JEWELS From The GOSPEL Of JOHN: FROM FEW to FULFILLED - Part I of II - JOHN 6:5-9

The following is a series of short exhortations, brief commentary and writings to convey thoughtful meditation on God's Word. 

I have chosen the Gospel of John as the subject.  I pray that these will be a blessing and an edification for the saints.

JOHN 6:5-9
5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, 9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
The demands in ministry requires that we meet the needs of the people; but ministers, aka servants aka slaves are a needy people themselves. We are called upon and asked, "Where shall we buy bread that these ('a great company', so large in number that a whole month's wages wouldn't be enough to give them all a mouthful!) may eat?" Whether that need is food, clothing, shelter, or the more prominent needs: grace, peace, prayer; or the utmost prominent need - Jesus Christ Himself, we are insufficient of ourselves to meet such needs.

It's vital to recognize that we who serve the body of Christ are not super-saints; we don't have the resources in and of ourselves that are required to meet the needs (and I'm speaking of needs here, not wants) of the people.
The very best we could drum up are a few proverbial loaves of bread and a couple fish - wholly inadequate in the face of multitudes of people. 

We surrender our meagerness and inadequacies to the LORD, and seek Him to fill us to overflowing with His Spirit of grace, so that it's Him Who meets the needs of His people and not us; we are merely conduits, channels, vessels that He uses to deliver Himself to His people. That multitude that the disciples were confronted with , this "great company" that day were individuals that were each created by GOD, with distinct personalities and characteristics that are intimately known by GOD - He is their Creator, they belong to Him.

As Redeemer, the LORD has the joy of double-ownership of the saints: we are His because He created us, and we are all the more His because He redeemed us (1 PET 1:18-19; REV 5:9). The saints represent the body of Christ (ROM 12:5), and in a very real way, what we as ministers (whether you're talking the pastor of a church, Sunday School teacher, a father with his household full of children, etc.) are doing is, ministering to Christ, because it's His body.

Remember what the risen Christ said to Saul of Tarsus, the fierce persecutor of the church, on the Damascus road?

ACTS 9:3-65
3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

It is a sobering thought to me, that the Risen Christ Who rose from the dead after His agonizing Passion on the cross, after His ascension, and then being seated at the right hand of the Father is still suffering as His bride on the Earth is being persecuted, martyred as never before in all her history!

We experience joy and contentment when we see the body rejoicing in the LORD's provisions of His Spirit (LUKE 4:18-19), of His grace and truth (JOHN 1:14), of His joy (JOHN 16:22) and peace (JOHN 14:27). We find satisfaction and fulfillment in seeing Christ's body served.

What we need to always remember is having begun in the Spirit, and seeing success in the ministry, that we not become confident in ourselves (our "flesh"; GAL 3:3) as though we've obtained that success and fruitfulness by ourselves. We must remain humble, dependent on the Spirit of GOD, just as our LORD Jesus ably demonstrated throughout His days of ministry (refer back to LUKE 4:18-19). 

I love the prayer prayed constantly by a very wise pastor, "LORD, always keep me humble." For if we remain in this place of humility, under the authority of GOD, we are in a position for greatness:

MATTHEW 23:12
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

We will be assured then that we will have the power, by GOD's enabling grace to resist all of the forces of the enemy:

JAMES 4:6-7
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

We'll be in a position to see the LORD Jesus exalted in all of His glory as we remember our own weakness and utterly necessary dependence on Him:

2 CORINTHIANS 12:9-11 
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 11 I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.

So if your resources are small, if your ministry staff is small, if your church is small - don;t consider these things any more than the LORD didn't consider the meagerness of that lunch of a few fish and some bread. The LORD used those tiny morsels and fed those people to complete satisfaction, pushing away from the table full - and yet still with enough to take up 12 baskets full of barley bread - one basket for each disciple!

In serving the LORD, you can never out give GOD! What ever means of service you provide for Him, you will be tremendously blessed, both now in material necessities (MATT 6:33) as well as eternal rewards (MARK 10:28-30)! 

Never overestimate your inadequacies as obstacles for the LORD to use you for His Kingdom purposes. It's only as we see ourselves as we truly are, from a humble perspective, that this can open the door for the LORD to do tremendous things in us and through us.

We few, with few capabilities will know fulfillment as well as seeing others so fulfilled, all to the glory of GOD!

2 PETER 3:18

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

JUDE 1:25
To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

Next time, FROM FEW to FULFILLED - Part II of II - JOHN 6:10-13