In the 15th chapter of Matthew's
Gospel, verse 21, we read the following account. And then Jesus
went thence and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts and
cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son
of David! My daughter is grievously vexed
with a devil. But he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for
she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am
not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then
came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It
is not meet to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs.
And she said, Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which
fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said
unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as
thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. And Jesus departed from thence.
and came nigh unto the Sea of Galilee, and went up into a mountain,
and sat down there. And great multitudes came under
him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed,
and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet. And he healed
them, insomuch that the multitudes wondered when they saw the dumb
to speak, the maimed to behold, the lame to walk, and the blind
to see. And they glorified the God of
Israel. Then Jesus called his disciples
unto him and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they
continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat. and
I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. And
his disciples say unto him, when should we have so much bread
in the wilderness as to fill so great a multitude? And Jesus
saith unto them, how many loaves have ye? And they said, seven,
and a few little fishes. And he commanded the multitude
to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves,
and the fishes, and gave thanks, and break them, and gave to his
disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did
all eat, and were filled. And they took up of the broken
meat that was left seven baskets full. And they that did eat were
four thousand men beside women and children. And he sent away
the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala. Verse 32, then Jesus called his
disciples unto him and said, I have compassion on the multitude
because they continue with me now three days and have nothing
to eat and I will not send them away fasting lest they faint
in the way. In this account of Jesus coming
from the Sea of Galilee up into a mountain upon which he sits
down And great multitudes coming under him, the sick, the lame,
the blind, the dumb, the maimed, and many others, who were cast
down at his feet, whom he heals, and then his compassion which
he has on them, for they have no food, and his feeding of them
with seven loaves and a few fishes. in which the multitude of 4,000
men and women and children all eat and all are filled. In this
account, we see quite a remarkable picture of the Gospel. Remarkable
picture. Firstly, Christ comes from the
Sea of Galilee up into a mountain. And in this, we see where The
people, the multitude, the sick, the blind, the deaf, the dumb,
the maimed, the lame, are led under Christ. They come up from
the seashore, from the sea, from Galilee, to Christ in the mountain. And in a figure, the sea is a
picture of this world, covered by the waters, covered by the
waters of sin. And the waters of judgment. In
the days of Noah, the waters came down from the
heavens to judge the wicked upon the earth. And the people in
the waters are like those that are washed around by their sin
and the judgment that sin brings upon them. But Christ comes from
the Sea of Galilee. He comes from the waters and
he heads up into a mountain. He heads up on high. He goes
before the people up from this world to heaven's height. And the people are led up from
the world beneath, up to Christ in the mountain. up to He who
can save them, He who can heal them at the place at which He
can heal them. They come up to the mountain
and the mountain is also a figure of where Christ came to save
His people. Not only as a figure of the meeting
place of heaven and earth, of time and eternity, not only a
figure of the great mountains of God's righteousness where
righteousness met with the sins of man but a picture of that
place Jerusalem outside Jerusalem on the mount where Christ was
crucified the mountain points us to the place of crucifixion
it points us to the cross it points us to the death of Christ
It points us to where heaven and earth meet, to where the
sins of this world, as pictured by the Sea of Galilee, and the
multitudes that come up from them, and the righteousness of
God on high meet. God's righteousness came down
in judgment upon the mount. God's righteousness came down
in judgment upon Christ upon the mount. God's righteousness
came down in judgment upon Christ on the cross as he bore the sins
of the multitude. He goes up into a high mountain. He takes the sins of the people
He bears them. He's judged. The waters of God's
wrath come down upon him. The fires of God's wrath come
down upon him. And the sins of the people are
washed away in the flowing blood of Jesus Christ. Having taken
the multitude's sins away, Having shed his blood for the healing
of the nations, he then ascends up higher, as it were, unto his
throne in glory above. And having completed the work
of salvation, he sits down. He sits down in the mountain. He sits down upon his throne. He sits down victorious. And great multitudes come unto
Him. Jesus departed from thence and
came nigh unto the Sea of Galilee and went up into a mountain and
sat down there. And great multitudes came unto
Him. He took their sins. He took their
sins upon Him. He paid the price that their
sins demanded. They should have died They should
have been slain, they should have perished because of their
sins. Because of their hatred of God. Because of their rebellious
hearts. Because of their unbelief. Because
of their rejection of Christ and his gospel. Because of their
seeking their own ends and their own ways. Because of their love
of self. Because of their self-glory.
