Andrew Bramhill - Life-Changing Sayings of the Lord Jesus - Class 3 - Service Re-Examined

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:06

   Thank you very much, Ben. Good morning, brothers and sisters. Good morning young people. That was a a better response than I was expecting actually. Well done, well done. So we’re considering our service this morning. I, I, I wasn’t very good at quite finishing off yesterday. So I, I just want to run through, if I may, a little summary of where we’ve got 2 so far. So I, I put on the screen the sayings that we’ve seen of the Lord Jesus Christ over the last two or three days. You will know all these.

2. 0:44

   We’ve spent a little bit of time looking at some of these. These were the ones that we considered in our devotional yesterday. We were looking at how was it the day before? With God all things are possible. It’s your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. Which has to be one of one of my favourites. Then we were with Nicodemus yesterday. Except a man be born again.

3. 1:16

   And we examine this idea of come unto me. And if we’d have had time yesterday and if I’d have managed my time a little better, we would have spent some time in Matthew Chapter 11. Perhaps you’d just come with me there for a moment while we just look at these wonderful little verses that the Lord Jesus Christ had.

4. 1:37

   I was trying to explain to you that when Christ asks us to come to him, invariably it’s for a good thing. He has something encouraging, something helpful, something that He wants to do for us. And and here he is at the end of Matthew Chapter 11, verse 28, inviting us to come unto him all ye that labour. We’re talking about service this morning and our heavy laden. He’s interested in helping those who are burdened and in difficulty and and and you might be in that category that that might be something which is a a problem for you. It’s all about the curse of Eden, you know, isn’t it? Man had to work.

5. 2:26

   Adam had to work until the toil of until the the the soil of the ground and that’s how he would feed his family. Women had to labour in childbearing. And here is the Lord Jesus Christ saying all of you that labour and are heavy laden, heavy laden by the burden of the law. If you follow that through and he’s saying I will give you rest, you know, right from creation the 7th day of rest has always been a prospect of the age of rest to come. There will be a time when work doesn’t exist anymore, when pain in childbearing doesn’t exist anymore, and all those things are lifted and removed and it’s a wonderful time of rest. And the Lord Jesus Christ is saying the way to that rest is through me.

6. 3:18

   You need to come unto me and I will give you that rest. He is the solution to the curse. And that’s such a wonderful thing when you think about it and it’s mentioned twice there, isn’t it in those, in those two verses there. The Lord Jesus Christ wants to give us that rest and it’s a gift from Him to you and me. And that’s the most wonderful thing when you reflect on it. Sometimes we’re not very good at receiving the rest of the Lord Jesus Christ.

7. 3:52

   Think about Psalm 23, where the Lord, he is our shepherd. He guides, He leads, He takes us into green pastures, He leads us besides still waters. He’s taking us to all those places. But it’s no good Him doing that if you don’t allow Him to restore your soul. So there has to be some connection with the Lord and His work for you to be restored in this time of rest.

8. 4:20

   And, and whatever the busyness of your life and the pressure and the burden of your life, you will need to come to the Lord Jesus Christ at some stage and just take off his rest and, and put your burden on him and take his yoke because that’s easier. Cast your burden on the Lord and take his yoke.

9. 4:41

   And he will share that with you and he will carry that with you. And those were some of the things that I, yeah, I, I didn’t get time to comment on. And I, I, I just raised them very briefly for you, for you. Now I want to concentrate this morning on how we respond to that, how you and I respond to this gift, the wages of sin, of death.

10. 5:03

    But the gift of God is eternal life. God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but gave his only begotten Son. It’s a gift that’s given to us. And you and I, brothers and sisters, young people, we benefit from the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it’s how we respond to it. And I’ve just got one saying that I want to share with you in our idea of service this morning. And it’s probably not one that you would have put on your list of life changing sayings of the Lord Jesus Christ. But it’s simply this, without me, you can do nothing. OK, so that’s our, that’s our saying. We’re up to #10 and it’s the only one we’re going to look at this morning.

11. 5:50

    But this is the one which is going to help govern our service, because in the next half an hour or so, I’m going to encourage you to serve, but with the right attitude. This is not labour, this is not work. We are not earning anything. Forget that. That’s not going to, that’s not going to achieve anything.

