Mark chapter 8, verses 1 through 9, let's read. what the Lord has in store for
us this evening out of this chapter. In those days, the multitude
being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples
unto him and said unto them, 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 divers
of them came from far. And his disciples answered him,
From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in
the wilderness? And Christ answered them, How
many loaves have ye? 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 break and gave it to his
disciples to set 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 4,000 and he sent
them away now. Here in Mark 8, we see for the
second occasion, this is the second occasion where Christ
had compassion on the weary multitude and he performed this lovely
miracle and sustained them. This is not the same miracle
that was described earlier. This is the second one. Remember,
there was around 5,000 men is what it said in the last situation.
So, this is a completely different occasion. It's the second occasion.
But what I want to draw your attention to is the fourth verse
only the fourth verse only. And let's look at this question
that his disciples asked, and I want to ask you and myself,
I want to ask us the same question. Can a man satisfy these with
bread? See, in verse four. And his disciples
answered Christ from whence Can a man satisfy these men or can
a man satisfy these with bread here in the wilderness? They're
in the wilderness and they wanna know, can a man, can it be done? And I told Bruce and the men
out as we were getting ready for services this evening, it
wasn't until last night sometimes I looked this over for several
days and I had absolutely nothing. I looked at it, I said, well,
it's the miracle of the feeding of 4,000, and they've got fishes,
and they've got bread, and I was going to go further, but now let me just, there's
got to be, there's something here. Well, the Lord opened this
up, and I was pretty, very excited and very encouraged about the
whole text. Can a man satisfy these with
bread? Well, here we go once more. You
have multitudes following Christ, for various reasons, some to
see the miracles, I'm sure, no doubt some to be fed, some for
a free lunch, and some perhaps were curious as to who Christ
was, and even perhaps some that were truly in need. Why are we
here tonight? Why do I get these messages ready?
Why do I gather? Why do we gather together to
worship? Whether it's Wednesday or Sunday, why are we here tonight?
Do we desire a show of religion? Do we seek the loaves only? Or
do we merely want our curiosity satisfied and nothing else? My
prayer for you and for me would be may we be found by God's grace
to be seeking and staying upon Him for who He is. not the fact of faith, it's the
object of faith. May we, by God's grace, be stayed
upon Him for who He is. Now let's look at this verse,
and I'm just gonna go part by part. The first point is can
a man see that there in verse four from whence can a man can
a man? And secondly, we will note can
a man satisfy these with bread? And lastly, can a man satisfy
these with bread here in the wilderness? Three short points
can a man. If you or I seek satisfaction
from the law by a good man, You and I will sink into hell forever. If you and I seek a righteousness
from a great man, God must still condemn us. Turn to Romans chapter
5. Romans chapter 5. Verse six through nine, for when
we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,
much more than being now justified by his blood. We shall be saved
from wrath through him. If. You seek satisfaction from
the law, if you seek. Righteousness. If it be by the
man, you see the question, can a man. Can a man satisfy? Not a good man, not a great man,
but the man Christ Jesus, by which if it be by the man Christ
Jesus, by which you seek satisfaction from your wilderness, then you
shall be, as it says in verse eight, so they did eat and were
filled. That's why we continually emphasize
salvation in a person. Can a man? not a mere man, not
a great man, not a prophet, not a priest, not a king, but the
God man. If you seek such satisfaction
and righteousness, you will be filled. Your cup will overflow.
Your soul shall delight itself in fatness because you see, this
man is not like any other man. He's called the God man. He's
called the eternal son, the governor. the peacemaker, the everlasting
sacrifice, the righteous one, the prince of peace, the judge
of all the earth. A mere man may try to redeem,
may try to honor God's character and may try to bring many sons
to glory, but shall fail in every aspect. But this man. You see, they're asking Christ,
can a man. Watch. Can a man satisfy your
struggles to get your eyes off those struggles and on to himself? He can. Spiritual. Name the spiritual
trouble. Name the physical trouble. Name
it. He delights. This man delights
to satisfy. his people because he satisfied
his father. Can a man? This man has the right to redeem. He is the balm in Gilead. He
has put away the sin of all the elect, and now he sits at God's
right hand. I would say, can a man satisfy? This man has. This man has. Secondly, Can a man satisfy these
with bread? Or how did Christ satisfy? Sticking with the text, can a
man satisfy with bread, natural bread? Melinda can attest. She buys two kinds of two loaves
of bread. They're in our house. When you come to our house, you
two kinds of bread. You got that old nasty wheat stuff and then
you got that good white Bunny, soft, crumple it up, and
I just eat it like that. I fold it over, I put some peanut
butter on it, but you can ask Melinda, a Coke in one hand,
and just bread, and I'll squish it up, and I just eat it, and
I'm happy. That's why if you take me to
Lambert's, if you put a soda in front of me, it could water,
it doesn't matter, and you just throw loaves at me, I'll be happy.
Right? Because your dad would want some
molasses, or actually he would want loaves with his molasses.
But can a man satisfy with bread? Natural bread, if you eat that,
you'll hunger again. But turn to John chapter 6. John chapter six. And I believe
it's verse thirty five. Jesus said unto them, I am the
bread of life and he that cometh to me shall never hunger and
he that believeth on me shall never thirst. I'm the bread of
life. Can a man satisfy with bread? It depends on what kind of bread
it is. That's why. That's what I love
about the gospel, Bruce. It just opens up everything,
doesn't it? In Matthew 6, verse 11, what do we pray? Give us
this day our daily... Well, you talk to any preacher
in this area and they're going to say, well, that just talks
about daily sustenance. If that's all it is, you're going
to hunger again. That's why we petition our God,
understanding through the gospel that Christ is the sum and substance
of the gospel. Christ is the sum and substance
of our nutrition. And we say, give us this day
our daily Christ. Daily bread, because that is
to say that we must have Christ daily to live upon, to move,
and to have our being. And without him, we are nothing.