because of their despising God and His ways. They should have
died, all of them. In the illnesses, in the ailments
of this multitude, we see their sins. There came unto Him those
that were lame. They couldn't walk. They couldn't
walk because they were sinners. And they couldn't take one step
in the right direction. They couldn't walk before God
because every step they took was away from Him. Every step
they took was a step further into sin. They couldn't walk. They came unto Him the blind.
They couldn't see Him for who He was. They were blind. Man is blind to the truth. You're
blind to the truth. You can read the words of the
scriptures. You can read this account and
you don't see what it means by nature. You don't understand. You don't see until God opens
your eyes. There came unto him the maimed.
Those who are maimed by their sin. Those who are corrupt. Those who are broken. And many others. The deaf. those who can't and won't hear. They all came, sinners. They
came to where he was and they were cast down at his feet, sinners. But he came for them. Knowing that they were here on
this earth, knowing what they'd done, knowing their state, knowing
how wretched they were, how sinful they were, knowing the judgment
that they deserved, He came for them. Such was His compassion. He came down from heaven to this
world. He took upon Himself human flesh. He was a man, born a man. and yet without sin. Very God
and very man, the Son of God came into this world for these
people, for sinners like these. He came, He had compassion. He came and He walked upon the
earth. He walked beside Galilee. He
came where the waters were, the rivers were, the sea was. He came where sinners were because
He loved them. And he went up into the mountain
because they were blind, because they were deaf, because they
were dumb, they couldn't speak, because they were maimed, because
they were lame, because they were wretched, because they were
sinners. He went up into the mountain ahead of them. and he
took their sins he took their blindness he took their lameness
he took their deafness he took their sins upon himself and rather
than them dying the death that they deserved he died in their
place he was judged he was slain he was crucified in order that
they might be led unto him, cast down at his feet, and that he
might heal them. That he might heal them. And
having healed them, he sat down on the mountain. Having healed
his people, he sits down victorious. Having endured the judgment and
the righteousness of God against their sins, he sits down. It is finished, he says. I've
delivered them. I've ransomed them from the grave. I've redeemed them. I've set
them free. I've paid the price to set them
free. I've washed them clean in my
blood. I've healed them. and he sits
down and they're gathered under him the multitude for whom he
suffered the multitude whom he loves sinners that he loves sinners
like you and I blind, dumb, lame, sinners rebellious sinners like
you and I but sinners that he loves he sits down and they're
laid at his feet they're cast down at his feet and he healed
them He took of his blood and he sprinkled it upon them. He
healed them. He washed them clean. He washed
them clean. In so much that the multitude
wondered when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to behold,
the lame to walk, and the blind to see. And they glorified the
God of Israel. He healed them. He took his blood
and washed them clean. He made them righteous. He made
them to be the righteousness of God in him. In a figure here. He heals their physical ailments
but in the picture it points to what he did for sinners. He
healed them of their sin. He made them righteous. Because
he had compassion on the multitude. Did he go there for you? Did
He leave Galilee shores for you? Did He go up by the way of the
cross into the mountain for you? Did He suffer God's wrath against
your sins? Did He pay the price for your
sins, for your hatred, for your unbelief of the Gospel? Did He
suffer for you? Did He sit down on the mountain
for you? Were you led up and cast down
at his feet? Have you been cast at his feet?