12. 6:15

    You cannot earn your place in the Kingdom of God. You know that. You can only take it as a gift, but that doesn’t mean we don’t serve. So we’re going to try and get our attitude for service right? And this saying is going to govern our thinking this morning. Let’s start, please, in Luke chapter 15, where we met the prodigal son very briefly on Saturday evening. I’ve already mentioned to you that this is the individual who started out with the give me and wanted to get to the make me stage, which is lovely that he made that transformation. Just want to show you what he says and what the Father allows him to say because this this helps as I think understand where we are in our service to God. So, so, so this is the, this is the verse or two which the sun prepares.

13. 7:19

    It’s there in verse 18 where he practices his little speech. So Luke 15 verse 18, I will arise and go to my Father and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee or in thy sight, and I’m no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. So you know that.

14. 7:47

    And it demonstrates this complete change, doesn’t it, in this young man who’s now learned his lessons, realised that he was far better off back in his father’s house. He was far better back, better back home in the fellowship of his brother. That’s interesting, isn’t it? He was willing to go back and comply with the standards and the rules of the Father’s house because this ecclesial environment, being in the family of God, is the best place to be.

15. 8:14

    And he can see that having tried other places and, and he’s going to confess, I have sinned. This is his confession. And you might observe that he sinned against heaven and in thy sight. Now we might think that’s the wrong way round. Actually, He’s sinned against his Father, and Heaven observes it, but he doesn’t say that He’s got this the right way round. All sins are against heaven.

16. 8:39

    Every sin that we commit, every wrongdoing that we commit is against God. It might hurt other people, it might damage other people and probably will, but every sin we commit is against heaven and the Father was party to it. And then he’s, he’s going to set the matters right. I, I am no more worthy to be called thy son.

17. 9:00

    So make me as one of thy hired servants. So, so we know that speech and it makes a lot of sense. And, and we might feel like that when we come to some kind of acknowledgement of our own failure, we confess what we’ve done wrong, We realise we’ve not been very good at something.

18. 9:15

    We recommit and we say we’re not worthy, but we’re going to try a lot harder. That that, that’s the, that’s the idea, isn’t it? But when he comes to his father and he makes this speech that he’s prepared. Verse 20 let’s read it. He arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

19. 9:42

    But the son’s now going to make his speech. The Son said unto his Father, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and I’m no more worthy to be called thy Son. And he’s about to say the last little bit, make me as one of thy hired servants, and the Father won’t let him say it. The Father intervenes at that point. He only lets him say these words on the screen. I am no more worthy to be called thy son. And he’s about to say, make me as a hired servant because I’m going to try a lot harder.

20. 10:22

    I’m going to work for you. I’m going to earn your respect. I’m going to win you back as a father by things that I do. I will be a hired servant in your house, and the Father won’t let him say that. And the Father won’t let him say that because 1, He loves him as a son.

21. 10:40

    And two, the Father knows you can’t win back God’s respect by your hard work. You might think you can. You might think, well, I’m going to work jolly hard for God and win his respects so that he will be proud of me as a worker for him. It doesn’t work like that. And the father in this parable will not let the son make that statement. He just reinstates him as a son because that’s how God works. He loves us and reinstates.

22. 11:09

    He’s not going to have a hired servant in his house. His son is a hired servant. So he’s giving him the ring and the cloak and the and the shoes and restoring him to his rightful position. That’s the forgiveness of God when this wayward son turns to him. So, so I’m, I’m interested in this attitude.

23. 11:29

    Now the son wants to work and the father won’t let him. And it’s the same, it’s the same with us. He, he’s not expecting you to work and labour and earn, but he is expecting something of you. I wonder if I can show you the right attitude from Isaiah chapter 6, please. This, this is how it should work.

24. 11:54

    And maybe you’ll be able to relate to this if we just work our way through this, this little section of Scripture. With apologies to those of you who might have heard me say this before. So Isaiah chapter 6, perhaps an unusual place to go when you think about service, but but it does have a well known verse in it, which we which we’ll get to in a moment. So, so the the chapter opens with a vision and it’s a vision of the Kingdom.

