Joni Mannell – The Breaking Of Bread – Class 2 – Until it be Fulfilled

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48 to 58, we’ll call upon our
brother Johnny Mannell to give

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us his second study under the
general theme at the breaking of

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bread.
And the topic of this class is

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until it be fulfilled.
Johnny, please.

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Thanks, Paul.
Good morning brothers and

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sisters.
Just to kind of get us back into

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context, yesterday I made the
mistake of trying to ram a

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little bit too much into our
session, I think.

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And I probably towards the end
there I started rushing to the

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point that you probably lost the
flavour of what I was trying to

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convey.
But I hope you managed to get

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the, the essence of what I was
trying to do, which was to get

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into the mindset and into the
demeanour and the feelings of

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the Lord Jesus Christ as he
approached the breaking of bread

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with his disciples.
How he wanted to share with them

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his joy, his peace, his, his
sense of composure, his

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understanding of what he was
going to achieve and how

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wonderful that was that he might
share that with, with his

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brothers and sisters.
To the point that there in the

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garden, he was still determined
that Peter, James and John

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specifically would would have
grasped all of those feelings,

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that they might continue to be
able to share those with the

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rest of the disciples after he’d
gone.

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So I hope you managed to catch
that flavour, even though I like

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gabbled away for over an hour
and and rushed like crazy.

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I’m going to try not to do that
so much this morning, but it is

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a bad habit.
So what I want us to think about

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this morning is this phrase that
Luke particularly uses in his

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account of the the Last Supper.
Until it be fulfilled, I will no

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longer eat.
This bread I will no longer

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drink.
I will not drink of the fruit of

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the vine until it be fulfilled
in the Kingdom of God.

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What does that mean?
What did the Lord Jesus Christ

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mean by that idea that some
essence of the symbols that He

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was sharing in the bread and in
the wine would have some future

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fulfillment for Him and for us?
What did he mean by that?

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And to do that, I wanted to look
at each of the symbols in turn,

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first the bread and then the
wine and see what, what essence

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of the, the symbols that the
Lord Jesus was trying to share.

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We’ll have some future
fulfilment for each one of us.

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And the reason I want to do that
is so that when we sit down week

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by week and we, we eat the bread
and we, we drink the wine just

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as quickly as that happens, it
just kind of comes and goes in a

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moment, doesn’t it, that we
might be able to sit down or I

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certainly wanted to be able to
sit down and think.

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What, what future significance
does this have for me is I just

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take this simple piece of bread
and I just sip this wine and

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share it in fellowship with my
brothers and sisters.

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What is the future significance?
That the Lord wanted me to

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attach to that I will not drink
until I drink it new with you

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until it be fulfilled in the
Kingdom of God so that’s what I

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what I want to explore with you
this morning and the very words

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that Jesus uses there demand
that in some way this.

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This meal that he shared with
his disciples was prophetic.

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It was going to have some future
fulfilment.

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And I want you to come with me,
first of all to Exodus 13, just

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really quickly, because the
Passover for the children of

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Israel had the same essence
about it.

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Exodus Chapter 13 of.
Course, Moses is giving here

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from God the instructions for
sharing the Passover.

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To the men and women of Israel,
and these were the words that he

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gave them.
Verse 3 of Exodus 13, Remember

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this day, said Moses.
Verse 3, Exodus 13, in which you

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came out from Egypt out of the
House of bondage for by

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strength.
Of hand the Lord brought you out

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from this place.
There will no leavened bread be

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eaten this day.
You came out in the month, Abib.

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And it will be when the Lord
will bring you into the land of

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the Canaanites, Hittites,
Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites,

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which He swear to your Father’s
to give you a land flowing with

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milk and honey.
You will keep this service in

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this month.
Do you sense the essence of of

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prophecy there that that Moses
was giving?

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There is something about this
Passover meal that you’re going

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to share that is going to reach
its fulfilment when you arrive

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in the Promised Land, when
finally you get there, He says.

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And you, when the Lord has given
you the land of the Canaanites,

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Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and
Jebusites, which he’s been

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promising to your father’s for
generations, when you finally

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arrive there, you’re going to
eat this meal again.

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And this time it will be in
celebration of everything that

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God has done for you.
It will be in order to help you

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remember not just the cost that
was paid, not just all the

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experiences you went through in
Egypt, but now that you might be

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able to share it in, in a new
and in an awesome way that

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you’re now sitting there in the
promised land that has been

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promised to your, your father’s
and your grandfather’s and your

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great grandfather’s.
Now it’s yours and you’re there

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and it’s been fulfilled.
All the things that God has been

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promising to you have now
reached their conclusion and

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their completion.
And when you sit down to eat

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that meal, finally one day when
it happens, you will.

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Realise that God has completed
all the things that He promised

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to do for you.
Isn’t that lovely?

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And may it be, brother and
sisters, when we come and sit

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week by week, and we share the
bread and the wine.

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May it be we remember that
principle.

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I will eat one day when it’s
fulfilled, when it’s new, when

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it’s been completed in the
Kingdom of God, that one day we

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will sit and share a meal with
the Lord Jesus Christ when

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everything that today, these
things are only just a a tiny

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foretaste of one day, they’ll be
real.

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And we will sit down at a great
feast with the Lord Jesus

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Christ.
And all the things that in our

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lives we’ve only dreamed about,
we’ve only imagined, we’ve only

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strived for one day they’ll be
real.

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And may each week as we come and
share it Bren sisters, we

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remember that that this is not
just a looking back.

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It’s a great looking forward to
the day when we will share it

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new with the Lord Jesus Christ
himself.

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Well, as we come back to our our
New Testament, come with me to

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John chapter. 6.
One of the.

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Staggering things about the
record we have of the Last

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Supper in the Gospels is how
brief it is.

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I think in Matthew and Mark it
takes 4 verses.

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Jesus took the bread and blessed
and break and gave it to them

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and said take, eat.
This is my body.

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You can almost recite it word
for word.

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Luke takes an extra verse, 5
verses.

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Alright, isn’t it extraordinary
that this absolutely momentous

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moment that we remember?
Every week by the grace of God

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is just captured in four or five
verses It in certainly in

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Matthew, Mark and Luke.
When you come to John, John is

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rather unusual as you know,
John, rather than just having a

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few verses in the upper room in
his gospel, has John 131415164.

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Chapters in the upper room,
right?

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And yet the the amazing thing
about John’s gospel is even

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though he spends 4 chapters of
his gospel.

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In the upper room with the Lord
Jesus Christ, he never once

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mentions the actual giving of
the bread and the wine.

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He never says Jesus said this is
this bread is my body which is

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given for you this do in
remembrance of me.

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He never mentions it.
So in those four chapters there

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in the upper room, John never
says and Jesus took the cup and

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passed it around and said this
cup is the new covenant in my

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blood.
Never mentions it.

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So that’s absolutely
extraordinary, isn’t it really?

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You would think that the
disciple who spent the most time

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of his gospel there in the upper
room would have would have

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captured those moments when
Jesus shared the bread in the

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wine specifically.
But I want to suggest you a

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reason why he didn’t run
sisters, and that’s because he

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devotes two other chapters of
his Gospel elsewhere to those

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principles.
And the first one is here in

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John chapter 6 at the feeding of
the 5000.

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Now John only records a handful
of miracles, as you know, and

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his his choice of miracles is
very different to the other

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gospel writers.
And this is the one that he

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chooses to recount along with
all the others, which makes the

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feeding of the 5000 the only
miracle that’s recorded in all

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four gospels.
And John has the longest account

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of it by a long way, virtually
all of John chapter. 6 which as

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you just cast your eye down it,
it’s one of it’s a big chapter

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71 verses is virtually all given
to the feeding of the 5000.

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And I want to suggest to you,
Brent, sisters, we’re just going

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to look at one or two of the
details really quickly that the

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reason is because John deals
with the principle of the bread

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and what it was to signify.
And what he wanted you and I to

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think about when we shared it
together was dealt with right

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here a year, I believe, at least
before the Lord’s own death.

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John dealt with the the the
principle of the sharing of the

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bread.
And we’ll come in a moment to

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the wedding at Cana, where I
believe he dealt with the wine.

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So that we might understand the
symbology and the principles of

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these symbols.
So let’s have a look, John, John

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chapter 6.
Let’s just come in at the

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beginning here.
Jesus went up into a mountain in

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verse 3, and there he sat with
his disciples and the Passover,

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a feast of the Jews.
Was at hand and I want to notice

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carefully what John said about
that everybody knows the the

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Passover is a feast of the Jews,
right?

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There’s no other nation on earth
that has the Passover as one of

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their feasts, one of their
cultural times of the year, one

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of their festivals.
So why does John the the words

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aren’t used, you know, just for
padding.

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I was trying to tell the
teenagers this last night, you

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know, you never come to a
chapter in the Bible where,

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where God decides just to fill
out a bit of space so it doesn’t

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look like it.
It, you know, that chapter was a

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bit too short.
Why does John say it was a feast

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of the Jews?
And I want.

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To suggest to you Brent sisters,
it’s because.

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It was no longer the the feast
of God’s people.

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The Jews had made it their
feast.

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It wasn’t the Lord’s Passover as
it was described back there in

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Exodus.
It had now become a.

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Feast of the Jews.
They’d lost the essence.

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The great things that we were
thinking about yesterday, that

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it should should have signified
to them, had now been all

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strained away.
And now the the Passover, the

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great feast that should have
been to them a great reminder of

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their deliverance and their
redemption, had now just become

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a feast of the Jews.
It was something that the Jews

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did as part of their tradition,
as part of their ritual, and all

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of the grandeur and the majesty
of the divine symbology have

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been lost.
From it.

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And one of the things that we’re
challenged by week by week, one

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of the great problems of human
nature is whenever you do

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something habitually by ritual,
there becomes a danger in it of

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it losing its grandeur and its
majesty, doesn’t it?

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And let’s make sure, Bren
sisters, that our Passover feast

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never becomes, well, a feast of
the Christadelphians.

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That it always remains the
Lord’s meal, the Lord’s

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memorial, not ours, not
something that we’ve turned it

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into, that we just turn it week
by week to that it becomes and

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remains his feast, his memory.
His meal.

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And Jesus lifted up his eyes,
verse 5, and saw a great company

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coming to him.
And the other gospel writers

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tell us that the disciples
actually come to Jesus at this

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point and suggest that Jesus
dismisses the crowd.

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Why don’t you send them away?
You know that it’s well late in

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the day.
Send them away.

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Why don’t you tell them to go
and find some food?

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But here in John, John’s focuses
on something else that happens.

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When Jesus saw verse 5, a great
company come to him, he said to

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00:11:56,720 –> 00:12:00,320
Philip, where are we going to
buy bread, Philip, that all

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00:12:00,320 –> 00:12:04,240
these people may eat?
And this he said, verse 6, to

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00:12:04,240 –> 00:12:07,480
prove him for Jesus himself knew
what he would do.

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00:12:07,920 –> 00:12:10,320
I think that’s beautiful.
There was never a moment in the

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00:12:10,320 –> 00:12:13,720
Lord’s life where Jesus didn’t
know what he was going to do.

