Let us turn in our Bibles today
to Mark chapter 6. Mark chapter 6 and beginning in verse 31, and he said unto
them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest
a while. For there were many coming and
going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they departed
into a desert place by ship privately. And the people saw them departing,
and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and
out went them, and came together unto him. Jesus, when he came
out, saw much people and was moved with compassion toward
them because they were sheep, not having a shepherd. And he
began to teach them many things. And when the day was now far
spent, his disciples came unto him and said, This is a desert
place, and now the time is far past. Send them away, that they
may go into the country round about, and into the villages
and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat. He
answered and said unto them, give ye them to eat. And they
say unto him, shall we go and buy 200 penny worth of bread
and give them to eat? He saith unto them, how many
loaves have you? Go and see. And when they knew,
they say, five and two fishes. And he commanded them to make
all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat
down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties. And when he had taken
the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven and blessed
and break the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set
before them. And the two fishes divided he
among them all. And they did all eat and were
filled. In reading through the Gospels,
this miracle of our Lord feeding the 5,000 men, not including
the women and children, is in each one of them, in Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John. In the Gospel of John, Nicodemus
came to the Lord at night, and he said, no man can do these
miracles. No man can do these miracles
which thou doest, except God be with him. Now you and I today,
we know that it was more than God being with him. It is true
that God was with him, because the apostle John tells us in
his gospel that when John the Baptist baptized the Lord Jesus
Christ, he saw the Holy Spirit descending from heaven like a
dove and it abode on him. And when he began his public
ministry with his baptism, the first time he was in the synagogue,
he read the scripture which said, the spirit of the Lord is upon
me. No man can do these miracles
which thou doest except God be with him. God was with him. At his baptism, God, the Holy
Spirit, was poured out upon him. He was filled with the Spirit.
It's spoken of in picture in the Old Testament by the high
priest Aaron being anointed with oil. The oil, a type of the Holy
Spirit, poured out upon Aaron's head, but it ran down, remember,
his beard and to his skirts. In other words, all of the body
of the Lord Jesus Christ, those of us who are members of his
mystical body, we received the Holy Spirit because he was anointed
with the Holy Spirit. But his words were, the Spirit
of the Lord is upon me, for he hath anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. The Holy Spirit, God was with
Christ as a man, but we know that he was more than a man. that this miracle, which is one
that shows his power to create, which is only true of God, reveals
unto us his deity. Now there's six things that I'm
going to point out to us today in this passage of scripture
that I've just read. I pray that God will use these
things as we look at them to reveal Christ and and to comfort
all of God's children here today. The first, the compassion of
the Lord Jesus. You notice that in verse 34.
The scripture says, and Jesus, when he came out, saw much people
and was moved with compassion. This is the third time in the
Gospel of Mark where we read of the compassion of the Lord
Jesus Christ. If you look back with me into
chapter 1 of Mark, this has reference to a leper, a leper who came
to the Lord. In Mark chapter 1 and verse 39, And he preached in their synagogues
throughout all Galilee and cast out devils. And there came a
leper to him, beseeching him and kneeling down to him and
saying unto him, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus moved with compassion,
put forth his hand and touched him and saith unto him, I will
be thou clean. the compassion of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And then, if you will, in chapter
five of Mark, and this concerns that man, we refer to him as
the demoniac of Gadara, the man in whom there was a legion of
devils who lived out among the tombs naked, could not be controlled,
even with chains. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
came, the Lord Jesus Christ cast those demons out of this man.
And then when the Lord would leave that place because the
people of that place asked him to leave, he was getting in a
ship to go back across the sea. And we read here that this man,
out of whom the Lord had cast these demons, In verse 18 said,
and when he was coming to the ship, he that had been possessed
with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit
Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, go home to thy friends
and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee and
hath had compassion on thee. Now in our text this morning,
here in chapter six, Mark tells us that he had compassion on
them because he saw them as sheep having no shepherd. As sheep
having no shepherd. Now in the context of the scripture,
when we think about sheep, we know that nothing could have
been possibly worse for a sheep than to be without a shepherd. Nothing, nothing could have been
worse for a sheep to be without a shepherd. Sheep are susceptible
to all kinds of diseases. They are defenseless against
wild animals and they would be hopelessly lost once they go
astray. They will never find their way
home. A dog or an animal like that
may have the intelligence or the natural whatever, instinct
in them to find their way home, but not a sheep. Did you know
that a sheep, when full of wool, if it falls down and gets on
its back, it cannot even help itself up. It will just lay there
and cry. There's nothing more pitiful
in the scripture context of sheep than one who did not have a shepherd. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
looked on this multitude, I don't know if you noticed, but they
went aside to rest. That's the reason they were in
this place. The Lord had brought his disciples aside to rest because
they were weary And that in itself is a great mystery, isn't it? How He who holds the world in
His hand or by His power, how that He could be weary and need
to rest. But that's the reason they've
gone aside, He and His disciples. And yet the Lord, coming out
of the ship, sees the multitude and He sees them like no one
else. And other people, the disciples
saw them, but no one saw them as the Lord Jesus Christ did.