Let others talk about Christ occasionally. We must hear him,
have him, speak of him, partake of him daily. We were just out
there in the foyer and Bruce said, it's a long, you know,
we got to keep the Wednesday thing going, which we weren't,
you know, talking about discontinuing it. But Bruce has always said
it's a long time from Sunday to Sunday. It's not a Baptist
thing. If that's what it is, then let's
not do it. But we do it because we want to. Give us this day our daily bread.
Can the man, can this man satisfy with bread? You bet he can. Turn to Revelation chapter seven.
I've never seen this before. But the church in glory, this
is the church in glory. So such as the church's desire
and glory, so it is upon this earth. Revelations chapter 7
and verse 17 For the lamb which is in the midst of the throne
shall feed them whose church and Shall lead them unto living
fountains of water and God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes The lamb which is Christ in the midst of the throne shall
feed them how Can a man satisfy with bread You better believe
it. You better believe it. He is
our satisfaction. From eternity past to eternity
future, that is, he's the Alpha and Omega. He's the. He's the
bottom loaf and he's the top. How did Christ so satisfy as the bread of life. How did
he satisfy God? Well, he did so by satisfying
every jot and tittle, the scripture says, fulfilled all the law,
all God's decrees, honored his attributes, glorified his person.
And how did he satisfy our needs? Every nook and cranny. We're
a sinner, head to tail, thumb to thumb, stem to stern,
full of sin. And we have to have a righteousness
that God will accept. Can this man satisfy with bread?
Yes, because he is the bread of life. We partake of the Lord's
Supper. We take this bread. And what
is it? He says, this is my body. Broken
For you my beloved bride take this wine, which is my blood
shed for you my children of grace thus Christ by himself as the
scripture says purged our sins by the one glorious majestic
and sweet sacrifice of himself Can this man the man Christ Jesus? Satisfy with bread with himself
absolutely our lesson says he did and He broke it, satisfied
their needs, it had left over. So we've read the miracle, and
such is the miracle of grace to everyone who believes. Never
a man, this book says, spake like this man. Never a man lived
like this man. Never a man died. And you know
what? Never a man rose like this man. And because he arose, so
shall every last member of his church. I would say that's satisfaction.
All the Father gives to me shall come. And him that come, I know
why he's cast out. Satisfaction. Lastly, let's look
at the verse. Can a man satisfy these men with
bread? Can the man can with bread himself? Where? Here in the wilderness?
I don't know if you've looked around lately, but that's what
we're in. Oh, I thought we were in Jackson.
We're in the wilderness. But we're in Oasis when we gather
together, but it's still not home. We're just passing through.
Can a man satisfy these with bread here in the wilderness?
I say he satisfies only in the wilderness. And then you say something, Bruce,
about a year ago, and then about five years ago, and then I think
ten years ago, you said it doesn't get any easier. You said it,
I didn't. You said right. Can he satisfy
here in the wilderness? I say it's only in the wilderness.
Because if you don't know what it's like to suffer, you don't
know what it is to be relieved. If you don't know what hell is,
you won't know what heaven is. If he doesn't reveal your sin,
you won't know what righteousness to be without sin. God had only
one son without sin, but he has no sons without sufferings. One
of the divines said that. One son without sin, but no sons
without suffering in the wilderness. God has one son without corruption,
but he has no sons without the sin nature. God had one son without
indwelling iniquity, but no sons without daily anguish because
of our old flesh. Can he satisfy? He can. With bread? By the sacrifice
of himself? In the wilderness? That's where
he saves his people. Because the sick are the ones
who need the physician. Alas, he satisfies while we are
in this wilderness, that is, in this wilderness of sin, of
trial, of fighting and fears, of weakness, of frailty, he satisfies
and takes care of all those needs in Christ Jesus. And alas, he
satisfies, therefore he will sustain us, he will satisfy us
and he will sanctify us. He sustains us in such a way
that we will reach Canaan land, We'll get there. He satisfies
us. Therefore, we will not drop in
the wilderness. We won't be left for dead. He'll
make sure we get to the end and he'll sanctify us. That is, he
makes us meet for the master's use unto our desired end. He sustains, he satisfies and
he sanctifies. Let me close. Singing this are not singing.
I'll read it The sands of time are sinking
the dawn of heaven breaks The summer morn I've sighed for the
fair sweet morn awakes dark dark has been the midnight but day
spring is at hand and glory glory dwells and in Emmanuel's land. O Christ, he is the fountain,
the deep, sweet well of love, the streams on earth I've tasted,
more deep I'll drink above. There to an ocean fullness his
mercy does expand and glory, glory dwells in Emmanuel's land. Oh, I am my beloved's and my
beloved's mine. He brings a poor, vile sinner
into his house of wine. I stand upon his merit. I know
no other stand, not even where glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's
land. The bride eyes not her garment,
but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not gaze at glory, but
on my king of grace. not at the crown he gives, but
on his pierced hand. The lamb is all the glory in
Emmanuel's land. We are not concerned about streets
ago. Crowns were concerned about him. Can a man satisfy these with
bread here in the wilderness? Only if that man is Christ Jesus
and if He's your man and my man. May it be so. Bruce, would you
close us please?