American Loon

All Glory to God the Father and to our Savior Jesus Christ

We are now into John chapter 6 and it starts out “After these things.” Jesus had been in Jerusalem, doing signs and wonders and had run into the Pharisees who had taken issue with Him healing a man on the sabbath. We know from Mark 2:27, Jesus had said “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” 

From Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary: The sabbath is a sacred and Divine institution; a privilege and benefit, not a task and drudgery. God never designed it to be a burden to us, therefore we must not make it so to ourselves. The sabbath was instituted for the good of mankind, as living in society, having many wants and troubles, preparing for a state of happiness or misery. Man was not made for the sabbath, as if his keeping it could be of service to God, nor was he commanded to keep its outward observances to his real hurt. Every observance respecting it, is to be interpreted by the rule of mercy.

Why then were the Pharisees making a big deal of this? God’s original commands were the 613 laws of Moses (called “Torah”) that guided the ancient nation of Israel.

The Mishnah was an oral tradition of commentary on the Mosaic Law that introduced additional, man-made rules that “built a fence” around the Mosaic Law so people wouldn’t even come close to breaking God’s commandments.

The Pharisees were concerned with keeping these additional commandments and especially with having the outward appearance of keeping them.

These Pharisees took it upon themselves to add to God’s law, to “build a fence around” what Moses had written. Jesus had warned them of their hypocrisy: Matthew 23:27-28 What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Like the virtue signallers of today, they would brook no disagreement with their rules, it just incited them all the more. Just like today. A sane person would wonder why we keep repeating the same mistakes. 

So, after these things, Jesus moved up into the area of Galilee, near Tiberias. (John 6:1) By now, large crowds of people had been attracted to Him. “They saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick.” (John 6:2) He and His disciples went up on the mountain to sit. (John 6:3) It was the time of Passover which depends on the new moon and the date varies a bit. This year, 2021, it would be March 27th to April 4th. Early spring and we know it is the celebration of Moses leading his people out of Egypt. (Exodus 12) 

All of which means there are large crowds of people, many following Jesus, attracted to the spectacle of what He could do, and others coming for the Passover celebration. 

Jesus saw the large crowd coming to Him and asked Philip “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” Philip was from Bethsaida which is on the North end of the Sea of Galilee. Simon Peter and his brother Andrew were also from the same town. Now I don’t know if it was because Philip was sitting closest to Jesus or Jesus had a particular lesson in mind for Philip when He asked him where they were going to get food to feed this crowd. Can you imagine the look on Philip’s face when heard what he heard from this Son of God? The scripture says that it was to test him, (John 6:6) so that answers that question. Have you been tested by God? I know I certainly have. If you are aware enough to know you are being tested by God, you should be aware enough to know that these tests are to strengthen us, to refine us, to make us more holy because God is holy.

Philip, probably still marveling at the question, gives room for his doubts to be spoken out loud. “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” (John 6:7) Andrew was probably standing nearby and had a more hopeful suggestion. “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” (John 6:9) Okay, not real hopeful with that last part of his suggestion, but maybe he was wondering what this Son of God was up to. They had all seen things that were well beyond what their imaginations could dream up. This rabbi they were compelled to follow had done signs and wonders and had drawn this huge crowd… 

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” This was an area of much grass and so the men sat down and they numbered 5000. (John 6:10) Yes, I am aware of the argument of only counting men. It was just what they did and they were consistent with it. Nobody believes it was just men following Jesus, it was families with kids in tow. Many bible scholars believe the actual number fed that day could have been 15,000–20,000 people.

With a large number of hungry people sitting in the grass before Him, Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. (John 6:11)

They ate until they were filled, of the bread and fish. Jesus told His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.” (John 6:12)  So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. (John 6:13) Up to 20,000 people had just eaten their fill of a couple of barley loaves and a few fish and there were leftovers. Grace upon grace, John 1:16. What’s abundantly clear is that, when we come to Christ, He dishes out grace in heaping, huge servings, with leftovers. 

When the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” (John 6:14) The people said it, with their bellies full. One hopes that they truly believed that in their hearts. 