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00:12:14,040 –> 00:12:17,200
I wish my life was like that.
You know you’re arriving in a

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00:12:17,200 –> 00:12:19,720
foreign country, meeting a whole
load of people that you you

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00:12:19,720 –> 00:12:22,600
know, you’ve never met.
And, you know, I’ve no idea

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00:12:22,600 –> 00:12:24,400
what’s going on.
I don’t know what it’s going to

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00:12:24,400 –> 00:12:27,320
look like, feel like, how I’m
going to cope, what I’m going to

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00:12:27,320 –> 00:12:29,480
do, whether they’re going to
like me.

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00:12:29,880 –> 00:12:33,400
And and there was never a moment
in the Lord’s life where the

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00:12:33,400 –> 00:12:36,520
Lord didn’t know what he was
going to do next.

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00:12:36,520 –> 00:12:39,920
His life was that planned, that
in control.

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00:12:40,480 –> 00:12:41,600
And he says to Philip.
What?

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00:12:41,600 –> 00:12:42,120
Where?
Where?

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00:12:42,120 –> 00:12:44,680
Shall we buy bread, Philip, for
all these people?

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00:12:44,960 –> 00:12:46,760
And he was teasing him in a way,
wasn’t it?

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00:12:47,120 –> 00:12:49,600
Sometimes it feels a little
cruel that Jesus was doing that.

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00:12:49,600 –> 00:12:52,040
But he was testing Philip.
He was proving him.

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00:12:52,520 –> 00:12:54,720
Where are we going to buy bread,
Philip, that all these people

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00:12:54,720 –> 00:12:56,880
will be able to eat?
And the note about you, Brent

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00:12:56,880 –> 00:13:00,080
says, I sometimes feel like the
Lord does this to us in our

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00:13:00,080 –> 00:13:02,200
lives.
Johnny, there’s a problem.

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00:13:02,600 –> 00:13:06,040
How are you going to fix it?
And he makes me look at it and

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00:13:06,040 –> 00:13:09,040
assess it and evaluate it to the
point where I go, do you know

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00:13:09,040 –> 00:13:11,520
what I don’t know?
I don’t know.

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00:13:11,520 –> 00:13:14,680
I can’t see a solution.
Where, Where, says Philip, where

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00:13:14,680 –> 00:13:18,120
on earth could we ever go here
in a wilderness to buy enough

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00:13:18,120 –> 00:13:20,920
bread, not just so that
everybody can take a piece like

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00:13:20,920 –> 00:13:23,760
we do on a Sunday morning, but
that everybody can eat a meal

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00:13:23,760 –> 00:13:25,720
and be filled?
Where is there a place in the

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00:13:25,720 –> 00:13:27,680
wilderness?
And even if there was, would we

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00:13:27,680 –> 00:13:29,280
have enough money to go and buy
it?

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00:13:29,840 –> 00:13:31,960
I I can’t see a.
Solution for this problem.

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00:13:33,360 –> 00:13:35,960
And Jesus already knew what the
solution was going to be.

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00:13:37,160 –> 00:13:39,560
And sometimes in our life, bread
and sisters, our problems are

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00:13:39,560 –> 00:13:42,600
just like that.
The Lord wants us to take a good

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00:13:42,600 –> 00:13:47,760
hard look, walk all around it,
measure it, weigh it up until we

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00:13:47,760 –> 00:13:51,080
reach the conclusion that we
don’t know the answer, so that

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00:13:51,080 –> 00:13:53,960
we can allow the Lord to to
supply it for.

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00:13:53,960 –> 00:13:59,120
Us where will we find enough
bread, Philip?

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00:13:59,120 –> 00:14:04,560
Why don’t you give them to eat?
And Philip answered him, verse

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00:14:04,560 –> 00:14:06,760
7200.
Pennyworth of bread is not

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00:14:06,760 –> 00:14:10,520
sufficient for them that
everyone may take a little.

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00:14:10,560 –> 00:14:12,480
And I guess Philip was speaking
for all of them.

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00:14:12,480 –> 00:14:13,760
I guess they were all standing
there going.

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00:14:13,760 –> 00:14:15,800
I’ve no idea.
He’s now telling us.

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00:14:15,920 –> 00:14:18,040
Can you believe it?
Can you imagine Peter standing

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00:14:18,040 –> 00:14:19,600
there going?
You’ll never guess what he’s now

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00:14:19,600 –> 00:14:21,880
told us to do.
He’s suggesting that we go and

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00:14:21,880 –> 00:14:27,360
find some bread to feed. 5010
thousand, 12,000 people, 5000

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00:14:27,360 –> 00:14:29,080
men besides the women and the
children.

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00:14:29,080 –> 00:14:29,640
Where?
Where?

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00:14:29,640 –> 00:14:31,120
On Earth, does he expect us to
do that?

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00:14:31,400 –> 00:14:34,160
How will we do that?
And unwittingly, perhaps, Philip

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00:14:34,160 –> 00:14:36,240
is quoting from the words of
Moses.

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00:14:36,240 –> 00:14:41,280
Just keep a finger in John and
come back to Numbers 11 because

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00:14:41,280 –> 00:14:43,800
Philip is actually picking.
Up on the very words of Moses

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00:14:43,800 –> 00:14:46,360
when they, when the children of
Israel came to him in the

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00:14:46,360 –> 00:14:48,480
wilderness saying, well, we’re
hungry.

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00:14:48,680 –> 00:14:51,560
God has brought us here to kill
us, to give us, no, you know,

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00:14:51,560 –> 00:14:53,040
leave us without.
Food.

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00:14:54,400 –> 00:14:57,480
And unwittingly, Philip starts
quoting from the very words of

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00:14:57,480 –> 00:15:00,440
Moses in a very similar
circumstance.

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00:15:04,920 –> 00:15:08,160
Numbers Chapter 11 just coming
in verse 11.

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00:15:08,160 –> 00:15:13,000
Moses said to the Lord, the
people of come and started

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00:15:13,000 –> 00:15:14,920
complaining.
Moses said to the Lord.

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00:15:14,920 –> 00:15:17,720
Why, why, why have you afflicted
your servants?

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00:15:18,000 –> 00:15:20,400
And wherefore have I not found
favour in your sight, that you

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00:15:20,400 –> 00:15:22,680
lay the burden of all this
people upon me?

287
00:15:23,080 –> 00:15:24,920
Have I conceived all this
people?

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00:15:25,240 –> 00:15:27,760
Have I begotten them that you
should say unto me?

289
00:15:27,760 –> 00:15:31,280
Carry them in your bosom as a
nursing father bears the sucking

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00:15:31,280 –> 00:15:33,920
child to the land which you
swear to their fathers.

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00:15:34,240 –> 00:15:36,760
And you can I, I don’t know
about you, Bren sisters, how it

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00:15:36,760 –> 00:15:39,320
depends how long ago it is since
you you had your children.

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00:15:39,520 –> 00:15:41,920
I can totally understand how
Moses feeling here.

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00:15:42,120 –> 00:15:44,800
He says, you’ve given me this
child that’s hungry and it’s

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00:15:44,800 –> 00:15:47,520
crying out for food, and you’ve
not given it a mother.

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00:15:47,880 –> 00:15:49,800
And I’m the one who’s carrying
all this people.

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00:15:49,800 –> 00:15:51,880
And do you think I can give
these people food?

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00:15:52,440 –> 00:15:55,080
And I tell you, when Esther’s
left, left me on my own with

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00:15:55,080 –> 00:15:57,440
Elias, and he’s suddenly decided
he’s hungry and he wants his

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00:15:57,440 –> 00:15:59,800
food, particularly in his very
early days.

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00:16:00,040 –> 00:16:02,920
Well, what can a father do to
give a child food when he’s

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00:16:03,080 –> 00:16:05,800
crying out and he’s hungry?
And that’s how Moses felt.

303
00:16:06,200 –> 00:16:08,520
You’ve left me and abandoned me
with all these people and you

304
00:16:08,520 –> 00:16:12,240
expect me to give them food?
Can a nursing father do that for

305
00:16:12,240 –> 00:16:17,360
a nursing?
Child verse 13 Hear the words

306
00:16:17,360 –> 00:16:20,760
Philip.
Philip locks onto When should I

307
00:16:20,760 –> 00:16:25,040
have flesh to give unto all this
people, for they weep unto me

308
00:16:25,040 –> 00:16:26,880
give.
Give us flesh that we may eat.

309
00:16:27,080 –> 00:16:29,440
I am not able to bear all this
people alone.

310
00:16:29,720 –> 00:16:31,840
It’s too heavy for me.
Where can.

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00:16:31,840 –> 00:16:34,040
You find enough.
Food, says Philip, in a

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00:16:34,040 –> 00:16:37,600
wilderness to to supply food for
all these people and look what

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00:16:37,600 –> 00:16:41,960
the answer of the Lord was here.
In Numbers 11, verse 21, Moses

314
00:16:41,960 –> 00:16:49,920
said, The people among whom I am
are 600,000 footmen, and you

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00:16:49,920 –> 00:16:52,360
have said, I will give them
flesh, that they may eat a whole

316
00:16:52,360 –> 00:16:54,800
month.
Shall the flocks and herds be

317
00:16:54,800 –> 00:16:56,320
slain for them to suffice for
them?

318
00:16:56,560 –> 00:17:00,120
Or shall all the fish of the sea
be gathered together for them to

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00:17:00,120 –> 00:17:04,000
suffice for them?
And the Lord said to Moses, Is

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00:17:04,000 –> 00:17:07,960
the Lord’s hand waxed short?
You will see now whether my

321
00:17:07,960 –> 00:17:09,960
word.
Will come to pass to you or not.

322
00:17:10,200 –> 00:17:13,119
And in a way, God was doing with
Moses what the Lord was doing

323
00:17:13,119 –> 00:17:17,240
with Philip here, wasn’t he?
There were 600,000 men.

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00:17:17,720 –> 00:17:20,040
Besides women and children,
they’re in the wilderness when

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00:17:20,040 –> 00:17:23,359
God fed them with manna.
And you can almost hear the Lord

326
00:17:23,359 –> 00:17:26,920
Jesus saying to Philip, well, do
you think God can’t feed 5000

327
00:17:27,400 –> 00:17:32,200
with bread here in the
wilderness and back in John 6,

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00:17:33,880 –> 00:17:36,040
Andrew now comes to the Lord
Jesus Christ.

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00:17:36,040 –> 00:17:39,480
It’s a lovely moment.
John chapter 6 and verse eight.

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00:17:39,480 –> 00:17:42,200
One of his disciples, Andrew,
Simon Peter’s brother, said to

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00:17:42,200 –> 00:17:46,800
him, There is a lad here who has
five barley loaves and two small

332
00:17:46,800 –> 00:17:48,760
fishes.
But what are they?

333
00:17:48,760 –> 00:17:51,680
Among so many.
Isn’t that a lovely question?

334
00:17:52,040 –> 00:17:55,400
I’d love to know the tone in
Andrew’s voice as he asked the

335
00:17:55,400 –> 00:17:58,320
Lord Jesus that question.
Here I there’s a lad here, he

336
00:17:58,320 –> 00:18:01,040
says he has five.
Loaves and two fish, but what

337
00:18:01,040 –> 00:18:03,400
are they among so many?
I don’t know whether he was

338
00:18:03,400 –> 00:18:06,440
saying it in like despair.
You know.

