More Than Enough

Hello everyone and thank you so much for joining me today. My name is Roderick caesar the third on the lead pastor of Bethel Gospel Tabernacle in Jamaica queens new york. And I’m so excited that you decided to join me for the full Gospel hour. Right here on Global seven. My prayers that you will be blessed, you would be encouraged and inspired by this message. Thank you so much for joining and God bless. I’ve been reading from john chapter six verses one through 15, john chapter six verses 1 to 15 in the title of this message today is more than enough, more than enough. After this, Jesus went away to the other side to the sea of galilee, which is the sea of Tiberius and a large crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick, jesus went up on the mountain and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the jews was at hand lifting up his eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? He said this to test him for he knew himself what he would do Philip answered him 200 Denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little one of the disciples Andrew Simon Peter’s brother said to him, there was a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for? So many, jesus said, Have the people sit down Now, there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down about 5000 in number, jesus then took the lead the loaves and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated and also the fish as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill he told the disciples gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost. So they gathered them up and filled the 12 baskets with fragments from the five Barley loaves left by those who had eaten. And when the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, this is indeed the prophet who has come into the world, perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force to make him King Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. Dear Lord, I thank you so much for this time. I thank you for this word. I thank you that you are more than enough. I pray Lord that as this word goes forth, that you would be glorified and everything that’s said and everything that’s done have your way in our lives, Lord be glorified in our lives. We thank you. We praise you. We give you praise honor and glory. We ask these things in jesus name and everyone said, Amen, Amen and amen. This is a very known, very well known portion of scripture. This is the only miracle other than the resurrection of jesus christ to be recorded in all four of the gospels. So you have Matthew the Gospel of Matthew the Gospel of Mark, the gospel of luke, the gospel of john uh Matthew Mark luke, Mark, Matthew, Mark and luke say similar things, They have similar instances, similar stories, john is kind of the rogue gospel doesn’t really follow the same patterns as Matthew, mark and luke. Uh and so what we realize here is that this uh miracle that takes place other than the resurrection of jesus is the only one that is in all four of the gospels. So it’s somewhat of a big deal. If all the writers decided to keep this particular miracle in their gospel to fully understand the weight of it, we have to really take into context what takes place during this whole chapter. And so for us it’s important to realize that God is more than enough, more than enough and the objective today is to remind or inform some of us that that god is a majestic God, that God is as we had sung, a great god, that God is a holy god, a matchless god as sufficient god and he’s a god, that is more than enough in our lives, do you ever go maybe to a restaurant or if you’re going out to eat or something and if you’ve been to the restaurant before or if you go to a restaurant with a particular craving in mind and then you ask the waiter okay, hey, do you have X, y and z. Do you have this? I said I’m sorry, we’re all out of that today. You say you’re serious. I had this on my mind when I started my car. I have this on my mind when I went to, you know, to go to, to arrive here and you’re all out Yeah, yeah, Alright. We’re all out today. You know, there’s none of this, There’s none of that. And you have to go with the second option or go with the third option uh for us, what we need to to realize is that God, when we come to him, he never runs out. He never says, oh I’m all out of that. I’m all out of grace. I’m all out of mercy. I’m all out of love. No, no, no. He is filled with these things for us and God his well never runs dry. Yes as well. Never runs dry. And if God wants to use us, we’ll see this in the text as well. We need to get ready to be used. Why? Because God is the God, that’s more than enough. So after this the text says, jesus went away to the other side, the sea of galilee, which is by the sea of Tiberias and a large crowd was following him. Why were they following him? Because they saw the signs, mm hmm. Excuse me. They saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. They followed him because of the signs. The miracles. The signs and the wonders Jesus showed up and he said the Kingdom of God is at hand, Jesus showed up and he said repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. But that’s not the only thing he did, Jesus was the God of the demonstration. He showed that the Kingdom of God was at hand through miracles. He showed that the Kingdom of God was at hand