As one who's blind, as one who's deaf, as one who's lame, as one
who is dumb. Have you been thrown down at
his feet? Has he taken his blood and healed you? Then Jesus called
his disciples unto him and said, I have compassion on the multitude. Because they continue with me
now three days and have nothing to eat. And I will not send them
away fasting, lest they faint in the way. Did he do all of
this for you? Did he suffer for you? Did he
die for you? If he did, it's because he loved
you. Has he got compassion on you? Are you one of this multitude?
whom he came to save, whom he came to heal. Well they've been
with him for three days, for three days, and he has compassion
upon them. Now what do we see in his three
days in which they are with him? We see their unity with him,
as he suffered, as he died, as he was laid in the grave, and
as he rose again. The people are seen to be with
Christ through all His sufferings. He takes them to the cross with
Him. They're united with Him at the
cross. He bears their sins. He had no
sin Himself. Then if He was slain and judged
at the cross for the sins of others, they had to be one with
Him, they had to be united with Him. It's as if they were there
at the cross with Him. It's as if they hung on the cross
themselves. It's as if they were crucified
spiritually with Him. They hung there with Him. As
Paul says in Galatians, I am crucified with Christ. crucified
he sees himself hanging with Christ upon the cross he sees
God judging him in Christ he sees himself dying with Christ
he's there with him Galatians 2 20 I am crucified with Christ
nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me he had compassion
upon me Paul says When he died, I was there with him. When he
was crucified, I was crucified with him. When he was laid in
the grave, I was laid in the grave with him. The old soul
was done away with. My sins were laid in the grave,
never to be seen again. And when he rose on the third
day, I rose with him. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. I was with him there, I died
with him, I was buried with him, and then I rose with him. Three
days. I died the first day. I was buried
the second day. I rose again the third day. I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. Who loved me, he had compassion
upon me. Then Jesus called his disciples
unto him and said, I have compassion on the multitude because they
continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat. They've
been with me. They've come to the mount with
me. They've been crucified with me. They've been buried with
me. And they've now risen with me.
And here we are together upon the mount. They've been saved,
I've healed them. I've healed them. But they've
nothing to eat. Then we cry three days. From
the cross, through the grave to the resurrection, delivered
because of His compassion. Three days. Three days, they
came from Galilee, they came to the mount. And here they are,
delivered. a little while later in chapter
17 in Matthew Christ speaks of his impending death and he says
to the people he explains what's going to happen here's the picture
of it in the mount in this chapter 15 but then he goes on to speak
of it in chapter 17 verse 22 And while they abode in Galilee,
Jesus said unto them, the son of man shall be betrayed into
the hands of men, and they shall kill him, and the third day he
shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry. Whilst he's with the disciples
here in Galilee, he tells them that he's going to die. and on
the third day he's going to be raised again and again they see
the picture here in chapter 15 they come from Galilee they come
from the world they come from sin they come from the place
of judgment and they come to the mount they go on a journey
with it A journey that lasts three days. A journey that takes
them to the cross, where He is slain for them and they are slain
in Him. A journey that takes them through
the grave, where their sins are buried, never to be seen again.
Where the old man Adam is buried, never to be seen again. And a
journey that brings them up from the grave on the resurrection
day and up into the mount above. where they rise with the life
of Jesus Christ, a new man, the second man, the last Adam. They live but not they, he lives
in them. They're with Him for three days. But He has compassion upon them
because having saved them, having delivered them, having healed
them, having taken away their sin, having brought them to this
place, they've nothing to eat. Here they are in the figure on
the mountain and they've nothing to eat. They've been saved through
Christ's blood. But now in the figure, the multitude
must continue their journey through this world, through the wilderness
below, before that day in reality when they will pass from this
world from time into eternity and go to be with Christ forevermore. Believers are brought to the
cross. They're brought to the gospel.