339
00:18:06,440 –> 00:18:09,800
Well, the best we’ve done, Lord,
is 5 loaves and two fishes.

340
00:18:09,800 –> 00:18:13,640
But what use is that?
Or was he saying with a note of

341
00:18:13,640 –> 00:18:15,280
enquiry?
To the Lord.

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00:18:15,600 –> 00:18:17,880
Well, we’ve got 5 loaves and two
fish here.

343
00:18:18,560 –> 00:18:22,120
But what are they?
Among so many, as if to say to

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00:18:22,120 –> 00:18:25,920
the Lord, I have a feeling you
might be able to do something

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00:18:25,920 –> 00:18:28,880
with this.
This is the best we can do.

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00:18:29,320 –> 00:18:31,840
Now it’s over to you.
Wouldn’t that be lovely?

347
00:18:32,720 –> 00:18:34,440
You know, sometimes, brothers
and sisters, we feel we have

348
00:18:34,440 –> 00:18:38,000
very little to offer the Lord
Jesus Christ in service in our

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00:18:38,000 –> 00:18:40,560
lives.
And yet all this young lad who

350
00:18:40,600 –> 00:18:44,440
is unnamed to this day in the
record of Scripture had to offer

351
00:18:44,440 –> 00:18:48,920
was 5 loaves and two fish, and
yet he was willing to give it

352
00:18:49,320 –> 00:18:51,920
into the hands of the Lord to
see what He would do with it.

353
00:18:52,960 –> 00:18:55,880
Never underestimate Brent
sisters, what the Lord can do

354
00:18:56,280 –> 00:18:58,520
with your 5 loaves and two
fishes.

355
00:18:59,280 –> 00:19:02,320
Whatever your 5 loaves and two
fish might be, never

356
00:19:02,320 –> 00:19:05,120
underestimate when you give it
into the hands of the Lord and

357
00:19:05,120 –> 00:19:09,920
into His service what He can do
with it and with this small

358
00:19:09,920 –> 00:19:13,000
basket of food.
The Lord Jesus was now going to

359
00:19:13,000 –> 00:19:16,280
feed a great multitude with
plenty to spare.

360
00:19:17,920 –> 00:19:22,840
And here in verse 11, we get the
words that John doesn’t use

361
00:19:22,840 –> 00:19:25,880
again.
Later in the upper room, Jesus

362
00:19:25,880 –> 00:19:30,800
took the loaves, and when he’d
given thanks, he distributed to

363
00:19:30,800 –> 00:19:34,840
the disciples and the disciples
to them that were set down.

364
00:19:35,160 –> 00:19:36,400
And you know those words, don’t
you?

365
00:19:36,400 –> 00:19:40,560
There’s just no mistaking where
those words will be used again

366
00:19:40,560 –> 00:19:42,440
by the other Gospel writers in
the upper room.

367
00:19:42,440 –> 00:19:47,160
And yet here they are in John 6
at the feeding of the 5000 for

368
00:19:47,160 –> 00:19:50,120
John for his gospel.
Now what did they mean?

369
00:19:50,560 –> 00:19:52,560
What?
What was the symbology behind

370
00:19:52,560 –> 00:19:55,880
this bread now that the Lord
Jesus wanted to focus on?

371
00:19:55,920 –> 00:19:59,160
Jesus took the bread and when he
had given thanks, he gave it to

372
00:19:59,160 –> 00:20:02,760
the disciples and the disciples
to those who were set down.

373
00:20:02,760 –> 00:20:04,600
Well, the answers actually came
the next day.

374
00:20:04,600 –> 00:20:07,000
Come down later in the chapter
down to verse 25.

375
00:20:10,000 –> 00:20:13,640
When they found him on the other
side of the sea, they said to

376
00:20:13,640 –> 00:20:15,440
him, Rabbi, when did you get
here?

377
00:20:15,800 –> 00:20:17,720
And of course, what we need to
remember, Brensys, is there was

378
00:20:17,720 –> 00:20:20,720
another miracle taking place at
the same time as the feeding of

379
00:20:20,720 –> 00:20:24,160
the 5000, and that was Peter
walking on the water that night

380
00:20:24,160 –> 00:20:26,520
after the feeding of the 5000,
they crossed the lake.

381
00:20:26,760 –> 00:20:28,720
Jesus had gone out to them on
the on the lake.

382
00:20:29,200 –> 00:20:32,640
Peter had walked on the water in
that storm tossed sea and they’d

383
00:20:32,640 –> 00:20:35,360
arrived at the other side.
And so when you just read here,

384
00:20:35,360 –> 00:20:37,600
when they found him on the other
side of the sea, they said to

385
00:20:37,600 –> 00:20:40,040
him, Rabbi, when did you get
here?

386
00:20:40,320 –> 00:20:42,800
It was because they couldn’t
believe that during the night

387
00:20:42,800 –> 00:20:45,280
that had just passed in that
great storm.

388
00:20:45,280 –> 00:20:47,040
How on earth?
The Lord had managed to cross

389
00:20:47,040 –> 00:20:49,480
that lake.
Isn’t that lovely?

390
00:20:50,200 –> 00:20:53,000
And another lovely miracle for
the disciples very personally.

391
00:20:53,000 –> 00:20:56,560
It happened during that night,
and Jesus answered them, verse

392
00:20:56,560 –> 00:21:01,320
26 and said, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, you seek me, not

393
00:21:01,320 –> 00:21:05,200
because you saw the miracles,
but because you did eat of the

394
00:21:05,200 –> 00:21:10,160
loaves and were filled labour,
not for the meat which perishes,

395
00:21:10,520 –> 00:21:13,360
but for the meat which endures,
and to everlasting life, which

396
00:21:13,360 –> 00:21:17,120
the Son of man will give to you,
for him has God the Father

397
00:21:17,360 –> 00:21:18,960
sealed.
And that’s a really sad

398
00:21:18,960 –> 00:21:20,760
statement from the Lord Jesus
Christ, isn’t it?

399
00:21:21,080 –> 00:21:24,400
He says, I know you’re not
following me because you you saw

400
00:21:24,400 –> 00:21:27,080
and you understood the miracle
that I did yesterday.

401
00:21:27,600 –> 00:21:32,040
You came because, well, you had
a good meal and you’re you’re

402
00:21:32,040 –> 00:21:33,680
coming so that you can have
another one.

403
00:21:34,480 –> 00:21:38,200
You’re coming because you you
ate the loaves and were filled.

404
00:21:38,200 –> 00:21:41,760
All they could see was bread.
And you know, Brian says I have

405
00:21:41,760 –> 00:21:43,640
a personal confession to make to
you.

406
00:21:44,480 –> 00:21:47,840
For a long time in my early
life, in the truth, I came week

407
00:21:47,840 –> 00:21:51,360
by week to the Sunday meeting
and all I could see on the plate

408
00:21:51,360 –> 00:21:55,000
was bread.
That’s all I could see, nothing

409
00:21:55,000 –> 00:21:57,760
more.
And this was the challenge that

410
00:21:57,760 –> 00:21:59,400
the Lord was giving to these
Jews.

411
00:21:59,400 –> 00:22:02,400
That’s all you can see.
Bread and it has no greater

412
00:22:02,400 –> 00:22:05,560
significance to you, no, no
greater impact on your lives

413
00:22:05,560 –> 00:22:09,480
than that it’s just bread and
you need to be really careful,

414
00:22:09,480 –> 00:22:12,120
says the Lord Jesus Christ.
And and he made a really

415
00:22:12,120 –> 00:22:16,080
critical quote from Isaiah verse
27.

416
00:22:16,400 –> 00:22:19,880
Labour not for the meat which
perishes, but for that meat

417
00:22:19,880 –> 00:22:22,440
which endures, and to
everlasting life which the Son

418
00:22:22,440 –> 00:22:25,000
of man shall give to you.
Will you keep your finger in

419
00:22:25,000 –> 00:22:29,680
John again, and come back with
me to to Isaiah 55, where the

420
00:22:29,680 –> 00:22:32,200
Lord is quoting there, because
we begin to get the first hint

421
00:22:32,200 –> 00:22:35,680
of what Jesus really wanted to
us to see and understand in this

422
00:22:35,680 –> 00:22:41,160
symbol of the bread, Isaiah 55.
This is where he quotes from

423
00:22:41,160 –> 00:22:44,320
Labour, not for the meat which
perishes, but for that bread

424
00:22:44,320 –> 00:22:46,200
which will endure to everlasting
life.

425
00:22:49,480 –> 00:22:53,680
Isaiah 55 Lovely words, well
known words.

426
00:22:55,520 –> 00:22:58,840
Oh everyone that thirsts verse
one, come to the waters, and he

427
00:22:58,840 –> 00:23:02,000
that has no money come buy, buy
and eat.

428
00:23:02,200 –> 00:23:04,920
Buy wine and milk without money
and without price.

429
00:23:05,080 –> 00:23:08,160
Why do you spend money for that
which is not bread, and your

430
00:23:08,160 –> 00:23:10,320
labour for that which doesn’t
satisfy?

431
00:23:10,960 –> 00:23:14,240
Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good.

432
00:23:14,560 –> 00:23:16,800
Let your soul delight itself in
fatness.

433
00:23:16,800 –> 00:23:20,480
Incline your ear and come unto
me here, and your soul shall

434
00:23:20,480 –> 00:23:23,080
live, and I will make an
everlasting covenant with you.

435
00:23:23,120 –> 00:23:25,720
Even the sure mercies of David.
They’re lovely words, aren’t

436
00:23:25,720 –> 00:23:29,120
they, Bren Sisters, why was it
that the Lord quoted from those

437
00:23:29,120 –> 00:23:32,320
words at this moment there in
John 6 at the feeding of the

438
00:23:32,320 –> 00:23:36,080
5000, All you can see is bread.
He said you’re coming to me not

439
00:23:36,080 –> 00:23:38,840
because you understand and you
you appreciate the miracle, but

440
00:23:38,840 –> 00:23:40,880
because all you can see is
bread.

441
00:23:41,200 –> 00:23:43,840
And he’s challenging us, bread
and sisters, to be able to

442
00:23:43,840 –> 00:23:47,080
differentiate in our lives
between tangible, transient

443
00:23:47,080 –> 00:23:51,360
things and spiritual everlasting
things.

444
00:23:52,400 –> 00:23:54,040
This one again.
Come ye.

445
00:23:54,280 –> 00:24:00,040
Everyone who thirsts to the
waters come and buy and eat, but

446
00:24:00,040 –> 00:24:03,040
come and buy without money and
without price.

447
00:24:03,040 –> 00:24:05,960
The bread that we eat, bread and
sisters week by week on a Sunday

448
00:24:05,960 –> 00:24:08,720
morning, you cannot put a price
on it.

449
00:24:09,520 –> 00:24:12,480
There is there is nothing else
in this world that can come

450
00:24:12,480 –> 00:24:15,240
close to that which we share
week by week.

451
00:24:15,240 –> 00:24:17,760
It’s beyond price.
You can’t put a label on it.

