In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the power of even a brief contribution in a meeting. He encourages listeners to trust in God's ability to bless others through their short words or actions. The speaker also highlights the importance of acknowledging our own need and coming to the end of ourselves before God can work in our lives. He uses examples from the miracles of Jesus in the book of John to illustrate how God can solve any problem and manifest His glory.

I want to turn to John's gospel chapter 2. John doesn't call the miracles of Jesus miracles, he calls them science. As we read in John chapter 2 and verse 11, this beginning of science, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him. There's two or three things we can notice in that verse. First of all, every miracle, this is the first miracle, was a sign. A sign means, we can say a miracle was a parable. It had a message that was being conveyed and that's why John selects just a few of Jesus miracles. In fact, it's very interesting that none of the other gospel writers who all wrote before John even mentioned this miracle in Cana, even though that was the first one. John is the only one who mentions it and he calls it a sign. And when all the miracles in John's gospel are signs and at the end in John chapter 20, he says this in verse 30, John 20 verse 30, many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these signs are written that you may believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, believing you may have life in his name. So we see in John chapter 2 verse 11 that the purpose of these miracles was to manifest the tremendous glory that Jesus Christ had and thereby to bring his disciples to faith. So the purpose of the miracles was not just to heal the person, but the disciples saw it and they came to faith. And as we read these miracles too, God's desire is that we come to faith. And faith means first of all that God loves me. The first thing we are to believe is that God loves us intensely, no matter how low we have fallen, no matter how desperate our condition, his love for us does not change. It is the same unchanging love and therefore he's very interested in helping us in whatever situation we are in. Now once we lose our faith in that, there's not no hope for us. That's why Jesus prayed for Peter, that Peter when you have denied me three times and you think you're forsaken, good for nothing, that time your faith should not fail. You must believe that God still loves you. When you reach the depths of despair, remember God still loves you. Just like the prodigal son who was, when he reached the level of the pigs, he knew one thing, his father still loved him. That's why he went back. And that's one thing I particularly tell young people, even people who are not ready to accept Christ. I say okay, I'm not forcing you to accept Christ, but remember one day when you reach a point of need and despair, which you probably haven't come to now, remember God loves you. You can still turn back to him then. But it's not only that, faith is also to believe not only that God loves me, but that God is able to do in me everything that he has spoken of in his word. What he's done for others, he'll do for you. And like we sing in the song, what he did for Jesus, he will do for us. That's faith. It's not just that God loves me. See, a lot of people find comfort in the fact that God loves me and live in their same condition, unchanged, very often living in sin and a backslidden condition, just rejoicing in the fact that God loves them, which is a sort of a, you can say, taking advantage of God's love. It's a foolish type of faith. But when that's coupled with this other truth, that everything that God wants to be done in my life can be done. Because what he did for Jesus, he'll do for us. And every good godly example that you have met in your entire life, I hope you met at least one or two sincere wholehearted Christians in your life. And what God did for them, he will do for you. God gives us those examples to challenge us. I remember as a young Christian, there were not many, but there were in my life, I think, a few examples of people who were older than me, whom I looked at. Very, very few. I can't count them with the fingers of one hand. Less than five, that I met in my life who I really felt God had done such a tremendous work in them. And just meeting them, talking to them for a few minutes would encourage me to have faith. Faith that what God has promised in his word, what he did for others, he can do for us. So these miracles were to prove that. That there's no problem in your life that God cannot solve. I look at the miracles in John's Gospel. We can put a title over all of those miracles. God can solve every problem. If you can look at the miracles that way. Jesus manifests his glory by solving a problem which man cannot solve. So that we might have faith in him. Think of that verse, verse 11. Jesus did this beginning of science, manifested his glory by solving a problem man cannot solve. So that his disciples may have faith in him. And we must read the miracles in that way. Because that will produce faith in us. Just like it produced faith in the disciples here. That what God did in these situations, he can do in our life too. And notice some common things. We're not going to look at all the miracles. But notice some common things as we look through these different miracles. There are, in a lot of these miracles, we see one common theme running. That Jesus waited until the situation had become desperate. He did not multiply the wine when it had become, when whatever their wine cask was half empty. They felt, hey this is running out. It was not at that stage. It's when it ran out completely. You see that in all these miracles that we look through. It's