Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We're glad you've joined us for today's program. Connect with Skip Heitzig exists to connect you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times through verse by verse teaching of His Word. That's why we make messages like this one today available to you and others on air and online. Before we kick off today's teaching, we want to let you know that you can stay in the know about what's happening at Connect with Skip Heitzig when you sign up for email updates. When you do, you'll also receive Skip's weekly devotional email to inspire you with God's Word each week. So sign up today at connectwithskip.com.
That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. of Old Testament passages that predicted him beginning in Moses and all the prophets.
Wouldn't you love to have that on MP3? Jesus' own study of himself is portrayed in the Old Testament Scriptures, but that's his point here. I've got three witnesses I call to the courtroom, the worker, J the B, my own miraculous works, and the Word of my Father. In your Scriptures that you search, now look at verse 39. It says, you search the Scriptures for in them you think that you have eternal life, and these are they which testify of me.
I read this not as a command, but as a fact. He's not saying, hey, you guys go search the Scriptures. He understood he's talking to people who have searched the Scriptures. They knew the Old Testament well. They spent their life reading and studying and memorizing and singing and chanting the Scriptures.
And he was talking to a group of people who knew the Word of God, but they didn't know the God of the Word. You search the Scriptures, fact, because in them you think that you have eternal life. You think that just because you read the Bible a lot, you have eternal life. Don't you know that I am the subject matter of all of those Scriptures?
They testify about me. I'm the one Moses wrote about. I'm the one the prophets identified. I'm the one tucked in those Psalms. But you are not willing to come to me that you may have life.
I do not receive honor from men, but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, him you will receive. I've always regarded that as a chilling prediction. I see that fulfilled in the future.
When? On the world scene will come somebody we know as the Antichrist. He'll come in his own name.
He'll be very proud, very boisterous, very powerful, and the world will swoon over him. Jesus came in his Father's name. He came with the three witnesses of the worker, his works, and the word.
The nation didn't receive him. But in the future, one will come and the world will go after him. How can you believe who receive honor from one another and do not seek the honor that comes only from God? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, Moses, in whom you trust. Come Judgment Day, all we have to do is read what Moses said, and you'll be condemned just by that. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for Moses wrote about me.
Now there's your challenge. Go back to the first five books of the Bible, the writings of Moses, and go on a search for where Moses predicted Christ. There are some obvious ones. For instance, he said, God will raise up another prophet like unto me, him you shall hear. He predicted that Jesus would come, the Messiah would come, one like Moses to the nation, one who would bring in a covenant like Moses did. But there are many places where Moses spoke about him, wrote about him. So that's your challenge. Go find those places. And when you do, you'll have an idea of what that Bible study Jesus gave in Luke 24 to those two on the road to Emmaus, what kind of content it had.
It's fascinating to do that. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? Studying the Bible will not bring you to heaven. Knowing Jesus will bring you to heaven. Jesus will save you, Bible study will not.
Now, I do want to add to that, however, that statement. Studying the Bible won't bring you to heaven, but studying the Bible will bring heaven to you. It'll bring heaven to your soul. It'll get you in touch with truth. It'll talk about the necessary daily regulation, regulating your life, getting you back on track, nourishing and feeding your soul, like it said in Psalm 19, reviving the soul, David said. But I love what Gypsy Smith, the old evangelist during the time of G. Campbell Morgan, used to say. He said, it's not how many times you've been through the Bible, it's how many times the Bible has been through you. And I love going through the Bible. I love studying it. I love reading it daily. But when I do, I always pray that it would go through me and it would be just a part of who I am.
My very speech, my attitudes would be changed because of it. Now, John chapter six, and we get into the very familiar story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. Everybody's heard of this story. You can't read a gospel without coming to this miracle. It's one of the only miracles mentioned in all four gospels.
That's how standout and significant this miracle is. So I know in your mind you're picturing 5,000 people. That's a lot of people on the hillside, but you have to picture many more because the four gospels in the composite rendering, putting them all together, tell us there were 5,000 men who were present. And that is because the estimation of the crowd was about 5,000 men, not counting wives who may have been there or may have been at home, children who may have been there or been at home, but upwards of 10 to 15,000 people perhaps were crowded around Jesus.
We call it the feeding of the 5,000, but they're numbered as males, men. After these things, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberius. Now, some of you have done that.
Isn't that great? You know, you have been to Israel. You've been on the boat. You've sailed across the Sea of Galilee. So you read this verse, and you can picture it in your mind. I'm not trying to stir up the flesh of those of you who haven't gone or make you angry and bitter at me for saying it. I wanted to go.
Why did you have to bring that up? But you can let others who have been blessed enjoy the blessing in their mind of what it's like to sail over the Sea of Galilee. So that's for next time.
Remember to get ready for next time. Then a great multitude followed him. Now stop right there. Isn't that encouraging? A great multitude followed Jesus. Isn't that what it's all about? The bigger the crowd, the better?