452
00:24:17,760 –> 00:24:22,360
You can’t buy it in sobis.
Not this kind of bread.

453
00:24:23,440 –> 00:24:26,200
Why do you spend money?
He says verse 2 for that which

454
00:24:26,200 –> 00:24:30,200
is not bread and your labour for
that which doesn’t satisfy.

455
00:24:30,200 –> 00:24:33,640
I ask myself that every payday
back home, right?

456
00:24:34,320 –> 00:24:36,760
Because it comes in and it goes
out so quick.

457
00:24:36,880 –> 00:24:39,280
In fact, more goes out than
comes in, right?

458
00:24:39,400 –> 00:24:41,240
That’s how it works, isn’t it?
Month by month.

459
00:24:41,640 –> 00:24:43,360
And you sit down at the end of
it and you think, well, what did

460
00:24:43,360 –> 00:24:46,320
I achieve with that?
I put bread on the table, God

461
00:24:46,320 –> 00:24:50,040
willing, for my family and I put
clothes on my body.

462
00:24:51,320 –> 00:24:53,600
And in the long run, Bren
Sisters, you know as well as I

463
00:24:53,600 –> 00:24:58,800
do the aching, gaping hole that
leaves in a man’s life when all

464
00:24:58,800 –> 00:25:02,200
of his focus is on providing
things which don’t ultimately,

465
00:25:02,200 –> 00:25:06,800
truly, deeply, spiritually and
emotionally satisfy men and

466
00:25:06,800 –> 00:25:10,400
women made in the image of God.
There is nothing lasting or

467
00:25:10,400 –> 00:25:13,360
satisfying, Bren Sisters, in
this world that can be bought

468
00:25:13,360 –> 00:25:15,640
with money.
Why are you running around to

469
00:25:15,640 –> 00:25:18,840
the Lord Jesus Christ all of
your lives chasing bread,

470
00:25:19,640 –> 00:25:22,040
chasing things that are
transient and passing and still

471
00:25:22,040 –> 00:25:23,920
leave you hungry at the end of
the day?

472
00:25:24,560 –> 00:25:26,480
All of your lives you’re
focusing on all of those

473
00:25:26,480 –> 00:25:29,800
transient, passing things that
give you no lasting value or

474
00:25:29,800 –> 00:25:33,120
benefit.
Now listen to the antidote.

475
00:25:33,120 –> 00:25:38,920
Then end of verse 2.
Hearken diligently unto me and

476
00:25:38,920 –> 00:25:43,360
eat ye that which is good.
Let your soul delight itself in

477
00:25:43,360 –> 00:25:44,800
fatness.
I want you to eat something

478
00:25:44,800 –> 00:25:47,080
different, says Isaiah.
And this is what it is.

479
00:25:47,080 –> 00:25:50,280
Verse 3 Incline your ear and
come unto me.

480
00:25:50,560 –> 00:25:54,120
Hear and your soul shall live.
And I will make with you an

481
00:25:54,120 –> 00:25:56,040
everlasting covenant, even the
sure mercy of David.

482
00:25:56,040 –> 00:25:58,520
That’s what I want you to be,
the bread I want you to be

483
00:25:58,520 –> 00:26:00,800
buying, says Isaiah.
That’s what I want you to be

484
00:26:00,800 –> 00:26:04,040
eating day by day here.
And your soul shall live.

485
00:26:04,040 –> 00:26:06,280
Incline your ears and come to
me.

486
00:26:06,280 –> 00:26:09,760
Eat that which is good.
Let your soul delight itself in

487
00:26:09,760 –> 00:26:11,840
fatness.
That’s the food, Bren sisters,

488
00:26:11,840 –> 00:26:14,840
that if we really believe it, if
we spend our time eating it,

489
00:26:14,840 –> 00:26:16,440
we’ll never leave us.
Hungry.

490
00:26:19,440 –> 00:26:21,960
Do you know Bren sisters
sometimes when we come to share

491
00:26:21,960 –> 00:26:23,280
meals?
And I’ve noticed it happens

492
00:26:23,280 –> 00:26:25,600
particularly at Christadelphian
Bible schools, and this one is

493
00:26:25,600 –> 00:26:29,000
no different.
The abundance of food is always

494
00:26:29,000 –> 00:26:31,000
present, right?
It’s a Christadelphian tray

495
00:26:31,000 –> 00:26:34,560
anywhere in the world.
And the nicest things are always

496
00:26:34,560 –> 00:26:36,280
the worst things for you, aren’t
they?

497
00:26:36,560 –> 00:26:40,520
Those big gigantic cakes that I
notice are still, still still

498
00:26:40,520 –> 00:26:42,840
need to be eaten up.
All the things that we like the

499
00:26:42,840 –> 00:26:44,920
most and that we enjoy the most
are the things that are the

500
00:26:44,920 –> 00:26:49,520
worst things for you, right?
And so it is in the world, the

501
00:26:49,520 –> 00:26:52,880
things that taste the best
initially, the things that we

502
00:26:52,880 –> 00:26:55,240
like the most are the things
that we know if we were to eat

503
00:26:55,240 –> 00:26:58,240
them 24/7, would kill us pretty
quickly.

504
00:26:59,560 –> 00:27:02,840
And yet here says, says the Lord
Jesus Christ, if you incline

505
00:27:02,840 –> 00:27:07,320
your ear and come to me, if you
listen to my words, if, if, if

506
00:27:07,320 –> 00:27:10,360
my words, as the psalmist
describes, are like honey to

507
00:27:10,360 –> 00:27:12,120
your taste, and sweet in your
mouth.

508
00:27:12,400 –> 00:27:14,920
If we can see them in that
context and in that perspective,

509
00:27:15,280 –> 00:27:18,280
then they will satisfy you in a
way that nothing else can.

510
00:27:19,320 –> 00:27:23,480
Nothing else can and all the
best bits will not make you big

511
00:27:23,480 –> 00:27:27,880
and fat and kill you.
If we see the Lord the word of

512
00:27:27,880 –> 00:27:30,560
God being like one of those
cakes that’s there in the cooler

513
00:27:30,560 –> 00:27:34,160
at the back that you just want
to eat 24 hours a day, I

514
00:27:34,160 –> 00:27:35,680
guarantee you it will never kill
you.

515
00:27:37,200 –> 00:27:39,720
And if we can see the word of
God in that way, brain system,

516
00:27:39,720 –> 00:27:43,320
be attracted to it and and feel
it’s appeal in that way, it will

517
00:27:43,320 –> 00:27:46,720
satisfy us in a way that nothing
else can.

518
00:27:47,600 –> 00:27:49,920
Just come down to verse 10 of
this chapter in Isaiah.

519
00:27:50,480 –> 00:27:53,000
For as the rain comes down, and
the snow from heaven, and

520
00:27:53,000 –> 00:27:56,160
returns not thither, but waters,
the earth makes it bring forth

521
00:27:56,160 –> 00:27:59,440
and bud, that it may give sea to
the sower, and bread to the

522
00:27:59,440 –> 00:28:03,960
eater, so will my word be that
goes forth out of my mouth.

523
00:28:03,960 –> 00:28:07,560
It will not return unto me void.
But it shall accomplish that

524
00:28:07,600 –> 00:28:10,400
which I please, and it will
prosper in the thing whereto I

525
00:28:10,400 –> 00:28:12,160
sent it.
It’s my word.

526
00:28:12,160 –> 00:28:14,480
I want you to be eating.
That’s the very first hint we’re

527
00:28:14,480 –> 00:28:16,920
going to get from John Six, that
that’s what the bread

528
00:28:16,920 –> 00:28:18,240
represents.
It’s the.

529
00:28:18,240 –> 00:28:21,720
Word of God, as the rain comes
down, and the snow from heaven,

530
00:28:21,720 –> 00:28:24,120
and we doesn’t return thither,
but what is the earth?

531
00:28:24,120 –> 00:28:26,640
So that it might bring forth and
bird, and give sea to the sower,

532
00:28:26,640 –> 00:28:31,640
and bread to the eater.
So shall my word be incline your

533
00:28:31,640 –> 00:28:34,000
ear.
And come to me eat, and your

534
00:28:34,000 –> 00:28:37,040
soul shall live.
Come back on me to to John 6,

535
00:28:39,520 –> 00:28:43,880
John 6, and verse 35.
All you see is.

536
00:28:43,880 –> 00:28:48,840
Bread, he says, but the miracle
was about more than that.

537
00:28:48,840 –> 00:28:53,040
The bread that the Lord supplied
had much greater significance.

538
00:28:53,040 –> 00:28:56,680
Verse 35 of John 6.
Jesus said to them, I am the

539
00:28:56,680 –> 00:28:59,840
bread of life.
He who comes to me will never

540
00:28:59,840 –> 00:29:03,480
hunger and he that believes on
me will never thirst.

541
00:29:03,840 –> 00:29:06,080
That’s lovely isn’t it?
And I wonder if that’s how we

542
00:29:06,080 –> 00:29:08,000
feel, Bren sisters.
Week by week, I wonder if we

543
00:29:08,000 –> 00:29:12,080
come.
Feeling hungry and how full we

544
00:29:12,080 –> 00:29:16,600
feel when we leave.
Having had our meal week by week

545
00:29:17,040 –> 00:29:18,640
of fellowship around the Word of
God.

546
00:29:18,640 –> 00:29:21,440
Verse 41.
This was a difficult concept.

547
00:29:21,440 –> 00:29:22,760
It’s difficult even for us,
isn’t it?

548
00:29:22,800 –> 00:29:25,840
Jesus is saying I’m the bread
you need to eat me if anyone

549
00:29:25,840 –> 00:29:28,720
eats my flesh.
And the Jews naturally had a

550
00:29:28,720 –> 00:29:30,920
problem with that.
Verse 41 the Jews murmured at

551
00:29:30,920 –> 00:29:34,000
him, because he said I am the
bread which came down from

552
00:29:34,000 –> 00:29:36,400
heaven.
They said, is not this Jesus the

553
00:29:36,400 –> 00:29:38,960
son of Joseph, whose father and
mother we know?

554
00:29:38,960 –> 00:29:42,640
How is it then that he says I
came down from heaven?

555
00:29:43,200 –> 00:29:49,760
Verse 48 Jesus carries on, I am
the bread of life.

556
00:29:49,760 –> 00:29:52,320
Your father’s did eat manna in
the wilderness and are dead.

557
00:29:52,840 –> 00:29:54,840
They think they were eating
bread from heaven, but they

558
00:29:54,840 –> 00:29:57,960
weren’t because it didn’t give
them any long lasting

559
00:29:58,080 –> 00:30:00,480
satisfaction.
They didn’t understand what it

560
00:30:00,480 –> 00:30:03,040
really represented.
Your Father’s 8 manner in the

561
00:30:03,040 –> 00:30:04,720
wilderness, verse 49 and are
dead.

562
00:30:04,880 –> 00:30:08,360
But this is the bread which came
down from heaven, that a man may

563
00:30:08,360 –> 00:30:11,680
eat thereof and not die.
I am the living bread which came

564
00:30:11,680 –> 00:30:14,760
down from heaven.
If any man eat this bread, he

565
00:30:14,760 –> 00:30:16,960
will live forever.
And the bread that I will give

566
00:30:16,960 –> 00:30:19,760
is my flesh, which I will give
for the life.

