Sunday Sermon | The Gospel of Mark: Remember

This is the Gospel of Mark.

Well, good morning, church family.

If you're a guest with us this morning, uh let me introduce myself.

My name is Jason Smith.

I have the awesome privilege of being the pastor here at First Baptist.

And uh let me welcome you.

We are really glad that you are here.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Mark chapter 8.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

Mark chapter 8, as we continue our walk through our sermon series, we're walking through the Gospel of Mark.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

If you do not have a Bible, there is a Bible in the seat back in front of you.

You can keep that Bible as a gift from us to you.

We place those there every week.

We restock them so that you can have a copy of God's Word.

We would love for you to have that.

Hold your spot in Mark chapter 8 throughout the sermon.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

I'm gonna continue to refer back to it.

We're gonna read three sections as we walk through, so hold it open, okay?

The final buzzer sounded, and confetti began to fall upon the court in Boston.

See, the Boston Celtics had defeated the Los Angeles Lakers and won the 2008 championship.

Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce leapt for joy, and all Kobe Bryant could do was observe in disgust.

He's taking the scene in, and suddenly over the loudspeaker, Journey's Don't Stop Believing began to play, and the entire crowd began to sing along in celebration.

Now, the next day, as the Lakers cleaned out their locker rooms and planned what they were gonna do for the rest of the summer as a break, Kobe did something unique.

He listened to Don't Stop Believing.

Not because he loved the song, no, it was actually the opposite.

Now he hated it.

But he listened to it so that he would remember the agony of defeat.

In fact, he forced himself to listen to that song every day for two years straight until he got his revenge by beating the Boston Celtics in 2010.

You see, Kobe Bryan understood something about human nature.

We forget.

Time dulls things.

Success makes you forget failure.

Comfort makes you forget desperation.

And sometimes forgetting can be harmless.

But there are certain things that you and I cannot afford to forget.

Because how you remember yesterday often determines how faithfully that you will face today.

And this morning, Mark is going to show us that it's actually spiritually dangerous to forget.

In Mark chapter 8, there are three groups that will approach Jesus.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

And they come from different perspectives.

And Jesus responds to each of those three groups differently.

But by the end, he turns to his disciples and he asks one piercing question.

So listen as I read Mark chapter 8, beginning in verse 1, I'm going to read the first ten verses.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

Now in those days, when there was again a large crowd, and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples and said to them, I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with me now three days and have nothing to eat.

If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way.

And some of them have come from a great distance.

And his disciples answered him, Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?

And he was asking them, Well, how many loaves do you have?

And they said, Seven.

And he directed the people to sit down on the ground, and taking the seven loaves, he gave thanks, and he broke them.

And he started giving thanks to giving them to the disciples to serve them, and they served them to the people.

They also had a small fish, and after he blessed them, he ordered these to be served as well.

And they ate and were satisfied.

And they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces.

About four thousand were there, and he sent them away.

And immediately he entered the boat with his disciples, and they came to the district of Dalmatha.

Will you pray with me?

Heavenly Father, this morning, as we come to your word, we deeply desire to hear from you and for you to teach us.

Father, we know that you are compassionate and you are understanding.

But you also expect us to respond to you in faith.

You expect us to learn and to grow and to remember your faithfulness because you have revealed yourself to us.

And so, Father, I pray this morning as your people that you would give us hearts that remember and trust and face the trials that we are currently facing in our lives with faith.

Because we trust you, because we know your character, and therefore we can face whatever tomorrow brings.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

All right, so remember where we were last week because Jesus had traveled outside of Israel.

Actually, the furthest that he ever traveled, and he met a Gentile woman with amazing faith.

She understood that there was more than enough grace in the kingdom of God for her.

And that Jesus was spilling over to the nations.

And Mark showed us that overflow in a fulfillment of Isaiah thirty-five.

Jesus made the deaf hear and the mute speak.

And now, as chapter eight opens, Jesus is still outside of Israel, presumably in Decopolis.

And once again, a massive crowd has gathered around him.

They've spent three days listening to Jesus teach.

Now they're in a remote place and they've ran out of food.

But notice, we aren't told that the crowd is complaining or that anyone has come up to Jesus asking for anything.

In fact, it's the disciples aren't even the ones who bring the problem to Jesus.

No, Jesus initiates himself.

I feel compassion for the people.

Because they have remained with me now three days and have nothing to eat.

And then in verse 3 it says, if I send them now, some of them aren't going to make it.

I want you to hear how tender that is.

Jesus sees their need before anyone says a word.

And remember again who the people are.

They are a crowd that is largely outside of Israel, outsiders who have come near.