25. 12:23

    And I know it’s a vision of the Kingdom because Jesus says it is in John chapter 12. It’s a vision of the Lord sitting on his throne. Verse 1 He was high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple above him, sorry, and above it stood the seraphim. Each one had 6 wings.

26. 12:44

    With twain He covered his face with twain, He covered his feet with twain He did fly. And one cried unto another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The earth is full of his glory. And that that final phrase there, of course, that’s the great plan of God, isn’t it?

27. 13:01

    That the world will be filled with his glory. That that the plan isn’t about your salvation or my salvation, it’s about the world being full of God’s glory. So that that’s how we know this is a Kingdom vision. The time when Christ reigns and God’s glory is filling the earth and the prophet is seeing this vision of the Kingdom.

28. 13:22

    We’ve talked a little bit about the vision being reinvigorated and you having a firm view of the Kingdom. Well, that’s what the prophet’s now got. He’s got a vision of what it’s going to be like when Christ is in the temple. He’s sitting on the throne, He is reigning supreme and the earth is being populated by people, Saints who carried the image of God.

29. 13:42

    That was always the intention from Genesis 1. And now these Saints are carrying God’s glory throughout the world and filling it. So everyone knows now what? What’s the prophet’s reaction? What’s the prophet’s reaction to that vision of the Kingdom? Well, it’s there in verse 5 then said, I says, Isaiah, woe is me, I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips. So, so here is the here is the prophet who realizes that in comparison with this, this wondrous time when the world is filled with God’s glory, he looks at himself and says, but look at me, look, look how unworthy I am. Look how unclean I am.

30. 14:30

    Look how helpless I am in in comparison with this purity and this righteousness and this glory that’s filling the worst. Just look at me how pathetic I am. And he’s sort of confessing I’m a man of unclean lips and then an Angel. Verse 6 Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live cold in his hand, which he’d taken with the tongues from off the altar, And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged.

31. 15:09

    Well, I I I find that lovely, because the prophets kind of found himself in a sinful position, and recognise that he is of a sinful disposition. And all of a sudden one of God’s angels says, I’ll sort that out. And we might, we might puzzle a little bit about the mechanism that was used here.

32. 15:29

    But he just takes a cold and touches the prophet’s lips and, and the profit without asking almost that has been made right and pure and good and clean. He’s not had to do anything. He’s not had to to do any tasks or work anything or, or pay any money or, or do anything to achieve this.

33. 15:49

    He’s just had to say I’m unclean, I need to be made clean. And the Angel says, great, here you are. I sought that out. You’re now made clean. And that’s like us, brothers and sisters, we accept salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ by being baptized into him. You don’t have to work for anything. You don’t have to earn anything.

34. 16:08

    You don’t have to pass any tests or get any qualifications. You just have to repent and believe. And then you can be baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ and the blessing of sins forgiven is ours. Great. Now at that point, if God so wanted, he could say, right, I’ve sorted out your sins, you are indebted to me now, and you’re jolly well going to work to pay back what I’ve done for you.

35. 16:37

    But, but, but none of us think God works in that way. And of course he doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t work to do and there isn’t service to give. So now look closely at verse 8. The prophet has now been made clean and he hears the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send? Who will go for us?

36. 17:04

    So, so, so God has got some work to do and he’s, he’s looking for a volunteer and he’s saying I need to send somebody. I need to speak a message to the people who who’s going to go for me. And it’s a little bit like that now for you and me, brothers, sisters, when we’re baptised into the Lord Jesus Christ, there’s work to do and volunteers, that’s the word volunteers are called for.

37. 17:32

    Who’s going to go? And the prophet bless him, he raises his hand and he says, here am I send me. That’s the well known verse in this particular chapter, isn’t it? Here am I send me that. The context is important because God isn’t demanding that Isaiah goes, he could have done because hey, I’ve sorted out your sins, you owe me one. But he doesn’t say that to the prophet. He just says I’ve got some work to do here, but who’s going to do this?

38. 18:02

    And Isaiah says I will. And I wonder how you’re feeling now about your service to Christ, because Christ is saying there is work to do. You’re not obliged. You’re not on the hook here. You don’t have to if you don’t want, but Christ is saying there’s work to do. I need you, I’ll go, says the prophet.

