INSIGHTS & NOTES FROM
"VERS. 1 - 9. In those days the multitude being very great, & having nothing to eat. - Christ knows & supplies our need"
"MAN MUST WORK." "...man may do all his part, & yet not one single grain could he gather into barn or rick if our heavenly Father did not cause the earth to revolve, the planets to move, the inconstant moon to wend its way along the star-bespangled firmament, the river to roll on its pebbly bed, the myriad-laughing ocean in its cradle to ebb & flow, the entrancing landscapes of the sun-tinted clouds to sail in the balmy air, & the barriers of the dawn to be loosened that the golden rays of the lord of day may dance on the petals of the flowering wheat, & kiss the dew from the lips of the lily." "The harvest alone enriches, the harvest alone satisfies." "Riches, pleasure, fame, empires even, do not satisfy; these things only increase the hunger of the soul, created to have its enjoyment & satisfaction in God alone." "If God be here you will not go away empty. The Divine presence gives eternal satisfaction. 'Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life.'" "Those who have large means, & do but little, have no fragments to gather." "...He asks for the 7 loaves that we have." "Bring that - do that, say that - as what thou hast; very small, very trivial, very worthless, if thou wilt" "Nothing works of itself - nothing by human willing or human running - but only by the grace of Him who giveth liberally, & who showeth mercy." "...man's extremity is God's opportunity." "God is a frugal economist. He never wastes what already exists." "The true effects of God's mercy - what He gives us is that true food which really satisfies, & which alone can satisfy, the whole nature of man. (W. Denton, M. A.)" "The more we feed upon Christ, the Bread of Life, the more there is to feed upon." "That is the origin & source of help for man. Because of His compassion - 1. He came from heaven to earth to bring to famishing men the Bread of Life. 2. He sends to us His Church, by & through the ministry of which He gives us all the means of grace." "'Sit down.'" "(1) Let me calmly, honestly, & thoughtfully look into my past life, especially examining... (2) Let me see where I am, & what I am. (3) Let me try my best to see my sins as they really are, & as they are recorded in God's book. (4) Let me truly repent of past sins, & make my humble confession to God, honestly purposing amendment of life." "Gather up - 1. Fragments of time. 2. Fragments of opportunities. 3. Fragments of temporal goods. 4. Fragments of prayer, repentance, worship, grace. (Canon Ingram.)" "In the original it is, 'They were fed to satisfaction.'" "God alone can satisfy" "He only can feed the myriads of famishing souls which, even in listening to His words, have only felt their hunger growing keener. He can & will, & it makes no difference to Him how many the people, how few the loaves, they shall all be satisfied & go home in the strength of that food; He can & will, & it makes no difference to Him how many millions of souls are waiting upon Him for spiritual food - how feeble, apparently, & paltry the means of grace by which He designs to feed them." "If you would learn, teach. You will catch new gleams of His gracious heart in the very act of commending it to others. Work for God if you would live with God. Give the bread to the hungry, if you would have it for the food of your own souls." "Vers. 10 - 43. Seeking of Him a sign from heaven, tempting Him." "Our request must be for necessary things, from right motives." "Tempting God: - It is a wicked & sinful practice for any to tempt the Lord, i.e., to make unlawful & needless proof of His Divine attributes such as Power, Providence, Justice, Mercy, etc." "...the temper of unbelief is simple selfishness." "'A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.' Belief will not suffer itself to be divided. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)" "Vers. 14. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees." "Our Lord's warning against false doctrine." "Vers. 16 - 21. And they reasoned among themselves." "How is it that ye do not understand?" "This losing of things is of the mercy of God; it comes to teach us to let them go." "Vers. 22 - 26. And He cometh to Bethsaida; & they bring a blind man unto Him." "Christ's method of dealing with individual souls: - I. HE ISOLATES FROM DISTURBING INFLUENCES." "II. HE ENCOURAGES & CONFIRMS FAITH. ...III. HE EXACTS IMPLICIT OBEDIENCE. ...if Christ is to be a complete Saviour, He must be an absolute & unquestioned Lord. (A. F. Muir, M. A.)" "IT IS A COMMON WEAKNESS OF FAITH TO EXPECT THE BLESSING IN A CERTAIN WAY." "He used a means never suggested by them - 'spit on his eyes.'" "Faith ever honours the Lord, & therefore the Lord honours it." "If those who are spiritually blind will not pray for themselves, let others pray for them." "A lesson about Christ's character; His benevolence was without ostentation." "God stoops to a feeble faith, & gives to it outward things by which it may rise to an apprehension of spiritual realities." "He was healed slowly because he believed slowly. His faith was a condition of his cure, & the measure of it determined the measure of the restoration; & the rate of the growth of his faith settled the rate of the perfecting of Christ's work on him." "'According to your faith, be it unto you.'" "Christian progress does not consist in seeing new things, but in seeing the old things more clearly: the same Christ, the same Cross, only more distinctly & deeply apprehended, & more closely incorporated into my very being." "You will get as much of God as you want & no more. The measure of your desire is the measure of your capacity, & the measure of your capacity is the measure of God's gift. 'Open thy mouth wide & I will fill it.' (A. Maclaren, D. D.)" "Vers. 27 - 30. Whom do men say that I am?" "Their opinions respecting Christ indicated their own true state & character." "Having sown, He now looks for the fruit." "The knowledge of Christ revealed by God" "It is the prerogative of the Father in heaven to reveal His Son." "...it must be the everlasting Spirit 'taking of the things of Christ, & showing them to us.'" "Ver. 31, 33. That the Son of Man must suffer many things." "From Christ's rebuke let us learn that the 'heavenly thing' is not to seek for glory, but for usefulness, even if we can reach it only through a cross. (R. Glover.)" "To discover a Divine person is to discover what death cannot touch" "Ver. 34. Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself." "If any would come after Him, they must expect hardships, self-denial, cross-bearing, & scorn." "To be a true follower of Christ one needs the courage of deep conviction & strong desire." "Following Christ... It must be absolutely a voluntary choice - 'Whosoever will.'" "It must be absolutely an entire surrender. (a) A surrender of every part of our being to Christ as Master. (b) A surrender of every object which He requires to be given up." "THE MANNER WHEREIN WE MUST FOLLOW CHRIST. 1. We must follow Him in faith. 2. In ardent affection. 3. Sincerely. 4. Wholly. 5. Constantly." "If the Spirit dwelling in us be not mightier than that which is in the world, we cannot be Christ's disciples." "The ignorant must be taught; the knowledge of Christian principles spread; the wiles of the devil exposed." "...every crown earned & won may be placed on the head of Him who wore for us the crown of thorns. (J. Leifchild.)" "He must deny the wisdom of the flesh, which is enmity to God. He must deny his own corrupt will, which is contrary to God's will. He must deny all his carnal passions & affections, as carnal love, hatred, fear. He must deny all his own wicked inclinations. He must deny all wicked habits & sins." "The gospel offers Christ as a Physician, man must therefore deny the means he can devise to help himself, before he come to see what need he hath of Christ." "None every yet entered into the kingdom of heaven without tribulation; not, perhaps the tribulation of fire, or rebuke, or blasphemy, but the tribulation of a bowed spirit & a humble heart; of the flesh crucified to the spirit, & of hard conflict with the powers of darkness" "Ver. 35. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it." "EACH MAN HAS 2 LIVES - A lower & earthly, & a higher & heavenly." "THERE IS A VAST DISPROPORTION BETWEEN THE 2 LIVES." "Loving Christ best: - I. If we look at Christ, He is to be loved best of all, & all things must be accounted 'dross & dung in comparison of Him' (Philippians 3:7, 8)." "We must learn to love ourselves by not loving ourselves." "...to lose thyself for Christ, is to save thyself, & to reap an hundredfold. For it is but sown to spring out unto the eternal harvest." "Vers. 36, 37. For what shall it profit a man?" "The soul of man is of inestimable value." "THE GAIN SUPPOSED. 1. It is an uncertain gain - 'If.' 2. It is a difficult gain. 3. It is a trifling gain. 4. It is an unsatisfactory gain. 5. It is a temporary gain." "THE LOSS SUSTAINED. 1. The loss of heaven. 2. The loss of happiness. The loss of hope." "Will any worldly gain compensate you for the loss of the soul? (H. F. Pickworth.)" "The more a man is addicted to gain the world, the greater is the danger of losing his soul." "Matthew 19:20: 'It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to be saved.'" "The soul! How shall I estimate the value of it?" "Profit & loss: - What is the good of life to us if we do not live?" "Without something higher & better than even intellect & mental culture & activity, you cannot gain the world, except in a poor & illusory manner." "Where man's higher life has not been called forth, the loss is not what may be, but what is - it is condemnation & death." "Use the soul, exercise your higher life, & you will thus save the soul, thus promote your higher life." "When, instead of a man having passions & commanding them, passions possess the man & command him, all human life, all higher life is lost; it is gradually or rapidly narrowed, curtailed, darkened, debased, emptied of its worth & value. The soul is perverted in the sphere of the lower life." "If the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness!" "'Come to Me; repent of sin; trust Me for an atonement; enter upon My service..." "The Son of God became the Son of man in order to make this offer for human souls. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)" "IRREPARABLE. Other losses may be repaired. Lost friendships may be regained or replaced; lost health may be restored; lost property recovered; but the loss of the soul can never be retrieved." "He who possesses all things without God, has nothing." "...what is it to lose a soul? It is to let weeds grow there instead of flowers. It is to let selfishness grow, suspicious, curious tempers grow, wantonness grow, until they have all the field to themselves." "Know that in your soul you have a pearl above all price, the loss of which nothing can ever make up." "...who is responsible for the loss of your soul? No one but yourself!" "THE LOSS OF ANY MAN'S SOUL IS THE HEAVIEST LOSS HE CAN SUFFER." "ANY MAN'S SOUL MAY BE SAVED." "1. Do not neglect your own soul. 2. Come to Christ without delay. 3. To all who have sought to have their souls saved, & have found Jesus a Saviour, 'cleave to the Lord with purpose of heart' (Bishop Ryle.)" "This world is like the boy's butterfly - it is pretty sport to chase it; but bruise its wings by an over-earnest grasp, & it is nothing but a disappointment." "Ver. 37. Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? - The folly of setting the heart on things below, & not on things above" "He that hath the Son hath life." "Nothing can compensate for loss of soul" "No satisfaction from the world at death" "'My riches & experience is having known Jesus Christ. All the rest is nothing.'" "Ver. 38. Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me & of My words." "There is a contagion in ill company, & he who dwells with the scorner shall not be guiltless." "Our great work for Christ is to confess Him" "Ashamed of Jesus... (1) Decline to assume a profession of the gospel; (2) Do not maintain a consistent profession of the gospel; (3) Abandon the profession of the gospel." "THE DOOM THREATENED. It is certain, awful, just. (Plans of Sermons.)" The Biblical Illustrator, Baker, pgs. 304 - 341.
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AuthorCross Preaching Pentecostal Pastor. Husband to Tonia, Father to 3 beautiful girls, Monica, Zoe & Briana, & Grandfather to Wesley & Elliott Archives
September 2023
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