And just as Jesus fed the 5,000 in Mark chapter 6, that was a predominantly Jewish crowd.

Mark 6 · chapter mention

So now in Gentile territory, Jesus does it again.

With seven loaves and a few fish.

Four thousand people fed.

And verse eight tells us they ate and were satisfied.

In fact, afterwards, the disciples are able to pick up seven large baskets filled with the leftovers.

You see, before Jesus demanded that the crowd had great faith, Jesus demonstrates great compassion.

Now that may be you this morning.

Maybe you are new to Jesus.

Maybe you think, I don't know enough.

Or my faith isn't very strong.

I want you to look at Jesus' heart.

I want you to see his compassion and understanding.

I want you to see that he sees and understands needs long before you can even articulate them.

And that he welcomes the needy to draw near.

Now Mark pivots from that crowd and that scene, from those who knew relatively little about Jesus, he pivots towards a crowd that should know better.

Because next, having crossed over the Sea of Galilee, back into Israel, Jesus encounters Pharisees.

Verse 11 The Pharisees came out and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven in order to test him.

Sighing deeply in his spirit, he said, Why does this generation seek for a sign?

Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.

Leaving them.

Again he embarked and went away to the other side.

Now this isn't our first introduction to the Pharisees, is it?

Right, for chapters, chapter after chapter, we have seen them come to examine Jesus with a critical spirit.

And they've watched him heal, they've heard his teachings, they've seen demons obey his commands.

They've seen more than enough evidence to respond.

And yet they will not surrender, will they?

Instead, with every encounter, their hearts grow harder.

Now, what a complete, completely vivid contrast from the crowd that we just saw.

The Pharisees demand Jesus, Jesus, show us a sign, as if they hadn't already seen enough.

They stand over Jesus, demanding that Jesus prove himself.

Later in verse 15, Jesus warns the disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.

Now, why in this instance did Jesus pull in Herod as an illustration?

Well, remember what Mark told us about Herod back in chapter six?

Do you remember that Herod feared John?

Herod considered John to be a holy and righteous man.

You see, Herod knew that God was working in John, and yet he would not obey.

Remember, John confronted Herod's relationship with Herodias.

And Herod knew the truth, but he wouldn't repent.

You see, over time, persistent disobedience changes the way that we respond to truth.

At first, Mark said Herod gladly listened to John.

He liked listening to him.

He was drawn to him.

Something in his heart stirred.

But he heard and didn't ever obey.

He resisted and he hardened his heart.

Until eventually the man that he once gladly listened to, he had beheaded.

Now, do you see the progression?

That is to hear the truth, but then to resist it.

And then, in order to accommodate your sin, in order to live comfortably in that sin, you have to harden your heart to the truth.

Until eventually you begin to try and silence the very truth that once convicted you.

That's what's happening to the Pharisees.

You see, they didn't start by hating Jesus, they came with questions.

And hear me, questions are never the problem.

The problem is when you're confronted with truth, they refuse to surrender.

They refuse to bow their knee.

And every time they resisted what they knew, their hearts grew harder.

Church, listen to me, you cannot hear the truth of God and refuse to obey it, and nothing happened to your heart.

Okay?

Your heart does not remain spiritually neutral because every delayed obedience, every persistent no, produces another callous on the heart.

And this is the leaven that Jesus warns about.

Because it spreads until the person who once felt conviction, who was once almost moved, becomes critical of the very truth that once convicted them.

And now look at the Pharisees.

Look at where they are.

Standing before Jesus, declaring, prove yourself to us.

As if Jesus is the one on trial.

And what does Jesus do?

He walks away.

No more signs.

No more miracles.

He simply gets in the boat and leaves.

Stops engaging them.

Now what a contrast from the crowd that Jesus had compassion for.

Because you see, the Pharisees hardened their heart to the truth that they knew and Jesus leaves them.

That should frighten us.

That should frighten us.

Because one of the clearest signs of hardening your heart is when it is when I begin to stand over the word of God.

Rather than allowing the word of God to stand over me, I stand over the word of God.

As Tim Keller once said, if your God never disagrees with you, you might just be worshiping an idolized version of yourself.

So, friend, when was the last time the Word of God disagreed with you and confronted you over what you were doing in your life or what you're believing?

And rather than explaining it away or defending yourself, you surrendered.

Because church, the question is not, do you hear the word of God?

Herod heard it.

The Pharisees heard it.

The question is, when you hear it, do you surrender?

And if Mark had stopped there, we would all be very happy because we would shake our heads at the Pharisees and we would say, Well, how could they have seen so much and still not believe?

But then Jesus gets into his boat with his disciples, and suddenly the warning hits a lot closer to home.

Listen as I pick up in verse 14.

