The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes

Will You Go or Will You Stay?

When Jesus finished teaching in John 6, many of His disciples walked away. It is one of the saddest scenes in the Gospels. They had witnessed miracles. They had eaten the loaves and the fishes. They had heard the greatest Teacher who ever lived. But when His words became difficult, they decided they had heard enough. Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked a haunting question: "Do you want to go away as well?" Peter perhaps answered for all of us when he said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (John 6:68) Notice that Peter doesn't say, "Lord, I understand everything You said." He was probably just as confused as everybody else. He simply knew there is no place else to go. Every believer reaches moments when God's Word confronts us instead of comforting us. There are teachings we wrestle with, prayers that seem to go unanswered, seasons that test our faith, and voices all around us inviting us to walk away. In those moments, the question is not whether we understand everything. The question is whether we believe Jesus is still the only One who has life. The world offers endless substitutes. Success. Comfort. Self-help. Entertainment. Even religion can become just another way we try to improve ourselves. But only Christ raises the spiritually dead. He is not a crutch for people trying to walk a little better. He is the Savior who gives life to those who could never save themselves. Stay with Jesus. Even when His words are hard. Even when the road is narrow. Even when others turn back. Because there is nowhere else we can find life. Koinonia Fellowship Sundays at 8:30a and 10:30a 500 Main St. East Rochester, NY 14445 koinoniafellowship.com [http://koinoniafellowship.com]

Rise Up O Men of God

One of the remarkable attributes of God is His design and order as it relates to creation, the home, and the church. Within those God-ordained designs and order in creation, there are spiritual laws, like the law of gravity, that cannot be defied without suffering consequences. Paul writes in Ephesians 5:23 "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church." This is as true today as it was when the ink of divine inspiration hit the parchments of Scripture. The Bible teaches that the principle of submission to headship is best understood and illustrated within the Trinity as something that is to be believed and embraced. 1 Cor 11.3 "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman (in marriage) is the man; and the head of Christ is God." Even though Jesus Christ is God (John 1:1;14), Paul tells us that the head of Christ is God. Philippians 2 says that even though Jesus Christ was equal with God, He made Himself of no reputation, humbled himself and became submissive to the Father according to the design of God as Son of Man. Thus, when God’s Word says, “Wives, submit to your husbands and husbands lay down your lives for your wives, contrary to popular opinion, that’s not degrading wives nor is it exalting husbands. Nor is that hateful. Those are the words of Our gracious, loving, all wise, all knowing Heavenly Father in heaven talking to His children Who only wants the very best for us. God has an ordained order to be followed within the Godhead just as He has established God-ordained order, for the home and the church for functional purposes. When I first came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, I remember singing this chorus in church, “Rise up O men of God, Have done with lesser things, Give heart and soul and mind and strength, To serve the King of Kings To serve the King of Kings.” I believe with all of my heart and soul that those lyrics are the cry of our Heavenly Father to every father, grandfather and husband. A God fearing, Bible believing husband and father is one of the most unsung, upraised, unnoticed, and unappreciated individuals in today’s fallen, upside down society. I cannot think of a more critical time in the history of the church or the history of our nation than right now for husbands and fathers in the Body of Christ to rise up and take the lead in their homes and their biblical, God ordained places in the church than right now. Unless you live in a cave, I do not need to tell you that the church is living in a society that is at war with the very biblical foundations regarding manhood and fatherhood. Sadly that very same spirit has crept its way into the church as well, and the apostle John calls it the spirit of anti-Christ. The doctrine of male headship in the home has stood without question for over 2,000 years. But in the past 75 years or so and up to the present hour, a strange wind called the feminist movement challenged all and any male domination. That spirit has not only swept through our nation's educational systems, but has crept its way into the church under the banner of progressive or liberation theology. Beloved, God’s design for order in the home and church has not changed. When His Word is submitted to and embraced, there are blessings and fruit that bring the glory of God and satisfaction to the home and church. The challenge of God to all husbands and fathers today is to take your role seriously. Ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit and the power, grace, strength and courage to this high, holy and honorable calling of design and order for the glory of God. SELAH Koinonia Fellowship Sundays at 8:30a and 10:30a 500 Main St. East Rochester, NY 14445 koinoniafellowship.com [http://koinoniafellowship.com]