39. 18:27

    And that’s a, that’s a lovely picture, isn’t it? And and then actually as the as the chapter continues verse 9, there’s a message to be delivered. So this is the work that’s the prophets has to do. God said go and tell these people hear ye indeed, but understand not see ye indeed, but perceive not make the heart of these people fat and make their eyes heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be healed.

40. 19:00

    That’s the the quotes that we get in the New Testament, isn’t that you recognise that that’s spoken by Christ at the time of parables, for example. So Isaiah is going to going to deliver this message and he’s going to speak to the people because that’s what he’s volunteered to do. And verse 11, he simply says, how long I’m signing up for this? How long Lord, am I going to do this? Which is quite interesting.

41. 19:25

    You might want to know that if you’ve raised your hand, hand and said, yes, I’m going to do this task, Lord, I’ll be pleased to help. How long are you expecting me to do this? That that might be a valid question and the answer is quite lovely, isn’t it?

42. 19:46

    Verse 11, the Lord said sorry, then said I to the Lord, how long? And he said, until the cities be wasted without inhabitants. In other words, you keep going and you speak and you speak until there’s no one left to listen. You keep delivering that message. And when you raise your hand as a volunteer for the Lord Jesus Christ and say, I’m going to serve, what would you like me to do?

43. 20:14

    This isn’t something that you do for a week. Isn’t it something that you do for the next month? You keep going and you keep going and you keep going until there’s no more work left to do. And I, and I think that that chapter epitomizes the service that’s expected of you and me in the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s not compulsory.

44. 20:37

    You are certainly not going to earn anything. Christ has gone 1st and organized your salvation. If you want it that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. But now he’s saying, I want your help, please, who’s going to help? And we’re going to raise our hands and say, I will. So, so that, that attitude I find quite helpful, brothers and sisters, when it comes to thinking about our service to the Lord. Now, now, now what?

45. 21:11

    What do you think about our service? You know, just put yourself in the ecclesial context. And I’m not, I’m not trying to, well, I, I, I don’t want you to be critical of your ecclesia, but just think about your ecclesial context where there is some work to do. You know, how, how many, how many willing volunteers are there when there’s something to be done amongst your ecclesial members? You know, we, we, we belong to an ecclesia of nearly 50 members.

46. 21:41

    If there’s some work to do, are are you likely to see 50 hands raised saying, well, I’ll do it. No, no, I’ll do it. No, leave it to me, I’ll do it. Is that how ecclesial life works or, or do you find brothers and sisters sort of looking along the row and saying, hmm, hmm. Shouldn’t, shouldn’t you be doing it? You’re best suited for this.

47. 22:03

    Why isn’t he putting his hand up? He, he would be ideal for that task. You know, we find others who can do it better than us, rather than Isaiah, who just says, I’ll do it. Wouldn’t it be lovely if 50 hands went up and said, yeah, leave it to us, we’ll do this. Well, maybe before we criticize our brothers and sisters, we ought to look at ourselves and say, well, it’s my hand going up.

48. 22:25

    Am I one who is willing to help and willing to serve in this particular work? Can I take you to the parable of the labourers in the vineyard, please? In Matthew chapter 20? I’m building on this idea of correct attitude, if I may so, so so you know this parable. This is where workers are called to help in the vineyard.

49. 23:11

    Let’s just read from verse 3 of Matthew chapter 20. The The vineyard owner went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, I will give you. And they went their way again. He went out the 6th hour and the 9th hour, and did likewise.

50. 23:36

    And about the 11th hour he went out and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? And they say unto him, Because no man has hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard. OK, so, so you, you, you remember that parable of the employer who is looking for workers and he starts at 6:00 in the morning and he goes into the Market Square and he hires labourers and he contracts with them for a penny a day.

51. 24:17

    Now, I’m told that there are different kinds of servants in Scripture here. Here is the little hierarchy of servant that we read of in the New Testament. So we have bond servants, and those were servants who were bonded to a house. They were connected to a house. Sometimes in modern translations you read the word slave and the current, the current climate today, slavery, that’s really bad. There’s all sorts of talk of reparations being paid. And look at the cruel British Empire with its slaves. Look at the way slaves were treated in America. Therefore, slavery is utterly bad. And, and OK, certainly a lot of slavery was bad, but I just want you to forget that notion for a moment, because if you were a bond servant, you were OK.