He saw them as sheep without a shepherd. Nothing could be
worse. Now why is it important this
morning that I mention this? Why is it important that I remind
each and every one of us, and maybe some here for the first
time, that the Lord Jesus Christ is full of compassion. Why is that important? I'll tell
you why. Because as the scripture says
in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 8, Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
in this time, that is recorded in our text, Jesus Christ the
same yesterday when he looked on the multitudes as sheep not
having a shepherd and had compassion, Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
today, and forever. The compassion of the Lord Jesus
Christ to those who see themselves as lost in this world and maybe
afraid to approach or even to call upon the Lord. If you only
knew, preacher, I don't need to know because I know Christ. If you only knew, preacher, the
guilt, the sin that I'm guilty of, I don't need to know that
guilt. I don't want to know it. I've
got enough of my own. But I know this, there's a compassionate
one who sits on the right hand of the throne on high. And those
who seek him find him. The scripture says in the book
of Lamentations, chapter three, in verse 22, his compassions
fail not. You know, we like to think, I
guess, that we're somewhat compassionate. We have compassion on people,
and we do. But you know, even a parent,
after so long, even a parent's compassion can be completely
exhausted. Not his. Not his. And for those here today who
know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, sometimes
you go through things, many of you maybe even now, And the thought
may come to you, does Jesus care? Remember that hymn we sing sometimes
by that title, Does Jesus Care? And oh, the chorus is, does Jesus
care? Oh yes, he cares. He knows, he
cares. His heart is touched with my
grief. When the days are weary and the
long nights Dreary, I know my Savior cares. Amen. I know He is compassionate. The second thing we see in this
passage of Scripture is the condition of this world. First, the compassion
of the Lord Jesus, but second, the condition of this world in
verse 35 is aptly described as a desert place. a desert place. The Apostle Paul, following him
and the book of Acts, we find that he preached in the centers
of learning of that day. He preached in the cities of
Greece, The Greek philosophers, they are still studied, still
acclaimed, some of them, as some of the greatest philosophers
this world has ever produced. But even in Corinth, and even
in Athens, that was known for their learning, it was a desert
place. Remember what Paul said when
he went up on Mars Hill there in Athens to preach. He said,
I saw that you have one idol here, That is to the unknown
God. And all of their philosophy and
all of their education of this world could not reveal unto them
the truth about God Almighty. This place, this world is a desert
place when it comes to the knowledge of God. A desert is a place where
there's not that which we need, right? Not water, not food, whatever. And this world in and of itself
is a desert place. Remember what Paul said, the
world by wisdom knew not God. Here it is, man is living in
God's world and he has the ability to observe the universe and to
to see and know when certain things are going to take place,
like an eclipse and many other things, and seasons follow seasons,
and God has not left Himself without a witness, without witness
in this world. Even the heathen, the pagans,
the Gentiles, when only the Jews had the oracles of God, the Word
of God, God didn't leave Himself without witness. Oh no, he witnessed
to them through the things of this world, but yet the scripture
says, the world by wisdom knew not God. Man left to himself,
he'll never know God. I don't care where he is, at
what time he comes into this world. You say, well, they lived
in the dark ages. It doesn't matter. All men, when
we come into this world, are in the dark spiritually. Not only does the scripture say
the world by wisdom knew not God, but the wisdom of this world
is foolishness with God. And I tell you, we live in a
time when I don't see how it could be any more foolish. The
wisdom of this world. To teach that man has evolved. That man is here as a result
of evolution. are to teach that all of this
world that we witness and are able to observe, that it all
just came about by Big Bang. Remember that statement? I think
I can remember it well enough to quote it, but someone said