So, how is it with you in this day of virtue enforcers? Are you thankful and willing to share that with those around you? Even with those who scold you for not wearing a mask or not staying 6 feet apart? It is hard to be nice to someone who is not nice to you, but what did Christ do? What did He tell us? Love your neighbor as you love yourself. (Matthew 22:39) Neighbors are sometimes not very nice people. Neither were the Pharisees. Think of them as prisoners of war, captured by satan and made to follow him. Would that change your opinion of those unpleasant to you? The fields are white and ready to harvest. (John 4:35) Surely, those are not all pleasant people. There is a very good reason that Christ focused on Love. I want you to think about that. Love conquers all, satisfies all of the law. Ask God for more love in your heart, to love those that don’t love you. Ask Him for greater understanding of what that Love is. And then act upon it. What Jesus did for those many people was done out of love. Love does not separate, but draws together. Work with what God has blessed you with and remember He dishes out grace in heaping, huge servings. Share that with others and reap the blessing of your obedience to God.

All Glory to God the Father and to our Savior Jesus Christ

From Westminster Shorter Catechism (written in 1647), questions 99 to 102:

Q99: What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?
A99: The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called The Lord’s Prayer.

Q100: What doth the preface of the Lord’s prayer teach us?
A100: The preface of the Lord’s prayer, which is, “Our Father which art in heaven,” teacheth us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready to help us; and that we should pray with and for others.

Q101: What do we pray for in the first petition?
A101: In the first petition, which is, “Hallowed be thy name,” we pray, That God would enable us and others to glorify him in all that whereby he maketh himself known; and that he would dispose all things to his own glory.

Q102: What do we pray for in the second petition?
A102: In the second petition, which is, “Thy kingdom come,” we pray, That Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed; and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it; and the kingdom of glory may be hastened.

Hopefully you were able to get through the “homework” I left you with last week. You may have thought of it as a lot of thumbing through the Bible, but since it concerns your understanding of Christ’s coming and your salvation, it can’t really be considered too much work, can it? From what I hear and see, persecution of believers is coming, but none us has been crucified for what we believe just yet. So, with the right perspective, what you were given to read and pursue was no work at all, right?

Along this line of thinking, this week my morning devotionals from Grace to You and John MacArthur, talked about the call. Two Bible Studies back, we learned about the church as we know it, is really the people who were called by God. This is a little confusing with most people understanding what Church is. It is Us, drawn by our Father (John 6:44), to worship and sing praises unto to Him that drew us. Our assumption is that the building is the focus, which is reinforced by our somewhat lazy or incurious if you will, understanding of the word Church. Getting back to my point, John MacArthur had this in the Drawing Near part of his Devotionals.
Understanding Your Calling
“I pray that . . . you may know what is the hope of [God’s] calling” (Eph. 1:18). The hope of your calling is grounded in God’s promises and in Christ’s accomplishments. In Ephesians 1:3-14 Paul proclaims the blessings of our salvation. In verse 18 he prays that we will comprehend those great truths, which he summarizes in the phrase “the hope of His calling.”
“Calling” here refers to God’s effectual calling—the calling that redeems the soul. Scripture speaks of two kinds of calling: the gospel or general call and the effectual or specific call. The gospel call is given by men and is a universal call to repent and trust Christ for salvation (e.g., Matt. 28:19; Acts 17:30-31). It goes out to all sinners but not all who hear it respond in faith.
The effectual call is given by God only to the elect. By it He speaks to the soul, grants saving faith, and ushers elect sinners into salvation (John 6:37-44, 65; Acts 2:39). All who receive it respond in faith.
Now we have a better understanding of these two calls to faith. It is important to know that being a believer should show. Those who hear the gospel call can respond to that with a realization of what a wretched sinner they are, repent and then pursue Christ. Not all do however. This is where the parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) comes in to help us understand why some fall away from faith when they are tested with adversity.

My testimony is one where I felt I had no choice but to accept and follow what I was drawn to. Why God waited almost 6 decades of my life to bring me to faith is a mystery to me, but not to Him. So how is it with you? Are you casual with your faith or or you drawn to it?

Most churches today are preaching not from the scripture but a message of only Love and Inclusiveness. They tell a story of Jesus accepting you just as you are. What they don’t say is, do not expect to remain “just as you are.” With coming to Christ, repentance is a key to understanding what the message of Christ is. When you repent, you see what sin is in your life and how it can no longer remain. God told us to be Holy because He is Holy.

(1 Peter 1:16) How can you be Holy and not change? As mentioned before, being a believer should show. Those that claim to be Christians, but show no signs of living like a Christian, now we are in the parable of the tares and wheat. Matthew 13:24-30

Since last week’s message was a lot of information to absorb, you can add what I have here to that and we’ll call it good. If you haven’t finished the 47 prophecies from last week, go ahead and get through that. Once done, take a moment to analyze where you stand with your Savior. I ask you to take a hard look at 1 Peter 1. Be Holy for He who has drawn you is Holy.