when, when we come to the point of helplessness, that God works. Like someone said, there are three stages in the working of God. First is when things are difficult. Second is when it's become impossible. Then he does it. So difficult, impossible, done. Those three stages. And that's why some of us may be wondering why God is not yet working in some situation in our life. The wine hasn't run out fully. And that wine can refer to things like our self-confidence. Wine that we have produced by treading the grapes and putting it in a mixie or whatever it is, that we have produced. It was man-made wine. And that man-made wine had not yet run out completely. That's what the Lord waits for in many of our lives. Have you come to an end of yourself? Have you come to the place where you say, Lord I can't make it. It's not possible. Or you feel that this year is going to be different because you're gritting your teeth a little more. You got stirred up a little more by some pep talk you heard sometime. And the Lord has to wait. He may have to wait a few more years. The wine has to run out. And when it runs out, you have to acknowledge it. Lord, I have no wine. It's so simple. The Christian life is really so simple. He's not asking for accomplishments. He's not asking for us to do great things. He asks us to come to an end of ourselves and acknowledge that we cannot make it. I believe that's a principle in all ministry. I found it to be true in two areas of my life through many years. One, in the years when I was thoroughly defeated by sin. Thoroughly defeated. Seeking for victory, knowing that God had promised victory in Romans 6 14 and yet not experiencing it. Failing, failing, failing, failing, failing and confessing. Yeah, but God will do it. And I know I had to come to an end of myself. The same thing when it came to ministry. When I tried to serve the Lord, studied and did everything possible to produce this man-made wine. You know, every sermon was like a man-made wine. It was a struggle. It ran out pretty quickly and finally God showed me the secret. You have to come to an end of yourself. The Lord can produce limitless wine if you have come to an end of yourself of thinking that you can serve the Lord. I found this to be true in the ministry as an elder. Many times, you know, I think, yeah, I can handle that and then there's failure. And the Lord says, you've got to come to an end of yourself. In every area, my dear brothers and sisters, it's the secret of a happy married life. If you think you're gonna make it as a husband or wife, you're not. It's just a marriage that the Lord did this miracle. To acknowledge, Lord, we have tried so hard. Do you know the number of Christian homes where they put up a front of happiness and come to the meeting? And it's not really true. What what's called a facade, that means a front. There's nothing there. It's like these stilts that they put up, these things they put up, cutouts they put out in cinemas of big buildings. It's only cardboard in the front. That's all. Looks like a palace. It isn't. There's nothing behind. A lot of people's Christian lives are like that. A lot of people's marriages are like that. Lots and lots. And it's so difficult for them to tear down that facade and say, brothers and sisters, there's nothing behind here. We are a failure. We made a mess of our married life. We don't want to pretend. We run out of wine. God can solve every problem. He only wants you to go to him. I'm not asking you to get up publicly and confess your sin. But give out the life of pretense. There's no need to pretend in your personal life or in your family life. See, a life of acting is a very difficult life. Even an actor will admit that. If he has to act 24 hours of the day, seven days of the week, he's relieved when the three hours of acting is over, he can go home and be himself. It's like that. Is your two, three hours on Sunday like that? That your three hours of acting is over and you can go home, be yourself at last, finally? Life of acting is such a strain. God doesn't want us to live like that. Come to him and say, Lord, I don't have any wine. It's true. There's something I've missed in the Christian life. Many years I used to pursue it. I felt there was some secret in the Christian life I seem to have missed. I was born again. I was baptized. I was very active. But there was something I couldn't, I don't know what it was. You know, it's like a computer software engineer trying to search for a bug in the program. It doesn't seem to work. Why isn't it working? There's somewhere and I look for it, look for it, look for it, can't find it. You know, something like that. There was some little thing I seem to have missed in the Christian life and it was. Because I never seem to come to this life of rest and joy which some other, not some, only a few that I had met in my life had come to. I could really see they had come into a life, into a type of Christianity that I hadn't experienced. And that challenged me. I say, hey, some fellows have made it, so why can't I? And I had a desperate desire. And I wonder if there's some folks sitting here who feel like that. You've seen a vision of a higher Christian life, not a life of man-made wine, struggling, treading the grapes and keeping on producing, but one where God does it. It's not that we do nothing, the servants had to pour the water, but a life of honesty, transparency, no pretense, but a life of such abundance that, you know, it says here, when they tasted the wine, the people said, hey, where did this come from? We've never tasted wine like this in all our life. Think that your life can be like that, such a blessing to people around you. Not for you to store up and keep for yourself, but to give to others. Remember that in every miracle, Jesus did miracles to bless others. And you see