 Let's open our Bibles together to Mark chapter 8. We're going to be looking today at the feeding of the 4,000, not to be confused with the feeding of the five. I'll give you a few things that differentiate between those two because some people get a bit confused and sometimes those who would criticize the Scriptures will use this as an example of what they call contradictions. And so I developed my studies here so you get a good background and that's what I'll be doing. I'm going to be giving to you some foundation, a background, give you some basic applications at the end of the study. At the end of the study is when I relax into some applications, I'll be giving you seven applications of this, seven things that we can learn from this passage. And so as is my norm, I'm going to give to you an introduction, fill in the context. Some of you haven't been with us through the whole study. I'll give you some context, give you some things that have taken place and all of it is intended to help you to be able to put into practice those things that we're learning here. So again, I'll give you introduction, give you some context, move through the study and close with seven applications to what we're looking at. And so beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 10, Mark chapter 8, we're looking again at the feeding of the 4,000. Mark writes in those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them, I have compassion on the multitude because they have now continued with me three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their own homes, their own houses, they will faint on the way. For some of them have come from afar. Then his disciples answered him, how can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness? He asked them, how many loaves do you have? And they said seven. So he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground and he took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before them and they set them before the multitude. They also had a few small fish and having blessed them, he said to set them also before them. So they ate and were filled and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. Now those who had eaten were about 4,000 and he sent them away, immediately got into the boat with his disciples and came to the region of Delma, also known as Chino. So let me give you a context and give you again a foundation, move into the study and then what we'll do is we're going to close with seven applications, things we can learn from this and put into practice. Now we remember that after Jesus had fed the 5,000 he had left Galilee. Galilee, when you're looking at a map, is in the north of Israel. So he left the Galilee in order to spend time with his men. We know that he went north into what is modern Lebanon onto the coast and he went to Tyre, which is a small city that was there as well as Sidon, Sidon being a little bit north of Tyre, and he ministered in that region to a woman of Syrophoenicia. We also know she was referred to as a woman of Canaan and so he had gone there, he had ministered, he had freed this woman's daughter of demonic possession and from there he went to the south and he went to the east, went to the eastern side of the Jordan River into an area that is called the Decapolis. I mentioned to you that that region there on the east of the Jordan is called Decapolis because there were 10 cities that were in that region, Deca being 10, Paulus being cities, 10 cities, so there were 10 cities that were actually pagan cities. That helps us to understand why when Jesus cast out the demon, the legion, that there were people herding pigs in that area because they were pagans, they were Gentiles and so he ministered to that woman who was in the region, had gone across into the Decapolis and there he was ministering. He stayed there probably for two, maybe three months and he paid attention, focused ministry on the twelve. Now I mentioned that Jesus had delivered a demonized man that was in that region, the man of the Gadarenes and that man who had been delivered of the demonic possession had gone out and he had told people what Jesus had done for him and in Matthew rather Mark chapter 5 verse 20 it tells us that he departed and he began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him and then the Scripture tells us and all marveled. Well Jesus has returned to this area and he continues to minister and people are now continuing to come to him and he's healing many and the reaction of the multitude is to marvel at what Jesus is doing. Matthew in chapter 15 verses 30 and 31 says, great multitudes came to him having with them the lame, the blind, the mute, maimed and many others and they laid them down at Jesus' feet and he healed them. So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking and the blind seeing and they glorified the God of Israel. Well Jesus is still in that region, he's still in the area called Decapolis, multitudes are continuing to come to him. Now when you read your Bible again, note very often that many would come to Christ and the question is asked why would they, why did they gather to him as regularly as they did? And let me give you a couple reasons that we would see in Scripture as to why people would continue coming to Christ. The first thing I'd point out is that he's approachable. People knew that it was safe to approach him and you read your Bible and you see this, you see lepers and distinguished teachers, you see