Mark 6:30-56

Mark chapter 6, we're going to begin reading together in verse 30, and we're going to read through the end of the chapter.

Mark 6 · chapter mention

So hang with me and you'll soon understand why we're going to take such a big chunk of this.

Not because I'm in any way eager to get through and to the end of Mark, but it's appropriate to deal with it together this morning.

So beginning of verse 30 of chapter 6.

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.

And he said to them,

And he said,

This is God's word to us written for his glory and our good.

We would all do well to listen to it and obey it this morning.

Let's pray together.

Father, we do praise you this morning for the gift of your word.

And we pray now that you will bless us together as we come and meet around it.

As we come to look and to gaze into it.

As we come to see what it is you would say to us this day by it.

Father, we desire to look more like your son.

And you accomplish that by your spirit and the preaching of your word.

And we pray that that will be done in us this day.

Make us more like him that we might exalt his name.

And we pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

Amen.

So, we're coming to the end of chapter 6.

And we have now seen miracle after miracle after miracle.

In fact, Mark has been driving that kind of in comic book fashion.

He's just been laying them out to us again and again and again.

And here we see three more miracles.

Rather magnificent ones.

Two specific.

And then a summary of Jesus' healing ministry.

We've seen so far in the Gospel of Mark.

Jesus' power over sickness.

Over demons.

Over creation.

Over death.

And over sin.

And what Mark is doing for us in here is he's crying out to us.

Jesus is the Christ.

Jesus is the anointed one of God.

Believe in Him.

This is the point of his Gospel.

That we might recognize Him for who He is.

And follow Him accordingly.

That is the cry.

We have come now as we've been kind of marching through here.

We've seen at the end of chapter 4.

Jesus calming the Sea of Galilee.

These massive waves that would rise up.

Up to 10 feet tall.

He simply speaks and it's calmed.

He then lands on the shore.

Casts out an army of demons out of a man.

Puts them in pigs who drown in the sea.

We've seen countless healings.

Even summary of healings.

Many, many people were being healed.

It said that illness was altogether eradicated from Israel in this day.

We've seen Him raise a young girl from the dead.

We've seen Him rejected in His hometown.

Which He then goes and sends out the Twelve on their first journey apart from Him.

And then we saw last week the death of John the Baptist.

And this is where we come.

And we see the apostles are returning.

They do a one verse debrief.

I'd love to know some of the details of all that they had done and taught.

But this is the detail that Mark gives us at this juncture.

And Jesus says,

Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.

Which is a plan that's interrupted.

And then we see this coming series of miracles that are performed.

These are the last miracles that Jesus will perform in Galilee.

These two specific, the walking on water, the feeding of the 5,000.

And then this kind of summary at the end of chapter 6 of this great number that's being healed.

And after this, He leaves.

He goes off to the Mediterranean coast, to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

And He doesn't return to Galilee.

This is His third time He's kind of made a sweep through the region.

This is, if you will think of it in this way, kind of His last sermon presentation.

This is His last days in this region, preaching the good news of the coming kingdom of God.

So we would be remiss today if we didn't spend some time certainly talking about the amazing, incredible nature,

awesome nature of these miracles.

We see the first one that feeds all these people that are gathered.

We see 5,000 men.

Matthew makes it a little more explicit for us.

It says 5,000 men besides women and children.

Likely that every man there would have had a wife and some kids.

Most scholars estimate somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 people had followed them around the side of the sea

and met them where they landed.

There are only two miracles that are recorded in all four Gospels.

There's only two.

First is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

All four Gospels speak of that miracle.

The second is this one, the feeding of the 5,000.

Which means that it has some special significance.

It's amazing.

It's an incredible feat that He accomplished.

But He's also done some other very incredible things.

He's raised people from the dead.

He's cast out legions of demons.

He's calmed a storm.

He's done all of this with the power of His Word.

He's going to walk on water right after this.

Incredible, incredible things.

But all four of the Gospel writers were inspired to record this particular miracle.

Next we see Him walking on water.