here, the wine was multiplied, the wine was, the water was made into wine to bless so many people. God gives generously. I praise God for that, that He doesn't give little teaspoons of wine. It's amazing that it says here that there were six, verse six, John 2, 6, there were six water pots there, each holding about 20 or 30 gallons. So 25 gallons means, a gallon is about four liters, so that means about a hundred liters. A hundred liters is a lot. You know, your car gas tank, petrol tank can't take more than 30 or 40 liters. A hundred liters, and six of them, 600 liters, and this was in a home. There was a wedding, and it was in a home, and I don't imagine that there were so many guests there. How many would it have been? A hundred perhaps? Imagine giving six liters of wine each. Amazing! We can hardly drink one liter of water, leave alone. That's how God gives, you know. He gives in abundance, and sometimes we think that this is such an unnecessary miracle. A lot of the other miracles were necessary, you know, like when the 5,000 were fed, they were hungry. Okay, that I can understand. Lazarus is dead, he needed to be raised, or the man was lame for 38 years, he needed to walk. But here, who would die if they didn't have wine? They already had one round already. I mean, why do you need another one? This is the Jesus I worship, one who gives me things beyond what I need, who loves to bless me beyond what I need, not stingily gives me just what I need. It's not like a ration shop, where you get and say, well you're allotted only two kilos of sugar this month, that's it, go home. God doesn't, he doesn't run a ration shop. He gives in such abundance, and you know, it's when we experience that, that we ourselves get delivered from this miserly, stingy attitude that every one of us has inherited from Adam. Are you a miser? Ask God to give you light on yourself. You are, unless you're not a child of Adam. I know the number of times I've gone to God and said, Lord, I'm a miser, I'm stingy, I'm tight-fisted. You know what that's been like? It's been like going to God and saying, Lord, I have no wine. It's just being honest. Lord, I love money. I don't, can't even number the, remember the number of times I've gone to God and said, Lord, I love money. You know what's happened? When you confess your need to God, that's the need he delivers you from. And you keep pretending you're not a miser, I guarantee you'll be a miser till the end of your life. Be honest. Lord, I'm a stingy person. We're all stingy. We're all selfish, stingy, tight-fisted, misers. That's why every child is born with this fist. Even if you put your finger there, it'll hold it immediately. You try that with any child. It's like that. But God has come to deliver us from that, make us like Jesus' palms were open on Calvary, to open our palms and bless others and give them. We got more than we deserve. We give other people more than they deserve. Freely you receive, freely you give. That's what we learn here from this miracle. That's how Jesus is. And that's why we need not hesitate to go to him. But don't go to him only for yourself. Don't say, Lord, I want a large gallon of wine or something. No, Lord. I want you to bless other people through me. Many, many people never experience the miracles of God in their life because they're just asking for themselves. Do you remember the one parable that Jesus spoke in connection with asking for the Holy Spirit? Jesus spoke many parables. I counted at least 40 of them. But among all those parables, in only one parable, does he conclude the parable saying, this is the way you must ask for the Holy Spirit. Do you know which one that is? It's in Luke chapter 11, right? Luke chapter 11 verses 1 to 13, where the disciples asked Jesus saying, Lord, teach us to pray. And his answer was not just in the Lord's prayer, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. It went beyond that. He continued the answer to that prayer, Lord, teach us to pray. What should we be praying about? And the Lord said, here's how you should pray. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, and so on. And then he said, I'll tell you a story which will help further explain how you should pray. Here was this man who had a visitor at midnight and he didn't have any food there. So he goes to his neighbor and knocks and knocks and knocks and knocks and asks for food. Now the point of that parable is, for whom? For somebody else. His stomach was full. He did not need to go to the neighbor for himself. If he was concerned about his own stomach, he'd have gone to bed. He wouldn't have prayed. He went to pray because he wanted to be a blessing to somebody else. Here's somebody who's come. I want to be a blessing to him. I don't want to just send him to bed. He's come from a long journey. You know, that man didn't ask for food. This is an interesting thing. He just came. And this man thought of that person's need. Hey, this fellow's come from a long journey. I must give him some food. I don't have any food in the house. So let me go and ask my neighbor. And Jesus said, that's how you must pray. That's how we should pray. The question is, Lord teach us to pray in verse 1. And he says, that man will, even if he doesn't get up, because he's his friend, verse 8 of Luke 11, yet because of his persistence, he'll get up and give him as much as he needs. And then Jesus said, ask like this and you'll get. Seek like this and you'll receive. Knock like this and it'll be open. Meaning, go and ask God to make you a blessing to some needy person. God will be so delighted with that prayer. He'll give you as much as you want to be a blessing to somebody else. You keep knocking and ask, seeking God like this. So often we don't get, because we're just asking for ourselves. Ask God, for example, we're asking for