52. 25:14

    You were connected to a house, you belonged to a house. Now the idea of belonging somewhere might bristle with you because, oh, I want to be free and I want to do my own things. Well, maybe. But actually, if you’re connected to a house, that means every day you’ve got security, you’ve got somewhere to sleep, you’ve got a family who you’re working with, you’ve got food on your table every day.

53. 25:37

    You are going to be OK. You raise your family in that environment. You’ve got some security. Life is not bad as, as a bondservant, you’re, you’re OK with this. And that’s why when we read of it in the, in the letters of Paul about masters and servants and masters and slaves, you know, that’s seems a bit incongruous towards at today’s age, because we all ought to be equal. These bond slaves are OK.

54. 26:03

    They’ve got food, they’ve got clothing, they’ve got shelter, they’ve got salaries, they’ve got, they’ve got a life that works for them. They’re, they’re in a privileged position and they’re happy and servants, which is the next tier down that they were a bit more peripheral to a family house, but they still had some of this security and some of this reliability and it meant a lot. So, so, so don’t just dismiss slavery in scripture as being a very bad thing.

55. 26:30

    These people were OK and were happy about it. If you were a hired servant, which is actually what the prodigal son wanted to be. If you were a hired servant, life is grim. You are not connected to a family. You you are not guaranteed security of clothing and shelter and food on any particular day.

56. 26:54

    You, you have to be at the Labour exchange at six O clock in the morning ready to work and and what if no one employs you? What if no one comes along and gives you some contracted hours that day? These are the 0 hour contracts people. That’s a phrase we know in the UK. Certainly they’re under contract sort of. But there’s no work.

57. 27:21

    If there is no work, that means there’s no penny at the end of the day. That means there’s no evening meal. That means there’s hunger and destitution, and it’s hard. So life as a hired servant is grim if no one hires you. This is bleak. Now, I’m in a very privileged position of having never experienced unemployment, but but there will be some here who have experienced that, There will be some here who will experience that. And I, my heart goes out to you, you know, if that, if that monthly salary or that weekly wage isn’t arriving all of a sudden and yet bills keep coming. This is not good.

58. 28:15

    And, and this is where people lose confidence. You know, if they can’t get work, they lose confidence, their self esteem goes, they drop into a cycle of anxiety and worry and concern. They become depressed. This is not a good thing. And and imagine if you go to the labour exchange in the morning and you’re willing to work and no one hires you. So that’s a bad day.

59. 28:41

    But you go back the next morning hoping that someone’s going to employ you. And a potential employer comes along and says, ah, I might employ you today. Where did you work yesterday? And you have to say, ah, no one hired me yesterday. Oh, I wonder why? Perhaps you weren’t. Perhaps you’re not a hard worker. Perhaps you’re not worth employing. I’ll go and try somebody else.

60. 29:13

    Imagine that happening for a few days. When did you last work? Not worked for a week, actually. Oh, maybe no one ever wants to employ you. I’ll go and find another worker. You can see how it might work. And, and, and getting caught in that cycle would be really difficult. And, and, and there’s a hint at that in this particular parable because these labourers who don’t get hired at 6:00 in the morning, they’re still there at 9:00 and they’re still there at 12:00 and they’re still there at 3:00 and they’re still there at 5:00, not because they’re lazy, but because they need someone to employ them.

61. 29:57

    They’re still hoping that someone’s going to employ them late in the day. Please just give us some work. We’re desperate for work in your vineyard. We’d love to work there. And that to me is, is enormously helpful when we think about the generosity of this vineyard owner who comes along. We, we might question about what the penny means. And I could talk to you about that. But the vineyard owner comes along at 9:00 and he takes some more.

62. 30:30

    And at 12:00 and he takes some more. And at 3:00 he takes some more. And at 5:00 in the afternoon, there’s only an hour of daylight left. He’s going to get no work whatsoever out of these people is, you know, by the time they’ve picked their things up and walked all the way to the vineyard and got out amongst the vines, there’s only a bit of daylight left.