Again, having dominion over creation.

I, just for fun, was looking around on the internet a couple months ago

and found a group of guys that are trying to run on water.

This is like their new sport that they're doing.

And they've managed to run fast enough that they can get about three steps out into the water before they sink.

And it's kind of hilarious because they have to capture it on high-speed footage

to even know that they're staying on top of the water.

Because it's fairly, when you watch them do it, you're like,

Yep, I've done that before.

Run and crash into the water.

But Jesus Himself took a stroll in a storm out on the sea.

In fact, the record is that He intended just to pass by them.

He was just going to walk on past as they were trying to tack in this storm,

try to sail against the wind and arrive on the other coast.

But when they see Him, He enters the boat with them.

And then again, as I said, at the end here we see,

after these things happen, this summary of healing.

Anybody who heard coming to Him that they just might touch Him.

He had that kind of power radiated out of Him.

If somebody would just touch Him, they would be healed of whatever infirmary they had.

So incredible miracles. Incredible.

We have said time and time again, look at these miracles.

Look at the way in which they lend evidence to the message that He was preaching.

And that was the point all along.

Jesus worked in these supernatural ways to say to people,

listen to what I am telling you.

People thronged around Him.

Many thousands of people.

Here we see likely 20 to 25,000 people.

And if you'll catch this, they're kind of dumb.

They've left and chased Him around the Sea of Galilee

and have no provision for the day.

Right? They're sheep wandering about

and they've wandered together to meet Him on the other side of the sea.

He's constantly pressed around.

But He did all of this that people might hear the good news

of the coming kingdom of God.

We would do well to hear that from Him today.

So I want us to note three things from the text.

Firstly, notice Jesus' compassion.

Notice His compassion.

Verse 34 says,

He had compassion on them because

they were like sheep without a shepherd.

Now I just want you to put in your mind

kind of what's been going on and where Jesus is at.

He's just been rejected in His hometown.

Small town. Very little town Nazareth was.

Everybody in Nazareth knew Him.

And in fact, this wasn't the first time He had been rejected.

This is the second time He had been rejected.

He had been there about a year prior

and they tried to throw Him off a cliff.

And seemingly in some miraculous way,

He passed through them and got away.

So this is the second time He returns

and He's once again rejected.

And it actually says that He marveled at their unbelief.

That He was amazed by the fact

that they wouldn't accept Him as the Christ.

We talked when we looked at that text

that He did this to set an example for the apostles.

He's about to send them out.

He's going to give them some instruction

on what to do when they're rejected.

So He's a living example in that way.

And He goes and says,

See?

People are going to reject even the Christ.

Of course they will reject you.

And He sends them out.

And then we get this story

interjected in the middle of all of this.

It kind of...

It's almost like you go to a different scene altogether.

And we get this story

of Herod beheading John the Baptist,

which Kyle did a wonderful job with last week.

And this is the end of that.

This is the finality of that.

We see in verse 29 of chapter 6,

When His disciples heard of it,

they came and took His body

and laid it in a tomb.

And then we see the record

that the apostles returned to Jesus.

And certainly, Jesus,

if He hadn't already heard the news

that John the Baptist had been beheaded,

heard it at this point.

The apostles returned to Him

and He knows at this point

what has happened to His cousin

of some relation,

some type of cousin, friend,

the one who came before Him

and heralded His coming.

This man meant a lot to Him.

And the response is,

Come away by yourselves

to a desolate place

and rest a while.

And note that at this point,

He is with them,

also going away

to a desolate place

to rest a while.

And they're interrupted

in this plan to go

and to be still

and to recharge

by a throng of people.

And I have to tell you

that this text

has particularly ministered to me

over the last couple of weeks

because I get this way sometimes.

I get just so drained.

And I'm just so tired.

And then the phone call comes.

Right?

And you just go,

Oh, not another phone call.

I don't know if I can handle

another thing.

I don't know that I have

anything else to give.

And I imagine that this is the place

that Jesus is at

at this time.

Right?

Perfectly human.