through signs. He showed that the Kingdom of God was at hand through wonders through healing the blind eyes through making the lame to walk through, making the death to hear through the miracles, signs and wonders. And this caused people to follow him. They followed him as a result of these miracles. They followed him as a result of the miraculous taking place when he showed up, there should be for us as believers. Miracle signs, wonders, healings, breakthroughs associated with us. Jesus taught us to pray what on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus says that we would do greater works than he did. It’s one thing that we see in the Book of Acts. It’s that the same power that raised Jesus christ from the dead is at work in the early church and that the Holy Spirit, that same holy spirit, that fresh wind, that fresh fire that was at work in the early church is alive and well in this church and the church today at work in our lives, there’s the him uh greatest thy faithfulness, thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide right. The presence of God in our lives, the Spirit of God leading us the Spirit of God giving us insight, the Spirit of God giving us wisdom. If we would only have an ear attuned to the voice of God, you could only be willing to pray for the sick if we would only be willing to walk out in miracles, they follow jesus because they saw the signs, they’re called signs because the signs point to the Kingdom of God. Signs tell you something, signs show you may be what’s up ahead or they tell you what to do right now, you get to a stop sign, what do you do, You stop? You know? And so there are different signs that we see specifically here in scripture. These signs point to something to the Kingdom of God. They point to a new direction, a new possibility. What signs are we showing people through our lives? What signs are we showing people through our lives? Are the signs that we’re showing pointing people to christ or away from him? Why are we sending mixed signs? We’re one person here and we’re another person there, Or one person in person and another person online. Alright, We’re one person in real life and one person in the metaverse. Alright, there’s so many different uh signs that we can show, but if we see one thing through jesus’s life, it’s that consistency is key being consistent in what you show consistent in the signs and so he sees these people following him and he goes up on a mountain and there he sits down with his disciples. Now it was the passover, the feast of the jews was at hand and lifting up his eyes, he sees a large crowd coming towards him now what he could have done was said, go away, I’m busy, we could have done, but said look I’m introverted, I need my time alone, you know, just with my my core team, my disciples, you guys go away, that’s what he could have done and he would have been well within his rights to do so, but the text says that he had compassion on them, lifted up his eyes, he saw them and he had compassion on them, he said where are we going to buy bread so that these people can eat, he wanted to feed them because they were hungry. Now the disciples come to him and they say look this is a desolate place, the day is now over the time is far spent, send these crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves, Jesus says they don’t need to go away, you give them something to eat, my prayer is that we don’t get too caught up in the logic of things or in how we feel that we miss the moment of the move of God, the disciples almost missed it. They said look jesus thomas far spent, we’ve been here for a while, send send the crowd away not knowing that Jesus wanted to work a miracle through them and many of us because of how we feel or because of what what the situation looks like, we may miss out on the miracle that God wants to perform, we may miss out on the goodness that God wants to display through us as a result of us, you know wanting to make sense of things, so Jesus says you give them something to eat and they say we only have five loaves here and two fish and they almost got so caught up and how they felt that they missed the move of God, same way with the little Children when the Children were trying to come to jesus, what do the disciples do, they push them away, they were gonna send these kids away? No, no, Jesus is too busy logically, this is the, this is the messiah here, he’s got no time to deal with these Children and she says no, stop, let the Children come to me for for those that lead in the kingdom of God or such as these and so for us let’s not, I would think the blessing of God, let’s not think ourselves out of the miracle that God wants to do in our lives. Don’t get caught so caught up in how you feel that you miss the moment. Sometimes we can be the barrier to our own blessing. Let’s not get in our own way. Saints of God, God wants to work in our lives. God wants to work through our lives but he wants to do it through our obedience, through our obedience. And when he saw this great crowd he saw them had compassion on them. Why? Because they were like sheep without a shepherd, he began to teach them many things, he was teaching them, he was teaching them. It was a wonderful time. He fed them spiritually and the disciple says look send them away, it’s time to go. And jesus says no, no you give them something to eat. They almost missed the