Well, not so fast. You will notice what it says in qualifying that statement. A great multitude followed him because they saw his signs, which he performed on those who were diseased. Crowds are exciting.
Growth is exciting. Never want to put that down. That is the New Testament norm in the book of Acts. But what I find interesting is that Jesus himself wasn't always excited by the size of the crowd.
In fact, listen to this. All these people that are gathering around him and more will come. By the time you get to the end of this chapter, he will have thinned out the ranks. It says many disciples turned and followed him no longer. That's because he's going to make claims on them and give them some hard sayings, hard truths. They're not going to like what they hear.
Oh, they'll like it as long as he gives them food and as long as he has a happy event and does things that don't offend me. But Jesus won't do that because the big crowds didn't excite him all that much. John chapter 2, it said many believed in him because of the signs which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself to them for he knew all men and he didn't need anybody testify of man for he knew what was in man. But they're there. They're following him because they saw the signs which he performed on those who were diseased.
Have you ever met someone? They follow the Lord, seemingly. They love the Lord, apparently. They're on fire.
They sing. They're in church, temporarily. But then something happens. A catastrophe happens. Something unexpected happens.
Something tragic and gut-wrenching. And they're moved from that position. They become bitter at God. They become angry at God.
They double up their fists. How could you allow this God? What makes a person get to that place? If you study that person and dig deeper, you will discover there are unfulfilled expectations that that person is now discovering. They had expectations when they said, when they signed on the Jesus boat, when they signed on the Jesus following thing, they had certain expectations they wanted Jesus to meet for them. They didn't voice it, but they were there. I will follow Jesus as long as whatever, fill in the blank.
They'll follow him, but they'll follow him under their terms. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to Skip's teaching, we want to help you and the children in your life see the timeless story of Christ from cradle to cross with Nate Heitzig's new book, Christmas Under the Tree. Told through the eyes of an unlikely character and graced with illuminating illustrations, this gripping tale is rooted in the limitlessness of Christ's love and helps young readers understand why Jesus left heaven to be born under and die upon a tree. This exciting resource, along with a companion audio experience, are available to you now as our way of saying thanks for your gift of $25 or more to reach more people with God's love through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give. Now, let's get back to Skip for more of today's teaching. So some people are followers, but they're selfish followers, and they have a theology. Oh, it's unwritten.
It's not codified. It's unspoken, but their theology is this. I am the Lord and Jesus is my servant. If he serves me well, if he provides for me well, if he heals me when I got a problem, good, I'm following him.
If he doesn't do that, I'm not going to follow him. Didn't Jesus talk about this kind of a follower? He said, you know, the sower went out to sow seed and some of it fell on stony ground and it sprung up immediately. There was joy and emotion. But then the sun came and they didn't have much earth. Jesus said, that's the tribulation of this life and they fall away.
And you all know people who are like that. They were red hot. They were on fire. And then all of a sudden, cold, no pulse.
No life, no trust. Hey, how come you have miniature dough, man? Jesus let me down, man. So big crowds, but because of the signs which he performed on those who were diseased. And Jesus went up on the mountain and there he sat with his disciples.
Now the Passover of the feast, the feast of the Jews was near. Okay. At the same time, what I just said is true. At the same time, Jesus does have a compassionate heart for people with physical needs, and he's going to do something about it. He's not going to say, well, you're not following me for the right reason. He's going to feed them.
That's how gracious and merciful and kind he is. He's still going to feed them because it's Passover time. And that means the roads are more crowded than ever before. They're on their way down to the festival, the feast. So Jesus is up in Galilee, and he will be on the northeast side of the Lake of Galilee, where there's not many towns during that time, and the crowds are growing thick, and they don't have food.
They're ill-prepared for this kind of woodstock event. So something has to be done. The Passover, a feast of the Jews was near, and Jesus lifted up his eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward him, he said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread that these may eat? But this he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered and said to him, Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little. Now why did Jesus turn to Philip and ask Philip this? Because Philip lived at a little village called Bethsaida Julius.
It's just a set of ruins these days. But it is on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee at the time of Jesus. He's from the area. If anybody knows the area, knows what stores are around, knows if there's an In-N-Out Burger, McDonald's, or a grocery store, Walgreens, whatever, it's him. He's got the lay of the land. He's from the area. If anybody knows, it's him.
Of course, it says Jesus said this to test him. It really was an impossible situation. Five thousand, ten thousand, fifteen thousand, twenty thousand, don't know exactly the total number, but. One thousand. How are you going to feed them?
It's an impossible situation. And so I can just picture Jesus turning to Philip, kind of a gleam in his eye, maybe a wry kind of smile. Hey, you know the area, Philip.
What's open? Where can we buy bread for this crowd? What was the test? The test was the test of trust. Well, this guy trusts me. Does this guy know me well enough now to give me the right answer to this question?
There is a right answer. Now, as I see it, Philip failed the test. He said two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little. You know, somebody once said, when God wants to do something wonderful, he begins with a difficulty. But when he wants to do something very wonderful, he begins with an impossibility.
