1
00:00:00,844 --> 00:00:20,470
Seeing as we have concluded First Peter uh and seeing as a result of having the evangelism
seminar and the things that oh we started with that, we kind of waylaid our study of Mark

2
00:00:20,470 --> 00:00:26,475
that we were doing on Sunday afternoons ah with the new schedule of the trainings and
things.

3
00:00:26,475 --> 00:00:30,062
What I have decided uh after I polled

4
00:00:30,062 --> 00:00:34,362
All the important people, mainly myself, no, I'm just kidding.

5
00:00:34,762 --> 00:00:46,822
No, what I decided is it would be good for us to pick up with that study of Mark and go
ahead and conclude through the remainder of the book of Mark before we head into something

6
00:00:46,822 --> 00:00:47,282
else.

7
00:00:47,282 --> 00:00:57,482
So that's what we're going to be doing, picking up there in chapter six where we left off
on our Sunday night studies in Mark.

8
00:00:57,882 --> 00:00:59,502
For those who.

9
00:00:59,502 --> 00:01:03,084
ah don't remember where we were or what we've already gone over.

10
00:01:03,084 --> 00:01:04,535
Those videos are on the website.

11
00:01:04,535 --> 00:01:09,598
You can go and listen to those or watch those and catch up to where we were at.

12
00:01:09,598 --> 00:01:16,833
But we're going to begin uh down about verse 30 of Mark chapter six this evening.

13
00:01:17,053 --> 00:01:22,696
And we'll continue on through the remainder of the book on Wednesday nights.

14
00:01:23,037 --> 00:01:24,968
Let's begin with a word of prayer.

15
00:01:25,761 --> 00:01:32,553
Our gracious Father in heaven, we bow before your throne, grateful for the day you've
granted to us and the life that we have.

16
00:01:32,793 --> 00:01:41,255
We're appreciative and honor you for all of the great things that you do for us each and
every day.

17
00:01:41,315 --> 00:01:54,988
So many things that we do not even understand, we do not appreciate, and we do not have a
way to grasp and to realize how you work in this world and in the lives of individuals.

18
00:01:55,084 --> 00:02:00,157
And yet we know that all things work together for good to those that love the Lord.

19
00:02:00,157 --> 00:02:06,821
And we know that your Son came and died on the cross for our sins, that we might have the
hope of eternal life.

20
00:02:06,821 --> 00:02:11,604
And through His power, through His Word, all things are upheld.

21
00:02:11,604 --> 00:02:15,834
Lord, we pray that you will forgive us when we sin and fall short of your glory.

22
00:02:15,834 --> 00:02:19,048
We pray that we might always walk in the light as you were in the light.

23
00:02:19,048 --> 00:02:22,250
All this we pray and ask in Jesus' name, amen.

24
00:02:28,137 --> 00:02:39,413
In Mark chapter 6, we had just concluded reading and studying about the end of the life of
John.

25
00:02:40,194 --> 00:02:47,958
And John came to an end, his life came to an end as a result of what?

26
00:02:51,374 --> 00:02:56,416
Alright, He was beheaded by Herod at the request of who?

27
00:02:58,192 --> 00:03:14,822
All right, Herodias, his wife, who He was in a relationship with that was adulterous
because she was actually Philip, his brother's wife, ah but He had married her and so her

28
00:03:14,822 --> 00:03:23,747
daughter had danced before Herod and his leaders and had pleased him and He had offered
her up to...

29
00:03:23,747 --> 00:03:34,436
half of the kingdom and what she came back with by way of a response after talking with
her mother was, want the head of John the Baptist on a platter.

30
00:03:34,436 --> 00:03:37,398
And so that's exactly what she received.

31
00:03:38,559 --> 00:03:39,700
You get down to verse 30.

32
00:03:39,700 --> 00:03:51,349
In Mark chapter 6, then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told him all things, both what
they had done and what they had taught.

33
00:03:53,101 --> 00:03:58,633
context of this is you gotta go back to verse 7 of chapter 6 verse 7.

34
00:03:58,633 --> 00:04:07,727
He called the 12 to himself, began to send them out two by two, gave them power over
unclean spirits, commanded them to take nothing for the journey except the staff.

35
00:04:07,727 --> 00:04:14,920
No bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts, but to wear sandals and not to put on
two tunics.

36
00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:21,163
He also said to them in whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from
that place.

37
00:04:21,163 --> 00:04:29,681
And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the
dust under your feet as a testimony against them.

38
00:04:29,681 --> 00:04:36,818
Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of
judgment than for that city.

39
00:04:36,818 --> 00:04:41,462
So they went out and preached that the people should repent.

40
00:04:41,462 --> 00:04:47,267
And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

41
00:04:47,311 --> 00:04:56,951
Then go down to verse 30, then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told him all things,
both what they had done and what they had taught.

42
00:04:57,451 --> 00:05:01,051
So Jesus didn't just send out the twelve.

43
00:05:01,051 --> 00:05:08,211
Jesus expected the twelve to come back and give him a report concerning the things that
were done.

