1. The interpretation of this miracle is simple: Five thousand men (plus women and children, meaning there could have been 15 or 20 thousand people all together) were fed with only five loaves of bread and two fishes (Matt. 14:21).
2. This morning I would like to emphasize the application.
3. The Lord has told us to give out the bread of life to a spiritually starving world.
4. Our Lord said in John 6:48 and 51, "I am that bread of life... I am the living bread which came down from heaven."
5. In fact, this miracle was the occasion for that great sermon in the Gospel of John on Christ as the bread of life.
6. It is right after our Lord fed the multitude that He said, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst" (John 6:35).
7. Therefore, this miracle is a great spiritual lesson. The hungry multitude is always present. And there is always a small group of believers with seemingly limited resources.
8. But most importantly, there is ever and always our compassionate Saviour, who says, "Bring them hither to me" (Matt. 14:18).
9. It is our privilege, and our responsibility to give out the bread of life, but sometimes we feel that the task is impossible.
10. But it is not impossible, for if it were impossible our Lord would not have told us to do it.
11. The great missionary to China, Hudson Taylor, said, “I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”

I. THE PROBLEM OF FEEDING THE MULTITUDES (14:15).

1. Before we consider the great need, and the great miracle, let us consider our Lord's great compassion (14:14).
2. We will never advance in our Christian life without compassion. We will never be successful in winning souls without compassion.
3. We will never develop a great interest in missions without compassion (cf. Matthew 9:35-38).
4. As we consider this miracle, note five things:

• The desert place (14:15)
• The late hour -- "the time is now past" (14:15)
• The hungry multitude (14:15)
• The disciples' lack of compassion -- "send the multitude away" (14:15)
• The foolish idea -- "that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals" (14:15)

5. First, consider "the desert place" (14:15). A desert is a wild, untilled wasteland. This wicked, sin-loving world is a wild, untilled wasteland. New York City is a spiritual wasteland. And thought it is filled with millions of people, there are many people here who are as lonely as a man out in a the middle of a desert.
6. Secondly, consider the late hour -- "the time is now past" (14:15). The time is now past for many sinners. They went to bed last night, but woke up in hell this morning.
7. Every minute, 267 babies are born, and every minute 108 people die. We started this service at 11 AM. Before we go home, nearly one thousand people will have died -- most of them lost.
8. Our Lord said, "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work" (John 9:4).
9. The hymnwriter put it into the words of that beautiful hymn:

Work, for the night is coming,
Work through the morning hours;
Work while the dew is sparkling,
Work ’mid springing flowers;
Work when the day grows brighter,
Work in the glowing sun;
Work, for the night is coming,
When man’s work is done.

I always get a lump in my throat when we sing that last line:

Work, for the night is coming,
Under the sunset skies;
While their bright tints are glowing,
Work, for daylight flies.
Work till the last beam fadeth,
Fadeth to shine no more;
Work, while the night is darkening,
When man’s work is o’er. -- Anna L. Coghill

10. The time is now past; the hour is late.
11. David said, "The king's business required haste" (I Samuel 21:8).
12. So we must consider the desert place, and the late hour, and also the hungry multitude (14:15). Those of us living here in this great metropolitan area do not need to reminded of the multitudes everywhere.
13. When our Lord fed these people in the desert place, there were about 300 million people in the world.
14. In 1250 AD, there were 400 million.
15. In 1500, 500 million.
16. According to UN estimates, the world population reached 1 billion in 1804, rose to 2 billion in 1927; to 3 billion in 1960; to 4 billion in 1974; to 5 billion in 1987; and now they say the world population in is over 7 billion people!
17. The need is great! Our Lord said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).
18. To every creature! Over seven billion people!
19. And He added, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:16).
20. There is the desert place, the late hour, the hungry multitude, and sadly, there is also the disciples' lack of compassion -- "send the multitude away" (14:15).
21. There are many Christians like that. I have had members tell me, "Why do you invite so many missionaries?"
22. Oh beloved, let us try and look at the multitudes the way the Lord Jesus looks at the multitudes (Matt. 14:14; 9:36-38).
23. And in addition to their lack of compassion, consider their foolish idea -- "that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals" (14:15). Let them go and fend for themselves!
24. Some people are very cold! Some people lack compassion!
25. We see this again in Matthew 15. The Syro-Phoenician woman came to Jesus, and she cried out to him, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil."
26. And the disciples said, "Send her away; for she crieth after us" (Matt. 15:22, 23).

