Multiplication Thru Brokenness — E.A. Johnston

I want us to see a biblical principle today, friends, found in a familiar passage of Scripture. The principle is multiplication through brokenness, and the familiar passage is found in the Gospel of Mark in chapter 6.

You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends. We will be in verses 32 through 44. In Mark's Gospel, we find the familiar scene of Jesus feeding 5 ,000 men with a few loaves and a couple of fishes. We tend to not pay much attention to it, other than it is another record of one of the miracles of Jesus.

Do you want to know something, friend? Jesus is still in the business of working miracles. If you're saved, you are a walking miracle. It's a wonder to me how God could take a big sinner like me and save me by washing my sins in His blood and then clean me up by sanctifying me by His Holy Spirit to then go out and live for Him.

It really amazes me. Here in our text, we will study some deeper truths about how God deals with His followers. There are three major themes I want to draw out of our text today, friends. Number one, God will create a situation to test our faith.

Number two, God will give us an opportunity to exercise our faith. And thirdly, God will allow us to participate in His work to deepen our faith. Now with those three themes in mind, let's look at the sub-points which support those themes.

The title of my message today, friends, is Multiplication Through Brokenness. Here now is the Word of God, and I pray that the Spirit of the Lord will attend the reading of His Holy Word. Let's take a look at this striking passage of Scripture now, friends.

And they departed into a desert place privately, and the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran a foot thither out of all the cities, and out went them, and came together unto him. Let me pause here to say, wherever Jesus went, He attracted a crowd.

Jesus' Compassion for the Sheep Without a Shepherd

It reminds me of the account of George Whitefield, the great British evangelist, as related by the former Nathan Cole, when Whitefield visited Middletown, Connecticut during the Great Awakening. In that account, Cole describes how when folks heard that Whitefield was in town, they dropped what they were doing.

They closed up their shops. They jumped on their horses to rush out to throng him. A God-called preacher will have that effect on folks, because he's full of Jesus, and Whitefield was full of Jesus. Let's look at verse 34.

And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were his sheep, not having a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. Let me pause again, friends, to say, Jesus is still doing that with each one of us.

He's teaching us many things, and as we go through life and follow him, the things he teaches us will change us. We will gradually become more and more Christ-like. Let's get back to our text in verse 35.

God Creates Desert Places to Test Faith

And when the day was now forespent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far past. I'll pause here, friends, to bring out our first major theme. God will create a situation to test our faith.

Notice it was a desert place. Did you know, friends, that God often does his best work in a desert place? I like what F .J. Hegel said about this. He said concerning Moses, for forty years on the lonely slopes of Midian, the fiery Moses is schooled.

There were graves, if I may so speak, scattered all over the mountainside, where hope after hope was buried until at last self went down in utter annihilation. Listen, friend, if God has you currently in a desert place, it's because God will create a situation to test our faith.

Jesus Gives the Disciples an Opportunity to Exercise Faith

Well, let's look at verse 36. Send them away, that they may go into the country round about and into the villages and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat. I find it interesting that these disciples act just like we do.

They tell Jesus what to do. They see a need in others. And they shirk their responsibility by trying to get rid of them. They are telling Jesus to get rid of them so they can go fend for themselves. After all, it's not our problem, is it?

But do you remember earlier in our text, friends, where it said, and Jesus saw much people and was moved with compassion for them. Jesus wanted to love on everybody and fix everything that he could, but we don't.

It's not our problem. It's how we often react to a person in need. Well notice the next verse. He answered and said unto them, give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, shall we go and buy two hundred penny worth of bread and give them to eat?

Notice our second theme here, friends, that arises in our text. God will give us an opportunity to exercise our faith. Jesus puts the ball back in their court by saying, you give them to eat. Jesus was always testing the faith of his disciples and giving them opportunities to exercise their faith.

And here was one such opportunity, but they blew it. With exasperation in their voices, they come back at him with, where are we going to get the money to feed such a big crowd? That's how we would react.

We'd focus on our lack of money to get the job done, rather than keeping our focus on Almighty God, whose arm is not too short to save. Well Jesus deals tenderly with his slow-witted disciples. And we see in verses 38 and 39.

Participation in Christ's Work Deepens Faith

He saith unto them, how many loaves have ye? Go and see. And when they knew, they say, five and two fishes. And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. Here, friends, is our third major theme.

God will allow us to participate in his work to deepen our faith. Look at verse 41. And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven and blessed and break the loaves and gave them to his disciples to sit before them.

And the two fishes divided he among them all. And they all did eat and were filled. Here was a situation where they didn't have the means to meet the need. Jesus multiplied the means and satisfied the need.

And that's what Jesus does, friends. He satisfies. Do you see this principle here develop of multiplication through brokenness? The bread had to be broken. The disciples' indifference toward others had to be broken.

You and I need to be broken so God can multiply best blessings to others through us. Now, look at the last two verses. And they took up 12 baskets full of the fragments and of all the fishes. And they did eat of the loaves and were about 5 ,000 men.

I will stop there. Notice what they had left over. Jesus not only satisfies, he satisfies super abundantly. Now, let me finish with the following observations. This is how God deals with his children.

Testing, Yieldedness, and God's Glory

First, he tests our faith. Next, he will look for yieldedness and brokenness in us. Then, he will involve us in his work. And lastly, he will be for our benefit, the good of his people and for his glory.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my little lesson today, friends. And I hope you have a better understanding of the principle of multiplication through brokenness, as also seen in John 12, 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Let us pray.