There was no food for the great crowd of 5000 – except that Andrew could point to a lad who had “five barley loaves and two small fishes”. We need not be surprised that he added the question: “But what are they among so many?” – especially as these loaves would not have been at all large. The provision was extremely limited; was there enough even to give the tiniest crumb to each individual in that vast multitude of people?
Yet Andrew’s question left out of account Christ’s divine power, so often manifested already in a whole variety of situations. We might very readily express surprise at the disciple’s unbelief. Had his Master not very often done wonderful works altogether beyond what mere mortals were capable of doing? Was it not equally within His power to feed the multitude in a miraculous way on this occasion?
But we might feel rather more restrained in our comments if we were conscious of our own unbelief as we consider the Church’s position today. How limited her resources are in the face of all the opposition everywhere “against the Lord, and against His Anointed”! When the Church makes so little impact on the world around, how can we expect the multitudes to pay attention to its message? The Church is weak; in our time it is very weak indeed. There are few who preach a pure gospel and believe in the full authority and reliability of Scripture; how can they influence the world to accept God’s authority, give up their sin and worldliness and turn to Christ? There is absolutely no possibility that this generation will be turned from their idols to serve the living God – apart from divine power. But we forget that, although the world is strong, Christ is infinitely stronger. Although Satan is the “strong man armed” who does all in his power to keep sinners in his kingdom, Christ is the “stronger than he”, who is well able to rescue sinners and bring them into the kingdom of grace. All power has been given to Him in heaven and in earth, and no creature, however strong, can possibly resist this King in working out His purposes.
To provide food for 5000 people was humanly impossible in the circumstances, but it was perfectly possible for the divine Saviour. He was able to provide so completely for them that the disciples were able to fill 12 baskets with what was left over. To turn the multitudes of this generation and make them willing to walk in the narrow way which leads to everlasting life is totally impossible, if we look no further than human power. Paul might plant and Apollos water, but they could bring about no spiritual good by their own unaided efforts – however scriptural their preaching might be and however eloquently their words might be delivered. It is said of the Saviour Himself that “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not”; He came to those who professed to worship the true God, but they would not believe in Him. It is still the same. Christ comes, in the preaching of the gospel, to those who profess to worship the true God, and large numbers of them refuse to believe in Him; in their hearts they reject the Saviour appointed by the Most High.
Why will sinners not come to Christ? Because they do not wish to do so; because they have corrupt hearts. They have sinful rebellious wills; they are completely unwilling to submit to the Lord and His Christ. So, whether we look at the Church in its weakness facing a hostile world and making no impact on it, or at a particular preacher addressing individual hearers, the fundamental problem is the same: the unwillingness of each sinner to submit to the Lord and His Christ. We must bear in mind the unwelcome truth: “the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be”. Here is an absolute impossibility – that the human heart will ever submit, apart from divine power, to the authority of God. The natural heart is completely unwilling to forsake sin and seek holiness.
Neither the powerful reasoning of Paul nor the impressive eloquence of Apollos will move a single heart in the direction of true, spiritual religion, unless the Holy Spirit will apply the truth proclaimed. The natural heart is too corrupt, too much in subjection to the prince of this world, to become subject to the law of God. No matter how convincing the arguments presented in preaching or in personal conversation, the human heart will never submit. Sinners may be told of the evil of sin and its consequences, particularly a lost eternity; they may be told of the greatness of the mercy of God in providing a salvation which is perfectly suited to their needs; they may be told of the shortness of time and the urgency of submitting to the claims of God. But if no more than human power is at work, nothing will be achieved; the human will is too strong for even the most persuasive presentation of law and gospel.
This is particularly so because “the god of this world” is blinding “the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them”. Satan presents ideas and motives to the mind of the unsaved sinner which are perceived as more attractive and more relevant than the things of God. Such is the continual deceitful activity of the evil one.
In the face of such opposition, one might not be surprised if people look at the resources available to the Church and ask, “What are they among so many?” In themselves the preachers of the gospel are weak and, particularly if we confine our attention to those who proclaim sound doctrine, they are few. Yet it must never be forgotten that “it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe”. As surely as that was so in the apostolic age, preaching is the means it pleases God to use for the salvation of sinners in every age, including the twenty-first century. When it pleases God to save a sinner, He does not leave the preacher to his own resources. The Holy Spirit is then present to apply the truth, to remove the opposition, making the hitherto-rebellious sinner willing to submit to the authority of the Lord and His Christ. It is by divine power – yet always in the use of means – that sinners are made willing to forsake sin, to believe in Christ and to follow Him throughout the rest of their lives here below, for “the things which are impossible with men are possible with God”.
It was by this divine power that Lydia’s heart was opened so “that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul” and put her trust in the Saviour. It was the same divine power that accompanied the words of Paul and Silas so that the jailor in Philippi was willing to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. And it was by the same divine power that 3000 souls were made willing on the day of Pentecost to receive the message of Peter with gladness and to believe in the Redeemer he proclaimed. On the morning of that day, people might have been inclined to point to the disciples and ask, “What are they among so many?” But before the day was over, with a multitude of sinners savingly influenced by the truth, that question would have been completely forgotten.
As we look around the world today, and see the forces of atheism, secularism, heresy and false religion ranged against the Church, let us not despair. The Holy Spirit has not ceased His work; sinners are still being converted. And the same power which is effective in transforming individuals will yet be effective in bringing sinners in their multitudes to a genuine trust in the Saviour. Fundamentally the means will be the same: the Word of God applied by the omnipotent power of the Spirit. Undoubtedly, other factors ought to be considered – including, particularly, the prayers of the people of God. But let us not allow unbelief to obscure the fact that, when it is God’s will to rescue multitudes of sinners still going on in rebellion against God, no power in earth or hell can prevent it.