Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1924-11-06
IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
Sil1nldaySchool
' Lesson '
fBy REV. P. b. FITZwATER. DID,. Dean
Of the Evening School. Moody Bible In
stitute Of Chicago.)
&c. 1894 Western Newspaper Union.)
Lesson for November 9
THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE
THOUSAND

| LESSON TExT-John 6:1-15
! GOLDEN TEXT am the bread of
life.-John 6:35.
| PRIMARY TOPIC-Jesus Feeds Hun
cry People.
JUNIOR TOPIC-Jes Feeds Five
Thousand.
! INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOP
IC-Christ Meeting Human Needs.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP
IC-How Jesus Saves.
In the previous chapter Jesus
showed Himself to be the source of
life. He here proves Himself to be
the sustafner of life.
|. Jesus Compassion for the Multi
tude wv. rs. CT. Matt. 14:14). The
sight Of the crowd always melted the
! Lords sympathy. He knew that they
were as shepherdless sheep Mark
6:34). They were going forth with no
one to care for them. Besides, they
| were ignorant, so much so that they
had no appreciation of Him. Added
to this, was their awful physical hun
ger. This condition reused the
Savior's pity. This is true of the null
titude today. The crowd surges about
US daily as shepherdless sheep. There
Is no one to care for them. Then, too,
they are ignorant. Sin has so thor
oughly blinded them that they are not
conscious of their lost condition.
Down deep in their hearts is hunger
for truth and God. The millions of
earth are hungering for Christ, though
ignorant of their real needs.
II. The Lords Conference With the
Disciples Touching the Peoples Need
(5-9).
This was not done for His benefit,
for He knew what He would dow. 81.
He is equal to any occasion. His OBJ
ject in this conference may be summed
up as follows.
l. To teach them their sense of OBJ
legation to the multitude. Men are
slow to recognize their obligation to
the great shepherdless multitude. We
need to be taught the wonderful truth
that God has made man His partner
in the salvation of the world We are
workers together with God III Cor.
6:1). It is most solemn obligation
to cooperate with Him in saving the
millions who are cropping in dark
ness.
2. To teach them their true help
lessness in the face of such great
needs. The loaves and fishes were as
nothing in the presence of FIVE thou
sand men besides women and children.
Well might Andrew exclaim, what
are these among SO many?" We may
plant and water, but the increase
comes entirely from God
8. To teach them that their suffi-
cheney Is from the Lord. The mission
worker needs to know that Christ is
the only source of supply. Without
Him we can do nothing (John Is :1-S).
We can no more carry on the work
ourselves than the branch can bear
fruit without the vine. The branch
supplies the life and strength for the
production of fruit. Philips arith-
metic is of no use in the face of such
need. The Lord Jesus has all power
III. The Lords Method of Accom-
pIishing His Work wv. 1919.
We observe here the orderliness Of
Christ's work. He pauses to give
thanks for their scanty supply, teach
ing US that we should always bring
our abilities and gifts to God, that He
might bless them to His use.
l. The Lords part was to bless and
break the bread; yea, even to create
the needed supply. This part the dis
ciples could not perform. The Lord
must begin the work The same kind
of bread was provided for all, rich
and poor, young and DID, women and
children.
2. The disciples part was to dis
tribute that which He had blessed and
sionary today. His part is to take
from the hands of the Lord that which
He has blessed and consecrated, and
distribute it among the starving null
titudes. We are not responsible for
the supply; but we are responsible for
its distribution to all those who are
hungering and perishing for the bread
of life.
3. The peoples part was to sit down
and eat. They had no part in the pro-
vision, neither its distribution but
only to take from the hands of tie
disciples and eat. This is an illustra-
ton of the part obedience plays in our
salvation. "When all had eaten to
the full, much was left" illustrating
the superabundance of Christ's saliva
ton.
~. The Effect ". 14).
The people recognized Him at once
as the Prophet who should come.
They believed Him for His works
sake.
Must Tread the Path