one time that to believe in the Big Bang theory, It's like believing
that a Webster's Dictionary came about by an explosion in a printing
factory. Did you get that? Just like in
a printing factory that there was an explosion and out of that
explosion came the dictionary. How foolish. And yet people will
agree to believe that they are the wise men in this world. And
how can this world be anything other than a desert when the
Apostle John tells us that the whole world lieth in wickedness. The whole world lieth in wickedness,
which means that the whole world is under the influence of the
God of this world, who is, of course, the wicked one, Satan. The only places in this world
where this is not a good description, the only places in this world
where calling it a desert is not a good description is where
there is the more sure word of prophecy. That is the Word of
God. That's the only place. The Word
of God that Peter says is as a light that shineth in a dark
place. The third thing I want us to
observe is the first command of the Lord Jesus in verse 37. The first command, give ye them
to eat. Give ye them to eat. Now it's
obvious by the disciples' response that they understood, they saw
this, they recognized immediately that this was an impossibility. And to show that they recognized
this as an impossibility, they just chose an unheard of amount
for them, 200 pennies. That was an unheard of amount
for them. And so they just chose that and
said, well, even 200 penny worth of bread would not be sufficient
to feed this multitude. Well, they didn't have 200 pennies
to begin with. And even if they had, it would
not have been sufficient. The Lord said, what then have
you? And they found that they had
five loaves of bread and two fish. But in John's gospel, about
this same miracle, he tells us that when they told the Lord
there was five loaves and two fishes at the same time, they
said, But what are they among so many? Now I'm making a point
here this morning, Lord help me to make this point, that the
Lord's first command was an impossibility. It was an impossibility. Give
ye them to eat. They recognized it was an impossibility. They didn't have sufficient to
give to this multitude. And I remind us of this because
all men, when we come into this world, God has given us a command. He has given us a command. And
it is a command that it is impossible for us to obey. What is that command? Our Lord
said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and
with all thy soul and with all thy mind and with all thy strength. Does anyone born of fallen Adam,
does anyone have the power to obey that command? You say, well,
no, I don't think I have the power, but I can do the best
I can. God won't accept. Well, I'll
just try my very best. Well, you should, but that will
not please God. Your very best is not good enough. Here's a question that we should
recognize, that when God created Adam, the scripture says He created
him in His own image. Adam had the power and no doubt
at first he obeyed this command He loved the Lord With all his
heart all his soul and all this he had that ability. He was created
in the image of God He was holy But he was mutable God is holy,
but he's immutable He's always been holy, and He shall forever
be holy. But He created man mutable, and
man disobeyed God. And when man fell, he lost that
ability. He can't obey God with all his
heart, all his soul. And the sooner you learn this,
the sooner I learn this, the better it is for us. The better
it is for all people to learn that the command that God requires
of us, we cannot obey. Some people would say, well,
then God couldn't command that. Listen. God did not lose his
sovereign right to command when man lost his ability to obey. God doesn't change. The sooner we learn that, the
better. Because until we learn this truth,
all of us, all men by nature, as Paul said about his kinfolks,
we will go about to establish our own righteousness. That's
what we will do. We will think and we will try
by our works, by our obedience, by our merit, somehow to gain
the favor of God. That's impossible. Now notice the second command
the Lord Jesus gave. This is my fourth point. The
second command of the Lord Jesus, verse 39, make all sit down. Make all sit down. Now, they
will all be fed. All 5,000 of these men, women,
and children, they will all be fed, but not a one of them will
be fed standing up. So what difference does that
make? Well, in my message it makes a whole lot of difference.