They're brought to hear this message. You may be brought to
hear of the death and the resurrection of Christ. You may be brought
to see what he did for sinners. You may come to know that he
did it for you. You may come to be to discover
that you're one for whom he died that he bore your sins when he
suffered and he shed his blood for you and he washed you clean
and you may come and believe and be brought to life by the
Spirit of God and to see and believe and be healed of all
your iniquity, healed of your transgressions, healed of your
lameness, your blindness, your deafness. you may come to see
all of this but then you have a journey then you have a pilgrimage
through this world then you have the rest of your life here below
to walk before God to walk before Christ through this wilderness
below through this world that rejected Him through this wicked
sinful veil beneath and you've nothing to eat How are you going
to live? How are you going to survive
on your journey through the wilderness of this world? The people here
had nothing to eat. They had nothing to eat because
there's no food here below which can sustain them. Their old man
Adam was crucified with Christ. What fed him in the world below
would not feed them now. Once upon a time, we may be satisfied
with what this world gives us. We may be satisfied with the
food here below. We may be satisfied with the
food of ambition, and the food of pleasure, and the food of
riches, and the food of the wisdom of men. We may be satisfied with
the food of this world's religion. we may travel through this world
and be fed and satisfied by this world's religion. But when you
come unto Christ, as those who are weak, as a consequence of
this world's religion, and this world's ways and this world's
sin, when you have come to see that you are actually blind and
deaf and dumb and lame and maimed by all that is here below, when
you come to see that you're a sinner and you're dying and you're dead
in trespasses and sins and that all that this world promises
is vain, And all that pass through this world perish in the end.
When you come to see that the food of this world does you no
good whatsoever, you're dying and it can't give you everlasting
life. And the religion of this world
does you no good whatsoever. It promises life but never gives
it. It tells you how to live, but
never gives you any strength or ability. It tells you where
to go, but never takes you there. When you find that the religion
of this world leads you to perish also, and leaves you blind, then
you're brought by the Spirit to Christ's feet. You're laid
down there, and you die with Christ. And you're buried with
Christ. For the food of the world could
not sustain you. It brought death. Your sin brought
death. The food of the world brought
death. The food of this world's religion brought death. It left
you dead. And you're crucified. And you're
buried. But here on the third day, you
rise again. And Christ looks upon his people
having risen with him. and says of them, in this vale
here below, in this valley here below, in this world below, in
the darkness below. He looks upon them and says they've
nothing to eat. There's no food for them from
this world. There's nothing in the world
that they can feed on. There's no food here below. There's
no food in the world. There's no food in its religion.
How are they going to live? How are they going to walk as
my children in such a place when there's no food to be found there? It's a wilderness, it's a desert,
there's no food in it. But he looks upon them in compassion
and he says, I will not send them away fasting. lest they
faint in the way. I'm not going to leave them like
that. I'm not going to leave them to fend for themselves.
I'm not going to leave them to go off to the world's religions
and try to feed upon that. There's nothing there. There's
no food there. They can't survive. So he feeds them. Here in the miracle,
in Matthew, we see the people fed. And it's not a miracle written
and recorded and performed that we might simply wonder at the
great power of Christ. It's there to show what he does
for his people. It's there to show a greater
miracle, how he feeds the multitude of his people, his children,
God's people, in the wilderness. They continue with me now three
days and have nothing to eat and I will not send them away
fast unless they faint in the way. And his disciples say unto
him, whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness
as to fill so great a multitude? They couldn't feed them. They're
in the wilderness. How are they going to feed them,
they say? How can we feed them? And Jesus
saith unto them, how many loaves have you? And they said, seven,
and a few little fishes. And he commanded the multitude
to sit down on the ground and he took the seven loaves and
the fishes and gave thanks and break them and gave to his disciples
and the disciples to the multitude and they did all eat and were
filled. And he took up of the broken
meat that was left seven baskets full. Yes, this world is a wilderness. Especially the religion of this
world. but Christ feeds his people in
the wilderness. He asked his disciples, he asked
his preachers, what have you got? And they said, we've not
got much. We've got seven loaves and a
few small fishes and we have a multitude to feed. And Christ
says, give it to them. He takes it. He breaks it. He
gives it to them. And they give to the people.
And they eat. And they're fed. The disciples,
the preachers as it were, complain that they have so little food
to give. So little for so many. We've
only got seven loaves. And there's thousands of people
here. And they're starving. How can we feed them in a wilderness?
So little for so many. Yet Christ instructs them to
give what they have. To preach what they know. Preach
what you know. I've shown you the gospel. I've shown you the truth. I've
shown you my salvation. You've been delivered yourself. You've come up into the mount.