Perfectly God.

I'm sure He had much more energy

than I'll ever have in my life.

However, He was, in fact, human.

He felt pain.

He felt sorrow.

And here He's experiencing

the loss of John the Baptist.

He's been rejected

in His hometown.

And rather than

turning the crowd away,

rather than getting back in the boat

and sailing someplace else,

that's what I would have done.

I would have taken off in the sea

and stayed out there to rest.

He sees the people

and He has compassion on them.

He sees them in their state.

They're like sheep.

And if you don't know much about sheep,

sheep are fairly dumb animals.

They need a shepherd.

Sheep are left to themselves.

They get slaughtered.

Wolves come in and they kill them.

They need a shepherd.

A shepherd protects them.

A shepherd leads them

to good grass and clean water.

They don't do that on their own.

They wander around

hoping to find good grass

and clean water.

Sheep are dependent on a shepherd.

And this is how He views them.

He has compassion.

He has compassion.

Another wonderful example of this

is when He's coming into

the city of Jerusalem.

These are His people

who are apostate.

They have rejected

what God has told them

in the Old Testament

of the coming of the Christ.

They are about to reject Jesus Himself.

It says that when He drew near

and saw the city,

He wept over it.

A heartfelt compassion.

A man who was God,

who knew how it was

that God was going to play out

redemptive history in the world.

And yet we see Him

with the people

who were coming to seek

just what they could get from Him.

Heal us.

Do miraculous things for us.

Give us food to eat.

And He had compassion on them.

He provides for their needs here.

Their temporal,

or if you prefer the word physical,

He provides for their temporal needs.

And Mark doesn't record this,

but in other accounts,

like in Luke 9, verse 11,

Luke 9:11

it says that He cured those

who had need of healing.

So He does some healing

at this time as well.

Matthew 6, verse 31-33,

Matthew 6:31–33

which precedes Matthew's account

of the feeding of the 5,000

in chapter 14.

Jesus teaches this,

which Wes alluded to earlier.

Beginning verse 31,

Do not be anxious,

saying,

What shall we eat?

Or what shall we drink?

Or what shall we wear?

For the Gentiles,

or those outside of the kingdom,

seek after all these things,

and your heavenly Father

knows that you need them all.

But seek first the kingdom of God

and His righteousness,

and all these things

will be added to you.

So He provides for their need.

They're there stupidly

wandering into the wilderness

to follow Him without provision.

And the apostles are smart

in this regard.

They see the time that's growing late.

Very pragmatic.

Send them away.

Send them back to town.

They've got to buy provision

so that they can survive.

And Jesus instead,

in this incredibly miraculous way,

in a creation from almost nothing,

creates food to feed

20,000 to 25,000 people.

And that is a staggering number of people.

I don't know if you can even

wrap your mind around.

I can't think of a gathering we have

that's 20,000 to 25,000 people.

But do that in terms of

wedding plate cost.

Some of you are young, married,

caterers come and cater.

Let's say $10 a plate.

$200,000 worth of food.

That is a lot of food.

This was an abundance of food.

This was no small snack

split up amongst people.

They ate until they were full.

And there was food left over.

The food abounded,

which is the point

of the gathering of baskets.

Jesus not only provided for their need,

but He went above and beyond

in His blessing

as He created food for them.

So He provided for their temporal,

their physical needs.

But more importantly than that,

He was looking to meet

their spiritual needs.

And herein is a lesson.

Those of us who are ministers

of the gospel of God,

and I don't mean in a special position

like I hold,

but those of us who are Christians,

who are ministering

the gospel of God,

what we need to give to people

is their real needs,

not their felt needs.

Some people think they need

a certain,

have something that they need met,

but it's not necessarily

what they really need.

And what people really need

is their hearts addressed.

People really need

the good news

of the kingdom of God

to get inside of them

and work in them.

And this is what we see Jesus doing.

Verse 34,

the second half.

And He began teaching them

many things.

20 to 25,000 people.

He sits down on the shore with them

and begins to teach them

many things.