63. 30:50

    He’s not going to get much work out of them. And yet he still employs them, these people who might be unemployable, and yet the vineyard owner is there and he’s calling them and saying, you come and work in my vineyard, You come and work in my vineyard. And everyone of this group said, great, that’s lovely.

64. 31:13

    I’d really be delighted to work in your vineyard. And they went and they would be thrilled to work there. And then just imagine 6 O clock in the morning tomorrow, they stand at the labour exchange and a potential employer comes along and says, where did you work yesterday? And they’re able to say we worked in his vineyard.

65. 31:35

    And they’d be so thrilled that they could say that this reputable man, he chose me and I worked in his vineyard. You might not say that you chose me at 5:00 in the afternoon and only gave me 30 minutes worth of work. You might not say that, but you’d be able to say I was chosen by him and I was able to work in his vineyard.

66. 31:56

    Can’t, Can’t you just get a sense here of the, the delight to work in the Masters vineyard that these people would have? These are individuals who would be overjoyed at being called to work in his vineyard and they would go home that night and they got that penny. They could buy bread, they could put food on the table. The the, the wife is happy, the children are happy. The family home that night is a happy place because this labour has been called to work in the vineyard. Now I’m trying to give you a sense here of how delighted these people are to work in this vineyard. And I just ask you then to compare it with yourself. Take that spirit back to your ecclesia when there’s some work to do.

67. 32:56

    And these folk, they were overjoyed to work in the Masters vineyard. That would mean everything to them. And you go back to your ecclesia and you will witness some reluctance. Is it my turn again? Is it? Isn’t anyone else doing that task this time? I’ll do it here. Am I? Send me. I’d like to work in your vineyard, please. Can you see that is.

68. 33:27

    Is that not just the way our service ought to be in the Lord Jesus Christ? Where’s that spirit gone from our ecclesias? You can take that back, you can be that person, you can lead by that example, you can re examine your service and you can show your ecclesia how to work for the Lord. Matthew Sorry Mark chapter 6 please let’s move on the disciples at work here.

69. 34:02

    Mark chapter 6 is a lovely chapter. It it starts in verse 7 with him calling his 12 and you’ll notice he’s going to send them forth two by two and they’re going to preach the gospel and they’re given power to heal and to make clean and they get various instructions from the Lord Jesus Christ and off they go. These are these are the workers appointed. The 12 disciples are going out in pairs to do the work for the Lord Jesus Christ.

70. 34:42

    We don’t need to pursue all the details, but several verses later on they return in verse 30 and it says this is what they reported. The apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus and they told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. OK, so so here they are that that there are two things you need to observe from that. First of all, they tell Him what they had done before, what they had taught, and that that’s not the right way round. In your ecclesial life.

71. 35:28

    When you’re when you’re considering a practical help that you might give either to the community, as in the Christadelphian community, or to the community around you, when you’re thinking of practical help that does not come before the teaching that we can give. Always make sure the gospel message comes first in your witness, in your ecclesial life, in your work. It’s not about what you do, it’s about what you teach. You have the most precious thing, the key to salvation. Because you’ve got your Bible, you understand the gospel message.

72. 36:05

    You need to share that. It’s no good filling empty stomachs if you don’t give them the gospel message. I know we need to fill empty stomachs. I know we need to do all those those kindly things. But don’t get it the wrong way round. The gospel message has to be our focus. Disciples didn’t get that. The other thing which they didn’t get is they were busy telling the Lord Jesus Christ what they had done and what they had taught, that they’ve not yet grabbed hold of the key, saying that without Him they can do nothing, that they’ve not got that, That we did this.

73. 36:48

    Yeah. Let me tell you what happened in this place. Lord, let me tell you how I healed that person in that particular visual. That they had success, but they are doing it themselves and they’re claiming that they achieved it themselves. And then we had this little phrase. I just listed it yesterday in verse 31.

74. 37:09

    Come your come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest a while. Here is Jesus teaching them on one, taking them onto one side. And he’s got to talk to these disciples. He’s got to help them recover and he’s got to try and clear up this priority and events sort of run away from them, don’t they, because the multitude follow him and they’re being taught. And after a long time, the day was fast spent, the disciples come unto him, don’t they?