moment. That’s why it’s so important to have the mind of christ let this mind be in us. That was also in christ, jesus, it’s so important to have the mind of christ to see things how God sees things, Jesus says I don’t do anything unless I see the father doing it and in the same way for us we need the spirit to lead us and our actions and our doings. Lord, I want to see with your eyes, give me your site, give me your ears. Lord, let me be changed from the inside out and help to improve the life of someone around me. Lord help me to surrender not my will. Oh Lord, but yours, Lord, help us not to miss out on divine opportunities. How many divine opportunities do we miss? Because we’re so focused on our agenda to focus on what we want to do. When God wants to work something incredible through us. When the crowds heard learned of it, they followed him, he welcomed them. He spoke to them about the kingdom of God. He cured those who had need of healing. So he did all of these things. And and the beautiful thing about jesus is he had compassion on them and met their need. When he could have turned them away, he looked at them and had compassion on them as humans. We’re we’re bound by so many things. Jesus was with them for a while before he got them food, he was meeting their spiritual needs pouring out, teaching them, demonstrating healing the sick, all of these different things he was taking place and his humans were bound by so many things were bound by a time. We’re bound by our inability to see the future. And what I love about jesus is that when he emptied himself and became man, he became bound with us, he was connected to the same source that we can connect to and became unbound every time he did, he was, he too was limited by time. He too knew what it was like to get fatigued. He knew he too knew what it was like to be tired and even in the midst of that he had compassion, even in the midst of that he said look I can feed these people spiritually, but now it’s time to switch gears and feed them physically as well. So jesus turns to the disciples and says where are we going to buy bread so these people can eat, I’m sorry, what, what do you mean, where are we going to buy bread so these people can eat. That’s what I love about God in scripture is he often asked questions that he already knows the answers to, He knows the answer to every question. And so jesus asked this question to the disciples, he was asking this question not for his clarity but for theirs, he’s not really saying, okay, where are we gonna buy, is that this this store around the corner is that that’s where we’re going to buy bread, he’s testing the disciples, he’s growing the disciples, our god is a god of the process, I want us to know this, I want us to grasp this, that God is not beneath the process. He is the god of the process, he’s with us in the process while giving oversight to the process. He wants the disciples to arrive at the conclusion that he already knows this is an impossible task that cannot be done without him, this is an impossible task that cannot be done without him and instead of just telling them the answer at the beginning, right out the gate, he allows them to think through the process to calculate to realize what he knew before he even asked the question. Many of us in our lives are our wheels are are spinning. We’re trying to uh get the answer. We’re trying to uh you know, find the answer to the equation. We’re trying to make sense of some things and Lord is just waiting for that process, waiting for you to get to that point where you realize, look, I’ve tried so hard, I’ve got so far, but in the end it didn’t matter. Lord, I need you, I need you in my life and I can’t do this without you, I can’t do this in my own strength. Believe me, I’ve tried, I need you. And God does not mind the wait, you see, he’s outside of time, but he also knows what it’s like to be subjected to time. Because the salvation process could have been fixed just like that. The salvation process could have happened just like that. But instead at the right moment in time, paul says christ died for the ungodly, it could have happened right after the fruit was bitten, jesus. The Lord could have snapped his fingers, boom, Everything made right. But no, no, there’s a process here. At this specific moment in time, christ came into the world, not as a grown man, but as a baby. And then 33 years had to take place. That that’s a process. So you can’t tell me, God is, oh God, God doesn’t care about my process, God isn’t in the middle, I don’t know, he’s in it with you because he knows what it’s like to go through a process, he knows what it’s like to have to grow, he knows what it’s like to have to learn, he knows what it’s like to deal with the ebb and the flow that comes with the years of development, God is with us in the process, he does not mind the wait and so as the disciples were processing, trying to figure this out, he waited with them. The verse says, he says this to text to test, not text me, they did not have texting back then, he said this to test him for, he knew himself what he would do. So jesus already knew what the outcome would be. He already knew what would happen, but he asked them to take them on a journey to arrive at a conclusion that he could have told him right out the gate, but God is all about the process. The same applies in our lives as well. Many of us say, oh