44
00:05:08,331 --> 00:05:16,379
And Jesus wanted to know and they presented to Jesus both the events that occurred, the
things that they did.

45
00:05:16,379 --> 00:05:20,822
and also the things which they taught.

46
00:05:21,223 --> 00:05:37,245
Is it appropriate when a congregation or when uh a church sends out individuals into the
mission field or into a work, is it appropriate for the church that sent them out to

47
00:05:37,245 --> 00:05:39,997
inquire concerning what they teach?

48
00:05:40,938 --> 00:05:42,239
Absolutely.

49
00:05:42,793 --> 00:05:50,609
Is it appropriate for the individual who is being sent out to realize that they will be
held accountable for what they teach?

50
00:05:51,230 --> 00:05:52,410
Yes.

51
00:05:52,711 --> 00:05:56,193
And that principle is visible right here.

52
00:05:56,273 --> 00:06:00,596
Jesus didn't send them out and say, teach whatever you want.

53
00:06:00,757 --> 00:06:09,633
He didn't send them out and give them the permission to just decide what needed to be
taught and what didn't.

54
00:06:09,675 --> 00:06:11,676
Jesus sent them out with a message.

55
00:06:11,676 --> 00:06:16,340
They were to preach the same doctrine, the same message that He taught.

56
00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:24,306
And they were to prepare the way for Him to go into these cities.

57
00:06:28,717 --> 00:06:37,871
Verse 31, we read, and He said to them, come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and
rest for a while.

58
00:06:38,132 --> 00:06:45,395
For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

59
00:06:46,175 --> 00:06:53,871
As the disciples come back from having been sent out into these cities, they come back and

60
00:06:53,871 --> 00:07:06,331
While they were gone did all the crowds diminish and there wasn't anybody around Jesus and
so when they came back all the people who were around Jesus and the multitudes had just

61
00:07:06,331 --> 00:07:09,831
kind of disappeared and they were no longer there?

62
00:07:10,391 --> 00:07:11,151
No.

63
00:07:11,151 --> 00:07:23,439
As matter of fact, it was to the point when they arrived back they immediately were back
into the throng in the midst of everything that was going on with the multitudes.

64
00:07:23,439 --> 00:07:31,759
And the text is telling us that they didn't even have time to stop and eat, let alone do
anything else.

65
00:07:32,499 --> 00:07:46,059
When you are busy and when you are working and when there are a lot of demands from all
around you on your time, sometimes you look up and realize, it's been like seven, eight,

66
00:07:46,059 --> 00:07:47,139
nine hours.

67
00:07:47,479 --> 00:07:51,479
Stop, sit down, let alone eat.

68
00:07:52,855 --> 00:07:55,157
And that was the situation with the disciples.

69
00:07:55,157 --> 00:08:02,943
Now, you notice Jesus is going to tell them to come aside.

70
00:08:03,364 --> 00:08:11,401
Jesus is going to separate them from all of that in order to do what?

71
00:08:19,245 --> 00:08:25,014
What is it that Jesus tells them to separate themselves in order to do?

72
00:08:26,947 --> 00:08:28,054
to rest.

73
00:08:32,289 --> 00:08:33,402
Is it?

74
00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:48,499
scriptural, is it a biblically wise thing to go nonstop and never rest?

75
00:08:49,359 --> 00:08:51,539
No, quite to the contrary.

76
00:08:52,459 --> 00:09:06,055
Scripture declares in many different ways, all going all the way back to the Old Testament
and in the New Testament, that God designed us to need rest.

77
00:09:06,925 --> 00:09:15,639
God designed the world in such a way as to go through cycles of productivity and rest.

78
00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:25,045
What was one of the condemnations that God gave against Israel when God took them into
captivity in Babylon?

79
00:09:25,045 --> 00:09:30,347
What was one of the things that God said they were condemned as a result of?

80
00:09:31,915 --> 00:09:35,914
and even it set the duration of their captivity.

81
00:09:38,837 --> 00:09:39,728
All right?

82
00:09:39,728 --> 00:09:42,569
They didn't observe the Sabbath years.

83
00:09:42,569 --> 00:09:47,251
That was the opportunity for the land to rest.

84
00:09:47,692 --> 00:09:53,335
God told them that every seven years they were to plant no crops.

85
00:09:53,675 --> 00:09:56,957
They were to harvest nothing off of the land.

86
00:09:56,957 --> 00:10:03,421
Even that which grew of its own, they were to allow the animals to consume.

87
00:10:03,421 --> 00:10:08,533
It was to allow the land to rest.

88
00:10:09,153 --> 00:10:15,866
God designed the world that we live in to go through cycles.

89
00:10:17,106 --> 00:10:27,291
And so while God expects people to have wisdom about how they use the land, He also
expects them to have wisdom about themselves.

90
00:10:28,372 --> 00:10:35,795
How often did God set by way of a cycle of rest for his people in the Old Testament?

91
00:10:39,631 --> 00:10:41,391
Seven days.