healing. I ask God for healing every time I'm sick. But I say, Lord, I don't want health for myself. I want to be healthy so I can bless other people. If I'm sick, I won't be able to bless other people. Now you try praying for health like that. Lord, I want to be healthy so that I can bless other people in the church and be a blessing to other people around me. I tell you, you'll get your healing much quicker than when you're praying just for yourself. It's true. That's why he never taught us to pray, give me this day my daily bread. Did he say that? Give us. Lord, don't, I'm not thinking only of myself. I'm thinking of others around me who don't have food. Give us this day our daily bread. If God gives me some more, I can pass it on to them. And that's how they'll get their daily bread. That's God's way. And the people who live like that are the happiest people in the world. They don't store up and have a lot for themselves, but they are a blessing. And then Jesus said at the end, verse 13, this is how you must ask the Father for the Holy Spirit. That's the answer. The Holy Spirit is that new wine which they got on the day of Pentecost. Come to God and say, Father, there's no wine here. I want to receive this fullness so that I can meet the lots of needy people around me. It says Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and he went around doing good and delivering people oppressed by the devil. You think of the circle of people whom you meet in your office, your relatives, your friends, your neighbors, people whom you meet regularly. I'm not talking about the people you meet occasionally in a bus or something. Those whom you meet so frequently. Unconverted people who you know as your friends. Don't you think many of them are in the bondage of Satan? Maybe not demon possessed, but depressed, gloomy, and things like that. It says Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit to deliver those who were oppressed by the devil. Jesus can use you. What he did for Jesus, he'll do for you. I pray that prayer. I say, Lord, there are people around me oppressed by the devil, depressed, feeling under self-condemnation, discouraged, gloomy, beaten by the devil, left, right, beaten black and blue by the devil. Can you help me to bless them? Set them free from their fears and their bondages. Maybe just a word of encouragement or something. That is God's will for every one of us in this year. That from us, wine will go forth, this new wine of the Holy Spirit to bless people. So that's how Jesus manifests his glory. So we've learned some little principles here that the Lord blesses us when we come, when we acknowledge our need, when we come to the end, to an end of ourselves and say, Lord, I'm a needy person, I need your power otherwise I can never do this. And then when we get it, we think of serving others. Now I want to turn to another miracle and that's in John chapter 5. Just quickly go through some of these miracles and you see the same principle coming right through. In John chapter 5, we read of a man. See, there are many people who feel that Jesus healed everybody he met. It's not true. He did not heal every sick person he came across. You know, people say, well, if there's a gift to healing, why don't you just go to the hospital and empty out the hospital? Well, Jesus didn't do it himself. Bethesda was like a hospital. It says here, this pool called Bethesda, John 5, 2, 5, 4, it goes, in these lay a multitude. Here's a picture of a hospital. A multitude of people who are sick, blind, lame and withered. Not 10 or 20. A multitude of sick people. And Jesus healed one of them and went on his way. There are some situations where we read Jesus healed everybody there. But there are other situations like this where there were a great multitude of sick people. I'm sure they all wanted healing. But Jesus healed only one person. Many times we see individuals coming to the Lord for healing. One blind man, one deaf man, one demon-possessed person, one person who was in some type of need, sickness. But here we read a multitude. And nobody came to Jesus. He went there, led by the Holy Spirit to one, that fellow probably didn't even know, it says later on, he didn't even know who Jesus was. He didn't know who he was. It's not like, it's a very unique type of healing in the sense that, first of all, he didn't come to Jesus. Second, he didn't even know who Jesus was. Does the Lord do miracles for people who don't come to him? Does he come to them? Here's one example of that. And a person who's so ignorant of who Jesus was, that even after he was healed, he didn't know who it was who healed him. I see there, why did the Lord, there's no partiality with God, I know that. All these people were God's creatures, lying there. I think it's a bigger crowd than people here today, in Bethesda, all created by God, all sick, lame, blind, withered. And Jesus walks through the, and goes to one person sitting in a corner, and heals him, and he goes on. Was that partiality? No, it's not partiality. There's a principle here. It's the same principle we saw in the beginning, turning the water into wine. It's coming to an end of yourself. See, all these people, it says here, there was some type of miracle used to take place at that pool of Bethesda, and that's why it says, they were all waiting, verse 3, for the moving of the waters. Verse 4, because an angel of the Lord went down, certain seasons, the pool stirred up the water, and whoever first stepped in was made whole. It's some type of mercy that God showed to the world. You know, sometimes we wonder, why doesn't God heal? Why didn't everybody who jumped in get healed? Why did God do it such that only one person is healed? It's the same type of question we can ask when we say, why does God allow a lot of sickness on the earth? I think