What was His message?

It was the good news

of the kingdom of God.

What are God's ways?

How can you bring yourself

under them?

How can you have life

and life everlasting?

Now there's some other keys

in this text

for what He was doing

and why we can know

that He was looking to meet

their spiritual needs.

Because we see some typology

play out here.

Now let me explain quickly to you

typology.

This is a super brief summary.

A type,

if we talk about

an Old Testament type

of Christ,

we're not saying

a version of Christ.

That's the way we use

the word type

in our modern English.

We're not saying

a version of Christ.

We're talking about

a character who prefigures

or who supersedes Christ.

To speak in the typology terms,

the anti-type, right?

Which is the greater thing.

So it shows us a shadow

of something that is to come.

And they're all throughout

the Old Testament.

David is an example of that.

Moses is an example of that.

The ark.

Noah's ark is an example of that.

Jesus.

The ark is a type of Christ

that saves us

from God's condemnation.

These things run all throughout

the Old Testament Scriptures.

So,

he does a couple of things

that are interesting here

that point to this.

Right?

So we know that Moses

led God's people

out of captivity

as God's instrument

leads them out of captivity.

This great picture

of God's people

being led out of slavery

to sin

and into redemption

and to living in his kingdom.

And so,

we see them gathering together.

You can see this

in Exodus chapter 18,

Exodus 18:21

verse 21,

in 100s and 50s.

And Moses

presided over the people

in this way.

He divided them

into thousands,

into hundreds,

into fifties,

into tens.

That was the way

in which he governed

over the people.

Jesus does the very same thing.

So,

Jesus is saying to them,

I am the better Moses

as he divides them up

to distribute food

amongst them.

He's also,

we see David as a type.

Ezekiel 34,

23 says,

And I will set up over them

one shepherd,

my servant David,

and he shall feed them.

He shall feed them

and be their shepherd.

And herein we find,

perhaps,

this is my very best guess

at this,

perhaps the significance

of verse 39.

Why did Mark record

that he had them sit down

on the green grass?

Is that important

in any way

to the story?

I believe it is.

I believe that Jesus

had them sit down

in these groups

on the green grass

to say to him,

I am the good shepherd.

I am the better David.

I will lead you

to the good grass.

Maybe coming to your mind

is Psalm 23,

Psalms 23:1–3

verse 1-3.

The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want.

He makes me lie down

in green pastures.

He leads me

beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me

in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

I would hope

that if we were there,

being sat down

in green grass,

being fed,

being put in these groups

in this way,

and that this man

who claims he's

the Son of God,

that he is the Christ,

is teaching the coming

of the kingdom,

we would remember

Psalm 23, 1-3,

this inspired text.

They would have known

these words.

And we would go,

ah, Jesus.

Jesus is the Christ.

Look at all the things

he's doing.

He's fulfilling prophecies.

He is the greater Moses.

He is the greater David.

John 10,

John 10:11–16

verses 11-16.

Famous.

I hope you're familiar

with this.

I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd

lays down his life

for the sheep.

He who is a hired hand

and not a shepherd

who does not own the sheep

sees the wolf coming

and leaves the sheep

and flees.

And the wolf snatches them

and scatters them.

He flees because

he is a hired hand

and cares nothing

for the sheep.

In relation to that,

in contrast to that,

verse 14,

I am the good shepherd.

I know my own

and my own know me.

Just as the Father

knows me

and I know the Father

and I lay down my life

for the sheep.

And then praise God

for verse 16.

This is us.

This includes

those of us

who are not of Jewish descent.

And I have other sheep

that are not of this fold.

I must bring them also

and they will listen

to my voice

so there will be

one flock,

one shepherd.

Do you see what

he's doing for them

and he's painting

this last picture

in the land of Galilee

before he moves off

to the coast

to call them

to himself.

We see a great

gospel proclamation

in this miracle.

So what for us

is the application

then of this?

It's certainly to believe.

To be clear.

It's certainly to believe

that Jesus is in fact

the Christ.