92
00:10:41,491 --> 00:10:43,351
What was the day of rest?

93
00:10:44,251 --> 00:10:45,651
The Sabbath day.

94
00:10:46,191 --> 00:10:56,991
Now that day was set aside both for rest and for focus on God.

95
00:10:58,131 --> 00:10:58,991
Watch this.

96
00:10:58,991 --> 00:11:07,851
As Jesus says to them, come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile.

97
00:11:09,901 --> 00:11:16,174
There is more to rest than just relaxing.

98
00:11:18,091 --> 00:11:25,033
It is the opportunity to refocus on priorities.

99
00:11:26,274 --> 00:11:37,798
As you're continually inundated on a daily basis if you're in the situation the disciples
were by this person who's sick and this person who's in need and this thing that needs to

100
00:11:37,798 --> 00:11:42,279
be done and all of the things that are good things to do.

101
00:11:44,203 --> 00:11:47,859
Is it easy to lose sight of yourself?

102
00:11:49,707 --> 00:11:56,271
Is it easy to lose sight of your relationship with God because you're trying to help
everyone else?

103
00:11:57,313 --> 00:12:12,523
I've known more than a few, unfortunately more than a few preachers who have been so
focused in their ministry on helping everyone else spiritually that they lose their faith.

104
00:12:14,253 --> 00:12:24,430
because they never actually took time to focus on their own faith instead of everybody
else's.

105
00:12:25,331 --> 00:12:43,763
Jesus is going to emphasize in this action and in many other occasions as we read
throughout different texts the importance of slowing down, of resting, and prioritizing.

106
00:12:44,079 --> 00:12:50,859
focusing on oneself and one's priorities.

107
00:12:51,159 --> 00:12:56,879
Verse 32 we read, so they departed to a deserted place in a boat by themselves.

108
00:12:57,139 --> 00:13:04,759
But the multitude saw them departing and many knew him and ran there on foot from all the
cities.

109
00:13:04,819 --> 00:13:09,519
They arrived before them and came together to him.

110
00:13:10,579 --> 00:13:20,313
as Jesus calls the disciples to separate themselves, to come out to a place that's
deserted so that they're out away from the cities.

111
00:13:20,313 --> 00:13:24,255
This uh doesn't mean that they went to a desert.

112
00:13:24,255 --> 00:13:30,787
It means that they went to a place where the cities and the multitudes were not a
wilderness area.

113
00:13:32,128 --> 00:13:39,491
There are those who are watching them and observing them, and they realize where they're
going because they know

114
00:13:39,491 --> 00:13:45,915
the tendencies, they know the traits as the text kind of gives us an indication.

115
00:13:46,016 --> 00:13:49,998
And so they rushed on foot to beat them there.

116
00:13:50,799 --> 00:14:02,867
So you leave the multitudes, you leave all the requests of your time and effort and energy
only to arrive and find all the requests still there.

117
00:14:05,315 --> 00:14:16,674
think we've all experienced uh the days where something happens and as a result of that
thing happening, whether that be we forget and leave our phone at the house or we just

118
00:14:16,674 --> 00:14:26,311
happen to be out of contact for a day and then we come back and the list that we had when
the day started is now just that much bigger.

119
00:14:29,379 --> 00:14:33,119
They arrive at the shore, and the multitudes are already there.

120
00:14:35,959 --> 00:14:47,945
And the text tells us that Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved
with compassion for them.

121
00:14:50,709 --> 00:14:52,145
Jesus!

122
00:14:55,297 --> 00:15:03,715
had compassion on his disciples, but Jesus also had compassion on the multitudes.

123
00:15:05,077 --> 00:15:16,468
And it's a hard balance to strike when you have many people who need you and then you have
a few people who need you.

124
00:15:17,190 --> 00:15:18,761
One of the things that

125
00:15:20,429 --> 00:15:29,763
we've discussed often in our family growing up, my household, is my dad had grown up in
the church.

126
00:15:29,803 --> 00:15:33,844
His father was an elder in the congregation where they attended.

127
00:15:33,844 --> 00:15:44,989
ah And a friend of his had asked him, He lived down in Gainesville, Florida at the time, a
friend who was in Michigan asked him, will you go to the Florida School of Preaching and

128
00:15:44,989 --> 00:15:46,300
get information for me?

129
00:15:46,300 --> 00:15:47,600
Because this is the 1970s.

130
00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:49,773
There was no email, there was no website.

131
00:15:49,773 --> 00:15:54,106
He wanted information about this school of preaching because He was considering going.

132
00:15:54,327 --> 00:16:04,555
And He asked dad to go get the information for him since He was fairly local by comparison
to Michigan and send it to him.

133
00:16:04,555 --> 00:16:12,421
And so dad went and looked and got the information from the school there in Florida and uh
sent it to Lee.

134
00:16:13,082 --> 00:16:19,087
But in the midst of that, mom had the conversation with dad, well, you've gotten all this
information for Lee.

135
00:16:19,277 --> 00:16:21,438
What do you think about going yourself?