You've come from Galilee. You know that you were once blind
and now you see. Tell the people. Tell them that
you were blind. Tell them that you see. Tell
them who made you to see. Point them to Christ. Tell them
what you know. Don't give them what you've not
got. You can't. Don't invent things. They can't
live on invented things. Don't try to feed them with the
wisdom of this world. They'll starve. But tell them
what you know. Give them the bread you've got.
You've got seven loaves. Perfect loaves. Perfect bread. Preach what you know. However
little it seems. However despised it might be
in men's eyes. How could that possibly feed
or save a multitude? How could seven small loaves
and a few little fishes feed a multitude? You see the Gospel,
the seven loaves in the hands of Christ's disciples, his preachers,
is to those who perish foolishness. It's despised. It's rejected. It's laughed at. It's mocked
at. It's trampled underfoot. The gospel, the bread they have,
the bread they can give, is despised. Everyone laughs at it. They say,
why do you preach? This is the 21st century. Nobody goes to church. Nobody
cares about religion. Nobody cares about Christianity. Nobody cares about Jesus Christ. Nobody cares about the gospel. Why do you preach it? Why do
you go off in your few little numbers here and there? Why do
you read your Bible? Why do you trust in a saviour
that you cannot see? Why do you believe in a God you
cannot see? They laugh at it, they mock at
it, they despise it, it's foolishness. You come preaching a message
of salvation and your message is that the leader of your religion
was slain. You preach a gospel about a man
who died and they laugh at it. In the
eyes of men that's foolishness. How can a dead man save? Christ died. He was put to death
and you come preaching Him. They laugh at it. And if they accept that, they
then laugh at the truth that it proclaims. They mock and they
despise as foolishness the truth of the cross. That Christ died
for His people. That He died for a chosen people. a particular people, a number
of people that His Father chosen gave unto Him. He died for them
particularly, He took their sins, He bore their sins, He suffered
for their sins in particular that He might deliver them. He
took the maimed, the blind, the dumb, and He suffered in their
place that He might set them free. Oh that foolishness says
the religious. They want a religion. for everyone. They want a religion where anyone
can be saved if they but will. Anyone that lives like this will
be saved. Anyone that strives like this
will be saved. Anyone that makes this decision
will be saved. Anyone that comes into our meeting,
we will save them. And they reject the truth. They reject the gospel of foolishness. They laugh at the seven loaves
in the hands of the disciples. They say, how can you possibly
feed people with that? How can that save? Christ said
to the disciples. How many loaves have you? And
they said seven and a few little fishes. And he commanded the
multitude to sit down on the ground and he took the seven
loaves and the fishes and gave thanks and break them and gave
to his disciples and the disciples to the multitude. He took the
gospel. He gave thanks for the gospel.
He broke the bread. He gave it to his preachers. He made them to know and to see
and to recognize its power and he gave them boldness to preach. And they preached and the people
were fed. They gave what he gave to them,
to the multitude. And the multitude were fed. They
did all eat. Seven loaves. Seven loaves. He did it. Christ did it. The disciples faced with this
dilemma said, how can we do anything? We've not got enough food. They
were powerless. The strength wasn't in them.
