All right, turn with me back
to Mark chapter 8. There are three different situations,
three different events in the first 21 verses of this chapter. And this morning, I want us to
look at all three of them. And I want us to look at them
in light of what our Lord said in verse 21. If you look at verse
21, He said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand? How is it that you do not understand? Now, He's saying that to His
disciples. That's important to know. He's
saying that to his own. How is it that you do not understand? I thought about titling this
message that question. How is it that you do not understand? I also thought about titling
this message, Beware. In verse 15 he said, Beware of
the leaven. But here's our emphasis in all
of this, and here's the title this morning. Christ, Christ,
and Christ. That's our message. Look at verse
1 with me. In those days, the multitude
being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called
his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion
on the multitude." That's wonderful, isn't it? From the beginning of this message,
I want us to understand that right there is where mercy starts.
That's where mercy starts. We need mercy, don't we? It starts
with the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is where grace
begins. If we need it, He's the source. If you want to find it, go to
Him. That's where it all begins. Eternal
life starts with the compassion that the Lord Jesus Christ had
for sinners. He's the author of our salvation.
He's the finisher of it, too. Verse two he said I have compassion
on the multitude because they have now been with me three days
and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away fasting
to their own houses they will faint by the way for diverse
of them came from far. He's saying without me they will
not make it. Without me they will not make
it and I'm going to help them. I'm going to help them. I'm going
to provide what they need. Verse 4, And his disciples answered
him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in
the wilderness? Now, the amazing thing, and I
mean amazing, if you want to hear something amazing, get ready. The amazing thing is that his
disciples didn't say, Lord, we know you're able, thy will be
done. Isn't that amazing? You know what they said? How
are we going to feed such a large amount of people with such a
small amount of bread? Now the only answer I know to
give that is, really? Really? Really? Didn't we just go through this? Verse 21 says, How is it that
ye do not understand? Is that not us? Just days before this, maybe
a week, maybe two weeks, however long it was, we just started
chapter 8. At the end of chapter 6, one
chapter difference, The disciples asked him the same exact question. They were out there in the wilderness
and the Lord said, they came to him and said, they're all
hungry. Can we send them away that they
may find them something to eat? He said, you feed them. They
said, how are we going to do that? And then they stood there and watched
God Almighty feed 5,000 men besides the women and children with five
loaves and two fish. And with all 12 of them now,
it's like it never happened. You know what that means? It means they were taken up with
the physical aspect of it, and they missed Christ in it. We see a happening and say, that
was a great happening. Wouldn't it be great if you could
see something like that again? Well, who's the doer of it? Where
does all this start? Where's the beginning and the
end? They missed Christ in it. How is this possible? The answer
is Christ. With man, it's impossible. With God, all things are possible. Verse 4, And his disciples answered
him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in
the wilderness? And he asked them, How many loaves have you?
And they said, Seven. And he commanded the people to
sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves
and gave thanks and gave to his disciples to sit before them.
And they did set them before the people. And they had a few
small fishes, and he blessed and commanded to set them also
before them. So they did eat, and were filled,
and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. And they that had eaten were
about four thousand, and he sent them away. Our Lord illustrated
for them again. The only thing that will fill
an empty soul. And did you know by God's grace
that's what he does for us every time we walk into this place. Again. He illustrated for them
again what he did. What he, he told them that same
story again. What he accomplished for his
dying people. He said, if you try to send them
home, they're not going to make it. They're not going to make
it. He showed them again the sacrifice
he made to sustain them. He took that bread just like
he took a body. And he blessed that bread just
like he blessed the body that he walked this earth in. He sanctified
it. He made it holy. He set it apart.
He made it perfect. And then he broke that bread
just like he broke that body. He died so that his people might
live. All right, now let me ask us
this question. Did he accomplish what he came here to do? Is the salvation that is found
in Christ finished? Yes? Then let's not look for it anywhere
else. Let's not go looking for it anywhere else. Let's not look for God's favor
anywhere else. Let's not look for God to be
happy with us in any other way. We are complete in the work and
in the accomplishment and in the death and in the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Period. Period. And if we try to improve our
standing before him, if we try to add something to what he did,
then this question needs to be asked to us. Verse 21 says, How
is it that you do not understand? Look to Christ. He's the answer.