567
00:30:19,760 –> 00:30:22,040
Of the world.
And that is a difficult concept,

568
00:30:22,040 –> 00:30:24,200
isn’t it, Brent sisters?
What was the Lord really asking

569
00:30:24,200 –> 00:30:26,320
him to do?
You know Norway?

570
00:30:26,320 –> 00:30:29,080
On his arms and his legs eat my
flesh.

571
00:30:30,160 –> 00:30:33,080
What was it that the Lord was
challenging them to do?

572
00:30:33,080 –> 00:30:38,000
Verse 55 For my flesh is meat
indeed, and my blood is drink

573
00:30:38,000 –> 00:30:39,880
indeed.
He who eats my flesh and drinks

574
00:30:39,880 –> 00:30:42,240
my blood.
Dwells in me, and I in Him, and

575
00:30:42,240 –> 00:30:45,200
as the living Father has sent.
Me and I live by the Father.

576
00:30:45,200 –> 00:30:48,680
Even so, he who eats me, he will
live by me.

577
00:30:48,680 –> 00:30:51,720
This is the bread that came down
from heaven, not as your

578
00:30:51,720 –> 00:30:53,440
Father’s did eat Manna and her
dead.

579
00:30:54,120 –> 00:30:57,040
He who eats of this bread will
live forever.

580
00:30:57,600 –> 00:30:59,720
And you couldn’t have had a
finer breaking of bread

581
00:30:59,720 –> 00:31:04,080
discourse than that, could you?
None of the disciples the the

582
00:31:04,080 –> 00:31:06,720
gospel writers go into that.
Level of detail about the

583
00:31:06,720 –> 00:31:09,600
meaning of the bread in their
discourse in the upper room.

584
00:31:09,600 –> 00:31:11,120
And John does it for us right
here.

585
00:31:11,440 –> 00:31:13,200
I am the bread which came down
from heaven.

586
00:31:13,200 –> 00:31:17,160
If any man eats my flesh, he
will never hunger, and he will

587
00:31:17,160 –> 00:31:20,120
live forever.
What does he mean, Brent

588
00:31:20,120 –> 00:31:21,320
sisters?
What did he mean?

589
00:31:21,560 –> 00:31:25,400
I want you to eat my flesh.
And what I want to.

590
00:31:25,400 –> 00:31:28,760
Suggest to you, Brent sisters,
that John was picking up on one

591
00:31:28,760 –> 00:31:31,680
of the key themes of his entire
gospel that began right at the

592
00:31:31,680 –> 00:31:34,920
beginning.
In the beginning was the Word,

593
00:31:36,120 –> 00:31:41,600
and the Word was made flesh, and
we beheld His glory, that of the

594
00:31:41,680 –> 00:31:45,120
only begotten of the Father.
And John is taking us right back

595
00:31:45,120 –> 00:31:47,760
to one of the foundation
principles, Brent sisters, of

596
00:31:47,760 –> 00:31:51,280
the very world that we live in.
Do you remember the most common

597
00:31:51,280 –> 00:31:53,680
recurring phrase in Genesis
chapter 1?

598
00:31:54,160 –> 00:31:56,840
Anybody remember it?
I was doing this with the teens

599
00:31:56,840 –> 00:31:58,800
last night as well.
There’s lots of common recurring

600
00:31:58,800 –> 00:32:04,640
phrases in Genesis chapter one,
but the most common is and God

601
00:32:04,640 –> 00:32:07,200
said.
Anybody know how many times that

602
00:32:07,200 –> 00:32:10,840
phrase is used in Genesis?
110 times.

603
00:32:11,160 –> 00:32:13,240
You just go through Genesis
chapter 1 and note them if you

604
00:32:13,240 –> 00:32:17,080
haven’t already. 10 times.
And God said it’s the very first

605
00:32:17,080 –> 00:32:20,320
thing that ever happened.
The very first creative moment

606
00:32:20,320 –> 00:32:23,280
that ever took place there in
Genesis one, verse 3 after the

607
00:32:23,280 –> 00:32:27,040
introduction of those two verses
was and God said let there be

608
00:32:27,040 –> 00:32:30,880
light and there was.
So and if you notice as you go

609
00:32:30,880 –> 00:32:32,720
through the creation account, we
don’t have time to look at it

610
00:32:32,720 –> 00:32:34,760
now.
The thing that sparked off the

611
00:32:34,760 –> 00:32:38,400
creative power every day of
creation was the power of God

612
00:32:38,400 –> 00:32:41,040
speaking.
So every day is marked there in

613
00:32:41,040 –> 00:32:43,960
Genesis 1, isn’t it?
And God said starts the day and

614
00:32:44,120 –> 00:32:45,920
then you get to the end of the
day and it says and the evening

615
00:32:45,920 –> 00:32:48,680
and the morning were the first
day and day 2 begins.

616
00:32:48,720 –> 00:32:51,920
And God said and the evening in
the morning were the second day

617
00:32:51,920 –> 00:32:56,120
and day three begins.
And God said every single day

618
00:32:56,280 –> 00:32:58,320
began with the power of God’s
word.

619
00:32:58,480 –> 00:33:01,240
And it’s a great lesson, Brent
says, in our lives, how much of

620
00:33:01,360 –> 00:33:04,600
our days are formed and shaped
by the power and the influence

621
00:33:04,600 –> 00:33:07,040
and the motivation and the
challenge of the word of God.

622
00:33:07,320 –> 00:33:10,640
And God said, because when God
speaks, for instances, for those

623
00:33:10,640 –> 00:33:13,480
who are listening with an
attentive ear, powerful things

624
00:33:13,480 –> 00:33:18,160
can happen.
And what God wants, Princess, is

625
00:33:18,160 –> 00:33:20,200
that same.
Creative power that brought this

626
00:33:20,200 –> 00:33:23,840
world into being, to have its
effect in the lives of men and

627
00:33:23,840 –> 00:33:27,280
women like you and me.
In the beginning was the Word,

628
00:33:27,280 –> 00:33:32,240
and the Word was God, and the
Word was with God, and the Word

629
00:33:32,240 –> 00:33:36,800
became flesh, and we beheld his
glory, that of the only begotten

630
00:33:36,800 –> 00:33:38,560
of the Father, full of grace and
truth.

631
00:33:39,120 –> 00:33:41,520
And what you’re seeing in me,
says the Lord Jesus Christ.

632
00:33:41,680 –> 00:33:46,560
Is the creative power of God’s
Word living a living embodiment?

633
00:33:46,560 –> 00:33:50,160
There is nothing about my life,
my character, my personality

634
00:33:50,360 –> 00:33:53,440
that hasn’t been influenced and
motivated and driven and shaped

635
00:33:53,440 –> 00:33:55,880
and moulded by the power of the
Word of God.

636
00:33:56,040 –> 00:33:59,000
How much of your lives, brother
and sisters, are Word made

637
00:33:59,080 –> 00:34:03,160
flesh?
How much of your flesh has been

638
00:34:03,160 –> 00:34:08,040
challenged and shaped and driven
and empowered by the word of God

639
00:34:08,280 –> 00:34:12,280
in our daily living?
And when you come week by week,

640
00:34:12,280 –> 00:34:15,880
says the Lord Jesus Christ, and
eat this bread, you’re eating my

641
00:34:15,880 –> 00:34:18,199
flesh.
You’re eating the thing that

642
00:34:18,199 –> 00:34:21,960
made my life what it is, the
word of God.

643
00:34:23,120 –> 00:34:25,920
You need to be empowered by the
word of God, says the Lord

644
00:34:25,960 –> 00:34:28,280
Jesus.
As much as I have been, this

645
00:34:28,280 –> 00:34:32,639
bread is my body.
If any man eat my flesh, he will

646
00:34:32,639 –> 00:34:35,639
never hunger.
And if you know what constitutes

647
00:34:35,639 –> 00:34:40,280
my flesh, it’s not blood, it’s
not muscles and and skin, tissue

648
00:34:40,280 –> 00:34:45,400
and sinew and bone.
My flesh is it, it’s structure,

649
00:34:45,400 –> 00:34:49,920
it’s material.
It’s just been infused with the

650
00:34:49,920 –> 00:34:53,159
Word of God.
And when we eat this bread,

651
00:34:53,159 –> 00:34:57,240
brother and sisters, week by
week, that’s what we need to be

652
00:34:57,360 –> 00:34:59,560
thinking.
About back to John 6.

653
00:34:59,560 –> 00:35:07,000
Just finally, John 6 and verse
60.

654
00:35:11,360 –> 00:35:14,680
Many of his disciples, when they
heard this explanation of the

655
00:35:15,000 –> 00:35:18,920
symbology of the bread, said,
Well, this is a hard saying.

656
00:35:18,920 –> 00:35:20,760
Who can, who can hear it?
We.

657
00:35:21,280 –> 00:35:23,160
Jesus.
You’re speaking almost in a way

658
00:35:23,160 –> 00:35:26,600
which is beyond our ability to
grasp and understand.

659
00:35:27,400 –> 00:35:30,240
And Jesus knowing in himself
that his disciples murmured at

660
00:35:30,240 –> 00:35:32,800
it, he said to them, does this
offend you?

661
00:35:33,200 –> 00:35:36,280
And he’s now going to give you
the the magic key to this whole

662
00:35:36,840 –> 00:35:40,800
miracle and to the symbol of it,
verse 62.

663
00:35:40,800 –> 00:35:42,280
What?
And if you see the Son of Man

664
00:35:42,280 –> 00:35:46,160
ascend where he was before, it
is the spirit that makes you

665
00:35:46,160 –> 00:35:49,240
alive.
The flesh profits nothing.

666
00:35:49,680 –> 00:35:53,280
And the words that I speak unto
you, they are spirit.

667
00:35:53,640 –> 00:35:56,440
And they are life.
It’s not the bread, it’s not my

668
00:35:56,440 –> 00:35:58,320
flesh in itself.
I’m not asking you to eat my

669
00:35:58,320 –> 00:36:00,680
body.
I’m not asking you to just eat

670
00:36:00,680 –> 00:36:02,360
the bread.
And there is some magical

671
00:36:02,640 –> 00:36:06,040
component to the bread that will
that will give you eternal life.

672
00:36:06,320 –> 00:36:09,880
It’s the the spirit will make
you alive, the power of the word

673
00:36:09,880 –> 00:36:11,880
of God.
And it’s that word that is

674
00:36:11,880 –> 00:36:15,080
symbolised in the in this bread,
the flesh profits nothing.

675
00:36:15,240 –> 00:36:18,280
The bread is useless to you if
all you see is bread.

676
00:36:19,280 –> 00:36:21,760
It’s the power that it
symbolises that will give you

677
00:36:21,760 –> 00:36:23,760
life and the.
Words that I speak.

678
00:36:23,760 –> 00:36:27,800
Unto you they are Spirit and
they are life.

679
00:36:27,800 –> 00:36:30,520
That’s the power bread and
sisters in this miracle.

680
00:36:32,240 –> 00:36:34,880
And I want you to notice what
happened as a result of this day

681
00:36:35,520 –> 00:36:38,760
in the wilderness, having fed
this multitude with bread.