And they had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them.

Now Jesus was giving orders to them, saying, Watch out, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.

But they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread.

And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread?

Do you not yet see or understand?

Have you a hardened heart?

Having eyes do you not see?

And having ears do you not hear?

And do you not remember when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand?

And how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up?

And they said to him, twelve.

And when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?

And they said to him, seven.

And he was saying to them, Do you not yet understand?

So the third group, right, that Mark intentionally pivots.

We had the crowd, we had the Pharisees, and now we have the disciples.

Remember who the disciples are.

They're not the crowd, they're not the Pharisees.

They love Jesus.

They believe in him, they have left everything in order to follow him.

But by this point, Jesus expects that they should have grown in their faith.

You see, they have a history with Jesus.

And he expects that through the process that they should have learned about Jesus' character, and then that they should take that and apply that to current situations.

That they should trust him.

So the disciples find themselves in really a mildly difficult situation.

They forgot bread.

Right?

That's it.

It's that simple.

It's a simple mistake.

They look down, they're in the boat, and they only have one loaf of bread.

As they cross the Sea of Galilee, Jesus warns them beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.

But they're so preoccupied with their bread problem that they completely, they can't even hear what Jesus is saying.

They miss his point altogether.

They say to the, he's saying this because we forgot the bread.

And as a reader, right, you have the perspective of John, of Mark teaching us.

You're sitting there going, really, guys?

Really?

Are you guys serious right now?

You're worried about bread while Jesus is in the boat with you?

He's just multiplied and fed four thousand.

And before that, five thousand.

Are you serious right now?

See, that's exactly Jesus' rebuke of them as well.

Bread?

After everything you've seen, you think I'm talking about bread?

Do you still not understand?

Do you have a hardened heart?

Don't you remember?

Now, beloved, this gives us an important picture of maturing faith.

You know, oftentimes we think what mature faith is, is it means I don't get rattled.

Okay?

I'm like a rock.

I'm never afraid.

But maturing faith isn't pretending that you don't have needs.

Maturing faith looks back, sees God's faithfulness, and then applies that into today's crisis.

Mature faith says, my Savior is good.

He's been faithful before.

So I don't know how or what he's going to do, but I know who he is.

And he's not the kind of Savior who abandons his people.

Church, listen to me.

This is the point of the entire sermon.

One of the greatest enemies of faith isn't just unbelief.

It's forgetfulness.

It's forgetfulness.

Israel crossed the Red Sea and then panicked when they got into the wilderness, didn't they?

They said, Where's our food?

Where's our water going to come from?

I want you to listen to Psalm 78.

I put a few of the verses on the screen.

Says, they forgot his work and the wonders that he had shown them.

They tested God in their heart.

They spoke against God, saying, Can God spread a table in the wilderness?

And then verse 32, despite his wonders, they did not believe.

Did you hear that?

God calls their forgetfulness unbelief.

Unbelief.

Because they face the present crisis as though God had not revealed Himself and His character in the past.

They forgot.

And how many times have you and I done the same?

You remember when God sustained you through that relationship crisis?

You remember when he provided, but you couldn't see away?

When he gave wisdom for that impossible decision, when he brought a people to you, when you were so helpless, when one door opened right after another one closed.

But then another season comes along, another crisis.

But suddenly you still lie awake and you say, What am I gonna do?

God, have you abandoned me?

Beloved, maybe Jesus' question for you this morning is the same one that he asked the disciples.

Do you not remember?

And let me be very clear.

Forgetting isn't only dangerous in crisis, it is equally dangerous in prosperity.

Moses warned Israel as they were going into the land.

He said, When you live in homes that you didn't build, and when you enjoy vineyards that you didn't plant, and when you drink from wells that you didn't dig, take care lest you forget the Lord your God.

You see, in crisis we forget God and we panic, but in prosperity we forget God and we take all the credit for ourselves.

So what are we called to do as believers?

We're actually called to remember and to learn to remember.

In fact, throughout the scripture, right, God gave his people practices of remembrance.

When Israel entered the land, remember the Jordan parted?

And God told Joshua, I want you to pick up twelve stones out from the middle of the Jordan, and I want you to set up a memorial.

Why?

So the next generation will look at it and will say, Grandpa, what are those stones?

And you will be able to tell them of the faithfulness of the Lord so that you will remember what God has done in his faithfulness.

So, church, this morning, I would like to give us four practical memorial stones for your life.

Number one, keep a prayer and answer journal.

That is, write your prayers down and date them.

And then when God answers, write that date down too.

Oh, how often God answers our prayers, and then a few months later, we forget the entire encounter.