How are we going to fix this? Look to Christ. He's the answer.
Christ. Christ. Verse 10 says, And straightway
he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the
parts of Dalmanutha. And the Pharisees came forth,
and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven,
tempting him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit,
and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say
unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.
And he left them and entering into the ship again departed
to the other side. The Pharisees were the self-righteous
religious people. Those who saw themselves to be
right in God's eyes because of the things they did. All right,
those were the Pharisees. Their church attendance, their
study of the law, our Lord continually called them hypocrites, didn't
he? Hypocrites. Now, I would love
to never miss a service. I would love to know every word
in the book. But my hope is in Christ. My
salvation is in Christ. That's not good enough for God
Almighty. So our Lord, he continually called
them hypocrites because he knew it was in their heart. He called
them whited sepulchers. He said, you've made yourself
look so good on the outside, but inside you're full of dead
men's bones. You're just a manicured grave. Now with me over to Luke 18. This is the only hope that a
sinner like me has of finding favor in God's eyes. This right
here is the only hope that a sinner like me has to be accepted in
God's eyes. Verse 10 says, two men went up
into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other
a Republican. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men
are. How many people pray that? I'm
so glad I'm not like him. I thank thee that I'm not as
other men are. They're extortioners. I'm not.
They're unjust. I'm not. They're adulterers. I'm not. Or even as this publican
right here, this sinner right here. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess,
and then the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so
much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying,
God, be merciful to me, a sinner." I cannot say any of the things
he said. I cannot say, I'm just. I can't say that. I cannot deny anything he accused
that publican of. But all I can cry is God be merciful
to me a center now look at verse fourteen the Lord said I tell
you this man went down to his house justified rather than the
other. For everyone that exalted himself
shall be a based and he that humbled himself shall be exalted. That's good news for center.
That is good, good news for a sinner. Back in our text in Mark 8, those
Pharisees, they came and they said to our Lord, we want to
see a sign. We're not going to believe unless
you show us a sign. As though they didn't have a
sign. All right, here's a sign for us. God was manifest in the
flesh. God came down. The Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. So many, we have these Gospels
recorded and they have different stories. Some of them are the
same, some of them are different. A lot of other things in the
other Gospels. But just in the book of Mark, up to this point
right here, Mark chapter 1 started with the baptism of our Lord. At his baptism, God the Father
spoke out loud from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. God spoke out loud. Could you
imagine if we all heard God speak out loud right now? They said, We're going to need
a sign. God spoke out loud. At that point, the Lord Jesus
Christ began his ministry and he started healing all of the
diseased people he came in contact with. Everybody who came with
a need, he healed them. Every single one. He healed a
leper who was absolutely rotting with leprosy. This poor man,
I can envision this man The sight, the smell, just missing. You know, parts just rot off.
And he said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. He said,
I will. And that was it. He healed a man who was sick
of the palsy. With just his word, that man
arose, picked up his bed, and went home. He healed a man that had a withered
hand. He said to him, you reach out
and touch the Lord. With one command, he cried, peace,
be still. A raging sea went. And I mean, it wasn't like. He
said there was a great calm immediately. He cast a legion of devils out
of a Gadarene, a man that was living in the tombs and cutting
himself and casting himself into the fire. He sat that man down,
clothed him, put him in his right mind. A man named Jairus had a daughter
and she died. You don't need to trouble the master
anymore. He walked right up to that girl,
and he said, arise. She got up. A woman who had an issue of blood
for 12 years, she was slowly dying, bleeding to death on the
inside of her body. She came up behind him, and I
can see it through the legs, through everybody's legs. She
reached out and touched the hem of his garment. She was made whole. He fed 5,000 besides the women
and children with 5 loaves and 2 fish. He healed a deaf and
a dumb man by putting his fingers into his ears and spitting on
his tongue. And now in our text, He fed 4,000 more with 7 loaves
of bread and a few small fish. Verse 10 says, And straightway,
that means immediately. As soon as he did that, the Pharisees
came up to him and they said, we're going to need to see a
sign. We need to see a sign. That is
missing Christ. That's missing Christ. Verse 21 says, how is it that
you do not understand? You want to see a sign? Look
to Christ. Christ is the sign. He is the
sign. In Matthew's account of this,
he said, No sign shall be given but the sign of Jonah. As he
was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights,
so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three
days and three nights. These Pharisees were so caught
up in the laws, in the rules, in the commandments, they missed
Christ. That's what happened. They missed
Christ. With all thy getting, get Christ. Get Christ. It's Christ, Christ. Verse 14
says, Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they
in the ship with them more than one loaf. And he charged them,
saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and
of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves,
saying, It is because we have no bread. We forgot to take bread. He said, you take heed, beware,
take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.