682
00:36:40,080 –> 00:36:42,800
It’s a sad moment really for the
Lord Jesus Christ, and yet at

683
00:36:42,800 –> 00:36:46,480
the same time a great heart
warming moment for him.

684
00:36:46,480 –> 00:36:51,400
Verse 66.
From that time, many of His

685
00:36:51,400 –> 00:36:54,240
disciples went back and walked
no more with Him.

686
00:36:55,040 –> 00:36:57,680
It was a defining point for some
of the disciples.

687
00:36:58,400 –> 00:37:01,040
Many of them at this very moment
in time, felt they could no

688
00:37:01,040 –> 00:37:04,320
longer pursue their journey with
the Lord Jesus Christ.

689
00:37:04,920 –> 00:37:07,880
They weren’t persuaded that the
words that He were giving them

690
00:37:07,880 –> 00:37:10,440
gave them, would give them the
key to eternal life.

691
00:37:11,240 –> 00:37:12,640
And they walked no more with
Him.

692
00:37:13,680 –> 00:37:19,280
But notice what happens next,
Jesus said to the 12 Will ye

693
00:37:19,280 –> 00:37:22,440
also go away?
Are you going to leave me as

694
00:37:22,440 –> 00:37:24,480
well?
Is this too challenging for you?

695
00:37:25,840 –> 00:37:28,200
And one disciple in particular,
brother and sisters, said

696
00:37:28,200 –> 00:37:31,680
something that I believe melted
the heart of the Lord Jesus

697
00:37:31,680 –> 00:37:33,640
Christ and brought tears to his
eyes.

698
00:37:34,480 –> 00:37:35,840
He was the only other man that
day.

699
00:37:35,840 –> 00:37:39,000
Regardless of what you think of
Simon Peter, he was the only

700
00:37:39,000 –> 00:37:42,160
other man on that wilderness
that day who understood what the

701
00:37:42,160 –> 00:37:44,320
Lord had been teaching.
Noticed what he said.

702
00:37:44,640 –> 00:37:48,320
Will ye also go away and Simon
Peter answered him.

703
00:37:48,320 –> 00:37:55,600
Verse 68 Lord, to whom shall we
go you have the words of eternal

704
00:37:55,600 –> 00:37:57,840
life.
Isn’t that lovely?

705
00:37:58,000 –> 00:38:01,480
For all of Peter’s failings,
Bren sisters Peter had latched

706
00:38:01,480 –> 00:38:03,320
on to the very.
Thing that the Lord had been

707
00:38:03,320 –> 00:38:08,000
teaching that that last 24 hours
that this bread represents His

708
00:38:08,000 –> 00:38:10,320
word.
Which has the ability to give

709
00:38:10,320 –> 00:38:12,680
eternal life?
And are you also going to leave

710
00:38:12,680 –> 00:38:14,960
me, you?
12 says the Lord Jesus Christ

711
00:38:15,200 –> 00:38:17,400
and Peter instantly.
Lord, to who?

712
00:38:17,480 –> 00:38:20,080
Where else can we go?
Where else can we go and find

713
00:38:20,080 –> 00:38:21,800
bread that will satisfy us like
this?

714
00:38:21,960 –> 00:38:24,920
Who else can tell us and teach
us things that will, that will

715
00:38:24,920 –> 00:38:27,200
fill the holes in our lives like
you can?

716
00:38:27,560 –> 00:38:32,440
Lord, to whom shall we?
Go, You have the words of

717
00:38:32,440 –> 00:38:34,840
eternal life and I’m going to
eat them all day long, says

718
00:38:34,840 –> 00:38:36,920
Peter.
I’m going to stay with you and

719
00:38:36,920 –> 00:38:39,600
eat them until I’m so full I
can’t eat anymore.

720
00:38:40,440 –> 00:38:42,520
And may it be, Brent says, we
can come to the breaking of

721
00:38:42,520 –> 00:38:45,200
bread week by week with the
attitude of the apostle Peter.

722
00:38:45,880 –> 00:38:49,360
Lord, you have the words of
eternal life and I want to come

723
00:38:49,360 –> 00:38:52,880
and eat them and feast on them
and share them with you.

724
00:38:54,760 –> 00:38:56,840
Well, come with me to John
Chapter 2 really quickly.

725
00:38:56,840 –> 00:39:03,200
Because, Sir, that was the
symbol of the bread, I will not

726
00:39:03,240 –> 00:39:07,440
eat anymore thereof until it be
fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.

727
00:39:07,440 –> 00:39:10,960
And brethren, sisters, one day
when we eat that bread anew with

728
00:39:10,960 –> 00:39:13,720
the Lord Jesus Christ in the
Kingdom of God, it will be

729
00:39:13,720 –> 00:39:16,040
because we have become Word made
flesh.

730
00:39:16,480 –> 00:39:19,240
The Word of God will have had
such an effect on our lives that

731
00:39:19,240 –> 00:39:21,840
we will share a body like the
Lord Jesus Christ.

732
00:39:21,840 –> 00:39:24,880
When we finally sit with Him and
share that meal, we will have

733
00:39:24,880 –> 00:39:27,680
his body.
It will be a a meal with with

734
00:39:27,680 –> 00:39:29,240
the fulfilment of all of these
things.

735
00:39:29,240 –> 00:39:31,720
It won’t be just a sitting down
sharing a breaking of bread.

736
00:39:31,920 –> 00:39:34,640
That bread, which represents the
power of His Word to give

737
00:39:34,640 –> 00:39:37,360
eternal life, won’t be just
something we eat with Him at a

738
00:39:37,360 –> 00:39:40,800
meal.
It will have become a reality we

739
00:39:40,800 –> 00:39:43,400
will have been given.
Eternal life by the power of

740
00:39:43,400 –> 00:39:45,440
that word.
That’s what it seems to me the

741
00:39:45,440 –> 00:39:48,960
Lord Jesus meant when he said I
will not eat any more thereof

742
00:39:49,240 –> 00:39:52,000
until it be fulfilled in the
Kingdom of God.

743
00:39:52,000 –> 00:39:55,240
When that word has had its full
effect inside the hearts and

744
00:39:55,240 –> 00:39:58,440
minds of each and every one of
us, that’s when he will share it

745
00:39:58,440 –> 00:40:02,640
with us new in his Kingdom.
Let’s never underestimate Bren

746
00:40:02,640 –> 00:40:04,280
sisters.
The power of the Word of God

747
00:40:04,280 –> 00:40:08,720
week by week when we come to
share it together well.

748
00:40:09,160 –> 00:40:12,560
Finally, then, this miracle at
Cana, John’s the only one who

749
00:40:12,560 –> 00:40:18,600
records this miracle of water
into wine, and this was going to

750
00:40:18,600 –> 00:40:22,080
be John’s way of telling us what
the wine symbolises.

751
00:40:24,040 –> 00:40:27,120
And John stretched his gospel
very carefully, and both the

752
00:40:27,120 –> 00:40:31,440
first week and the last week of
the Lord’s ministry are noted

753
00:40:31,760 –> 00:40:34,800
day by day.
So here in John chapter 1 and

754
00:40:34,800 –> 00:40:38,160
2:00, every single day of the
first week of the Lord’s

755
00:40:38,160 –> 00:40:40,880
ministry is carefully
catalogued.

756
00:40:41,760 –> 00:40:44,560
And of course, when you get to
the end of John’s gospel, every

757
00:40:44,560 –> 00:40:48,080
day of the last week of his
ministry is very carefully

758
00:40:48,360 –> 00:40:52,080
catalogued.
The first week ends in the first

759
00:40:52,080 –> 00:40:55,480
of John signs a wedding feast
with new wine.

760
00:40:56,040 –> 00:40:58,720
And the last?
Week will end with it too, with

761
00:40:58,720 –> 00:41:03,560
its symbols completed new life.
In the resurrection of the Lord

762
00:41:03,560 –> 00:41:08,120
Jesus Christ and in John 2 and
verse 11, I’m not going to go

763
00:41:08,120 –> 00:41:09,320
through the details of the
story.

764
00:41:09,320 –> 00:41:12,040
You know it well enough.
The water pots, the six water

765
00:41:12,040 –> 00:41:15,040
pots of stone that are now going
to be turned into wine for this

766
00:41:15,040 –> 00:41:16,880
wedding feast that’s run out of
wine.

767
00:41:17,200 –> 00:41:20,200
And in verse 11 we get the
explanation by John of what the

768
00:41:20,200 –> 00:41:23,760
purpose of the miracle was.
This beginning of miracles did

769
00:41:23,760 –> 00:41:27,560
Jesus in Cana of Galilee.
And manifested forth his glory,

770
00:41:27,880 –> 00:41:29,800
and his disciples believed on
him.

771
00:41:30,240 –> 00:41:31,800
That was the purpose of this
miracle.

772
00:41:32,000 –> 00:41:36,120
It wasn’t a big national affair
like the the feeding of the 5000

773
00:41:36,280 –> 00:41:39,080
to feed a multitude.
Although everybody at that feast

774
00:41:39,080 –> 00:41:41,880
tasted that new wine.
It was only the disciples who

775
00:41:41,880 –> 00:41:44,080
knew where it had come from, who
knew of its.

776
00:41:44,080 –> 00:41:45,920
Origin and how it had come
about.

777
00:41:46,400 –> 00:41:49,520
And the purpose of this miracle
was very specifically for the

778
00:41:49,520 –> 00:41:52,680
disciples that they may believe
on Him.

779
00:41:54,160 –> 00:41:56,840
And we only know Bran sisters at
this point in time in John’s

780
00:41:56,840 –> 00:42:02,760
gospel of 6 disciples, not all
12 have been chosen yet in

781
00:42:02,760 –> 00:42:05,120
John’s gospel and the ones we
know about.

782
00:42:05,120 –> 00:42:09,840
Are Andrew and Peter, of course
James and John, Philip and

783
00:42:09,840 –> 00:42:14,680
Nathaniel who’ve already been
mentioned there in chapter 1-6,

784
00:42:14,680 –> 00:42:18,440
disciples that we know about?
So the only 6, the only

785
00:42:18,440 –> 00:42:21,200
disciples who would have known
about the the glory of Jesus

786
00:42:21,200 –> 00:42:24,920
that was going to be manifested
at this wedding were those six.

787
00:42:25,920 –> 00:42:30,880
And there were 6 stone water
pots filled to the brim with

788
00:42:30,880 –> 00:42:33,960
water that we’re now going to be
turned into wine.

789
00:42:34,520 –> 00:42:36,840
And that’s really important,
Brent and sisters, because each

790
00:42:36,840 –> 00:42:40,320
of the disciples of the Lord
Jesus Christ, you and me

791
00:42:40,320 –> 00:42:43,880
included, need to be filled to
the brim with this new wine.