To recognize

that all of these miracles

are led to point us

to the validity

of his message

and we're going to

address that later.

But speaking specifically

of his compassion

we ought to emulate Christ

and be compassionate.

We ought to have

the same type

of heart in us.

In fact,

Colossians 3.12

Paul says,

put on then

as God's chosen ones

his sheep

holy and beloved

compassionate hearts.

The objects of that compassion

are the church

and the world.

Those who are yet

to be part of the church.

So we want to go

and we want to share

the gospel far and wide.

We want to be compassionate.

We want to remember

where we once were

the sin that we were

delivered from

the death that awaited us

and have compassion

on others

who are awaiting

the same thing.

Do you have

eternal mindset

when you look

at your neighbors

and your classmates

and your co-workers?

Do you look at them

and say if they don't

have Christ

their eternal doom

is damnation?

It'll be miserable

forever

and you break

your heart break for them.

I don't think

that we

including myself

have hearts

broken enough

for the lost.

We don't remember

what we were delivered from.

We don't actually

understand the weight

of our sin.

We have a hard time

wrapping our minds

around what eternal

separation from God

would look like.

We don't have

compassionate hearts

but we should.

That should be

the response

to the compassion

of Jesus Christ.

Jesus finalized this

for us on the cross.

He went so much further

than a little

interruption

in his rest.

Christ.

He died on our behalf.

He died a miserable death.

The worst death

that's ever been created

in the world

he died.

And above and beyond that

he bore the wrath

of God

that was due

our sin

in himself

that we might have life.

That we might put on

his righteousness.

That when God

looks at us

he sees

Christ

beloved

this should make us

compassionate.

This should warm

our hearts

to the purposes

of Christ.

we should love

what Jesus loves

because Jesus

first loved us.

You know what Jesus loves?

He loves his church.

He loves his sheep.

He's gathering them in

even now.

So compassion.

Secondly

notice

the need

for communion.

Now I'm not talking

in this case

of the church ordinance

that we more commonly

call the Lord's Supper here.

I'm not talking about

that type of communion.

I'm talking about

the communion

the being with God.

The charging

that we get

when we plug in

to the source.

This is such

a wonderful picture

in this text

of Christ's

co-existent humanity

and deity.

We see his need

to step away

from things.

We see the human need

for it too.

Verse 31

and then again

in verse 45

we see that

Jesus is teaching

the apostles

to take

times of

restorative

rest.

Verse 31

he says

come away

by yourselves

a desolate place

and rest a while.

It's an imperative.

It's a command.

You've gone off.

You've been doing works.

You've been sharing

the gospel.

Now rest.

You need it.

You're human

and you're frail

and you will fall

and fail

at some point

if you don't

get

restorative

rest.

And then after

this account

he goes

and he's teaching

the apostles

get very involved

in this process.

They're handing out

food.

It would have

taken hours

I would imagine

to hand out

that much food

and after that

it says

immediately

he made his

disciples

get into a boat

verse 45

and go before him

to the other side

to Bethsaida

while he dismissed

the crowd.

Now I think

that this happened

primarily because

if you look

in the other accounts

like John's account

it records

that they were

looking to take him

by force

to make him king.

This group

that had traveled

out into the wilderness

seemed to be

rebels against Rome

and they wanted

to grab Jesus

and make him king

that he might lead them.

He'd done miracles

right?

This must be the one

that's going to lead us

in triumph

in a war

against Rome.

And so he sends

the apostles away

he gets them

out of that scene

he gets them gone

right?

He was the hubbub

like he was the one

attracting all the attention

and they were able

then to go

and to rest

so he sends them away.

But what does he do

when that happens?