There's no strength in man, there's no strength in preachers. They
had no ability. So Christ said, give me the bread
and he took it. And he broke it. He gave thanks
and he gave it to them to give out. All the work was Christ's. He'd gone from Galilee to the
cross, to the grave. He rose again, He went into a
mount, He sat down, the people come to Him, He heals them, and
He takes the bread of the gospel, He gives thanks for it, He breaks
it, and He gives it to His disciples to deliver to the people. All
comes from Christ. He wrought salvation. He wrought
the Gospel. And now he takes the Gospel from
on high, breaks it and delivers it. He preaches it. He preaches it. He gives this
to his disciples to deliver to the people. The Gospel. Seven loaves. Seven loaves. Perfection. The number of perfection. Seven. There are seven loaves. The bread of the gospel is perfect. It's perfect. It might be despised
of man. You might despise it. You might
turn your back upon it. You might be apathetic towards
it. You might be overly familiar
with it. You might shut your ears to it,
but it's perfect. And when God in Christ takes
it and gives it to His disciples to preach it, it comes as the
power of God under salvation. Man cannot stand in its wake. You cannot resist it. If God
purposes to bring it to you and to feed you by it, you cannot
resist. Here the people sit down, He
commands them, sit down and they sit down. He commands the disciples. deliver this message and they
deliver it. They give the people the food,
the people eat and are filled. You cannot resist when he comes
with the power of his gospel, it's perfect. There are seven
loaves and a few fish. Fish from the sea, from the sea
of Galilee. which the fishermen had caught. The disciples had caught these
fish from the sea. You see this is Matthew's gospel. Fish and fishermen are scattered
throughout this gospel. It's a recurring theme. because
in it we see the sea of this world and we see how the disciples
that Christ called are sent as fishers of men to deliver men
from sinking and drowning in the sea and to bring them out
of the sea up into the heights they have the bread of the gospel
and they have a few fish just a few that they've caught by
the gospel who they deliver who witness for them who continued
to proclaim of what God has done for them. The disciples were
fishermen. Andrew and Peter were. Here is
Christ leaving the shores of Galilee where once they fished,
heading up into a mountain and having the multitude gather with
him. Then the disciples, the preachers,
the fishermen, brought the food that they had, bread and fish. They were fishers. They led their
lives. by fishing and now Christ has
made them with his gospel fishers of men give the people the bread
and the fish and feed them and Christ commanded the people to
sit down on the ground O sinner O multitudes if you're ever to
be fed if you're ever to live if you're ever to be healed if
you're ever to know Christ and His power if you're ever to be
spared death and the judgment and the wrath of God against
your sins then you will be brought to sit down beside Christ to
cease from walking to cease from working to cease from doing anything
to save yourself The people, the maimed, the sick, the blind,
were cast down at Jesus' feet. People took them and put them
there. The Gospel, as it were, came unto them. And the preachers
of the Gospel came unto them and picked them up and placed
them before Christ. They couldn't come. They wouldn't
come. They didn't come. They were brought. The Gospel brought them. And
when Christ began to feed, they were caused to sit down. They
sat down. There's no activity on the part
of the people. Everything here is what Christ
does. He uses his disciples to deliver
his gospel unto the people, but it's all from him. They just
sit down and he gives them to eat. That's the gospel. It's all what God does. There's
nothing for you to do. Nothing. There's nothing for
you to do. You don't have to do this. You
don't have to do that. You don't have to be a member
of this church. You don't have to be baptized. You don't have
to read this or do that or make this confession or do anything.
There's nothing for you to do. It all comes from Him. And He
gives you to feed. He gives you to eat. And you
eat and you live and you're healed. It's all of God. Anything that
you do from thenceforth is a consequence of everything that he does. You
do nothing of yourself. He causes you to feed. They did
nothing. They were sat down. Christ fed
them. He gave the disciples the bread
and they delivered it. It all came from Christ. The people didn't go and get
it. They weren't instructed where they might find it. They weren't
told how to prepare it. They didn't grow it. They didn't
farm it. They didn't make this food. They
didn't prepare this food. They were given it. There's nothing
of the works or the will of man in the Gospel. They did nothing. They were sat down at rest. Christ prepared the food. He
took it, He break it, He blessed it and He gave it. And by His
preachers He delivered it unto them. And when He delivered it,
when He delivers His Gospel, people feed and are filled they
did all eat and were filled they did all eat and were filled and
they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full
they did all eat they all ate all four thousand men and all
the women and children with them thousands upon thousands they
were all filled all filled by the gospel. What bread is this? What gospel is this? Well we
see it in the first few verses of the chapter we've read. Prior to this account of the
feeding of the 4,000 in the mount, the chapter opens with the scribes
and the Pharisees of Jerusalem coming unto Christ and complaining. They say, why do thy disciples
transgress the traditions of the elders, for they wash not
their hands when they eat bread? But he answered and said unto
them, why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your
tradition? They were offended at Christ
because his disciples didn't wash their hands before eating
bread. They didn't do the things that the disciples, that the
Pharisees and scribes demanded the people do. They said, if
you want to eat, you must do this and do that. If you want
to be saved, you must do this and do that before you can eat. First you must wash. First you
must make yourself righteous. You will never be blessed of
God until you make yourself righteous before Him. First you must wash. You must wash yourself. You must
cleanse yourself. You must do these good deeds.