And they all said, we forgot to get some bread. It's because
we forgot to get bread. Where on this earth are we going
to get some bread? Really? That's us. Oh us of little faith. Verse 16, and they reasoned among
themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus
knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because you have
no bread? Perceive ye not yet? Neither
understand? Have ye your heart yet hardened? Let me tell you what he's saying
to them. You're not looking to Christ. You're not looking to Christ.
If we're not looking to Christ, it's because our hearts are yet
hardened. All we can see is the law and
not the one who fulfilled the law. I'm going to say that again. All we can see is the law. It's in there. It's in there. Did God say, never mind? No. It's in there. But all we
can see is the law and not the Christ who fulfilled the law. All we can see is what the commandment
demands and not the Christ who satisfied the demands. Yes, that's
true. But yes, he accomplished what
was true. And he said, you're missing Christ.
You're missing Christ. Verse 17, when Jesus knew it,
he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread?
Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have ye your heart
yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do you not remember? When
I break the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets
full of fragments took you up? They said unto him, Twelve. And
when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments
took you up? And they said, Seven? He said
unto them, How is it that you do not understand? What he's
saying is, I'm not talking about bread. I am not talking about bread. He told them in verse fifteen,
Take heat. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Leaven puffs up. It's what makes bread rise. Leaven
in the scriptures always represents sin and pride and self-righteousness. He said you beware of the pride
that comes from trying to obey these commandments. He didn't
say don't obey my word but he said you beware of that pride
that comes from trying to obey these commandments and he said
you beware of the leaven of Herod. The Herodians they did not believe
Christ and they were among those that did not believe God's word
at all. The Pharisees were holding to every word of it in their
own eyes. The Herodians didn't believe it at all. He said, You
beware of not looking to Christ and not believing on Christ and
trusting Christ to be your fulfillment. Beware of it. Self-righteousness
and not casting your all on the work of Christ go hand in hand.
They go hand in hand. Self-ability and not looking
to His ability go hand in hand. And He said, Be careful. Beware.
This book right here was written. All of these laws and all of
these commandments were written to show us what God demands. And this law was given to show
us our sin. The fact that we can't keep it.
So here's what Christ did. He came down to this world to
fulfill everything God required. He did that for a people God
gave to him. Every single thing that this
law demanded. He came here to shed his blood
for every law we broke. On every page, it's full of laws
and commandments that I have broken. And he came here to make
the payment for every one of them. Every law that I have broken. And now our commandment is, do
not look to yourself for the fulfillment of anything that
God requires. Do not look to yourself. You'll
get so discouraged. As soon as you see God says you
better do this, you're going to go, oh, I can't do that. Turn your eyes upon the Lord
Jesus. You look full into his wonderful
faith and the things of earth will go strangely dim. Because
you'll realize he can. I can't, he can. And he did. And we do not look to ourselves
for anything that God requires. Look to Christ. Look at Jesus
Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Rest in what He's done for you. Rest in it. And give all the
glory to the one it belongs to. Christ. Christ. Christ. Christ. All right, I'm going
to close with this verse of Scripture. Turn with me to Hebrews 4. Hebrews 4 verse 9 says, There remaineth therefore a rest
to the people of God. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that
relaxing? That's like go home and get in
your lazy boy relaxing. There remaineth therefore a rest
to the people of God. For he that is entered into his
rest hath he also hath ceased from his own works as God did
from his. When he said it's finished, it
was finished. And he went up and sat down on
the right hand of the majesty on high. And any man who enters
into his rest will cease from his own works as if he finished
it, what am I doing? Rest. Verse 11 says, let us labor
therefore to enter into that rest lest any man fall after
the same example of unbelief. What that means is look to Christ. Unbelief is not looking to Christ.
Start to finish, look to Christ. Christ, Christ, Christ. Okay.