when we get to heaven, we will discover that God has allowed a lot of sickness, and pain, and suffering on the earth. First of all, so that a lot of people will turn to Him, who would not otherwise. If this world was a comfortable place, I think you'd see a lot less people in heaven than you're going to see now. A lot of people have turned to God through the centuries, because the world was such an uncomfortable place, because they were sick, because they had problems. And if God had made the world a very comfortable, easy place, there'd be less people in heaven. So it's the wisdom of God there. And also, God has to show people, this is the result of sin. I mean, when sin came to the world, this is the result, what you see around, sickness, and all this type of stuff. So that's why He doesn't heal everybody and make life comfortable, because that message won't come across, then clearly, that sin produces awesome results, awful results. And so, Jesus comes here and He doesn't heal everybody, but He goes to this one man and says here, in verse 5, that He had been 38 years sick. Now there's only, as far as I remember, there's only one other place in the Bible where I read of 38 years. And that's in the book of Deuteronomy, where it says the children of Israel came to the borders of the promised land, two years after coming out of Egypt. And God said, go in, you're going to wander in the wilderness for the next 38 years. So Deuteronomy 2.14, it says they wandered in the wilderness for 38 years, 38 plus the 2 years they came out of Egypt was 40. But that is a picture of a life of disobedience to God, a life of struggling under the law, and never entering what God wanted the Israelites to enter into. And this man was a Jew, he knew all about that story. He knew how his forefathers wandered in the wilderness for 38 years. And he had come to that place himself. And I can imagine this man, a lame man, trying to jump in as soon as the angel stirs the pool, and always missing it. Somebody else gets in before him. And he says, okay, next year I'll make it. Next year somebody else jumps in before him. And every year, I think after 5 or 10 years, he just gave up. Or maybe after 38 years he gave up. Every time he tries, I tried for 37 years, that's about it. Now I'm going to go and sit in the corner and wait. That's when Jesus comes. I love that. He comes when we have come to the end of ourselves and say, you know what he said when Jesus asked him, do you want to get well? He doesn't think of God or any such thing. Look at his answer in verse 7. Sir, I have no man. I have nobody to help me. I don't have any brother, sister, no father, no mother, nobody to help me. I'm just helpless all by myself. Isn't it good that the Lord comes for such people? He comes for those who have to say, Lord, I have nobody to help me. I have no one. Nobody understands me. People misunderstand me. They accuse me falsely. I have nobody to help me. If you come to that place, you're in a very blessed place. That's the person Jesus comes for. Maybe all the others around there had some relatives to help them, but this man had nobody. I love that. Jesus is always looking for the people who are most helpless, weakest, most needy. He starts there. That's how it is. He came to him and said, take up your bed and walk. It's a tremendous message of encouragement there. For all those who feel, sometimes you may feel, well, I'm not able to make friends like others in the church can. I'm not the outgoing type who can easily make friends. Some even young brothers and sisters feel a little reserved and backward. Nobody talks to them after the meeting. You see them sometimes standing in, even in CFC, lonely, by themselves. I want to tell you, God loves you. He knows your condition. Maybe you're from a home which doesn't have much financial resources, and you can't buy the things that other young people buy. You can't afford to do things. You can't afford to spend like other people can spend. The Lord knows. That's the person the Lord's looking for, even this morning. Someone who feels lonely, left out by everybody else. You know, even Christians can sometimes be very, very unkind. I used to tell my children when they were attending Clarence School here, I said, you know, when they were small, I used to say, try and make friends with the ones whom nobody else wants to be friends with. Someone who is maybe poor, maybe backward, maybe not so well in studies, not so smart, not the leader type. Go and make friends with them. I used to keep telling them that. Even when I, even after they went away from here, I told them, if you ever go to a Christian camp or some place, or even a home, I said, talk to the ones nobody else is talking to. It's usually the little children. I said, go and get the children, and spend your time with them. That's how Jesus was. I think Jesus would come to any place and look around for the person who is neglected, and who is somewhere on the fringes, and he'd go to him. That's what I see in this story. Isn't that wonderful? I praise God for a savior like this. And therefore I say, there's nobody here who need feel, I'm sort of lonely, I'm sort of rejected. Impossible. Not if you have such a savior, not if you have such a friend. He's looking out for you. It's when you feel sufficient and self-sufficient and capable, that you're on your own. So nobody need ever complain that, oh my temperament is such, I can't make a lot of friends, or I don't have money, or people ignore me. So what if people ignore you? So what if, see I have no man. The Lord comes and this chap was so grateful. It says here, he didn't know, they asked him, who is the one who told you? He said, I don't know. Because it says in verse 13, he who was healed did not know who it was. Because Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. See