But imagine having 10 years of evidence of God's faithfulness so that the next time that you face something frightened, you don't just have to say, Oh, I know God is faithful, but you can open it up and you can look and you can see the number of times that God has answered your prayers.

And do not be discouraged if next to a prayer request you have to write, He said no.

Or he said, not yet.

Because two years later, you might look back and say, you know what, that Garth Brooks knew what he was talking about when he said, Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers.

Number two, go back and read your old journals.

Some of you are in the habit of faithfully recording what God is doing.

Things that you are thankful for, prayer concerns.

But my question for you is do you ever go back and read it?

You ever go read where you were two years ago?

Because you might find as you read it, you'll be shocked.

Gosh, I really was afraid about that situation, wasn't I?

You'll hear your own voice, you'll hear your own pleadings to the Lord, and then you'll be able to look back and see, you know what?

God got me through that.

And then that little journal entry actually becomes a stone of Joshua, a remembrance stone, where you say, look at what the Lord did.

Number three, you should mark significant moments in your life.

God gave Israel the Passover celebration in order for them to year after year rehearse his faithfulness.

Now, I'm preaching to myself this morning.

I wish I knew the exact date of my spiritual birthday.

I wish I knew the exact date.

If you know, you should celebrate that every year, just like you do your birthday.

I do have a special Bible in my office.

And I remember I was reading when the Lord gave me my life verses.

And that Bible has a special spot in my office.

Another thing that you can do is you can write beside a significant passage either a date or a title that helps you remember how God spoke to you and how God used that passage.

I won't go into the details, but besides Psalm 89, my Bible reads Ian's Psalm.

Maybe for you it's a photograph, a letter, a song.

It's not superstitious.

It's you remembering.

I remember how God used this.

And finally, tell your stories.

Beloved, tell your children and your grandchildren.

Again, I'm preaching to myself.

Our children should inherit more from us than our theology.

They should inherit stories of God's faithfulness.

Where you articulate, there was a time in my life when it looked like every door was closed, and I had no clue how we were going to pay the bills, but God.

But God was faithful.

And church family, we need to hear each other's stories as well.

Growth groups, I've got an idea for you.

Why don't you periodically spend the first five minutes of your growth group and have someone stand up and give a five-minute testimony about what God has done or what God is doing.

Tell the stories because we are prone to forget.

And remember, forgetting leads to unbelief.

Now, one final reminder.

Remembering doesn't mean, hey, God gave me a job in the past when I was in a crisis, so therefore that means God will give me a job in this situation.

That's not what it means.

That's completely reductionistic.

Okay?

Remembering means I look back and I realize I can trust God's character.

I know who He is.

So in this situation, I may not know how or when or what it looks like.

But I know who.

And He is faithful.

Because, beloved, behind every answered prayer, behind every provision, behind every story of God's faithfulness stands the cross.

Because there will be seasons when you can't see straight.

You can't see beyond your nose.

Your prayers, they don't feel like they're being answered.

The crisis hasn't passed in nearly the time that you expected.

And you, like everyone, begins to wonder, God, have you forsaken me?

God, are you still working all things for my good?

Friend, at that moment.

Remember the cross.

Remember the God who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for you.

Remember that Jesus bore your sin.

He died your death.

And he rose again from the grave.

You see, the cross has already settled God's love for you.

And the resurrection has already settled God's power.

So therefore, in your circumstances, when you cannot understand what he is doing, remember what the cross has already shown you.

Will you pray with me?

Heavenly Father, we bow before your throne.

King Jesus, we want to be people that remember and that respond to you.

That you have been incredibly gracious and kind to prove yourself to us, to find us when we were far from you, and to woo us with compassion.

Father, we do not want to be like the Pharisees who harden their heart and who try and stand over your word.

King Jesus, we want to surrender.

Give us hearts that obey immediately.

May we fear a hardened heart.

And likewise, Jesus, may we fear forgetting your faithfulness.

Help us to be practical and intentional.

And remembering that, Jesus, you are a God who has been faithful time and time and time again.

So that we can face our current situation, our current circumstances.

And although there's fear, although there's uncertainty, Jesus, we trust you.

Allow us to see the cross with clarity.

You call us your own.

Amen.

Church family, the praise team is going to come lead us in two songs of response, and as always, we give time for you to respond to the word of the Lord.

However, the Spirit of God has stirred up in you, you must be obedient to respond to Him.

Because as we saw in our text this morning, even delayed obedience, your heart hardens.

We'll have ministers down here at the front who would love to pray with you.

We are a church, we are a family.

We're not here to just look nice and go through the motions.

We are here to beg our Father to meet with us and to grow us and to experience Him.

So whatever the Spirit of God has pressed upon your heart, be obedient.

Would you stand?