Here's an impossibility. There's no outlet, there's no source that could feed this group that has gathered there with him. Now, I say he failed. What do I mean by that? Well, he calculates, which is a good thing. He's he's the accountant type.
He surveys the crowd. He kind of has an idea of how many people are there, what kind of need is present. And he has a calculator for a brain.
So he quickly goes to work and does the math and he goes, OK, the way I figured it, it would take. Two hundred denarii, three quarters of a year's wage for a common person. So whatever that is, let's say ten thousand dollars, twenty, twenty five thousand dollars, let's just call it that. Hey, twenty five thousand bucks isn't enough to buy this crowd.
Just a little food. He's he's doing the math. He's calculating. And you have to understand something about Philip. Philip had to see it. He was he was the pessimist, not the doubter, the pessimist. You know, there's a difference. Who was the doubter?
Thomas. So in the upper room, do you remember the story? They're gathered together around Jesus and Jesus said, hey, let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me and my father's house.
There are many abiding places, rooms, mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, there you may be also.
Beautiful truth, beautiful promise. And then he said, and where I go, you know, and the way you know. And Thomas goes, we don't know where you're going. So how can we know the way?
That's doubt. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the father except through me.
Then Philip speaks. And what he said. Show us the father. And that's good enough. Duh. That'd be good enough for anybody.
That's what everybody says. Just show us God. Show us God, your father, and we'll be OK. We'll be convinced.
Philip is the pessimist. He's he's got the calculator for the mind. He's got to figure it all out.
You know. This is why men have a harder time. Trusting God for issues like with their car. Than their wives do. Their wives may not understand about internal combustion engines and spark and timing advancement and all that stuff, but the men might know that already. And so the car doesn't start and the wife might just, well, let's just lay hands on it and pray for it. Oh, my goodness. But in that case, it doesn't work that way. Look, I know these things. I figured this stuff out.
There's something wrong with the fuel or there's something wrong with the electrical, the spark. I mean, it's one of those two things. But I love it how God just honors the faith.
Sometimes it's just that simple faith. Lay hands on it. Start.
I've seen it start right up. Two hundred denarii work. Three quarters of a year's wage for the common laborer isn't enough so that this crowd can even have just a little bit. Pessimist. You hear about the two pessimists they met at a party and instead of shaking hands, they just shook heads. So there's Philip. Thomas is probably the other guy going, yeah, I'm with this guy.
Not going to work. The story isn't over with. Oh, and by the way, let me add to that. I don't know how you do your math. He did his math. But you've got to factor something in. It's the God factor. See, here's the math of a miracle. Two plus five.
Because there's loaves and fishes you'll discover. Don't add up too much. Just seven. Seven things.
A few loaves, a few fish. But when you add plus God, it changes the whole scenario. The equals is like whatever.
Difficulty must always be measured by the capacity of the agent doing the work. Philip, where can we buy bread? OK, I've done the math. Listen. Wrong answer. Here's the right answer. Jesus, this is an impossible situation.
There's not a bakery around here big enough. Doesn't matter. I've seen you work. I was there at the pool of Bethesda.
I was there at the miracle of Cana. I saw the water get turned into wine. I saw that with my own eyes.
Do whatever you want to do. That's the right answer. Because you can say, well, he didn't know better. He had been there. He had seen these miracles. He had seen enough to know. The right answer is, surprise me, Lord.
Story goes on. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, There's a lad who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many? Now, who is Andrew?
It tells you he's what? Simon Peter's brother. Isn't that a bummer to be known as somebody else's brother?
You know, you know why that kind of resonates with me? I'm the youngest of four boys. There was Jim and there was Bob and there was Rick. Those are my older brother. Then there was Skip. Jim and Rick were both valedictorians in their school. They were on varsity football, varsity baseball, varsity track, varsity basketball.
I mean, they played all the sports and they were always in the upper part of the class. And I was their brother. Oh, you're Jim's brother. Oh, Rick, he's your brother.
Now, here's the thing about Andrew. He is not a prominent apostle. Did he write any book of the New Testament? Not a one. Did he give any sermon? Not that we know of. It's not recorded. It wasn't that important if he did to record it. He is known as Simon Peter's brother.
But here's what I want you to see. Unknown, unnamed does not mean insignificant because I'll tell you who he was and what he did. He was a connector. He connected people with Jesus Christ.
That's his claim to fame. He didn't have to write a Bible book. He didn't have to perform a miracle or write or preach a sermon. He connected people. He was the one that led his brother, Peter, to Jesus. He brought him there. He connected Peter to Jesus. We're glad you've joined us today. Before you go, remember that when you give twenty five dollars or more to help reach more people with the gospel through Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send you Nate Heitzig's new children's book, Christmas Under the Tree, which includes a companion audio experience.
Just in time for Christmas, this book will help young readers understand why Jesus left heaven to be born under and die upon a tree. To request your copy, call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate for more from Skip. Be sure to download the Connect with Skip Heitzig app where you can access messages and more content right at your fingertips. Come back next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.