this is the mark of a real Christ-like healing ministry. Now if it is today's type of healing ministry, he'd have got that fellow to stand up in Bethesda itself, come on give your testimony to all these fellows standing here. He'd have got a megaphone or whatever they had those days, so everybody could hear. But not Jesus. Christ-like healing ministry is so different. He healed the man and says he slipped away. This is a wonderful phrase. I like this phrase about Jesus. He slipped away. It says that in Luke 5.16 about his going to prayer also. He would frequently slip away to some place for prayer. You know what slip away means? It means when 10-20 people are all talking together and all of a sudden you look around and one fellow is missing. When did he go? He slipped away. He slipped away because he wanted to go and spend some time in prayer while all the others were busy with their gossip. This chap wanted to slip away and spend some time in prayer. That's how Jesus was. And that's how those who follow Jesus also are. And it says here he slipped away. You know while this man was all excited and perhaps all the others were all excited around him while this fellow was walking. The man who healed him slipped away. He didn't know who he was. And listen to this, this lovely verse. Verse 14. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple. Have you ever thought why in the world he went to the temple? Why didn't he go to a restaurant or something like that? He went to the temple. He was grateful and God has done something for you. Where are you found after that? Making merry with your friends or humbly kneeling before him and say Lord I want to live for you. It's a number of times like that that make our life completely surrendered to the Lord. I remember as a young Christian. That's very often I found myself going back to the Lord. Thanking him for what he had done for me. Forgiving my sin and that brought me closer to him. And that's where Jesus met him. If he had gone to the restaurant I don't think he would have met Jesus. He probably would never have discovered who Jesus was. But because he was in the place where he wanted to meet with God. He said Jesus met him and it says he worshipped him there. And that's how it was you know. The Lord deals with us like that. John chapter 6. I want you to see another example of this. Another of those signs which Jesus did. At the end of verse 14 it says people saw this sign. This is the feeding of the multitude. And it says here in verse 5 Jesus saw this great multitude coming to him. And he said where can we buy bread for these people to eat? I love to think of that. That Jesus thinks of my need before I can think of it. That's what helps me to have faith. Before these thousands of people came to say Lord and say Lord let's go and get some bread somewhere. He thought of their need. He thought of their need. And in fact in another gospel it says you give them something to eat. He was concerned. On two occasions the multitude were following him. In one case they followed him for three days and he was concerned that they are not eating anything. Now I think of that as in applying to myself that there are needs in my life which the Lord is sensitive to before I express it. You know Adam never went to God and saying Lord I want a wife. God saw that need. God is the one who said hey it's not good for Adam to be alone. I got to do something for him. The same thing here. It's the same God. The same Jesus who was way back there made a wife for Adam. The same Jesus here sees these people in need and says hey and I believe it's the same Jesus today yesterday today and forever. He looks at me and I better do something for him. And that you know when I read this it helps me to have faith. That this is this is my Savior. This is my Lord. This is my friend. Do you have that faith? You believe that there are needs in your life that the Lord knows about and wants to meet. Sometimes he meets them directly but very often as in this case he blesses the people through his disciples. He didn't give them food directly. He says he called his disciples made them distributed and sometimes when he sees a need in your life he'll meet that need through one of his disciples on earth who comes by your way and blesses you with whatever you need. Maybe a word of encouragement. Maybe some friendship which you're lacking. God sends one of his disciples across your way to be a friend of yours. I praise God for that whatever our need is. I've known situations in my life where and in our home too where where there was a need for say physical healing and the right type of doctor would be available to treat that. Now who did that? I'm sure you can think of occasions like that in your life. We need to go back to God and say thank you for that Lord. He thought of that need and he sent one of his disciples to meet that need. I believe that's why many of you are sitting here in CFC today. He saw a need in your life for something spiritual. Some of you were from non-christianism but God saw in your heart a little need for something more than what you were getting where you were and he sent some disciple across your way to meet that need. He saw that need. You may think that oh I found CFC. You didn't. I tell you none of you did. It was God who brought you because he saw a need in your heart. He saw that you needed something. He saw that you needed a word that would bless you, that would bless your family, that would strengthen you and lift you and help you to face life and help you to face the still more difficult days that are to come and give you prophetic words that would challenge you and strengthen you. Perhaps teach you how to build your home. That's why he brought you here. It is God who saw that need and there's something we see here too. He