God, I thought I’d be here by now, God, I thought this would have been done already, God, I thought I would have been over this by now. God, I thought I would, I would understand, you know, you you say we’ll understand it by and by. Well, it’s been by and by and by and I don’t get it. But God is all about the process. He’s with us in these moments. And so he says this to test them for he knew what he would do and Phillip is doing the math and he says, look, 200 dinar rides and drives a day’s wages back then. So 200 days wages worth of bread would not be enough to get all of them a little bit in our strength. We can only do but so much, he says, look, even if we do as much as we can, will fall significantly short. And the beauty in that Is that Jesus the Lord says in 2nd Corinthians 12, when God is speaking to Paul about his weakness, he says, look, my grace is sufficient for you, my power, my strength is made perfect in weakness. And then paul says, therefore I will boast all the more and be glad of my weakness, or the power of christ may rest upon me for the sake of christ I am them. I am content with my weakness with insults, with hardships, with persecution, with calamities. For when I am weak then I am strong when we realize that we don’t have it all together, we realized that we’re not as polished and picture perfect as we once thought When we realized that there is some kryptonite. So what we think is our us being superman, right? That’s when we’re strong because then we can turn and rely and lean on jesus christ and so there’s a ray of hope in this story. It seems that all is lost. They say, Oh if we were to spend 200 days wages, we still wouldn’t have enough. But there’s a ray of, of hope in this story, there’s a ram in the bush, so to speak. There’s something that jesus can work with don’t overlook. There’s something in your life that the Lord can work with one of his disciples. Andrew Simon peter, Simon Peter’s brother says to him, there’s a boy here Who has five Barley loaves and two fish. And then that logic kicks in, but what are these for so many? That’s five loaves, he has two fish. But yes, that’s enough, that’s a meal for one person. What are these for? So many? And then jesus kicks into high gear and says, okay, now watch me work, watch me work. He says, have the people sit down And there was many grass in the place. So the men sat down about 5000 in number. I want to stop right there for a moment because we often say, Oh Jesus fed the 5,055,055,000. So the men sat down 5000 in number. That means there’s women there, there was obviously a child there with some food. So there’s Children there, It’s over 5000 people and jesus said okay, crack his knuckles rolled up his sleeves, let’s get to work. They all sat down on this grass, 5000 in number, Jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks he prayed, he prayed to the father publicly in front of everyone, he gave thanks, he distributed them, distributed them to those that were seated and also the fish as much as they wanted, yeah, as much as they wanted, so they ate until they were full, they ate until okay God we’re done. We had a great meal All started with five loaves and and three fish and it’s incredible because many of us are waiting to be somewhere to have something to be at a specific place before God can use us. Yeah, we’re waiting and say okay God you can use me but I gotta get here first, I gotta get this done first, I got to get that done first, I got to, you know, be here, I gotta be at this point in life, I have to have this situated, I have to be able to feel comfortable with where I’m at, I gotta grow in this area or that area before I can be used and we’re looking for our gifts to be perfected before God uses us but he just had some loaves and some fish, he just had a boy that was willing to give up his lunch and put it in the master’s hands and many of us were trying to get the work done all by ourselves. And God is saying if you would just put your life in my hands, put that situation in my hands many little becomes much when you place it in the master’s hands. So God is saying, look, all I need is a willing heart. All I need is some obedience. All I need is something to work with. All I need is a will that is surrendered. All I need is a contrite heart. All I need is a broken spirit. All I need are some hands that are willing to be put to the plow and get to work. And so he uses the disciples to distribute. I love this because jesus does the miracle, of course he does the impossible, but he says now you guys distribute, you guys give it out, so the bread and the fish, it comes from the hands of the disciples to those that are sitting, we want God to work miracles and he wants to as well. The only problem is oftentimes the vessels he uses to work those miracles are us and the miracles that that are are coming to pass are often contingent on our ability to obey. Oh God, I don’t feel like we’re gonna be handing out these fish and loaves of these people. You don’t need a handout fish and loaves people, do you know what I’m called to? I’ve been following you for three years now. You want me to hand out fish and loaves fish. I can’t I can’t touch fish. No, no, no, what I mean? You know what I mean? And and we we we we struggle with that obedience. We wrestle with that. God says, do this and this will happen, do this. And I want to work through you. I want to