Not one of them is going to be fed standing up. Make them all
sit down. You see, sitting in the scripture
is a resting position. A resting position. Standing
is a serving or working position. Make them all sit down. You know, in Hebrews, let me
read a couple of verses from Hebrews to show this to us, how
that sitting in the Word of God shows resting. In Hebrews chapter
1 and verse 3, the apostle said concerning the Lord Jesus Christ,
who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image
of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His
power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down. He sat down. Why? Because the
work was finished. I know it's just a picture here,
but as long as He was working, doing what God required to purge
us from our sins, He was standing. But once that work was complete,
once it was finished, once it was accepted by God the Father,
He has sat down. And a second verse is in Hebrews
10, Hebrews chapter 10. Remember, this chapter begins
with the apostle declaring how it's impossible with the blood
of bulls and goats to take away sin. All of those animals which
were sacrificed under that old covenant dispensation, their
blood had no power, could not take away sin. But this man,
notice in verse 17, and I believe it is chapter 10 and verse 17. Verse 14, For by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Verse 12,
But this man... What man? The God-man. The man who in this miracle is
feeding these 5,000 men. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down. Again, it shows that
the work is finished. Not only finished, but accepted. This is just another reminder
that the bread of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, is given freely,
freely received. The fifth point from this passage
is this. The Lord Jesus alone provided
the food. If you look in verse 41a, and
when he had taken the five loaves and two fishes, he looked up
to heaven and blessed and break the loaves and gave them to his
disciples. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ, he
took, he took. When He came into this world,
the eternal Son of God took in union with His deity that body
that was prepared of Him, for Him rather, by God the Holy Spirit. He took. He's the blessed. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in Christ. All the promises And all the
blessings that God has for men and women are all yea and amen
in Jesus Christ. He took, he blessed, he break,
he gave himself. No man taketh my life from me,
I lay it down of myself. He gave himself. And he gave, and he divided. He divided. The prophecy is,
I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there
was none with me. Everything about supplying the
food for these 5,000 men, it was all the work of Christ. It
was all his work. He blessed, he broke, he gave,
he divided. If you turn over to John chapter
six hurriedly, just a moment. He is the bread of life. Beginning in verse 47, he said,
verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath
everlasting life. He has it. He's not saying he's
gonna get it. And that's what a lot of people
think, isn't it? They feel like that when a person
dies, that's when they are going to have it. No, no. When you
believe, when you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord
and Savior, you have eternal life. What is eternal life? It's to know God. It's to know
Christ. This is life eternal. that they
might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he
hath sent. Most people think of eternal
life as just endless life. Now, that is true about eternal
life, but the greatest thing about eternal life is knowing
God, knowing Christ. This, verily, verily, I say unto
you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. Why? Because
I am that bread of life. Don't you love the way the Lord
Jesus Christ here, especially in the Gospel of John, confessed
himself to be what people need when he spoke to Martha? Oh,
she had a lot of knowledge, didn't she? Good knowledge, no doubt
about it. There's going to be a resurrection.
One of these days, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come from
heaven and there's going to be a resurrection of all of those
whose bodies are in the graves, yes. But Martha, she knew that. My brother Lazarus, he's going
to rise in the resurrection. Martha, I am the resurrection. I am the life. He that believeth
in me hath eternal life. Now one other thing in closing,
if you turn back here to Mark chapter six, The last part of verse 41, the disciples set the food before
the multitude. They didn't manufacture this
food, but they were given the work
of serving the food. And I think this is a good picture
of God's preachers. These disciples, they received
the bread from the hands of the Master. And that's our place
as preachers of the Gospel. It is to receive the Word from
the Lord. We don't manufacture the message.
We don't invent the message. We've been given the message
in its purity, in its wholeness. Here it is in the Word of God.
And our responsibility is to set it before the people. We can't give a person an appetite. You know, if a person is full.
I had this happen one time. We were set to eat at two different
people's houses almost at the same time. We were missionaries. It wasn't
my fault. Pastor set this up. And we went
to the first house, and don't you know, they had one of my
favorites there. Purple hull peas, cornbread. And I knew I was going to have
to go to another house. I tried to do my best to be very
temperate. But what I'm saying, when I got
to the second house, I don't remember what the lady had prepared.
I'm sure it was a beautiful, wonderful, delicious meal. But
I had no appetite. And I can't give a person a spiritual
appetite. If I could, I'd give every one
of us here today. I know many of you do have it.
I know that. But if there's any here who don't,
I'd give you one. And I do my best by the grace
of God to be like these disciples, to take the food from the hands
of the Savior and set it before you. And I would beseech you
in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled unto God. But that's the Spirit's
work, isn't it? And I pray, I pray. that he may be pleased to do
that. The miracle, in the miracle we
see the power of Christ. And the gospel is the power of
God unto salvation unto everyone that believe it. And not only
are we saved by the power of Christ, but we are kept by the
power of Christ. May the Lord bless this word
to each of us here. Let's take our hymn book.