tested Philip to say how can we buy bread. He said Jesus knew what he was going to do but he tested him to see what what would Philip do. Philip said we don't have enough money. In fact in another gospel it says send these people away. Send them away. It's too much to meet the need of these people and that's so different from Jesus. Jesus said no we can't send them away. We've got to do something for them and he brings there's a lad here he says with five loaves and two fish but what are these among so many and Jesus said that's okay. Something I see here is you know when we think of the future one of the big problems that maybe those of you who are earning large salaries and got your own house and large savings and all probably don't think of this but you are very few. You're among the very few. I was reading somewhere that if you have a bank balance and no debt you are among the top richest 8% of people in the world. Did you know that? If you have a bank balance and you don't have a debt you are among the richest 8% of people in the whole world. Some of you who thought you're poor you're not so poor because you don't have a debt and you have something in your bank balance but there are other people who are struggling. I know right here in CFC there are the brothers who are struggling. In fact when I travel in Tamil Nadu I find people struggling much more. I mean everybody in CFC is rich compared to the brothers in Tamil Nadu struggling struggling to make ends meet and I see a wonderful story here parable that is like a sign that a little that we have if the blessing of God is on it can meet from if we give it all to God and say Lord it's all that we have but will you bless it can make a tremendous difference then you have a lot without the blessing of God and when we realize our need Lord this is this so little sometimes you know we can think our salary is so little to meet the needs of the home I mean I've been through situations like that myself not now but going back over 30 years this is so little but I say Lord we're gonna honor you whether little or much we're gonna honor you we'll never violate the principles of your word we'll never do something which is against your word or against the principles of your word I can tell you through 37 years 38 years nearly now of full-time Christian work that God can solve every problem he can take a little and bless it multiply it and meet the needs of many many people God can do that he can take care of your children if you're a righteous man that's the best inheritance you can give to your children David said in Psalm 37 verse 25 he says I was a young man and I'm a very old man now he he probably wrote that when he was 68 years old after having seen God work for 50 years and he says I have never seen a righteous man forsaken by God till today and I have never seen his children or his children's children struggling for survival as a paraphrase begging for bread never and I believe it's true wherever a man is honored God God always honors him and you're very blessed if your father happens to be such a man some of your children you don't realize how blessed you are that your father is a God-fearing man he's a righteous man doesn't cheat doesn't tell lies he's upright and honest a blessing comes upon him and his children his children's children I thought of my own father you know he worked as an engineer in the government and things were so corrupt where he was working all bribery and corruption and he would never take a bribe he would never do anything wrong and he finally had to resign resign because of all the corruption the people above him wanted bribes and they couldn't get it as long as this stumbling block was in the way the bribes wouldn't go up to the top so he had to quit and he had to take another job and he never earned much and he retired and he didn't have much when he retired but I see how God blessed him as blessed me and my children because of that righteousness that was there from the beginning I want to say to all of you if you are righteous God will never forsake you never if you seek his kingdom first his righteousness all the other things needed for your earthly life will be added to you like I heard of one godly brother put it like this he said if there's famine in the land this is in Europe one brother said and if there's only one loaf of bread that'll come to my house because I'm a righteous man yeah he had faith for that because I don't know about the others but it'll come to my house somehow or the other God will bring it think of having that faith that God will take care of us you don't have to worry it can be five loaves and two fish some some of us may wonder how can we meet the needs in the future financial needs food needs clothing needs education needs so many things honor God he will honor you he will never let you down if you honor him and your life must be a living testimony to the fact though people criticize you misunderstand you find fault with you that God meets every need he can solve every problem and particularly when we don't have much human resources five loaves and two fish and five thousand people and the question is in verse 9 what is this among so many people and you can look at your salary and look at the needs of house rent and so many children to feed and educate and cloth and you can say what can I do with this salary it's exactly the same question that Philip asked and it's Jesus took the loaves and blessed them what shall I say from this parable my brother sister whether you have much or little seek for the blessing of God upon that it'll make a tremendous difference tremendous difference everything you do when you seek to serve others say Lord will you bless it and it'll be amazing how many people get blessed through what you give they took those five rows and gave