work through this situation. It’s a beautiful thing that God can dwell in our midst and and we not be and we’re not consumed. It’s a beautiful thing that God wants to work through us to bring his kingdom Ephesians. Chapter three verse 20 says now to him who was able to do far more abundantly then all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us. God is more than able Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we can ask or think. So. God is not just able, but he’s able to do more. He’s more than able and able to do more than we’re requesting more than we’re asking for more than we’re thinking of. He’s able to do that because he’s God. He’s able to do that because he’s great. He’s able to do that because he is sufficient. He’s able to do that. He’s able to do more. Say it to yourself, Say God can do more in my life. I need you to say it like you mean it and say God can do more in my life. Take the limits off of God in your life. Many of us, many of us are having difficulty because we’ve placed God into a box and we say, okay God, you can go this far, but only no further and it only, it only produces, but so much God is more than able. He has more than enough. But the question is, are we willing? Are we willing? So they took up these, these baskets, a fish and of lobes and he had more than enough because when they had eaten their fill, he told the disciples now gather up the leftovers so that nothing may be lost. So they’re filled their full and there’s food left over. They gathered them up and filled the 12 baskets with fragments from the lobes and left by those who had eaten, they eat their fill. No one had a grumbling stomach after this. It was a complete work because everything the Lord does, he does well, the question isn’t whether or not he can do it. The question is whether or not we have the faith to believe he can that we have the faith to obey what he says in spite of our present circumstances. No, I don’t want to sound, you know, uh, prosperity, gospel or anything like that. But what I noticed here in this specific text is that God provided for both their spiritual needs and their physical needs. So that means there is an appropriate time where the Lord will do just that he sees your spiritual need, he sees you’re lacking. He sees you need uh more faith in him. He sees you’re lacking in hope. He sees you’re lacking in faith. And he brings a word of encouragement just in the season when you were going to throw in the towel, he he brings a prophetic word over your life about something you’ve been praying about for years. Just you and God. He gives, he he meets you where you are spiritually, sometimes he does the same physically. He gives a healing touch in your body when you’re sick, he blesses you financially and you, you, you backs up against the wall, you don’t know how you’re gonna make it. And someone writes you a check or some situation happens where you’re the tides turn and things begin to look better than they did the year before. And so we see in this text, an example of the fact that Jesus saw them had compassion met their spiritual needs, but then also their physical needs as well. That this is an instance where that happens, Jesus spoke about the kingdom. He did miracles. He did signs, he did wonders, he healed them for their infirmities, healed them of their diseases and then goes forth and feeds them a complete work. He sees your need, whatever it is, whether it be physical, whether it be spiritual, whether it be both and he’s able to provide according to his riches and glory. And so when people saw the sign that was done, when people saw the miracle that was brought forth, they said this indeed is the profit that has come into the world, perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him King, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. When they saw this miracle, they got excited. When they realized, hey, we’re leaving here with full stomach. We’re leaving here with spiritual sustenance as well. They got excited. They said, wait a minute. This is the messiah that was promised, This is the king that has come for such a time as this to set us free to liberate us from the oppression of the roman empire. They had their own idea of what Jesus should be of, who Jesus should be. They had their own idea. And so we realized, they said, okay, uh, this is the messiah. We’re gonna make him king. This is the king that we’ve been waiting on. This is the profit that has come into the world to liberate us from Rome. We are going to make him king. And Jesus has the discernment, the perception to realize what was gonna happen. They were gonna take him by force to make him king and he withdrew again to the mountain by himself because he knew who he was, he did not bow to what they wanted, jesus and the Lord does what he does for his glory, not for our ideas, for his glory, not for what we ultimately want. Because they thought making him king would be the best thing. But that would only save them from Rome. That would not save them from sin. That would not, that would ultimately not be the goal. That would not be the reason that jesus truly came. So he does what he does for his glory. So that his name can be made known. His name can be made famous. So this glory can be revealed in our lives and we can say, thank you Lord. If not, but for the goodness of God, where would I be? Thank you Lord for this