136
00:16:23,681 --> 00:16:34,433
And dad said, of course, no kids at the time, fairly recently married, a couple of years
into marriage, I don't know that I want to be a preacher.

137
00:16:36,097 --> 00:16:37,845
And mom said, why not?

138
00:16:37,845 --> 00:16:40,876
And He said, well.

139
00:16:43,113 --> 00:17:00,270
All my life I've grown up watching preachers who work all day and all week to try and save
the world and they lose their own family and their own children aren't Christians.

140
00:17:01,011 --> 00:17:12,033
And He said, I've kind of decided that if that's what it costs and that's what it means to
be a preacher, then I won't be one because I'd rather...

141
00:17:12,033 --> 00:17:17,644
my children and my family be saved, then try and save the whole world.

142
00:17:19,405 --> 00:17:26,287
Anybody who knows my mother can just picture, she looked at him and she said, well, we'll
make a deal.

143
00:17:26,687 --> 00:17:37,490
If you want to be a preacher, you go become a preacher and if you get too far out focused
on the world and not focused enough on the family, then I'll tell you.

144
00:17:37,970 --> 00:17:39,401
And that was their arrangement.

145
00:17:39,401 --> 00:17:40,841
That was their agreement.

146
00:17:43,475 --> 00:17:49,917
And the focus was, yes, it's important to preach to the world.

147
00:17:49,917 --> 00:17:51,887
Yes, it's important to evangelize.

148
00:17:51,887 --> 00:17:54,278
Yes, it's important to help the church.

149
00:17:54,278 --> 00:18:00,499
Yes, it's important to do all of those things, but not at the expense of those who are
closest to you.

150
00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:04,501
So Jesus is trying to help His disciples.

151
00:18:04,501 --> 00:18:13,513
He's trying to prepare His disciples and have compassion on them and provide the rest that
they need, while at the same time, here's this multitude.

152
00:18:14,489 --> 00:18:26,497
So when they arrive at the other side, and the multitude is still there, Jesus has
compassion on the multitude, and the text tells us because they were like sheep not having

153
00:18:26,497 --> 00:18:27,477
a shepherd.

154
00:18:30,869 --> 00:18:36,814
Jesus saw the predicament that Israel was in.

155
00:18:38,775 --> 00:18:42,196
This is the northern region of Galilee.

156
00:18:42,796 --> 00:18:46,417
This is there on the Lake Gennesaret.

157
00:18:47,518 --> 00:19:01,981
And as these events are transpiring, you see a group of people and a nation that they
represent, and they're searching for anything.

158
00:19:02,542 --> 00:19:07,383
They're searching for someone to guide them.

159
00:19:10,807 --> 00:19:17,409
And so Jesus sees their scenario and He has compassion on them.

160
00:19:17,409 --> 00:19:21,970
So He began to teach them many things, the text says.

161
00:19:22,430 --> 00:19:31,273
When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, This is a deserted
place and already the hour is late.

162
00:19:31,473 --> 00:19:32,953
Send them away.

163
00:19:33,113 --> 00:19:39,935
They may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread for they
have nothing to eat.

164
00:19:40,983 --> 00:19:45,353
Now, how did they come to where they are, this multitude?

165
00:19:48,301 --> 00:19:49,451
They ran.

166
00:19:50,372 --> 00:19:52,133
They saw what was going on.

167
00:19:52,133 --> 00:20:00,636
They saw where Jesus was going and they just dropped it all and left to where they could
be there when He arrived.

168
00:20:01,557 --> 00:20:09,100
So here they are at the end of the day, no provisions, no preparations.

169
00:20:10,321 --> 00:20:15,913
And the distance had been, least by indication of the text, quite considerable.

170
00:20:16,867 --> 00:20:24,394
So now the day is far spent, they have nothing to eat, and the disciples say, send them
on.

171
00:20:25,316 --> 00:20:32,533
Now there are a few times where preachers have been encouraged to stop teaching so the
people could go eat.

172
00:20:34,255 --> 00:20:35,916
That's one of these occasions.

173
00:20:39,383 --> 00:20:43,731
He answered and said to them, you give them something to eat.

174
00:20:52,515 --> 00:20:54,275
Does Jesus

175
00:20:56,141 --> 00:21:04,063
tell them how to do it when He initially commands them to do it.

176
00:21:10,861 --> 00:21:17,522
Are there any other commands in Scripture where God doesn't give us anything more than the
command?

177
00:21:19,905 --> 00:21:28,285
and expects that we can use wisdom and appropriately carry out the command?

178
00:21:29,687 --> 00:21:31,068
Absolutely.

179
00:21:32,571 --> 00:21:39,719
Jesus says, you're telling me to send them away, you feed them.

180
00:21:41,591 --> 00:21:56,588
Now, if you've kind of kept in mind as we read through Jesus sending out the disciples and
what they did while they were there, what did the text tell us about what the disciples

181
00:21:56,588 --> 00:21:59,010
did while they were sent out?

182
00:22:00,232 --> 00:22:03,315
They taught, but what else did they do?

183
00:22:10,968 --> 00:22:12,507
Back to verse 13.

184
00:22:18,031 --> 00:22:19,594
All right?

185
00:22:19,594 --> 00:22:27,186
While the disciples were separated from Jesus, they were able to cast out demons.

186
00:22:28,149 --> 00:22:29,870
They were able to heal people.

187
00:22:32,491 --> 00:22:37,943
So when Jesus tells the disciples, you feed them.

188
00:22:39,673 --> 00:22:46,980
It's not as though they're unacquainted with the idea of performing a miracle.

189
00:22:48,122 --> 00:22:58,432
It's not as though that would have been outside the possibility for them to do as they had
just gone throughout the region doing that.

190
00:23:03,412 --> 00:23:13,924
This is one of those times where Jesus is measuring their understanding and their faith.

191
00:23:16,344 --> 00:23:27,729
You know, there are passages in Psalms and others where the psalmist writer declares to
God, search me and try me.

192
00:23:28,290 --> 00:23:37,154
Test me, God, to see whether or not I'll be faithful, to see whether or not I am what I
believe to be which is faithful to you.

193
00:23:37,154 --> 00:23:41,236
Jesus is going to test the disciples through this command.

194
00:23:42,044 --> 00:23:44,148
You say send them away.

195
00:23:44,148 --> 00:23:46,931
I'm saying go take care of them.

196
00:23:48,896 --> 00:23:55,839
Now, watch the comparison in the text.

197
00:23:56,380 --> 00:24:07,325
Why did Jesus have compassion on the multitude as He observed them as the boat came to
shore?

198
00:24:07,485 --> 00:24:13,008
What did the text tell us that Jesus saw in the multitude?

199
00:24:14,910 --> 00:24:18,186
Sheep without a shepherd.

200
00:24:18,809 --> 00:24:23,599
What is one of the roles of a shepherd?

201
00:24:26,306 --> 00:24:31,398
tending and feeding the flock.

202
00:24:32,219 --> 00:24:35,640
But what did the disciples want Jesus to do?

203
00:24:37,241 --> 00:24:38,741
Send them away.

204
00:24:39,362 --> 00:24:43,683
Let them be someone else's problem.

205
00:24:44,844 --> 00:24:47,345
We don't have the capacity for this.

206
00:24:47,345 --> 00:24:49,486
We don't have the preparations for this.

207
00:24:49,486 --> 00:24:53,348
They don't have, the sheep did not bring their own food.

208
00:24:56,172 --> 00:25:02,583
How many shepherds get out into the wilderness with the flock and go, what, y'all didn't
bring anything?

209
00:25:06,570 --> 00:25:08,661
Nobody thought to pack a lunch.

210
00:25:09,180 --> 00:25:11,042
Is that what the shepherd does?

211
00:25:12,423 --> 00:25:13,484
No.

212
00:25:14,144 --> 00:25:18,867
The shepherd supplies the preparation.

213
00:25:19,467 --> 00:25:24,490
The shepherd leads them to the good pastures.

214
00:25:25,411 --> 00:25:30,553
But the disciples are saying, listen, we can't be the shepherd.

215
00:25:30,774 --> 00:25:35,116
Send them away and let them go shepherd themselves.

216
00:25:38,166 --> 00:25:44,136
And Jesus turns it around and says, no, you shepherd them.

217
00:25:44,803 --> 00:25:48,527
You take the responsibility.

218
00:25:48,527 --> 00:25:53,572
You bear the burden of being the shepherd.

219
00:25:57,924 --> 00:26:02,786
Was that referring to both their physical and spiritual conditions like He knew?

220
00:26:02,786 --> 00:26:12,611
mean because the religious leaders in that time were not what they needed to have been
anyways and the first thing He did was start to teach them, assuming like always it was a

221
00:26:12,611 --> 00:26:13,591
spiritual teaching.

222
00:26:13,591 --> 00:26:17,713
So is this a physical and spiritual observation He made?

223
00:26:17,713 --> 00:26:24,146
uh I believe it would be a combination of both the physical and the spiritual observation.

224
00:26:24,146 --> 00:26:28,118
The physical is the manifestation of the spiritual condition.

225
00:26:28,118 --> 00:26:44,470
People who have the wisdom, the knowledge, the insight, the leadership that they have a
need for, don't go running across the shore to get in front of a teacher.

226
00:26:45,871 --> 00:26:47,572
And yet these people did.

227
00:26:47,672 --> 00:26:52,796
That was a physical manifestation of a spiritual condition.

228
00:26:53,656 --> 00:27:00,836
Their actions were exhibiting their spiritual need, and Jesus recognizes that.

229
00:27:01,076 --> 00:27:10,576
But now the disciples are saying, listen, due to the physical needs, we need to send them
away, not keep them here.

230
00:27:11,716 --> 00:27:19,656
And Jesus challenges the disciples to stop thinking like everyone else.

231
00:27:22,588 --> 00:27:42,402
One of the things that Paul says as He writes to Corinth and as He writes to other
churches is when they are acting and behaving in a very non-spiritual way.

232
00:27:42,923 --> 00:27:49,208
When He wants to teach them spiritual things, yet they are not able to understand
spiritual things.

233
00:27:50,112 --> 00:27:56,130
He accuses them of thinking like the Gentiles.

234
00:27:58,368 --> 00:28:07,233
His emphasis is, you are the people of God, you shouldn't relate to the world around you.

235
00:28:07,233 --> 00:28:13,597
You should not relate to life's events as if you were pagans.

236
00:28:14,557 --> 00:28:18,100
As if you've got to do it all yourself because guess what?

237
00:28:18,100 --> 00:28:24,403
In spite of the fact that you prayed to that God, that God doesn't exist and He can't help
you.

238
00:28:28,598 --> 00:28:37,274
So Jesus challenges the disciples to stop thinking like pagans.

239
00:28:38,577 --> 00:28:45,503
To stop thinking like they don't belong to God the Father.

240
00:28:46,745 --> 00:28:50,560
What is it that Jesus taught over in Matthew chapter 7?

241
00:28:50,560 --> 00:29:00,895
Or Matthew chapter 6, there at the end of Matthew chapter 6 about taking thought or having
anxiousness or anxiety about the things of this life.

242
00:29:00,895 --> 00:29:03,466
What we shall eat, what you shall wear.

243
00:29:03,466 --> 00:29:05,226
What does He teach about that?

244
00:29:07,487 --> 00:29:09,508
Seek first the kingdom of God.

245
00:29:10,589 --> 00:29:14,070
And all these things shall be added unto you.

246
00:29:15,671 --> 00:29:18,352
He's challenging his disciples to do that.

247
00:29:19,478 --> 00:29:26,033
He's challenging them to rely on God and not without precedence.

248
00:29:26,033 --> 00:29:27,494
They've just been sent out.

249
00:29:27,494 --> 00:29:30,896
When He sent them out, what food were they to take with them?

250
00:29:32,704 --> 00:29:33,585
None.

251
00:29:33,827 --> 00:29:36,131
How much money were they to take with them?

252
00:29:36,634 --> 00:29:37,575
None.

253
00:29:39,340 --> 00:29:42,463
How many extra changes of clothes were they to take?

254
00:29:43,965 --> 00:29:45,005
None.

255
00:29:45,827 --> 00:29:51,412
Now Jesus just sent them out and said, God will provide for you.

256
00:29:53,716 --> 00:29:59,426
Now He's challenging them to apply that again.

257
00:30:00,836 --> 00:30:02,184
So.

258
00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:13,880
They said to him, shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give them something
to eat?

259
00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:27,340
Jesus, are you asking us to go out and spend 200 days wages to go feed these people?

260
00:30:30,326 --> 00:30:34,385
By the way, the implication of the question is we don't have the money.

261
00:30:35,469 --> 00:30:36,831
We don't have that.

262
00:30:37,216 --> 00:30:38,615
Where are we going get it?

263
00:30:42,976 --> 00:30:47,498
Then He said to them, how many loaves do you have?

264
00:30:48,118 --> 00:30:49,318
Go and see.

265
00:30:50,379 --> 00:30:54,921
When they found out, they said five and two fish.

266
00:30:55,781 --> 00:31:01,363
Then He commanded them to make all, make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.

267
00:31:02,044 --> 00:31:04,605
So, by the way, how do we know it wasn't a desert?

268
00:31:05,656 --> 00:31:07,766
It's green grass, okay?

269
00:31:09,067 --> 00:31:09,827
Must be nice.

270
00:31:09,827 --> 00:31:10,991
Certainly wasn't in Mississippi.

271
00:31:10,991 --> 00:31:12,608
It would have been a pile of weeds.

272
00:31:13,888 --> 00:31:16,189
So He has them sit down on the green grass.

273
00:31:16,189 --> 00:31:20,090
They sat down in ranks in hundreds and in fifties.

274
00:31:21,471 --> 00:31:33,416
And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He took, He looked up to heaven,
blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples and to set before them.

275
00:31:33,737 --> 00:31:36,618
And the two fish He divided among them all.

276
00:31:37,498 --> 00:31:41,700
So they all ate and were filled.

277
00:31:42,904 --> 00:31:49,664
and they took up 12 baskets full of fragments and of the fish.

278
00:31:50,424 --> 00:31:54,984
Now those who had eaten the loaves were about 5,000 men.

279
00:31:57,366 --> 00:32:00,683
So Jesus has them sit the people down.

280
00:32:05,450 --> 00:32:08,955
and He blesses the food.

281
00:32:13,740 --> 00:32:17,654
What was one of the things that Jesus taught His disciples to pray for?

282
00:32:20,177 --> 00:32:26,422
Give us this day our daily bread.

283
00:32:29,016 --> 00:32:37,115
Do you notice the phrase is not, thank you for our daily bread?

284
00:32:40,392 --> 00:32:46,582
It's give us this day our daily bread.

285
00:32:47,705 --> 00:32:54,635
It is a request, not a thankfulness for a pre-existing provision.

286
00:32:57,236 --> 00:33:09,324
It is an expression of trust, of God's provision, and not an expectation that we have
already provided it ourselves.

287
00:33:14,334 --> 00:33:21,668
And Jesus here blesses the bread and divides it among the disciples.

288
00:33:22,809 --> 00:33:29,412
And they start, you can picture it, here's group one of a hundred people.

289
00:33:30,853 --> 00:33:32,975
They take the basket and they hand it.

290
00:33:32,975 --> 00:33:40,038
Now, the easiest way to think about this is think about the way we used to pass the
collection plate, right?

291
00:33:40,379 --> 00:33:42,760
Or pass the communion.

292
00:33:43,521 --> 00:33:44,775
pre-COVID.

293
00:33:46,762 --> 00:33:49,301
And it went down, it went down the road.

294
00:33:51,136 --> 00:33:52,740
This person got plenty.

295
00:33:52,740 --> 00:33:54,123
This person got plenty.

296
00:33:54,123 --> 00:33:55,486
That person got plenty.

297
00:33:55,486 --> 00:33:56,258
That person.

298
00:33:56,258 --> 00:33:56,969
That person.

299
00:33:56,969 --> 00:33:58,171
That person.

300
00:34:02,942 --> 00:34:23,878
One of the illustrations from the Old Testament is of the woman who comes to the prophet
and says, the landlord has just come to me and told me that if I don't pay the debt, He's

301
00:34:23,878 --> 00:34:32,420
going to take my two sons because my husband who was a prophet, a son of the prophets, is
dead.

302
00:34:33,118 --> 00:34:37,575
And now here I am destitute and and He's going to take my only two children.

303
00:34:39,372 --> 00:34:41,184
What did the prophet tell her to do?

304
00:34:44,886 --> 00:34:49,337
Go borrow jars and containers from all the people you know.

305
00:34:49,337 --> 00:34:50,419
What else?

306
00:34:55,938 --> 00:34:59,425
Go in the house, shut the doors.

307
00:35:01,758 --> 00:35:04,853
Start filling from the one jar of oil that you have.

308
00:35:04,853 --> 00:35:06,267
Fill the containers.

309
00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:15,591
What happens when the mother says to the sons, hand me another container?

310
00:35:15,591 --> 00:35:17,695
And they say, there aren't anymore.

311
00:35:20,918 --> 00:35:24,195
suddenly the oil stops reproducing.

312
00:35:25,620 --> 00:35:30,791
Because every time she pulled out of one jar into another jar, her jar was still full.

313
00:35:32,982 --> 00:35:45,447
That's just one example of an Old Testament occasion where God delivered to someone
because of their need the physical things they needed.

314
00:35:48,780 --> 00:35:49,682
True or false?

315
00:35:49,682 --> 00:35:53,950
The disciples were aware of what God had done in the past.

316
00:35:55,235 --> 00:35:56,255
True!

317
00:35:59,138 --> 00:36:04,479
So why couldn't they trust as much as the woman who was told by the prophet to go?

318
00:36:08,396 --> 00:36:11,087
And the answer usually is...

319
00:36:13,366 --> 00:36:15,717
that they themselves needed a shepherd.

320
00:36:17,974 --> 00:36:35,607
they needed someone who knew that God could provide so that they could rely on the faith
of someone else, so that they could trust in the word of the prophet and just go do what

321
00:36:35,607 --> 00:36:36,538
He said.

322
00:36:37,839 --> 00:36:44,584
And the challenge that Jesus presents all through this event and others

323
00:36:47,538 --> 00:36:58,463
is for disciples to, yes, be disciples, but to not be reliant on the faith of someone
else.

324
00:37:00,384 --> 00:37:06,003
to have their own faith in God.

325
00:37:08,298 --> 00:37:12,114
So they do as they're told.

326
00:37:12,957 --> 00:37:14,900
They hand out the baskets.

327
00:37:17,492 --> 00:37:32,084
and the first person has enough and the second person has enough and the 4,000th person
has enough and the 5,000th person has enough and when it's all over, they had five loaves

328
00:37:32,084 --> 00:37:33,865
and two fish left, right?

329
00:37:34,986 --> 00:37:37,888
No, they had more left over than they started with.

330
00:37:40,022 --> 00:37:45,637
because God provided abundantly.

331
00:37:47,179 --> 00:37:48,819
Turn over to Ephesians.

332
00:38:03,264 --> 00:38:06,564
verse of Ephesians chapter 3.

333
00:38:06,965 --> 00:38:22,370
For this reason, Paul says, I bow my knees to the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, from
whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you according to

334
00:38:22,370 --> 00:38:31,052
the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man.

335
00:38:31,968 --> 00:38:47,560
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in
love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth

336
00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:58,128
and height, and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled
with all the fullness of God.

337
00:38:59,444 --> 00:39:18,331
Now to him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think
according to the power that works in us, to him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to

338
00:39:18,331 --> 00:39:20,342
all generations forever and ever.

339
00:39:20,342 --> 00:39:21,263
Amen.

340
00:39:22,525 --> 00:39:26,968
Paul, as He writes to the church at Ephesus,

341
00:39:28,224 --> 00:39:33,415
says, wish, I desire that God grant you...

342
00:39:36,736 --> 00:39:45,447
grace, glory, strength, and faith.

343
00:39:48,032 --> 00:39:53,230
So you could have knowledge.

344
00:39:55,350 --> 00:40:01,479
but even more than that, that you could have what God gives that passes knowledge.

345
00:40:03,424 --> 00:40:10,927
What did the apostles have by way of knowledge when Jesus commanded them to go feed the
multitude?

346
00:40:16,088 --> 00:40:22,788
Their knowledge said, we don't have enough.

347
00:40:26,656 --> 00:40:28,681
Were they're right or wrong?

348
00:40:35,136 --> 00:40:37,412
Okay, didn't have enough faith.

349
00:40:41,672 --> 00:40:43,988
It always matters who's in the we.

350
00:40:47,180 --> 00:40:50,469
We don't have enough.

351
00:40:50,469 --> 00:40:51,751
Who is we?

352
00:40:54,198 --> 00:40:55,752
Did they have enough?

353
00:40:55,752 --> 00:40:56,712
No.

354
00:40:57,515 --> 00:41:01,603
Did they plus God have enough?

355
00:41:03,188 --> 00:41:05,632
Yes, more than enough.

356
00:41:07,692 --> 00:41:12,972
You see, their knowledge discounted God.

357
00:41:15,544 --> 00:41:22,084
Their knowledge said, we can only do what we can do.

358
00:41:24,574 --> 00:41:29,273
And so they looked at the command and said, we can't do it.

359
00:41:29,335 --> 00:41:32,039
We aren't sufficient.

360
00:41:34,604 --> 00:41:47,307
Question, when Jesus said, give them something to eat, did Jesus give in that command the
instruction, you do it by yourself without the help of God?

361
00:41:49,612 --> 00:41:50,412
No.

362
00:41:51,655 --> 00:41:58,443
When Jesus says, into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, He that
believeth in his baptism shall be saved, He that believeth not shall be damned, does He

363
00:41:58,443 --> 00:42:00,745
give the instruction to do it without God?

364
00:42:02,288 --> 00:42:03,068
No.

365
00:42:06,568 --> 00:42:11,207
See, Jesus is teaching them.

366
00:42:13,812 --> 00:42:21,678
that we ought to always include God in the decision.

367
00:42:23,159 --> 00:42:29,784
That we ought to always consider God's resources in the decision.

368
00:42:32,128 --> 00:42:36,738
And when we do, we have to face this reality.

369
00:42:38,123 --> 00:42:40,327
God has no lack of resources.

370
00:42:42,528 --> 00:42:48,359
God is not bound by our limitations on resources.

371
00:42:50,322 --> 00:42:55,014
but we will always be bound by our limitations of our faith.

372
00:42:58,432 --> 00:43:00,699
Jesus knew what God was able to do.

373
00:43:02,484 --> 00:43:06,898
Jesus knew that they needed to learn to trust God.

374
00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:28,018
Now, as we wrap up, I want us to notice that the limitation of the faith of the apostles
was rooted in what they had observed Him already do.

375
00:43:32,150 --> 00:43:35,216
Had they witnessed Jesus casting out demons?

376
00:43:35,919 --> 00:43:36,960
Yes.

377
00:43:37,543 --> 00:43:42,473
So when He gave them the ability to do so, they had faith they could do it.

378
00:43:44,394 --> 00:43:46,955
had they witnessed him healing people?

379
00:43:47,236 --> 00:43:48,216
Yes.

380
00:43:49,417 --> 00:43:56,562
So, when He gave them the ability to do so and commanded them to go out, they had faith
they could do it.

381
00:43:59,008 --> 00:44:07,228
Had they ever witnessed him feed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish prior to this
occasion?

382
00:44:07,950 --> 00:44:08,730
No.

383
00:44:11,734 --> 00:44:14,024
so they had no faith they could do it.

384
00:44:16,714 --> 00:44:32,313
And one of the struggles that we have to overcome is not limiting ourselves by what we
have observed others accomplishing.

385
00:44:35,518 --> 00:44:49,286
One of the biggest challenges that small churches have is they look at other small
churches and they assume that they can only do what only small churches can do.

386
00:44:51,732 --> 00:44:56,328
and therefore they self-limit their expectations.

387
00:44:57,230 --> 00:45:08,445
Well, if we were just bigger, if we just had more of this, if we just had more of that, if
there were just more opportunities...

388
00:45:10,776 --> 00:45:23,840
Maybe if we just acted more out of faith than out of knowledge of our own resources, we
would have all of those things.

389
00:45:24,940 --> 00:45:32,782
And we would stop limiting ourselves by our own resources.

390
00:45:33,663 --> 00:45:35,040
Thank you for your attention.