So they take this time

of restorative rest

and we must

do the same

but that's what we can learn

as he's teaching them

go and rest

take some time

with your family

get some sleep

college students

it's very important

I believe that

Christian people

ought to be

the busiest people

because we're working

on the kingdom of God

but take time

for rest

eight hours

you know that

most people need

eight hours of sleep

to be charged

I think I average

about six

which is not healthy

eight hours

get some rest

restore

get away

take vacations

do those types

of things

but the greater lesson

we learn is what

Jesus goes and does

he steps away

on the mountain

to pray

so we see

restorative rest

we also see

private prayer

now you've got to

keep in mind

Jesus is constantly

setting for us

example

but it's not that

he didn't need it

it's not that he

didn't need the

private prayer

and he's just

setting an example

for us

but he needed it

as well

he needed to

abide with the

father

he was getting

every directive

from the father

he needed to

step away

he needed to

spend time

in the scriptures

and in prayer

with God

communing

with him

John Owen

wrote a wonderful

book called

Communion with God

and in it he said

the love of God

is like himself

equal

constant

not capable

of augmentation

or diminution

our love

is like

ourselves

our love

is like ourselves

unequal

increasing

waning

growing

declining

his like the sun

always the same

in its light

though a cloud

may sometimes

interpose

ours as the moon

has its enlargements

and straightenings

if we're meant to love

like Christ

this is what we're

called to do

we must spend

much time

alone

with God

if we are to be

of any value

for anyone

in this world

we must first

value God

above everything

and everyone

in this world

you know how you come to

value him

to make him your

treasure above all

else

you know him

I promise if you

know God

not just know things

about God

list of facts

about him

but if you know him

if you spend time

abiding with him

if you are in

communion with him

in this way

and you know him

you will treasure him

above all else

here's the greatest

thing by very

definition

if he is God

he made all things

and therefore he is

better than all things

and not in a

slight way

but if we put him

on the scale

it would tip

dramatically

right

there's no comparison

to the thing

the things of the world

go strangely dim

in the light

of his glorious face

this is the picture

that we're getting there

we must commune

with God

to be good

for anything

in this world

Jesus said it like this

in John 15 5

I am the vine

you are the branches

whoever abides in me

and I in him

he it is

that bears

much fruit

now hear this

just let this

resonate in your brain

for apart from me

you can do

nothing

apart from me

you can do

nothing

so if we love our Christ

for what he's done for us

if we want to serve him

if we want to be effective

in the kingdom

we must abide with him

this is the very first step

in the process

we must

and if you find yourself

in a place where you

struggle with that

as I do quite often

I find myself constantly

day in and day out

doing the work of God

and everything I'm doing

is arranged around that

leading a church

and studying

and doing those things

and I find sometimes

that imperceptibly

I drift off course

and suddenly I'm just

academic

or I'm just

a businessman

planning and plotting

a course

right

I step away from the fact

that I need

to soak

in who he is

right

that when I do that

I can pour out

a sponge

I can soak up

and be squeezed out

and soak up

and be squeezed out

but I let myself

get squeezed out

and I don't soak again

right

I step away

from that

it's like a compass

many of you know

the way compasses

function

if you just turn

in a little degree

and walk ten feet

you're really in the

same place

it's imperceptible

you can't even notice

that you're off the course

but if you go a mile

that way

it's suddenly you're

getting further

and further

and further away

from where you need

to be

we must

come back

to private prayer

we must

spend time

knowing

God

if you find yourself

in that place

there's some

there's some great

rest for us

there's some great

promises

psalm 46

Psalms 46:10

verse 10

God says

be still

and know

that I

am God

be still

and know

that I

am God

I will be

exalted

among the nations

I will

be exalted

in the earth

this is a great

comfort to my soul

my great desire

is that God

be exalted

among the nations

my great desire

is that God

be exalted

in this entire world

and then I go

what I gotta do

to get that done

what is my part

to play in that

what do I have to do