miracle. Thank you Lord for providing. Thank you Lord for sustaining. Thank you Lord for keeping. Thank you Lord for being more than enough in my life. Thank you Lord, for the overflow in my life. So then he withdrew to the mountain by himself. Because they were going to try and make him king. And he said, I already have a kingdom, he said, I’m already king. You just can’t see it yet. You can’t see it yet. And I’m not going to let what you want from my life derail the initial purpose of why I’m here and why I’m doing what I’m doing. That’s why we need to be so focused Saints of God to what God has called us to. As the team comes up, I want us to realize that in our lives, God is more than enough, more than enough psalms. One oh three says the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth. So great as a steadfast love towards those who fear. Yeah, for as far from the east is from the west, as far as he removed his transgress. Our transgressions from us as a father chose shows compassion to his Children. So the Lord shows compassion on those who fear him. The Lord looked on the lives and on the state of the people that was around him and he had compassion on them. He did miracles, He did signs, He did wonders. He taught them and he fed them because he had compassion on them. Look upon us O Lord and have compassion, have compassion in our lives and our hearts. And because of that compassionate produced an effect. That was more than enough. We serve the God. That is more than enough romans paul writes about us being conquerors through God who loved us. He says, look at all of these things. We are more than conquerors. Neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present, nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will separate us from the love of christ, jesus. Our Lord. Why? Because he’s more than enough. The love that he displays and shows for us is not going to just leave because we go through difficult times. It’s not just gonna leave because we’re in mourning. It’s not just gonna leave because we’re in grief because we’re angry because we’ve hardened our hearts Philippians. Chapter four says, my God will provide every need of yours according to his riches and glory in christ jesus. Many of us are like the 5000 5000 plus, I’ll say, we’re hungry, retired. We’re in need. Spiritual need, physical need. Once again, I say, Lord have compassion or look upon us and do what only you can do be more than enough in our lives. And let us believe that you can be more than enough. Let us be obedient and willing. Maybe we are the vessel that you want to use in someone else’s life. Let us be willing to walk out in obedience. Let us be willing to be demonstrators of the Kingdom of God at work in the lives of others. There’s a world out there. Sense of God. I was hungry, hungry for more and it may seem like an impossible task. But we serve a God who specializes in the impossible. We serve a God who has more than enough, more than enough power, More than enough authority. More than enough grace, more than enough strength, More than enough wisdom. More than enough. Love God, That is more than enough for our lives and for this world. Let’s bow our heads and pray, Dear Lord, we thank you so much for this time. We thank you for your people. We thank you for your goodness, your grace and your mercy. I pray Lord that as this word has gone forth, Father, that it would have fallen on good soil and for those that know you Lord, but are still hungry for those that know you, but are having difficulty stepping out in obedience. Lord, I pray that they would be able to trust you, father to trust that you are more than enough that they would be able to come to you with open palms, open hands and surrender. Thank you Lord. For those that don’t know you, I pray that they would come to know you. If you’re here and you do not know jesus christ as your Lord and savior. You don’t have a relationship with him. I’m gonna ask that you raise your hand and if you’re watching, I’ll ask that you text saved to the number at the bottom of the screen. If that’s you text, save the number at the bottom of the screen. And if you’re here, you don’t know, jesus. I’ll ask that you raise your hand. Dear Lord, I thank you so much for your people. Thank you for those that know you and those that don’t. I pray Lord that as we come to this point in the service that you would be glorified and that you would have gotten your point across through the word today. I thank you God that you are sufficient, that you are all knowing and that you are more than enough for our lives, be with us and strengthen us from this day forward, we thank you, we praise you. We give you glory. We ask all of these things in jesus name and everyone said amen. Amen and amen. God bless you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Hello again and thank you so much for tuning in to the message at global seven. Once again, my name is roderick caesar the third, the lead pastor of Bethel Gospel Tabernacle. My prayer is that you were blessed and encouraged by the message. And if you want to contribute and give to the ministry, you can text B G T F I 277977. Again, you can text B G T F I 277977. We’re so thankful for you and my prayer is that God will continue to strengthen and empower and encourage you as you listen to this message, we hope you tune again later and God bless you. Thank you so much. I