You must walk in the right way. Then God will see you. Then He
will bless you. Then you will eat. That's their
religion. And that's the religion of this
world. If you're going to be saved, you have to come to this
meeting and that meeting. You have to read this and read
that. You have to perform this ritual and that ritual. You have
to live like this. And if you do that and do that
continuously, then God will see you and God will bless you. But
if you don't, you'll die. You must work in order to be
blessed. God rewards those that work.
The message of works. That's where the chapter opens
and this is what this account is contrasting with. It's showing
that the people who were fed and who were saved did nothing. They sat down. They were blind. They were dumb. They were deaf.
They were lame. They needed to be cast at Jesus'
feet. They weren't washed. They couldn't
do anything. And the religion of the day hated
it and despised it and rejected it. It rejected Christ. It slew
Christ. It rejected his disciples. And
it rejected all that followed him. Why don't you wash your
hands before you eat? Well the gospel the disciples
fed the people with that Christ gave them from the seven loaves
of bread and the few fishes was a different gospel. The Pharisees
were offended that Christ didn't demand that the people washed
when they ate bread. They demanded works. But the
gospel is for those who cease to work. The sick, the dumb,
the deaf, the lame, the blind, the dead. Those who are starving
in the wilderness. Those who are sat down. And those,
these, are those whom Christ looks upon in compassion. whom
he will not send away hungry but that people whom he looks
upon in grace and whom he feeds in the wilderness with bread
which fills them with fish which they eat by which they're caught
by the gospel he feeds them in the wilderness you may say believer
that you're in the wilderness That you've come to hear of Christ,
you've come to hear of the Gospel, you believe on Him. You love
the Gospel, but here you are on the journey so hard. It's such a barren wilderness
in which you're living. Britain today is such a barren
wilderness as far as the gospel's concerned, as far as truth's
concerned. America's a barren wilderness,
the world's a barren wilderness. You say it's so hard, how am
I going to live? How am I going to journey on
to the end? How am I going to endure to the
end? I'm here in this wilderness and
I'm starving. Where's the gospel? You say,
I need some food, I need some bread, I need to live, I'm starving. But are you? Are you? Are you with Christ? Are you
where his disciples are? Are you in the mount with his
disciples and the multitude? Are you where the preachers of
his gospel are? If you're where they are, if
you're listening to them and not to the scribes and the Pharisees
in this world and its religion, if you go to the temple, if you
go to the tabernacles of this world, then you will starve. You won't be fed by those that
demand that you wash first. You won't get any food in their
meeting halls. You won't get any food in their
churches. And if you complain that you're
starving whilst you walk in their ways, you will starve. But Christ has come with his
gospel and said, come away. Come out from among them. Come
up hither. Come to the mount. Come up here. and the disciples come, the preachers
come with the gospel and they find sinners like you and I where
we are and they pick them up by the gospel and they bring
the blind, blind sinners like you and I and they lay them down
at Jesus' feet and He heals them and He feeds them and if you
find yourself at Jesus' feet where his preachers are, where
they take the bread of his gospel and deliver it, where they have
seven loaves and a few small fishes, you won't starve. You will eat and you will be
filled. You will be filled with His Gospel. You will be filled with life.
You will be filled with the truth. They may only be a few. They
may only have seven small loaves and a few small fishes. It may
be despised by everybody else and rejected as foolishness.
But it's rejected as foolishness by those that perish. And you
who eat are saved forevermore. And for you, the seven loaves
and a few small fishes prove to be in the gospel the power
of God unto salvation. The power of God. If you eat
of this bread and drink of this wine, you will live and reign
forever with Christ in the mount from whence healing pours forth
through the blood of his covenant. Have you come? Have you been
laid down at his feet? Have you heard? Have you seen? Have you eaten? Are you filled? Do you live? Do you live? Amen.