75. 37:44

    And they say, verse 35, this is a desert place. The time is now fast spent. Send them away that they might go into a country roundabout and into the villages to buy themselves bread and, and the what the, what Jesus says to them in verse 37. He answered and said unto them, give ye them to eat, give you them something to eat.

76. 38:17

    I, I, I wonder how the disciples felt at that point. You know, they’ve, they’ve just done all this successful preaching. They’ve just done all this healing and restoration and they’ve come back to Jesus and said, let, let, let, let me tell you what we’ve done. Let me tell you the successes that we have had.

77. 38:35

    Let me tell you how good it was when we did this and when we did that. And then they were sort of full of it, weren’t they? And now all of a sudden there’s a multitude and the Lord Jesus Christ says to them, go on, then give them something to eat. Lord, how are we going to do that? Lord, even if we got 200 pence, we wouldn’t be able to buy enough bread to feed all these people. How are we going to do that?

78. 39:02

    You know, they, they bring, bring a, a, a human view, a human solution. Well, how much money have we got? How much could we buy? We couldn’t possibly feed all these people. Even if we got 200 pennies, we could not buy enough food for all these people. They bring a human solution and they can’t do it and they know they can’t do it.

79. 39:19

    And the Lord Jesus Christ could have at that point said, ha, ha, I told you, I knew you couldn’t do it. You can’t do it without me. He could have said that, couldn’t he? If he wanted the, the, the Lord Jesus Christ should have said, well, you boasted about all those other miracles, why can’t you do this miracle?

80. 39:36

    He could have said that to them, couldn’t he? But he, he didn’t he, he could have been really cross and said that’s not good enough. You managed last time. Let’s say you try harder and do it this time. He could have got cross with them and shouted at them and raised his voice for underperformance, but he doesn’t do that. He he could have just pulled rank and said, see, you’re hopeless people, you’re not able to do this. Stand back.

81. 40:09

    Let me show you how it should be done. I’ll do this miracle. You just watch and understand how it should be done. The Lord Jesus Christ could have said said that. If he wanted, couldn’t He? He could have taken control of the situation and shown them what to do. Stand aside. This is not for amateurs like you.

82. 40:27

    This is for professionals like me. Watch this. And there’s none of that from the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s none of that. His disciples have got a perverted view of service at the moment and the Lord is going to show them how it works. So he says to them, doesn’t he? Verse 38 how many loaves have ye go and see? And when they knew, they say 5 and 2 fish and and it’s embarrassing isn’t it?

83. 41:05

    You know, here are disciples now who are contributing to the mass feeding of 5000 people and we’ve got 5 loaves and a couple of fish. Here you are, Lord that, that, that’s it. It’s embarrassing that they’ve got nothing more to offer. And again, Christ could have said, is that all? How on earth do you think we’re going to solve a problem of 5000 hungry people with such a paltry contribution? He could have said that, but but, but he doesn’t. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ, he’s looking for something. He’s looking for something from you and it doesn’t matter how big or how small, he’s looking for you to bring something in your service.

84. 41:59

    And even if you’re embarrassed by it because it’s so pathetic, this is all I’ve got. Lord, it’s, it’s 5 loaves and two fish. I know that’s absolutely useless in the context of what we’re trying to do here. And the Lord Jesus Christ says, great, we’re off. That’s all I need. I just need something from you.

85. 42:21

    And then of course, as soon as he’s got that something, he’s organizing the disciples, they’re making the crowd to sit down in companies of 50s and hundreds and, and, and a prayer is given. Bread is broken and it’s distributed and it’s given to the disciples and they are sharing it out. Verse 41 when he had taken the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, blessed break the loaves gave them to to the disciples to set before them, and the two fishers divided he among them all.

86. 42:58

    He wanted the disciples to be involved. So Christ here takes this little offering, this insignificant amount, and in his hands, all of a sudden it becomes something special. And he gives it to the disciples and the disciples take it and share it out. And the disciples have got a clue what’s going on here.

87. 43:16

    They do not know where all this bread is coming from. How many did we give to him? Where, where’s all this coming from? And out they go. And they come back and there’s more to give. And the the disciples are involved in sharing it out. They don’t really know what’s happening. And then of course, when the miracle’s finished and they go out and gather up, they’ve got far, far more leftover than they originally started with. And it’s the most wonderful thing, isn’t it? But here’s the thing, the Lord Jesus Christ could have done that miracle on his own.