Eating Is Believing

This section of John’s gospel is one that has been another source of discussion and even debate amongst Christians, and it all revolves around the verses, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed (John 6:53-55). Based on these verses that we are studying this morning, the critics of the early church said that Christians were actually condoning a form of cannibalism. Based on these very same verses, other interpreted them to mean that Jesus was using these verses to teach transubstantiation and the sacrament of communion. Keep in mind that according to passages like Lev 7:26–27, the Jews were forbidden to drink blood, and in the upper room teaching on what we call The Lord’s Supper on Passover, the apostles would have understood that Jesus was referring to the bread and the cup symbolically, not literally. He was revealing to them that He is The Lamb of God Who would replace the Old Testament types and shadows. Since Jesus is revealing in this chapter that He Himself is the Bread of Life, what does He really mean by “eating His flesh” and “drinking His blood?” Eating the living Bread is a figure of speech meaning to believe on Him, like the figures of speech: coming to Him (v. 35), listening to Him, (v. 45), and seeing Him (v. 40). What Jesus is clearly teaching here is that He going to give Himself on the cross as The Lamb of God for the sins of the world. Jesus is speaking prophetically to His impending sacrifice upon the cross. 2 Cor 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 1 Pet 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. The gospel message is that the atonement of sin and salvation for sinners is by grace alone, through faith in the the sacrificial death of the Lamb of God (John 1:29). While I would not be wrong to say that what Jesus is saying here could be seen as foreshadowing the Lord’s Supper, but when you look at the totality of Scripture and the context of His words here, Jesus is clearly and simply teaching that He is The True Bread from heaven and that the eating and drinking of His flesh and blood is a metaphor for believing on Him submitting of our lives to Him as Lord. Does that describe you, my dear readers? SELAH Koinonia Fellowship Sundays at 8:30a and 10:30a 500 Main St. East Rochester, NY 14445 koinoniafellowship.com [http://koinoniafellowship.com]

Elated by Election

This passage is filled with Scripture that has been a source of theological debate for centuries, and it all centers around two biblical truths: the sovereignty of God and human responsibility when dealing with soteriology (the doctrine of man’s salvation). John 6:37 reads: "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." There are some people who put all their eggs in the basket of election, and that is based upon the first part of the verse, which is absolutely true. There are others who put all their eggs in the basket of human responsibility, and that is based upon the second part of this verse and is also absolutely true. Divine election and human responsibility are both in this verse. It was once said that to try to comprehend the infinite mind of God with the finite human mind is like trying to pour all of the water in the ocean into a thimble. Charles Spurgeon once said this: “If the Lord had put a yellow stripe down the backs of the elect, I’d go up and down the street lifting up shirttails, finding out who had the yellow stripe, and then I’d give them the gospel. But God didn’t do it that way. He told me to preach the gospel to every creature, that ‘whosoever will may come.’ The bottom line, beloved, is this. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable, and the totality of Scripture clearly reveals the undeniable sovereignty of God and the undeniable fact of human responsibility. The glorious truth that is tucked away in our study today is the doctrine of the eternal security of those who place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of their souls. The souls that truly repent and trust in the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ will all be raised from the dead on the last day! (John 6:39,40;44;55). Jesus Christ, The Good Shepherd declares that not one soul who believes in Him will be lost. Preaching this message outdoors to a mixed multitude of people with mixed hearts regarding Him, Jesus identifies Himself as The Bread of Life and He that believeth on me hath everlasting life (John 6:47,48). The question that every person who is reading this devotional has to ask themselves is this. Who do I believe that Jesus Christ is? If you can answer that by grace alone through faith alone, I have chosen to follow Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, then both you and I can be elated by the fact that foundation of the world, God has chosen us in Christ. SELAH Koinonia Fellowship Sundays at 8:30a and 10:30a 500 Main St. East Rochester, NY 14445 koinoniafellowship.com [http://koinoniafellowship.com]

The Motives of the Multitudes

The writer to the Hebrews said this. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Heb 4:12-13 Motives matter to God, beloved. Nothing can be hidden from Him. The Lord God knows the true thoughts and secret motives of our hearts. This truth of Scripture is revealed in the motives of the multitudes who saw firsthand the miracles that Jesus did (John 6:2) as well as the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Jesus knew that the people were fixated on the product of the miracle, not The Person Who performed the miracle. The multitudes were fixated on the bread that satisfied their earthly need instead of The Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus told the multitude back then and the multitude who may be reading this devotional, Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed (John 6:27). Does that mean that Jesus does not care about our daily physical needs? Of course not. Read Matthew 6. Jesus simply does not want us to be neither anxious about them nor covetous for them. Jesus wants our hearts. He does not want anything or anyone to take His place in our heart. The multitudes were craving the miracles from Jesus instead of a relationship and intimacy with Jesus. Can the church fall into the same sin as the multitude? Is it possible that the church or individual Christians can be doing the right things with the wrong motives? In Revelation 2:2&3, we read that the church of Ephesus did many wonderful things, but The Lord Jesus said that they did them with the wrong motives. Listen to Jesus what Jesus Himself said to this church. Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left (not lost) thy first love. Paul had once commended the church at Ephesus for its love for God and others (Ephesians 1:15), but here they are many years later and according to Jesus they were heartlessly going through the motions. They were a very busy church, but they were “serving God” with wrong motives. Beloved, whatever we do “in The Name of The Lord” must be motivated by love for God and for His glory or it is nothing more than wood, hay, and stubble at the Judgement Seat of Christ (1 Cor 13:1-4). Jer 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. My dear church family or my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, motives matter. Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him (Col 3:17). And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ (Col 3:23,24). May God give unto us as a church family the grace that we need to do whatever we do with thankful hearts of worship and praise to our Glorious King. Selah Koinonia Fellowship Sundays at 8:30a and 10:30a 500 Main St. East Rochester, NY 14445 koinoniafellowship.com [http://koinoniafellowship.com]