792
00:42:47,120 –> 00:42:53,120
And these 6 stone water pots
were there, we’re told verse 6

793
00:42:53,560 –> 00:42:56,960
there were 6 water pots of stone
there after the manner of the

794
00:42:56,960 –> 00:43:01,320
purifying of the.
Jews containing 2 or 3 firkins

795
00:43:01,320 –> 00:43:03,760
apiece.
And this is a similar statement

796
00:43:03,760 –> 00:43:07,160
to John’s statement in John 6
about the feast of the Passover,

797
00:43:07,160 –> 00:43:10,720
a feast of the Jews, right?
The Jews were obsessed with

798
00:43:10,720 –> 00:43:13,640
purifying.
You can scour your law of Moses

799
00:43:13,640 –> 00:43:17,240
and I can find no evidence where
two or three firkins apiece

800
00:43:17,400 –> 00:43:19,960
would of water would have been
needed for, for Jewish

801
00:43:19,960 –> 00:43:22,800
purifying.
There was purifying required

802
00:43:22,800 –> 00:43:25,120
that required water, absolutely
right.

803
00:43:25,320 –> 00:43:29,600
But this quantity I, I struggle
to find an occasion where in the

804
00:43:29,600 –> 00:43:32,320
Law of Moses where that much
water would have been needed for

805
00:43:32,320 –> 00:43:34,360
purifying.
And again, we get this statement

806
00:43:34,360 –> 00:43:37,240
of John that this was after the
manner of the purifying of the

807
00:43:37,240 –> 00:43:40,080
Jews.
This wasn’t of the Lord, it was

808
00:43:40,080 –> 00:43:43,840
of the Jews.
They’d so emasculated the power

809
00:43:43,840 –> 00:43:47,520
of the Law of Moses that they’d
now added all of these things

810
00:43:47,520 –> 00:43:51,080
and made it so, so complicated
and added so much to it that

811
00:43:51,080 –> 00:43:54,480
they needed this much water for
purifying and for their rituals

812
00:43:54,480 –> 00:43:57,400
and for their habits.
That this was now about the

813
00:43:57,400 –> 00:43:59,240
Jews.
It wasn’t about God, it wasn’t

814
00:43:59,240 –> 00:44:01,440
about the things of the Lord
Jesus Christ.

815
00:44:01,440 –> 00:44:03,400
It was about the Jews and their
tradition.

816
00:44:03,680 –> 00:44:07,600
And they had these six big stone
water pots there after the

817
00:44:07,600 –> 00:44:11,800
manner of their purifying.
And the purifying that the Lord

818
00:44:11,800 –> 00:44:16,400
was now going to provide was
just incomparably better with

819
00:44:16,400 –> 00:44:21,640
anything the Jews could provide,
and traditionally.

820
00:44:23,400 –> 00:44:27,360
It was the bridegroom’s job at a
wedding to supply the wine, and

821
00:44:27,360 –> 00:44:30,840
not only is this a disaster for
the bridegroom that now it is

822
00:44:30,840 –> 00:44:32,600
wedding feast, they’ve run out
of wine.

823
00:44:33,520 –> 00:44:35,560
It’s symbolic, Brent sisters,
that there is no other

824
00:44:35,560 –> 00:44:38,280
bridegroom you will ever find
that can give you the life that

825
00:44:38,400 –> 00:44:41,160
Jesus can.
Isn’t that lovely?

826
00:44:41,160 –> 00:44:45,200
Even in our human marriages,
brethren, I you.

827
00:44:45,200 –> 00:44:48,720
Know in your own life the
challenge of trying to live up

828
00:44:48,720 –> 00:44:51,640
to the example of the Lord Jesus
Christ in your marriage.

829
00:44:52,240 –> 00:44:56,120
But even for you and I, there is
no husband that this world has

830
00:44:56,120 –> 00:45:00,360
ever known that can provide the
kind of life and the consistency

831
00:45:00,800 –> 00:45:03,880
and the unfailing.
Characteristics that the Lord

832
00:45:03,880 –> 00:45:07,200
Jesus Christ can supply for each
and every one of us as His

833
00:45:07,200 –> 00:45:09,760
bride.
And that’s what this wedding is

834
00:45:09,760 –> 00:45:12,880
going to teach us, that when
everything fails, humanly

835
00:45:12,880 –> 00:45:16,640
speaking, it’s only the Lord
that can provide that which is

836
00:45:16,640 –> 00:45:19,360
eternal and that which is
consistent.

837
00:45:21,000 –> 00:45:23,600
Can we just keep a finger in
John Tuber and citizen, come

838
00:45:23,600 –> 00:45:27,280
with me to Matthew Chapter 9.
Because these symbols of Jewish

839
00:45:27,280 –> 00:45:31,240
purifying and the bride and the
bridegroom are going to become

840
00:45:31,240 –> 00:45:36,320
the key issues of this this
miracle and it’s explanation.

841
00:45:38,880 –> 00:45:48,080
Matthew Chapter 9 and verse 14,
the disciples of John came to

842
00:45:48,160 –> 00:45:50,360
Jesus.
Saying, Why do we and the

843
00:45:50,360 –> 00:45:54,440
Pharisees fast OFT, but your
disciples don’t fast?

844
00:45:55,400 –> 00:45:58,200
And Jesus said to them, Can the
children of the bride chamber

845
00:45:58,200 –> 00:46:01,000
mourn as long as the bridegroom
is with them?

846
00:46:01,760 –> 00:46:04,360
But the days will come when the
bridegroom will be taken from

847
00:46:04,360 –> 00:46:09,000
them, and then will they fast?
So John’s disciples are coming

848
00:46:09,000 –> 00:46:11,800
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Still not convinced, brother and

849
00:46:11,800 –> 00:46:15,120
sisters, that Jesus is who he
claims to be and in fact who

850
00:46:15,120 –> 00:46:19,640
John himself had claimed he was.
And when they come to to when

851
00:46:19,640 –> 00:46:22,800
the disciples of John come to
Jesus challenging him over these

852
00:46:22,800 –> 00:46:26,240
Jewish traditions, Jesus says to
them, now listen, can the

853
00:46:26,240 –> 00:46:28,680
children of the bride chamber
mourn as long as the bridegroom

854
00:46:28,680 –> 00:46:30,600
is with them?
And what the Lord Jesus is

855
00:46:30,600 –> 00:46:32,600
doing, Bruns is he’s saying now
listen, you need to go and

856
00:46:32,600 –> 00:46:34,400
listen to what your own master
said.

857
00:46:34,680 –> 00:46:38,440
You go back to John and listen
to what he said about me because

858
00:46:38,440 –> 00:46:42,000
he said that I was the
bridegroom, right?

859
00:46:42,000 –> 00:46:44,000
That’s what he said.
And in fact, if you come back to

860
00:46:44,000 –> 00:46:47,000
John chapter 3, keep a finger in
Matthew 9 if you can.

861
00:46:49,040 –> 00:46:52,320
It was John himself who regarded
the Lord Jesus as the

862
00:46:52,320 –> 00:46:56,000
bridegroom.
John chapter 3 and verse 25.

863
00:46:56,320 –> 00:47:00,600
And notice how this came about.
There arose a question between

864
00:47:00,600 –> 00:47:05,280
some of John’s disciples and the
Jews about purifying.

865
00:47:05,840 –> 00:47:09,680
Alright, so you see at this
wedding the six pots of water

866
00:47:09,680 –> 00:47:13,160
for purifying, and the disciples
of John and the Jews are

867
00:47:13,160 –> 00:47:18,320
debating about purifying.
And they came to John verse 26,

868
00:47:18,600 –> 00:47:21,840
and said to him, Rabbi, he that
was with you beyond Jordan, to

869
00:47:21,840 –> 00:47:26,560
whom you bear witness, behold
the same baptizer, and all men

870
00:47:26,560 –> 00:47:28,600
come to him.
And you can imagine John’s

871
00:47:28,600 –> 00:47:31,440
disciples coming to him going,
listen, we’ve got this dispute

872
00:47:31,440 –> 00:47:35,200
about purifying and we have a
problem because all of these men

873
00:47:35,200 –> 00:47:37,280
and women are going to the Lord
Jesus Christ and they’re not

874
00:47:37,280 –> 00:47:39,720
coming to you, they’re leaving
you and they’re going to him,

875
00:47:39,720 –> 00:47:41,280
and they’re being baptized by
him.

876
00:47:42,960 –> 00:47:45,120
And John answered verse 27 and
said.

877
00:47:45,920 –> 00:47:48,800
A man can receive nothing except
it be given him from heaven.

878
00:47:49,040 –> 00:47:53,000
Ye yourselves bear me witness
that I said, I am not the

879
00:47:53,000 –> 00:47:55,800
Christ, but that I am sent
before Him.

880
00:47:55,800 –> 00:47:59,080
He who has the bride is the
bridegroom.

881
00:47:59,640 –> 00:48:02,280
But the friend of the bridegroom
who stands and hears him,

882
00:48:02,280 –> 00:48:05,400
rejoices greatly because of the
bridegroom’s voice.

883
00:48:05,760 –> 00:48:08,120
This my joy, therefore, is
fulfilled.

884
00:48:08,480 –> 00:48:11,360
He must increase.
But I must decrease.

885
00:48:11,360 –> 00:48:14,720
So they came with this original
dispute over purifying and, and

886
00:48:14,720 –> 00:48:16,640
who really people ought to be
following.

887
00:48:16,640 –> 00:48:20,120
Should it be John or should it
be the Lord Jesus Christ And

888
00:48:20,120 –> 00:48:22,800
John had told them explicitly to
follow Jesus.

889
00:48:23,000 –> 00:48:27,320
He is the bridegroom and, and,
and the one who has the bride is

890
00:48:27,320 –> 00:48:29,720
the bridegroom.
That’s what he said.

891
00:48:29,720 –> 00:48:32,760
And who was the bride?
Just notice again what they said

892
00:48:32,760 –> 00:48:37,800
to him end of verse 26.
All men are coming to him.

893
00:48:38,520 –> 00:48:42,200
All men come to him, they said.
And John now says, well, he who

894
00:48:42,200 –> 00:48:45,080
has the bride, all men are
coming to him.

895
00:48:45,800 –> 00:48:47,920
He who has the bride is the
bridegroom.

896
00:48:48,680 –> 00:48:51,640
And he now must increase and I
must decrease.

897
00:48:51,640 –> 00:48:54,920
And it was John’s way of saying,
listen, you are the bride.

898
00:48:54,960 –> 00:48:58,640
All men who will go to him are
the bride of Christ and he is

899
00:48:58,640 –> 00:49:01,520
the bridegroom.
I’m just the best man, as we

900
00:49:01,520 –> 00:49:03,680
would call him in the UK.
I’m just the bridegroom’s

901
00:49:03,680 –> 00:49:05,440
friend.
Go to him.

902
00:49:06,200 –> 00:49:09,120
If you want to be the bride of
Christ, you must go to him.

903
00:49:09,440 –> 00:49:13,600
I must decrease and he must
increase and so there in in

904
00:49:13,600 –> 00:49:17,400
Matthew Chapter 9 when if you
just come back there if you kept

905
00:49:17,400 –> 00:49:21,280
a finger there when they came to
to to Jesus going listen, why do

906
00:49:21,280 –> 00:49:25,920
our why do we fast regularly and
you your disciples don’t Jesus

907
00:49:25,920 –> 00:49:30,560
refers them right back to what
John himself had said verse 15

908
00:49:30,560 –> 00:49:33,520
there in in Matthew 9.
Can the children of the Bride

909
00:49:33,520 –> 00:49:35,920
Chamber mourn as long as the
bridegroom is with them?