it 5,000 people got fed because the blessing of God was upon them if the blessing of God is upon your life it's amazing what can come through your life to people a few words you know sometimes we think that we got to give a long sermon to bless people well if somebody has got that gift that's fine but think of your little contribution in a meeting as five loaves and two fish two three minutes can you bless people in two three minutes you say well Lord so I you know we don't trust the Lord enough we think oh if I speak only two three minutes how can I bless people I got to speak at least ten minutes you don't have faith in God two three minutes if that's all God's given you grace for to say Lord with your blessing that can mean more to the people in the meeting than long sermons given by other people it's really true a few sentences that you speak to a sister who comes to your house who is in need can be a greater thing than great sermons you know we don't have time to go through all the miracles in here but let me just show you John chapter 11 here it says about Lazarus who was sick it's the most amazing thing we read that they sent a message to Jesus saying the one whom you love is sick they didn't even mention his name verse 3 Lord the one whom your love is sick they knew he'd understand that was Lazarus which shows that he loved Lazarus tremendously and then when Jesus heard it verse 6 have you ever heard of anything like this when Jesus heard he was sick he stayed two more days in the same place we hear somebody we love is sick we'd rush immediately but Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit this is a sign remember it's a sign this miracle was a sign and Jesus knew what was going to happen so he said yeah I gotta wait two days and after two days he had to take this long journey that by the time he reached the fellow was already dead four days and because he had to walk all that distance I mean even if he had started walking immediately he would not have reached in time because by the time Jesus reached the fellow was dead already for four days you can work out the mathematics of that that if he stayed two days and then walked and chap is already dead four days when did Lazarus die you work that out some other time not right now but think of that it's interesting that even if Jesus started immediately he wouldn't have reached there in time for Lazarus would already have been dead but what he wanted to teach them was this you know you have to come to an end of yourself before I do something for you the spiritual principle as long as a man is sick he still feels the I'll recover I'll recover I'll recover okay wait wait spiritually this is the principle as long as you think I'll make it I never made it till 2003 but 2004 is gonna be the year I'm gonna make it okay he'll wait he'll wait two days he'll wait two years or ten years he waited with Moses for 40 years till Moses came to the end of himself and said Lord I can't do it 40 years earlier he was full of himself sure I can do it and that's how it was with Lazarus he he was sick and every day is saying losing hope losing hope losing hope when he's dead there's no hope at all now now it's all over she says now I can do something for you the spiritually the principle is this that when we come to an end of ourselves and say Lord I cannot get victory over sin my anger is too much for me I tried tried read all my good resolutions my lusting habit is too much for me I cannot are you sick or dead you're sick then you got away wait till you die do you say Lord I can't make it don't don't tell me such things I can't do it I cannot do it any amount of gritting my teeth I tried all that I can't do it then Jesus come so this is the principle we got to come to an end of ourselves it's wonderful to see in all these miracles this science Jesus trying to teach one thing when you come to an end of yourself I'm there like they say in a jiffy in a moment but till then I have to wait and we wonder why the Lord is waiting the last miracle John 21 it's the same thing we've often looked at that and I don't need to look at that much the disciples catching fish going out to catch fish discouraged Peter discouraged most of all because he denied the Lord and Jesus comes when he has come to an end of when they tried all night and caught no fish he asked them to confess their need have you caught anything nothing verse 5 say the Lord Lord I've caught nothing all my efforts are in wonderful this is our Savior this is our friend he's the same yesterday today and forever what he did for all those people it's not a able you are God is able Jesus is able he is able no one here need feel left out this morning like they confess they had no wine like they confess they had no fish come to the Lord and say Lord I am in the same boat same condition and if I still Lord if you still see I haven't come to an end of myself bring me to an end of myself quickly I'm really I really want this abundance that some of your children have experienced this life of rest overcoming enjoy Lord manifest your glory in my life as well that other people can believe that all things are possible with you that God can solve every problem never complain again my brothers and sisters never complain you don't have enough or you can't meet this need or that need all things are possible if you can believe that God can solve every problem thank you father we praise you with all of our hearts we're gonna trust you in a way this year like we've never trusted you before it's gonna be a glorious year for all of us it's gonna be a glorious year for all of us amen yes Lord it's gonna be a glorious year hallelujah praise the Lord thank you father it's gonna be a glorious year we've confessed it amen thank you Lord it will be so be glorified in our midst throughout this year