and I can become

exhausted because of that

and he says to me

be still

you're not God

I am

be a tool in my hand

I've got it all

under control

Psalm 127

Song of Solomon

verse 1 and 2

unless the Lord

builds the house

those who build it

labor in vain

unless the Lord

watches over the city

the watchman

stays awake

in vain

it is in vain

that you rise up early

and go late to rest

eating the bread

of anxious toil

for he gives

to his beloved

sleep

and the teaching

here is not

sleep in

right

and go to bed early

it's not the teaching

it's all he's trying to say

get up early

there's much value

in getting up early

but when you do so

because you know

you've got to do it

you know you've got to accomplish

you're anxious

about the work

that's ahead of you

he says

no sleep

sleep and rest

the Lord

is building a house

the Lord

is keeping watch

over the city

so we need these things

we need private prayer

we need restorative rest

and that's the application

for us

as we labor for the kingdom

we must also rest

in the goodness of God

in the face of Jesus Christ

that's how you charge

for spiritual work

you remember

the goodness

of the gospel

Matthew chapter 11

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

28-30

Jesus says

come to me

all you who labor

and are heavy laden

and I will give you

rest

take my yoke upon you

and learn from me

for I am gentle

and lowly in heart

and you will find rest

for your souls

for my yoke is easy

and my burden

is light

how do we do this

practically

how do we do this

spend time

in the inerrant

sufficient

powerful word of God

right

this has been given to us

that we might know

God

stop neglecting it

it is a gift to us

it is a grace

you have

copies upon copies

on your shelf

I was at a conference

this week

where a group

in the third world country

they had a program

where when you went

to the bookstore

you could buy a bible

and then take it

and go stick it on a pallet

and they were going to

pack them up

and send them

because the pastors

didn't have bibles

in this country

right

we were worried about

the people at this point

the members of the church

it was the pastors

that were having a hard time

accessing bibles

in this country

we have got them

in abundance

we've got copies

upon copies

upon copies

you can access the internet

and get any translation

that you want

with helpful study notes

right

stop neglecting it

it is a gift

to you

and pray

respond

to what God is saying

as he speaks to you

speak back to him

God is available

and wants

a relationship with you

draw near to him

and he will draw

near to you

in A.T. Pearson's biography

of George Mueller

called George Mueller of Bristol

which I would really commend to you

it's a wonderful read

he wrote

the most intimate knowledge of God

it's possible

on one condition

that we search his holy scriptures

prayerfully

and habitually

and translate

what we there find

into obedience

there are promises

a wonderful promise

that comes

if we will devote ourselves

to this

the study of the scripture

prayerfully

habitually

and be obedient

in this

there's a promise

that's found in both testaments

Psalm 1-3

after he speaks of

the man who delights

in the law of the Lord

it says

in all that he does

he prospers

in James 1-25

it says

but the one who looks

into the perfect law

the law of liberty

and perseveres

is obedient

to the end

being no hearer

who forgets

but a doer

who acts

he will be blessed

in his doing

do you want the work

that you do

for the kingdom of God

to be blessed

to be fruitful

to be beneficial

if you love Jesus

you'll want that

if you love Jesus rightly

you will want this

to be the case

this is what we must do

this is what we must do

and it is a joy

to do it

so we see the compassion

of Christ

we see

our great need

for communion

with God

but we also see

condemnation

thirdly

we also see

condemnation

there's this

massive group of people

and we are seeing this

time and time

again

in the gospel of Mark

this great throng

that surrounds Jesus

and they're coming

to him

for what Jesus

can do for them

in this world

they want healing

they want to show

they want to see

some new miracle

some display

of power

we would be the same way

we hear that some guys

in Dahlonega

healing sick people

like people who can't

walk or walking

we'd want to go see

that kind of thing

and they never

hear the message

they never hear

what he's actually

trying to say

and we know this

because after Jesus

is crucified

and resurrected

we see a very small

number of disciples

still gathered

150 in the upper room

I'm sure that there

were more

there were probably

some in the Gentile

region

but we don't see