910
00:49:37,040 –> 00:49:41,400
Do you want to be my bride?
Do you want to come to me and

911
00:49:41,400 –> 00:49:45,080
get rid of these disputes about
the Jews and their purifying and

912
00:49:45,080 –> 00:49:47,120
fasting?
That cannot give you the

913
00:49:47,120 –> 00:49:51,320
fulfilment you’re looking for.
I am the bridegroom and if you

914
00:49:51,320 –> 00:49:54,600
want to be my bride, I can give
you the fulfilment and the

915
00:49:54,600 –> 00:49:57,240
satisfaction that you’re looking
for.

916
00:49:59,040 –> 00:50:02,960
And then in Matthew Chapter 9,
Brent says in verse 16 the Lord

917
00:50:02,960 –> 00:50:06,560
explains.
The meaning of the wine at Cana.

918
00:50:07,080 –> 00:50:11,600
At the wedding feast.
No man puts, he says, a piece of

919
00:50:11,600 –> 00:50:15,080
new cloth on an old garment, for
that which is put in to fill it

920
00:50:15,080 –> 00:50:17,720
up takes from the garment, and
the rent is made worse.

921
00:50:18,240 –> 00:50:20,760
Neither do men put new wine into
old bottles.

922
00:50:21,200 –> 00:50:24,840
Or the bottles break and the
wine runs out and the bottles

923
00:50:24,840 –> 00:50:28,280
perish, but they put new wine
into new bottles.

924
00:50:28,640 –> 00:50:32,160
And both are preserved.
Now I don’t know a lot about

925
00:50:32,160 –> 00:50:35,680
wine brains sisters, but I know
a little bit and I know in the

926
00:50:35,680 –> 00:50:38,760
1st century here in the Middle
East, their their wine bottles

927
00:50:38,760 –> 00:50:42,000
were not glass like ours.
They were wineskins.

928
00:50:43,040 –> 00:50:46,280
And if an old wineskin which has
dried out a bit and has become

929
00:50:46,280 –> 00:50:48,760
brittle, if you try putting new
wine into it which is still

930
00:50:48,760 –> 00:50:51,880
fermenting, still got lots of
energy and power.

931
00:50:52,280 –> 00:50:55,000
You know, it’s sometimes when we
do that in our country, you make

932
00:50:55,000 –> 00:50:57,040
the wine and if it’s still
fermenting a little bit and it’s

933
00:50:57,040 –> 00:50:59,440
still got energy, it will pop
the cork out of the bottle.

934
00:50:59,440 –> 00:51:01,800
And the energy?
Will be too much for the bottle

935
00:51:01,800 –> 00:51:04,680
to bear and the the cork will
pop out and the wine will be

936
00:51:04,680 –> 00:51:07,120
spilled.
Well here in the Middle East

937
00:51:07,120 –> 00:51:09,800
juice is saying if you try and
put new wine into an old bottle,

938
00:51:10,280 –> 00:51:13,440
the whole skin won’t.
Be able to contain the energy

939
00:51:13,440 –> 00:51:16,200
and the power of the wine and it
will break and both will be

940
00:51:16,200 –> 00:51:19,040
lost.
The wineskin will tear and the

941
00:51:19,040 –> 00:51:20,840
new wine that went into it will
break.

942
00:51:20,840 –> 00:51:23,400
And bro and sisters, can we see
what the Lord Jesus is telling

943
00:51:23,400 –> 00:51:26,800
us?
If you want the new wine, which

944
00:51:26,800 –> 00:51:31,080
represents the life of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the new life, then

945
00:51:31,080 –> 00:51:33,920
it’s going to need to go into a
new bottle, not an old one.

946
00:51:34,640 –> 00:51:36,360
And that’s a great challenge for
all of us.

947
00:51:36,360 –> 00:51:38,240
How much of A new bottle are
you?

948
00:51:39,080 –> 00:51:41,520
Because if you try pouring the
new wine of the Lord Jesus

949
00:51:41,520 –> 00:51:45,040
Christ into an old bottle that’s
not flexible, not able to change

950
00:51:45,040 –> 00:51:48,760
and adapt and be moulded and
shaped and contain the energy of

951
00:51:48,760 –> 00:51:51,120
the power of the.
Life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

952
00:51:51,640 –> 00:51:54,480
Then it will break it and burst
it, and the wine will be lost.

953
00:51:55,000 –> 00:51:57,520
If we want to contain Bren
Sisters, the new life of the

954
00:51:57,520 –> 00:52:00,320
Lord Jesus Christ, if we want to
capture it in our lives, if we

955
00:52:00,320 –> 00:52:03,200
want to be shaped by it,
challenged by it, moulded by it,

956
00:52:03,320 –> 00:52:06,000
If we want to be pliable and
flexible and able to be

957
00:52:06,000 –> 00:52:08,880
challenged by the power of the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ.

958
00:52:09,120 –> 00:52:13,840
Then we need to be a new bottle
willing to be to feel the power

959
00:52:13,840 –> 00:52:18,120
and the the the the elasticity
when it comes of the of the

960
00:52:18,120 –> 00:52:20,840
energy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you know that in your life,

961
00:52:20,840 –> 00:52:23,760
and I know it in mine.
You know when the challenge of

962
00:52:23,760 –> 00:52:26,280
the life of the Lord Jesus
Christ pushes you outside your

963
00:52:26,280 –> 00:52:29,800
comfort zone, asks you to think
things that naturally you

964
00:52:29,800 –> 00:52:31,640
wouldn’t think asks.
You to do.

965
00:52:31,640 –> 00:52:34,920
Things that are beyond what you
would normally naturally have

966
00:52:34,920 –> 00:52:38,320
done ask you to be the kind of
person that naturally normally

967
00:52:38,600 –> 00:52:42,040
you wouldn’t have been.
And if you want to preserve the

968
00:52:42,040 –> 00:52:46,040
new wine, Bren Sisters that the
Lord Jesus gives you, then you

969
00:52:46,040 –> 00:52:49,640
need to be a new bottle, able to
contain it, not an old one

970
00:52:49,640 –> 00:52:52,040
that’s too brittle, too dried
out.

971
00:52:52,480 –> 00:52:56,880
And unable to change just as we
draw thoughts to a close.

972
00:52:56,880 –> 00:53:03,280
Just have a look here in at this
word that’s used of what happens

973
00:53:03,280 –> 00:53:05,080
when the bottle breaks.
Neither do men.

974
00:53:05,080 –> 00:53:08,400
Verse 17 Put new wine into all
bottles, else the bottles break

975
00:53:08,800 –> 00:53:11,960
and the wine runs out.
And if you.

976
00:53:11,960 –> 00:53:14,680
Follow that Greek expression.
There runs out.

977
00:53:15,560 –> 00:53:19,360
It’s the description the Lord
used of His own life when He

978
00:53:19,480 –> 00:53:24,320
instituted the Last Supper.
This cup is my blood of the

979
00:53:24,320 –> 00:53:28,680
covenant which has been poured
out shed for you.

980
00:53:29,520 –> 00:53:33,080
The I’ve broken the bottle of
humanity, says the Lord Jesus

981
00:53:33,080 –> 00:53:35,760
Christ.
My life has broken the bottle of

982
00:53:35,760 –> 00:53:40,480
humanity and has been poured out
for your sake and unless you

983
00:53:40,480 –> 00:53:44,440
allow my life to fill up yours,
you will be broken as.

984
00:53:44,440 –> 00:53:48,280
Well, and you will lose the life
that the Lord Jesus is willing

985
00:53:48,560 –> 00:53:50,600
to give you.
And you know, we have a good

986
00:53:50,600 –> 00:53:54,120
example in Scripture.
The word is used in Acts chapter

987
00:53:54,120 –> 00:53:57,760
1 and verse 18 of Judas.
Do you remember the words used

988
00:53:57,760 –> 00:53:58,960
to describe what happened to
him?

989
00:53:59,280 –> 00:54:02,040
This man purchased a field with
the reward of iniquity, and

990
00:54:02,040 –> 00:54:05,400
falling headlong, he burst
asunder in the midst, and all

991
00:54:05,400 –> 00:54:08,560
his bowels gushed out.
It’s horrible, isn’t it?

992
00:54:09,480 –> 00:54:13,440
And yet that’s the very phrase
that Luke used there in Acts

993
00:54:13,440 –> 00:54:15,480
chapter 1 to describe what
happened to Judas.

994
00:54:15,840 –> 00:54:18,600
The bottle was broken.
There was a man who was too

995
00:54:18,600 –> 00:54:22,720
impliable, too inflexible to
contain the power and the energy

996
00:54:22,720 –> 00:54:25,000
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he
was broken.

997
00:54:25,160 –> 00:54:27,560
And not only was the wine that
the Lord had poured out.

998
00:54:27,560 –> 00:54:30,760
For him, wasted.
So was the bottle into which it

999
00:54:30,760 –> 00:54:33,600
was given.
Both were lost, not just the

1000
00:54:33,600 –> 00:54:37,880
wine, but Judas himself.
And may it be Brent says that

1001
00:54:37,880 –> 00:54:40,600
that doesn’t happen to you and
to me.

1002
00:54:41,560 –> 00:54:43,160
Well, I’ve overshot the mark
again.

1003
00:54:43,640 –> 00:54:46,800
There we go, thank you for your
patience.

1004
00:54:46,920 –> 00:54:49,040
May it be bruh.
And sisters, as you take the

1005
00:54:49,040 –> 00:54:53,160
bread of heaven and share in the
royal cup of the King, may we

1006
00:54:53,160 –> 00:54:55,680
reflect on the power of the Word
of God in our life.

1007
00:54:56,680 –> 00:54:59,240
A man.
Who was witness to be the living

1008
00:54:59,240 –> 00:55:03,160
embodiment of the Word of God.
And may as we drink from His

1009
00:55:03,160 –> 00:55:06,040
cup, we remember that this new
wine has extraordinary

1010
00:55:06,040 –> 00:55:09,760
potential.
It is the new life, his life.

1011
00:55:10,720 –> 00:55:13,640
And although in each we we know
we are really earthen vessels,

1012
00:55:13,640 –> 00:55:16,720
aren’t we?
6 stone water pots there brittle

1013
00:55:17,000 –> 00:55:20,240
earthen vessels.
May it be, Brent says, that we

1014
00:55:20,240 –> 00:55:23,880
are changed into new wineskins.
Because the miracle of Cana

1015
00:55:23,880 –> 00:55:27,640
wasn’t that God, through the
Lord Jesus Christ, turned water

1016
00:55:27,640 –> 00:55:32,160
into wine.
It was that six men, earthen

1017
00:55:32,160 –> 00:55:37,480
vessels, were made into new men,
wineskins full of the new life

1018
00:55:37,480 –> 00:55:40,360
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And may each and everyone of us

1019
00:55:40,360 –> 00:55:42,640
friend sisters feel that
transition in our own lives,

1020
00:55:42,640 –> 00:55:46,880
week by week, as we come to
share the royal bread and wine

1021
00:55:47,160 –> 00:55:47,920
on the table.