfully, it can be a distraction if it's not put in its right place. What were my motives? And I said, honestly, truthfully, I should trust the Lord, and I should let him choose for me, rather than trying to find it. And so I told the Lord, I said, all right, Lord, I'm going to do something. And I stated it out loud. I remember very clearly. I said, I'm just going to get to know people, have friends, and you bring the right person in, and I'll pursue it. Well, I remember not shortly after that, and not planned, I knew my wife now, knew her all the years I was in school, and found out that she was not dating anyone. And I thought I would ask her out. Now you say, Brother McKeever, you said you were gonna allow her to come to you. No, I still wanted to ask people. But I wasn't going to pursue it, you know, and fall head over heels. I was just gonna get to know people. You say, that doesn't sound very romantic. It's like, well, spiritually I was preparing myself for what God wanted is what I was doing. and I wasn't going to follow after the flesh. So when I asked her out, we had our first date, and it went quite well, if you ask me. I think we had a good conversation. I didn't talk too much. I thought she seemed to enjoy the conversation. I heard good reports, you know, the whole college bit. You know, so-and-so said she liked, oh, that's wonderful. But understanding the fact and saying, you know what, Lord, I'm gonna let this progress if you'll allow it. And as time went on and on and on, we find that's what the Lord has for us, and now almost 15 years later, that's who God has us together. It's a wonderful thing when you yield yourself to what God has and give him the one small step. What's the small step? Well, I just said, Lord, if this is what you want, I'll do it. And I did it. It doesn't mean it's going to happen that way every single time. But I do believe that bringing motives in the spirit into the right place of the mind of Christ, I think, benefited not just us being together, but the right mindset benefited my spirit. And he proved me. And there's other situations God may test us. But we realize that if we just give God, I don't want to say the chance, but if we want to give God the little bit of faith that's as small as a grain of mustard seed, trust God with what He has for you, I believe you will not be disappointed. Let Him prove you and check your motives, check your answer before you tell God what it is you're going to do. I pray that our hearts will be right. I pray that we'll give an answer like Andrew. Let's pray.