much record of this

where did they go

you go from

20,000 to 150

it's a fraction

of that

were these disciples

were these true

followers of Jesus Christ

no

they were coming to him

for what they could gain

they wanted

the promises

the benefits

without the obedience

of it

this is a dangerous thing

and this is what speaks

to our church

in a great way

do you find yourself

in that position

you come for the benefit

what you think Christ

can accomplish

on your behalf

but you're not willing

to be obedient

you're not willing

to see

that the kingdom of God

is not

not on a scale

but it's a difference

you become a new person

right

you no longer live

in the realm

of this world

serving the father

of that

the devil

of lies

you now serve

Jesus Christ

and everything

in your life

bows to who he is

I fear that that's

the case

in many

many

many churches

and possibly

in ours

look

further down

we see this

this massive group

of people

we know that

not all of them

are true disciples

of Christ

but look even

at the apostles

down in

verse 52

verse 51

and they were

utterly astounded

they were

utterly astounded

at what had

happened

he had walked

on water

he had gotten

in the boat

they had already

seen so many

miracles

they were

utterly astounded

!

for they did

not understand

about the

loaves

but their

hearts

were hardened

and that phrase

they did not

understand about

the loaves

really

vexed my

mind

these last

couple of

weeks

what?

I believe

that Mark

was inspired

by the Holy

Spirit

to write

these words

in this

way

the original

text

means that

I looked

it up

that's

what it

means

they did

not

understand

about

the loaves

so here's

this interjection

for him

to help

us understand

what was

going on

why did

they not

understand

and I will

tell you

that the

question

in verse

51

of

chapter 4

they said

after he

calmed the

storm

on the

sea of

Galilee

who then

is this

that even

the wind

and the

sea

obey him

they were

still

questioning

who

Jesus

was

they've

already

been sent

down

on a

mission

trip

and they

still don't

have it

clear in

their minds

who

Jesus

is

Jesus

is

the

Christ

and they

didn't

quite

get it

at this

point

so I

want you

to go

with me

we're

going to

do a

little

work

in John

John 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6

starting

in verse

22

I want you

to turn

with me

there

John

John 6:22

chapter 6

verse 22

this is

John's

account

what followed

right after

the same

story

right

so we're

looking

if you

look at

chapter 6

Jesus

beats

5,000

Jesus

walks on

water

and the

beginning

of verse

22

here's

kind of

the story

following

this

okay

so verse

22

on the

next day

the crowd

that remained

on the

other side

of the sea

saw that

there had

been

only one

boat

there

and that

Jesus

had not

entered

the boat

with his

disciples

but that

his disciples

had gone

away

alone

other boats

from Niberius

came near

the place

where they

had eaten

the bread

after the

Lord had

given

thanks

so when

the crowd

saw that

Jesus

was not

there

nor

his

disciples

they

themselves

got into

the boats

and went

to Capernaum

seeking

Jesus

so

there was

only one

boat

and they

knew

Jesus

didn't

get in

it

he

dismissed

the

apostles

while he

was

dismissing

the crowd

they got

in

they took

off

they knew

he didn't

get in

that boat

but then

where did

he go

so some

other boats

come by

and they

get in

and they

follow him

over to

Capernaum

to look

for him

verse 25

when they

found him

on the

other side

of the

sea

they said

to him

rabbi

when did

you come

here

Jesus

answered

them

truly

truly

I say

to you

you are

seeking

me

here we

go

not

because

you saw

signs

but because

you ate

your fill

of the

loaves

do not

labor

for the

food

that

perishes

but for

the food

that

endures

to eternal

life

which the

son of

man

will give

to you

for on

him

God

the

father

has

set

his

seal

then

they

said

to

him

and

this

sounds

like a

really

good

honest

question

what

must

we

do

to

be

doing

the

works

of

God

what

must

you

do

to

be

doing

the

works

of

God

but

look

at

Jesus'

response

as he

knows

what's

going

on

in

their

hearts

Jesus

answered

them

this

is

the

work

of

God

that

you

believe

in

him

and

whom

he

has

sent

so

there's

the

work

of

God

that

we

believe

that

Jesus

is

the

Christ

this

is

not

what

they

wanted

was

to

be

able

to

do

!

what

must

we

do

to

also

turn

loaves

into

more

and

more

loaves

to

eat

our

fill

so

they

said

to

him

then

what

sign

do

you

do

that

we

may

see

and

believe