88. 43:46

    He did not need his disciples. His disciples could barely do anything. All they’re offering was 5 loaves and two fish. He doesn’t need them, but He wants them. And the reality is, it’s the same with you and me. He He doesn’t actually need you. The the vineyard owner did not need those labourers.

89. 44:16

    It might have looked like that in the paral, but he didn’t need them. He’d got lots of other labourers he could have chosen. He didn’t need those, but he chose them and he doesn’t need you. You might like to think he does. So, so, so it’s a wonderful thing that he’s actually asked you and he wants you and there’s a role for you to play. And these disciples who were completely belittled by the fact that they couldn’t do this and were rather feeling rather unworthy that the best they could offer was such a small thing.

90. 44:55

    And the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, don’t worry, I’ll take small. I can work with that. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ or wants you to bring something to his service. He can’t work with nothing but bring him something and then he can turn it into something special. We can do nothing without the Lord Jesus Christ and yet with Him, the tiniest little thing that you bring, the smallest little offering that you bring and your willingness, he says, I want you.

91. 45:31

    I there is a role for you to play here. Let’s do this work together. So, so it’s a it’s a wonderful picture, brothers and sisters, which helps us appreciate that the Lord Jesus Christ is calling us. He wants us to work in his vineyard. It’s a privilege to be asked and invited. And it doesn’t matter if the tiniest thing you can bring is all you can manage. He can work with that.

92. 45:58

    He wants it and we’ll develop it. Let’s finish in John Chapter 7, please. Sorry, John Chapter 6. You see, after this has taken place, the, the, the crowd, you’ll remember the crowd loved it. This is great free meal. You know, if these were all hired labourers, 5000 hired labourers who struggle for bread on a daily basis, all of a sudden here is an abundance of bread.

93. 46:31

    Whoa, this is good. We like this. We’re happy with this man who feeds us. Let’s make him king. That’s what they wanted to do. And the Lord Jesus had to send his disciples away. He had to deal with the crowd. The disciples get stuck on the water. We saw Jesus walking to them on water and Peter walking yesterday and they get to the land at the other side and then the crowd comes again following day the crowd come and of course the crowd aren’t coming for the correct motive. I’m in John 6 and at verse 26 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me, not because you saw the miracles, but because she did eat of the loaves and were filled.

94. 47:15

    You’re only here for the meal, aren’t you? I, I know that you, you want me to reproduce yesterday’s miracle. You’re only here for the free. The free loaves labour not for the meat which perishes, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life which the Son of Man shall give unto you. So there it is.

95. 47:40

    We are encouraged to work, but not for the meat which perishes, not for the things of this life, but in service of our Lord in response to the things given to us. And then verse 28, they said unto him, what should we do? That we might work the works of God. And they were, they were interested in doing works like can I turn stones into bread works.

96. 48:08

    They wanted to be able to fill their own stomachs. That’s really what they’re interested in. So Jesus has to say this is the work of God. Verse 29 that you believe on him whom he hath sent and and and verse 30 that they’re not really listening to him, are they? They’re just interested in bread.

97. 48:27

    They said therefore into him. What signs show us thou then that we may see and believe that believe thee. What dost thou work? We need you to do a sign Lord. Forgetting. Conveniently it’s done lots of signs yesterday, including feeding 5000. Our fathers did eat manner in the wilderness as it is written.

98. 48:46

    He gave them bread out of heaven to eat. Why don’t you do that miracle again, Lord? That would be a good one to prove to us that your Lord would like free bread, please. They were in it for the wrong reasons. We’re not in it for the wrong reasons, Brothers, sisters, young people.

99. 49:00

    We are in it because of what has been done for us. We have been made clean in the Lord Jesus Christ. The way of salvation has been secured for each of us and the Lord now is wanting us to work for Him in His vineyard, and it’s a privilege to do so. I wonder if we might be able to take that back to our eclesias and re examine our service and show our brothers and sisters that we are willing volunteers for the work of the Lord. Thank you.