II. WE ARE TOLD TO DO WHAT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE

1. I say, "seems impossible" but it isn't because our Lord said, "With God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27).
2. Our Lord said in Mark 9:23, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."
3. When our Lord was praying at Gethsemane, He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee" (Mark 14:36).
4. Our Lord said in Luke 18:27, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."
5. Our Lord said in Matthew 17:20, "Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."
6. In Luke 1:37, the angel Gabriel said to Mary, the mother of our Lord, "For with God nothing shall be impossible."
7. With these Scriptures in mind, let us look at our Lord's command in Matthew 14:16, "They need not depart; give ye them to eat."
8. "They need not depart; give ye them to eat." With five loaves and two fishes?? (Matt. 14:17)
9. Our Lord said, "Bring them hither to me" (14:18).
10. Someone said, "The secret...for the task of today is that service is not measured by our ability but by His power" (W.H. Griffith Thomas).
11. We often sing, "Little is much when God is in it."
12. From man's perspective, the task is overwhelming. Even the great apostle Paul said, "And who is sufficient for these things?" (II Cor. 2:16).
13. Who is able to perform such a difficult work, that requires such skill and industry?
14. Matthew Henry said, "The work is great and our strength is small; yea, of ourselves we have no strength at all; all our sufficiency is of God."

III. IF WE OBEY, GOD WILL PROVIDE

1. "Duty is not measured by human ability, but by divine enabling" (W. H. Griffith Thomas).
2. The Lord could have easily have rained down manna from heaven like He did for the Israelites during their journey to the promised land. But God worked through His disciples that day, and it is through believers that He is working today.
3. God shows Himself strong, and God increases our faith by using our meager resources (14:16-21). Our faith is tested by emergency.
4. God shows Himself strong, and God increases our faith by using our meager resources. In Judges 7:2, the LORD said to Gideon, "The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me" (cf. 7:1-7).
5. From 32,000 to 300! What a lesson!
6. We see this same principle in Joshua 6. The Israelites defeated Jericho by marching around the city seven times, with the priests blowing their trumpets.
7. This is not conventional warfare!
8. They do not teach this at West Point.
9. If the LORD used pitchers in lamps in Gideon's army, and seven priests blowing rams' horns outside the walls of Jericho, and the jawbone of an ass in Samson's hand, and five loaves of bread and two little fishes from a little boy -- He can use whatever you and I have.
10. This miracle is recorded in all four Gospels. In John 6:9, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to our Lord, "There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?"
11. Just "a lad with five barley loaves, and two small fishes," but look at the results! When we obey the Lord and follow His instructions, God provides. Here we see that everyone was fed, and there was more left over than what they started with (Matt. 14:19-21).
12. W.H. Griffith Thomas said, "The task of today is great; the means of today are ample; the secret of today is faithfulness. Christianity does not give inherent ability. But it does ask for maintained dependence --the secret of salvation first, and then of holiness and power. This is the great safeguard against all danger.

          I take, He undertakes
          I have faith, He is faithful
          I trust, He is trustworthy."

CONCLUSION:

1. This miracle is the only miracle recorded by Matthew and Mark and Luke and John. The Lord wants to impress it upon us.
2. Immediately after this miracle -- "And straightway" (Matt. 14:22) -- our Lord constrained His disciples to get into a boat and to go before him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.
3. A storm developed and the boat was tossed about on the troubled sea, and "in the fourth watch of the night (3 AM till daybreak), "Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea" (14:23-25).
4. The disciples were "troubled" (14:26), and Simon Peter, always adventurous, asked if he could walk on the water too (14:27-36).
5. It is a wonderful and well-known story, but Mark adds something very interesting. Mark 6:51 and 52 says, "And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened."
6. "For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened."