1
00:00:00,150 --> 00:00:03,296
Bibles, if you will, and open them to the book of Mark.

2
00:00:03,959 --> 00:00:11,312
As we continue our study of the book of Mark, we are in chapter 6.

3
00:00:22,936 --> 00:00:36,170
And we got down to ah around verse 45 as we concluded our study a couple of weeks ago, the
last time we were here in the Book of Mark on Wednesday night.

4
00:00:36,170 --> 00:00:41,271
So we'll be picking up in Mark chapter six, verse 45, after a word of prayer.

5
00:00:41,271 --> 00:00:43,192
But let's bow our head.

6
00:00:44,552 --> 00:00:49,774
Our gracious Lord, Father, giver of all good and perfect gifts.

7
00:00:50,114 --> 00:01:00,957
We're grateful for your blessings, for your love and your kindness, for the sunshine that
you provide, the rain that nourishes the ground, for the patterns and the cycles in this

8
00:01:00,957 --> 00:01:06,979
planet that give life to all who are in it and are upheld by the word of your power.

9
00:01:07,259 --> 00:01:13,640
Lord, we pray that you will be with nations and leaders throughout those nations.

10
00:01:13,841 --> 00:01:18,542
We pray for those who lead cities and counties and states.

11
00:01:18,776 --> 00:01:30,749
pray that they will make choices that do not hold back the furtherance and the spread of
the gospel, but rather will make decisions that provide doors of opportunity.

12
00:01:30,789 --> 00:01:41,532
We pray for boldness in the body of Christ that we might be bold to step up and to use
those open doors of opportunity to preach the gospel, to reach the lost with the truth.

13
00:01:41,552 --> 00:01:48,194
They might know both who you are and what you have done to provide salvation on this
earth.

14
00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,692
and provide a home and an eternity in heaven.

15
00:01:52,332 --> 00:02:01,237
Lord, we are grateful above all your other gifts for your Son who came and died on the
cross for our sins that we might have the hope of eternal life.

16
00:02:01,417 --> 00:02:12,523
And we pray that we might diligently seek Him, that we might be bold to stand before your
throne to seek grace and help in time of need.

17
00:02:12,664 --> 00:02:16,960
And Lord, we pray that we might all be an encouragement and a

18
00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,414
a comfort to those who struggle on a daily basis.

19
00:02:20,414 --> 00:02:23,818
All this we pray and ask in Jesus' name, amen.

20
00:02:25,743 --> 00:02:43,957
In Mark chapter 6, after Jesus feeds the 5,000 men who are present on that occasion, Jesus
will cross the Sea of Galilee, and you have the events recorded.

21
00:02:44,338 --> 00:02:54,805
And one of the things, you know, we started this study in Mark quite some time ago, and it
was on Sunday nights, and we've picked it up uh here in this Wednesday night class.

22
00:02:55,244 --> 00:03:12,818
One of the characteristics you see of Mark is his emphasis on what Jesus did and how he
did it in terms of the rapidness in which he accomplished the work that he did.

23
00:03:12,818 --> 00:03:16,601
He emphasizes that with the term immediately.

24
00:03:16,601 --> 00:03:23,797
uh All throughout the book of Mark you see immediately, immediately, immediately.

25
00:03:24,403 --> 00:03:35,412
Mark emphasizes that Jesus did the work that He accomplished in a very short span of time.

26
00:03:35,652 --> 00:03:38,328
He did it in three and a half years.

27
00:03:38,328 --> 00:03:48,922
If you think about, uh just by way of comparison, uh Eddie and I have now been here, and
we're in our eighth year.

28
00:03:49,864 --> 00:03:54,347
Jesus' entire ministry was in three and a half years.

29
00:03:56,415 --> 00:04:03,580
And Mark is emphasizing that Jesus didn't waste any time.

30
00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,603
Jesus didn't delay anything that He did.

31
00:04:07,603 --> 00:04:18,671
He was focused on a very specific goal, and He pushed towards that goal on a continual
basis.

32
00:04:18,671 --> 00:04:25,433
But it also meant that Jesus quickly would go from one place

33
00:04:25,433 --> 00:04:26,213
to another place.

34
00:04:26,213 --> 00:04:29,164
Jesus didn't spend three and a half years in one city.

35
00:04:29,164 --> 00:04:38,187
Jesus would go and, as we noticed in the earlier text, earlier on in chapter 6, that Jesus
would send His disciples ahead of Him.

36
00:04:38,187 --> 00:04:46,629
He didn't want to start from zero when He arrived in a village or in a town in Judea or in
Galilee.

37
00:04:46,629 --> 00:04:54,063
He wanted His disciples to have already been there, to have already started the ministry,
to have already started the evangelism, and when

38
00:04:54,063 --> 00:05:00,623
he arrived, there was already a nucleus of people waiting to hear him.

39
00:05:01,183 --> 00:05:09,423
And so he used not only his efforts, but the efforts of others to accelerate the work that
he did.

40
00:05:10,163 --> 00:05:20,783
But we notice this text in verse 45, immediately he made his disciples get into the boat
and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida.

41
00:05:21,703 --> 00:05:23,075
Jesus says,

42
00:05:23,075 --> 00:05:26,868
to the disciples, you get in the ship and you go across.

43
00:05:26,868 --> 00:05:29,355
Now that would have left Jesus with who?

44
00:05:31,181 --> 00:05:33,653
The crowd, the multitudes.

45
00:05:34,155 --> 00:05:46,768
They would have been present, they were there, they had eaten from this food, and as the
crowd was known to do, they would just stay wherever Jesus was.

46
00:05:47,170 --> 00:05:52,225
Quite often at night, what would they bring to Jesus, or who would they bring to Jesus?

47
00:05:53,837 --> 00:06:02,314
the sick, those who are lame, those who were ah in need of healing, they would bring those
individuals to Jesus at nighttime.

48
00:06:02,314 --> 00:06:13,754
uh Quite often, think about it reasonably, these people would, some of whom would have had
jobs, would have had occupations, and so there would almost likely have been a new group

49
00:06:13,754 --> 00:06:16,686
of people arriving come nighttime.

50
00:06:17,687 --> 00:06:22,881
So Jesus is going to send his disciples across the Sea of Galilee to Bethsaida.

51
00:06:23,073 --> 00:06:31,380
And while he sent the multitude away, he went uh and, sorry, and, I'm gonna get my words
out in just a moment here.

52
00:06:31,380 --> 00:06:40,057
All right, so he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side,
to Bethsaida, while he sent the multitude away.

53
00:06:40,337 --> 00:06:46,562
And when he had sent them away, he departed to the mountain to pray.

54
00:06:47,343 --> 00:06:52,106
Jesus sought time away from people

55
00:06:52,771 --> 00:06:53,792
to pray.

56
00:06:53,792 --> 00:07:06,380
We see this occur numerous times in the record of Jesus' life, where Jesus will get up
early before its daybreak and leave his disciples and leave the others to go find a place

57
00:07:06,380 --> 00:07:09,142
apart from others to pray.

58
00:07:09,503 --> 00:07:10,893
Why would Jesus do that?

59
00:07:10,893 --> 00:07:17,768
I'm not asking for necessarily a biblical text, I'm asking for your thoughts on why Jesus
would do that.

60
00:07:18,809 --> 00:07:19,889
All right?

61
00:07:20,730 --> 00:07:22,331
Interruptions.

62
00:07:23,007 --> 00:07:29,809
Ask any mother how easy it is to get anything done if you're constantly being interrupted.

63
00:07:29,809 --> 00:07:33,730
There's one over here who's getting very acquainted with that.

64
00:07:35,330 --> 00:07:39,892
You don't get much of anything accomplished if you're constantly being interrupted.

65
00:07:39,892 --> 00:07:45,713
Ask any boss who's got enough employees under them what it's like to try and get anything
accomplished.

66
00:07:45,713 --> 00:07:52,101
Every single time you sit down to do something, somebody walks in and says, hey, I need
help with X.

67
00:07:53,387 --> 00:08:11,955
Jesus had that times infinity because he had people who were clamoring to come to him to
be healed, be taught, to be fed, all of these things going on and every city he went to,

68
00:08:11,955 --> 00:08:13,555
what was waiting for him?

69
00:08:15,529 --> 00:08:18,362
multitudes of people.

70
00:08:19,485 --> 00:08:27,715
So Jesus sends the disciples away, Jesus sends the multitudes away, Jesus goes into the
mountain to pray.

71
00:08:31,681 --> 00:08:34,069
Why send the disciples away?

72
00:08:40,143 --> 00:08:41,023
Okay?

73
00:08:41,204 --> 00:08:48,593
Partly, you've got, they're going to cross by boat, okay?

74
00:08:48,634 --> 00:08:58,306
Likely, this was a boat that belonged to one of the disciples, or may have been one of the
fishing boats that belonged to uh James and John's.

75
00:08:58,306 --> 00:08:59,491
uh

76
00:08:59,491 --> 00:09:02,832
parents uh or to Simon and Andrew.

77
00:09:02,832 --> 00:09:08,074
So this may have been part of their possession, therefore they needed to make sure it got
to the next place.

78
00:09:08,074 --> 00:09:09,514
This is their mode of transportation.

79
00:09:09,514 --> 00:09:11,555
So the boat needed to go.

80
00:09:12,615 --> 00:09:25,239
But is it also the case that sometimes even those who are closest to you, those who are
learning from you, those who are your direct students, you need a separation from them to

81
00:09:25,239 --> 00:09:26,029
pray?

82
00:09:26,959 --> 00:09:30,819
to have time to focus on what you need to do.

83
00:09:31,519 --> 00:09:35,579
It's not just the multitudes that Jesus separates himself from.

84
00:09:35,579 --> 00:09:38,339
He also separates himself from the disciples.

85
00:09:40,059 --> 00:09:53,879
One of the things that you realize, there was a lectureship at Memphis, oh I don't know
what year it was, probably 2009 or 10.

86
00:09:54,099 --> 00:09:56,839
Whatever year they had the theme, what is man?

87
00:09:57,471 --> 00:10:09,278
And uh in that particular lectureship, Brother Keith Mosier did a night lesson, I think it
was an afternoon lesson, on the faith stages of man.

88
00:10:09,599 --> 00:10:14,021
And that lesson is always stuck with me.

89
00:10:14,021 --> 00:10:16,723
And it emphasizes the fact that as we...

90
00:10:17,159 --> 00:10:30,695
understand how we understand things, as we understand how we believe things, that there
are different stages that people are at in belief, and they tend to go through those

91
00:10:30,695 --> 00:10:37,763
cycles or through those stages of belief in a rather normal set of processes.

92
00:10:37,815 --> 00:10:49,698
They develop from one stage to another stage, not in the strength of their belief, but in
how they understand and actuate their belief into their lives.

93
00:10:50,199 --> 00:10:58,261
And there's different stages people are at, and quite often, people get stuck at a stage.

94
00:10:58,301 --> 00:11:02,182
They get stuck at a stage they never really quite get past.

95
00:11:02,262 --> 00:11:06,123
In a lot of cultures, in a lot of places, in a lot of congregations.

96
00:11:06,123 --> 00:11:13,945
A lot of people are stuck in the same stage of belief that they were in as teenagers.

97
00:11:14,665 --> 00:11:26,088
If you ever see a congregation where people tend to just go with a crowd, whatever's
popular among the congregation, that's just what they go with.

98
00:11:26,609 --> 00:11:30,169
They're at a stage in their belief where they can't stand on their own.

99
00:11:30,510 --> 00:11:35,556
They can't actually determine what is right and wrong and do what

100
00:11:35,556 --> 00:11:38,858
is right no matter what anyone else does.

101
00:11:38,899 --> 00:11:45,964
They're looking to those around them to determine what is right so they can go with that.

102
00:11:46,085 --> 00:11:56,803
Which is how whole congregations go off into apostasy, is they're not building their faith
on what they know to be true and what the scripture says, they're building their faith on

103
00:11:56,803 --> 00:11:59,935
what the group is doing.

104
00:12:01,037 --> 00:12:04,229
It's why cliques exist in high school.

105
00:12:04,751 --> 00:12:11,853
and continue to exist in work and continue to exist throughout most people's adult lives.

106
00:12:11,853 --> 00:12:23,357
Interestingly, the psychology and the background study that has studied this emphasizes
that most people never move out of that until they go through a crisis.

107
00:12:24,497 --> 00:12:29,899
It is a crisis in life that moves them out of

108
00:12:30,673 --> 00:12:36,368
be allowing themselves to be driven by whatever everyone else does.

109
00:12:36,989 --> 00:12:45,476
And then there are a few people who they proceed through that actually quite quickly
because of their characteristics, because of their personalities.

110
00:12:45,476 --> 00:12:48,359
And then there's some people who just, never leave that stage.

111
00:12:48,359 --> 00:12:50,340
That's where they are their entire life.

112
00:12:51,081 --> 00:12:58,007
But as you consider that, the difficulty is when someone who's teaching

113
00:12:58,009 --> 00:13:00,090
is at a higher stage of belief.

114
00:13:00,090 --> 00:13:08,965
They understand and actuate on their belief at a much different level than the people who
are constantly surrounding them.

115
00:13:10,086 --> 00:13:20,431
And it's a burden not only to deal with what they know needs to happen, but with the
failure of these people to move beyond the stage they're at.

116
00:13:20,791 --> 00:13:27,943
When you notice the transition, because by the way, it's very obvious in Scripture when
the disciples transitioned,

117
00:13:27,943 --> 00:13:36,371
from the stage of belief where they did everything that everyone else was doing and when
they moved beyond that.

118
00:13:37,513 --> 00:13:47,963
Can anybody identify what event occurred, what crisis occurred that moved them out of that
stage and into the next stage?

119
00:13:51,463 --> 00:13:53,664
the crucifixion and the resurrection.

120
00:13:55,166 --> 00:13:57,908
Look at the disciples before that.

121
00:13:58,089 --> 00:14:06,145
Just days before, they're sitting in the upper room arguing about who will be the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven.

122
00:14:08,973 --> 00:14:17,266
Just days after, actually before I moved to the just days after, just days before.

123
00:14:19,207 --> 00:14:23,853
They're leaving and departing when Jesus is arrested.

124
00:14:24,776 --> 00:14:34,410
There's only one of the disciples that stays with Jesus through the entirety of that
period of time where he is on trial.

125
00:14:34,410 --> 00:14:35,341
Who is it?

126
00:14:36,971 --> 00:14:40,573
it's not Peter, it's John.

127
00:14:41,614 --> 00:14:59,404
Peter stays with Jesus until he is at the chief priests abode, but then Peter denies him
and Peter leaves and grieves, and yet John, you see in the text, if you pay attention,

128
00:14:59,424 --> 00:15:05,307
John is not only present throughout, John is standing at the foot of the cross with Mary.

129
00:15:07,195 --> 00:15:22,467
John noticeably is described as the disciple whom Jesus loved, and it doesn't seem to be
that he was that because Jesus just kind of liked his personality better.

130
00:15:24,165 --> 00:15:28,557
John was at a different level than the other disciples were.

131
00:15:29,518 --> 00:15:34,260
John had conversations with Jesus that the other disciples did not.

132
00:15:34,421 --> 00:15:51,610
Peter was the leader in that he was the one to take action first, but John was at a
position above, not in authority, but in how he understood what was going on and the

133
00:15:51,610 --> 00:15:53,391
strength of his faith.

134
00:15:53,391 --> 00:15:56,635
was different than all the other disciples.

135
00:15:57,597 --> 00:16:05,628
And you see that in the text if you pay attention to those glimpses of statements about
what John is doing versus what others are doing.

136
00:16:05,629 --> 00:16:10,765
And he's also, by the way, the disciple who writes a record of Jesus' life and won't even
mention his own name.

137
00:16:13,083 --> 00:16:23,932
So, all of that to point out, Jesus not only separates Himself from the crowd, He
separates Himself from the disciples to pray.

138
00:16:24,633 --> 00:16:36,803
Because there's times when leaders, when elders, when ministers, when those who are trying
to guide mission works need to get away from even their helpers.

139
00:16:38,887 --> 00:16:47,929
to spend time focusing on their faith, their life, their spirituality, and their mission.

140
00:16:48,710 --> 00:16:53,091
So Jesus goes into the mountain to pray.

141
00:16:53,771 --> 00:17:00,733
Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the
land.

142
00:17:01,073 --> 00:17:07,405
Then he saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them.

143
00:17:07,993 --> 00:17:22,373
One of the things that's characteristic of the Sea of Galilee is it's not very big, but
storms, because of the nature of the topography around it, it's kind of in a well.

144
00:17:22,373 --> 00:17:33,021
There's mountains around it, and the wind will come in off the Mediterranean Sea, and it
will spin up a storm in the Sea of Galilee very quickly.

145
00:17:33,942 --> 00:17:36,023
So they have gotten...

146
00:17:36,023 --> 00:17:44,907
into the midst of the sea, going across the sea, and now they're stuck because they're
trying to get to the other side, but they're rowing and they're rowing and they're making

147
00:17:44,907 --> 00:17:52,250
no progress because the winds are blowing against them now that they're in the midst of
the sea.

148
00:17:52,451 --> 00:18:01,805
And so Jesus observes this and we read, about the fourth watch of the night, he came to
them walking on the sea and would have passed by them.

149
00:18:06,407 --> 00:18:11,331
That's a statement that maybe we don't often stop and consider.

150
00:18:15,407 --> 00:18:17,068
Here they are in a boat.

151
00:18:19,923 --> 00:18:21,388
12 men rowing.

152
00:18:23,795 --> 00:18:26,738
And there's Jesus by himself.

153
00:18:27,761 --> 00:18:29,823
Are they making any progress?

154
00:18:32,272 --> 00:18:33,156
Is he?

155
00:18:38,951 --> 00:18:42,499
Take a moment and consider why is that?

156
00:18:43,684 --> 00:18:45,999
Just start with the physics of it.

157
00:18:45,999 --> 00:18:48,545
Why is he making progress and they're not?

158
00:18:52,849 --> 00:18:54,434
He's walking on the water.

159
00:18:56,507 --> 00:18:58,242
Aren't they floating on the water?

160
00:19:01,029 --> 00:19:04,037
Okay, he's in charge of the- I'll grant you that one.

161
00:19:07,741 --> 00:19:09,231
All right.

162
00:19:09,481 --> 00:19:11,770
Are they trying to move just themselves?

163
00:19:14,387 --> 00:19:16,164
or are they trying to move a boat too?

164
00:19:17,959 --> 00:19:19,440
They're trying to move a boat.

165
00:19:20,622 --> 00:19:27,148
It's not their own bodies that are keeping them from making progress.

166
00:19:27,148 --> 00:19:34,674
It is the weight and it is the uh impact of the wind on the boat.

167
00:19:37,319 --> 00:19:40,899
know, sometimes we take some, yeah, go ahead.

168
00:19:43,549 --> 00:19:57,547
hit it from the same which is on the north east corner and that would mean that the winds
are coming from the northeast which is very unusual in that part of the world correct

169
00:19:57,547 --> 00:20:09,574
everything typically just like here most of their storms over on the Mediterranean came
over the mountain range and up don't see a gap correct

170
00:20:11,416 --> 00:20:16,686
So yes, this would be very uncommon for the wind to be blowing the other direction.

171
00:20:19,123 --> 00:20:25,223
just straight across, I understand the geography of it, well south of the.

172
00:20:25,223 --> 00:20:30,363
They got tired of rowing and went straight to shore.

173
00:20:30,363 --> 00:20:46,723
So they're headed the direction, they're making no progress, Jesus begins at shore facing
the same wind, and he's passing them, and would have passed by them entirely.

174
00:20:48,845 --> 00:20:52,502
Jesus is moving Himself.

175
00:20:54,225 --> 00:20:57,317
They are trying to move the boat.

176
00:20:58,459 --> 00:21:00,880
They're failing, he's succeeding.

177
00:21:01,741 --> 00:21:06,885
Now, would they have failed entirely without the boat they were in?

178
00:21:07,827 --> 00:21:14,912
If they were in the middle of the sea, on their own power alone, would they have failed
entirely without the boat?

179
00:21:15,453 --> 00:21:16,493
Yes.

180
00:21:17,675 --> 00:21:21,257
But what was keeping them from making any progress?

181
00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:23,299
The boat.

182
00:21:24,679 --> 00:21:28,426
Well, take this just a moment and get a metaphor out of it.

183
00:21:30,807 --> 00:21:39,122
Sometimes the thing that holds back an evangelistic work is the weight of a congregation.

184
00:21:41,187 --> 00:21:55,754
Sometimes the fact that you need everybody to work is the thing that keeps any progress
from going because of the weight of the entire body needing to work together.

185
00:21:56,015 --> 00:22:05,027
Why is it that Paul emphasizes so often in his writings that the body is supposed to work
as a unit?

186
00:22:06,277 --> 00:22:16,320
that everybody can't be the mouth, everybody can't be the eyes, everybody can't be the
ears because we all have a part to play if the body's going to function properly.

187
00:22:18,024 --> 00:22:20,726
But what happens if the eyes aren't working?

188
00:22:23,315 --> 00:22:24,856
You're have some problems.

189
00:22:25,497 --> 00:22:27,675
What happens if the hearing's not working?

190
00:22:27,675 --> 00:22:29,401
Going to have some problems.

191
00:22:30,242 --> 00:22:32,484
What happens if there is no mouth?

192
00:22:34,087 --> 00:22:35,788
Going have some problems.

193
00:22:35,788 --> 00:22:37,469
What happens if there are no feet?

194
00:22:37,690 --> 00:22:38,951
No hands.

195
00:22:38,955 --> 00:22:45,898
Okay, if you lose the integral parts of the body, you will not make progress.

196
00:22:48,019 --> 00:23:00,419
God did not give us a plan whereby a single person came onto the planet and converted
everyone.

197
00:23:01,299 --> 00:23:09,739
Or that the church continues to exist by the force of personality of one Christian.

198
00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:17,059
God didn't give us a plan whereby we could go it alone.

199
00:23:18,523 --> 00:23:28,440
there are going to be times in your Christian life, and maybe have been already, where
you're like, you know what, if it weren't for the congregation, Christianity would be

200
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:29,351
great!

201
00:23:32,591 --> 00:23:35,872
I know that's been true about every job I've ever been in.

202
00:23:35,872 --> 00:23:41,875
We said when I was 18 years old working in grocery store, somebody would say, hey, how's
the grocery business?

203
00:23:41,875 --> 00:23:44,536
If it weren't for the customers, it'd be great.

204
00:23:45,416 --> 00:23:46,897
Talk to some bankers.

205
00:23:46,897 --> 00:23:52,639
They said, yeah, we've concluded that if it weren't for the clientele, we'd really enjoy
banking.

206
00:23:54,060 --> 00:23:58,602
You want to talk to some people who really appreciate that, go to IT support.

207
00:23:59,462 --> 00:24:01,543
If it weren't for the users.

208
00:24:02,116 --> 00:24:03,839
We love this job.

209
00:24:04,984 --> 00:24:08,190
Except none of it would work if you didn't have it.

210
00:24:10,001 --> 00:24:11,772
You wouldn't have a job.

211
00:24:13,194 --> 00:24:20,579
Now when it comes to Christianity, if someone says, you know what, I don't need the
church, I'm just going to go it alone.

212
00:24:22,375 --> 00:24:30,972
you're going to because you are now not following God's plan.

213
00:24:30,972 --> 00:24:50,719
And you know, the only thing harder than making the boat go across the ocean or across the
Sea of Galilee would have been for them to go against God's instructions.

214
00:24:53,371 --> 00:24:55,751
What if Jesus had told them to go to Bethsaida?

215
00:24:55,751 --> 00:24:58,650
And they said, you know what?

216
00:25:00,229 --> 00:25:03,993
Kind of just prefer the other direction, because that's where the wind's blowing.

217
00:25:06,309 --> 00:25:14,424
just assume go where the wind's blowing and go with the flow, then do what Jesus said.

218
00:25:15,705 --> 00:25:17,646
So here we find another lesson.

219
00:25:18,307 --> 00:25:24,611
You know, Paul in Ephesians 4 will tell those Christians that the

220
00:25:24,671 --> 00:25:41,296
revelation and the work of the elders, teachers, preachers, apostles, and prophets was so
that the Christians wouldn't be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.

221
00:25:42,317 --> 00:25:42,847
Guess what?

222
00:25:42,847 --> 00:25:48,459
It's really easy to put up the sail and go wherever the wind's going.

223
00:25:50,227 --> 00:25:56,112
It's a whole lot harder when you've been given instructions to go the other direction.

224
00:25:57,053 --> 00:25:58,474
And so here they are.

225
00:25:58,474 --> 00:26:04,459
They're working, working, working, striving to fulfill the command.

226
00:26:07,761 --> 00:26:09,432
final lesson from this.

227
00:26:10,694 --> 00:26:15,859
They're striving to fulfill the command on whose own power.

228
00:26:18,131 --> 00:26:19,075
their own.

229
00:26:20,635 --> 00:26:28,512
They're striving to do what Jesus told them to do with their own abilities.

230
00:26:29,936 --> 00:26:31,498
Are they succeeding?

231
00:26:33,381 --> 00:26:34,334
No.

232
00:26:35,144 --> 00:26:36,649
They're out in the middle.

233
00:26:39,151 --> 00:26:40,311
Absolutely.

234
00:26:41,572 --> 00:26:50,415
They were doing what they were told to do, commendable, but they were trying to do it
themselves.

235
00:26:51,076 --> 00:26:56,188
Now, this is a practical, physical example.

236
00:26:56,188 --> 00:26:57,859
Yes, of course they were trying to do it themselves.

237
00:26:57,859 --> 00:26:59,919
That's the way they always did it.

238
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:08,603
They got in the boat, they went into the ocean or went into the sea, they crossed to the
other side, and if they needed to row, they rowed.

239
00:27:11,345 --> 00:27:17,982
But on this occasion, the way they'd always done it wasn't working.

240
00:27:19,385 --> 00:27:21,467
They were making no progress.

241
00:27:22,729 --> 00:27:28,305
You ever see a congregation make no progress doing what they've always done?

242
00:27:30,255 --> 00:27:34,862
And they're wondering, why can't we make any progress?

243
00:27:36,245 --> 00:27:42,555
Maybe the question is, why are we doing it the way we've always done it?

244
00:27:44,582 --> 00:27:49,543
If it's not broke, don't fix it, but if you're not making any progress, maybe it is broke.

245
00:27:49,943 --> 00:27:53,463
And maybe we haven't admitted it.

246
00:27:54,083 --> 00:28:03,503
Now, Jesus saw them as he was walking on the sea, or saw them as he would go, and he would
have passed by them.

247
00:28:03,503 --> 00:28:12,983
Verse 49, and when they saw him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost and cried
out, for they all saw him and were troubled.

248
00:28:13,861 --> 00:28:31,491
But immediately he talked with them and said to them, be of good cheer, it is I, do not be
afraid." One of the things that you see in the change between the way the apostles acted

249
00:28:31,491 --> 00:28:35,295
before the resurrection and the way they acted after

250
00:28:35,929 --> 00:28:47,623
is emphasized over and over and over by Jesus during His time on the earth where He kept
telling them, do not be afraid.

251
00:28:50,316 --> 00:28:53,909
or O ye of little faith.

252
00:28:57,991 --> 00:29:08,639
The last time Jesus criticizes them for their lack of faith is immediately after the
resurrection.

253
00:29:14,489 --> 00:29:16,880
and something changes.

254
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:17,643
oh

255
00:29:20,165 --> 00:29:25,797
they begin to grow as they've never grown before.

256
00:29:27,643 --> 00:29:34,078
because they stop trying to do it their way.

257
00:29:36,583 --> 00:29:40,777
The last question that is asked of Jesus...

258
00:29:42,779 --> 00:29:49,489
after he has been resurrected and before the Holy Spirit comes upon them.

259
00:29:49,610 --> 00:29:55,858
The last question asked, will you now restore the kingdom to Israel?

260
00:29:57,805 --> 00:30:12,467
It's the last glimpse of the old apostles where they're still trying to do it the way they
thought it was always going to happen.

261
00:30:14,885 --> 00:30:18,359
And what does Jesus reply there in Acts chapter 1?

262
00:30:21,755 --> 00:30:25,526
when they say, will you now restore the kingdom to Israel?

263
00:30:28,483 --> 00:30:33,786
It is not for you to know the times or the seasons.

264
00:30:34,507 --> 00:30:37,709
And he's emphasizing God's in control.

265
00:30:38,270 --> 00:30:39,871
You do your job.

266
00:30:43,481 --> 00:30:57,735
as Jesus approaches them, as they observe Him going by, as they're afraid because they're
seeing someone walking on the sea.

267
00:30:58,956 --> 00:31:00,277
He says, of good cheer.

268
00:31:00,277 --> 00:31:00,957
It is I.

269
00:31:00,957 --> 00:31:01,977
Do not be afraid.

270
00:31:01,977 --> 00:31:08,339
Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased.

271
00:31:09,381 --> 00:31:25,639
And they were gently or greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure and marveled, for they
had not," notice what Mark tells us, "'for they had not understood about the loaves.'"

272
00:31:27,579 --> 00:31:30,350
because their heart was heartened.

273
00:31:33,041 --> 00:31:40,010
They're being taught a lesson.

274
00:31:42,875 --> 00:31:48,770
Were they amazed when Jesus fed 5,000 people with seven loaves and two fish?

275
00:31:51,235 --> 00:31:54,750
If they were amazed, why does the text tell us that their heart was hardened?

276
00:32:05,937 --> 00:32:06,757
Okay?

277
00:32:06,798 --> 00:32:07,778
Didn't have the faith.

278
00:32:07,778 --> 00:32:16,605
uh Is it possible for someone to be amazed having observed something and not apply it?

279
00:32:17,286 --> 00:32:18,987
Not learn anything from it?

280
00:32:19,678 --> 00:32:21,749
yeah, the entire nation of the Jews.

281
00:32:22,351 --> 00:32:24,112
What do they keep asking for?

282
00:32:24,112 --> 00:32:25,633
One more sign please.

283
00:32:27,995 --> 00:32:30,719
Just one more sign, show us one more sign.

284
00:32:33,113 --> 00:32:35,856
Jesus said, with the signs.

285
00:32:35,897 --> 00:32:36,888
You've seen them.

286
00:32:36,888 --> 00:32:39,741
I'll give you one more.

287
00:32:40,723 --> 00:32:42,365
It's the sign of Jonah.

288
00:32:43,788 --> 00:32:46,751
Three days and three nights and then I'll be resurrected.

289
00:32:48,113 --> 00:32:49,495
There's your final sign.

290
00:32:49,495 --> 00:32:51,117
That's your last chance.

291
00:32:52,817 --> 00:33:06,999
But the point is they were observing these things and they had allowed them to become
commonplace in their understanding so that they were no longer applying the lessons from

292
00:33:06,999 --> 00:33:08,260
the signs.

293
00:33:11,323 --> 00:33:17,378
They were no longer taking to heart the message of the miracles.

294
00:33:19,180 --> 00:33:38,136
So if this text is about the disciples learning the lesson from the last text, because
that's what Mark tells us it is, then what was the lesson they failed to learn in the

295
00:33:38,136 --> 00:33:40,205
feeding of the 5,000?

296
00:33:44,335 --> 00:33:46,217
Okay, God provides.

297
00:33:49,849 --> 00:33:51,722
In contrast to what?

298
00:33:54,469 --> 00:34:00,434
All right, do you remember the discussion when Jesus tells the disciples to feed the
people?

299
00:34:01,235 --> 00:34:03,403
Go back in Mark chapter 6.

300
00:34:06,297 --> 00:34:18,105
Verse 36, the disciples say to Jesus, send them away that they may go into the surrounding
country and villages and buy themselves bread for they have nothing to eat.

301
00:34:19,007 --> 00:34:24,070
But He answered and said to them, you give them something to eat.

302
00:34:25,592 --> 00:34:33,037
And they said to Him, shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give them
something to eat?

303
00:34:36,183 --> 00:34:43,725
The lesson for the people was different than the lesson for the disciples.

304
00:34:45,669 --> 00:34:48,342
What was the lesson for the people?

305
00:34:51,131 --> 00:35:01,882
What should they have taken away from the fact that here is this man who's been teaching
them that has now taken seven loaves and two fish and fed 5,000 plus people?

306
00:35:01,882 --> 00:35:03,564
What was the lesson?

307
00:35:10,557 --> 00:35:15,917
If they're faithful, God will provide, but more importantly, who is Jesus?

308
00:35:16,697 --> 00:35:21,177
That Christ is the Son of God.

309
00:35:21,277 --> 00:35:26,857
That He is who He has claimed to be.

310
00:35:27,157 --> 00:35:28,377
Right?

311
00:35:32,433 --> 00:35:35,343
But that wasn't the lesson for the disciples.

312
00:35:37,233 --> 00:35:44,481
The lesson for the disciples came in Jesus telling them to feed the people.

313
00:35:47,311 --> 00:35:52,889
and them saying, looking at our own resources, we can't do it.

314
00:35:56,669 --> 00:36:09,309
When Jesus told them to feed the people, we discussed this when we were back in this text,
did Jesus tell them, the people on your own?

315
00:36:12,975 --> 00:36:14,246
Correct.

316
00:36:14,547 --> 00:36:16,629
Jesus didn't tell them how to do it.

317
00:36:16,629 --> 00:36:19,371
Jesus didn't tell them with what resources to do it.

318
00:36:19,371 --> 00:36:22,334
Jesus didn't tell them to do it by themselves.

319
00:36:22,334 --> 00:36:24,255
He told them to do it.

320
00:36:25,297 --> 00:36:30,601
Did Jesus tell them to cross the Sea of Galilee and go to Bethsaida?

321
00:36:31,502 --> 00:36:32,603
Yes.

322
00:36:33,905 --> 00:36:39,109
Did they immediately start out and do what they thought they could do?

323
00:36:41,501 --> 00:36:45,961
In the feeding of the people, they immediately said, we can't do it.

324
00:36:46,621 --> 00:36:52,221
In the crossing of the Sea of Galilee, they immediately assumed they could do it.

325
00:36:54,701 --> 00:37:00,154
One occasion they saw the task and they said, that's insurmountable.

326
00:37:00,154 --> 00:37:02,444
We can never achieve that.

327
00:37:03,145 --> 00:37:05,246
We don't have the resources.

328
00:37:06,106 --> 00:37:11,869
The next task, they assumed they could do it because they'd always done it.

329
00:37:14,211 --> 00:37:16,170
On which occasion were they wrong?

330
00:37:17,301 --> 00:37:17,863
Both!

331
00:37:17,863 --> 00:37:18,645
oh

332
00:37:20,517 --> 00:37:25,104
because they aren't yet learning the lesson.

333
00:37:27,717 --> 00:37:36,437
Without God, they can't feed 5,000.

334
00:37:37,172 --> 00:37:41,197
But without God, they can't even cross the Sea of Galilee.

335
00:37:44,581 --> 00:37:53,365
we often imagine that because we have done something in the past with God's allowance, uh

336
00:37:55,087 --> 00:37:57,914
that it is under our power to do it.

337
00:37:57,914 --> 00:37:58,837
m

338
00:38:01,969 --> 00:38:04,262
Did you have something to eat yesterday?

339
00:38:06,205 --> 00:38:08,345
Do you have food in the pantry the day before?

340
00:38:10,183 --> 00:38:12,250
Do you have food in the house last month?

341
00:38:14,735 --> 00:38:21,423
Are you under the impression that that's because you caused it or God allowed it?

342
00:38:25,041 --> 00:38:34,044
When the rain comes, when the crops grow, when the earth continues spinning, are you under
the impression that you caused it or God allowed it?

343
00:38:36,315 --> 00:38:41,480
Because the moment he doesn't allow it, you don't do it.

344
00:38:42,746 --> 00:38:44,147
You don't have it.

345
00:38:46,041 --> 00:39:01,493
And the disciples found out that what some of them, a third of them, had spent their
entire career doing crossing the Sea of Galilee, they couldn't do unless God allowed it.

346
00:39:06,651 --> 00:39:17,377
But the moment they did it with God, when did the wind cease?

347
00:39:19,025 --> 00:39:20,775
when God got in the boat.

348
00:39:24,379 --> 00:39:30,472
the moment they were not trying to do it alone.

349
00:39:31,593 --> 00:39:35,394
They weren't trying to do it their way.

350
00:39:35,935 --> 00:39:41,217
They weren't assuming they had the ability.

351
00:39:43,451 --> 00:39:47,980
The moment that was true, they finally started making progress.

352
00:39:51,034 --> 00:39:51,857
So.

353
00:39:55,365 --> 00:39:57,320
The lesson of the lows.

354
00:39:57,320 --> 00:39:58,869
oh

355
00:40:01,149 --> 00:40:05,169
is the disciples could have fed the 5,000 by themselves.

356
00:40:07,523 --> 00:40:13,876
if they had had the same faith Moses had in the wilderness.

357
00:40:15,843 --> 00:40:38,112
Remember, this entire section began, chapter 6, with Jesus sending out the disciples and
them casting out demons, healing people, having all of these great victories of faith as

358
00:40:38,112 --> 00:40:44,517
they go out into the area and they come back and they're just thrilled.

359
00:40:44,571 --> 00:40:47,861
with what they have been able to do.

360
00:40:50,877 --> 00:40:58,337
And now here we are, and Jesus is trying to teach them the lesson of Moses.

361
00:40:59,657 --> 00:41:03,557
You see, the feeding of the 5,000 is a type of Moses.

362
00:41:04,337 --> 00:41:09,657
It's a representation of what Moses did for Israel in the wilderness.

363
00:41:10,837 --> 00:41:20,937
But when Moses had no food for the people, did Moses say, I don't have enough money to go
to Egypt to buy food?

364
00:41:23,805 --> 00:41:25,245
Is that what he did?

365
00:41:26,025 --> 00:41:27,305
What did do?

366
00:41:27,705 --> 00:41:29,465
He went to God.

367
00:41:30,645 --> 00:41:36,945
When the people were saying we're gonna die of thirst here in the wilderness, did Moses
say...

368
00:41:38,767 --> 00:41:40,530
Got no water for ya.

369
00:41:42,937 --> 00:41:44,782
No, he went to God.

370
00:41:46,190 --> 00:41:49,660
The lesson that is in the text.

371
00:41:51,399 --> 00:41:52,995
for the disciples.

372
00:41:55,085 --> 00:42:04,404
is you will never succeed leading God's people by yourself.

373
00:42:07,425 --> 00:42:11,293
You can't do it.

374
00:42:12,923 --> 00:42:29,209
You'll only succeed if you lead them God's direction with God's instruction, with God's
resources, with God's help.

375
00:42:31,075 --> 00:42:33,958
Otherwise, you'll fail.

376
00:42:33,958 --> 00:42:36,151
Okay?

377
00:42:36,151 --> 00:42:37,492
Thank you for your time.