synagogue officials, the deaf, sinners who would come to him and those who could not come on their own, you see that they would be carried to him, that he might touch, that he might heal them. Even little children were brought to him. Matthew 18 verses 15 and 16 says, they brought infants to him, that he might touch them. But when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. Jesus called them to him and said, let the little children come to me and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God. So Jesus is approachable. Multitudes would come to him, they knew that he would not reject them. Like it says in Psalm 145 verse 9, the Lord is good to all. He has compassion on all he has made. So Jesus would receive him because his compassion cost him to do that. We'll see that in just a moment, a little bit more. But he would actually invite people to come to him and he still does. In Matthew 11 28, he said, come unto me, all you who labor in our heavy laden, I will give you rest. That's an invitation that he gave then that continues to this day. So he's approachable. But also a second thing is he's capable. He's capable of helping anyone because he has the ability of doing so. He was able to heal any illness because nothing is beyond his ability to heal. In Jeremiah 32 27, behold I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me? There wasn't an illness or condition that he couldn't heal. In Matthew 4 23, it says that Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. He was able to do that. He was approachable and he was capable. So at this time, Jesus is about to wrap up his ministry in this region. But before he leaves, a crowd forms. We know that there are 4000 men, verse 9 tells us, but Matthew 15 38 ads besides women and children. So it's not simply the 4000, but there's going to be more than that. Because each one of the many of them would probably would have probably been fathers who could have brought their family. So you could have probably anywhere from 10 to 12,000 who are there and this crowd has formed and Jesus is about the minister to them. And so let's begin by looking now at verses one and two and then move through the 10 verses before us. It says again in verse one of chapter eight, in those days the multitude being very great, having nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them, kick them out. I'm tired of them. No, he said, I have compassion on the multitude because they have now continued with me three days and have nothing to eat. He goes on into verse three and says, if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way for some of them have come from afar. And so this miraculous feeding as mentioned a moment ago has often been confused with the feeding of the 5000. But there are obvious differences. I'll touch on them and then approach a couple later on. But let's look at a couple of obvious differences. One is it's a different location. The feeding of the 5000 was on the northeastern side of the Sea of Galilee in the region called Bethsaida. This is taking place in the Decapolis. It's also a different time. The feeding of the 5000 occurred months earlier. John chapter six verse four tells us that it was close to the time of Passover. And Mark 6 39 says Jesus fed the 5000 when the grass was green. So that gives us the season. This feeding takes place when the grass is dried up and is simply ground. You see that in verse six. So that makes it the summer because grass is withered and there is dry ground. So it's a different place and a different time. The feeding takes place in a different area. Now Jesus said that this isn't the same miracle as the feeding of the 5000 because you could see that in verses 19 and 20 of chapter seven. And I'll read it to you because he spoke to his boys and he said when I broke the five loaves for the 5000, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up? They said 12. Also when I broke the seven for the 4000, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up? And they said seven. So Jesus distinguished those two miracles also himself. So with that said, he's been ministering to a large crowd for some time. They've been with him for three days. Their food supply has been exhausted. Notice verse two. Notice how Jesus says, I have compassion on the multitude. I want to point something out. When he says in verse two, I have compassion. Notice he's saying that himself. Normally it's the writer who tells us that he was watching Jesus and Jesus was moved with compassion. In Mark 6 34 it says when Jesus went ashore, he saw a large crowd and he felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He began to teach them many things. So that's an observation on the part of the one who is speaking concerning that event. In Matthew 9 verse 36, seeing the people, he felt compassion for them because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. So on the other examples, someone observed that and spoke of it. But here Jesus makes a self declaration. He says, I have compassion on the multitude. Only in this passage and in Matthew's account does Jesus say this of himself. I have compassion. Now compassion is from the Latin. It's a compound word. It means I suffer along with you. Compassion is a Latin word that speaks of suffering alongside of somebody else. And it is something that is revealing pity to somebody who is hurting. So the reason his compassion is provoked is because of concern for them. They'd been with him, he says, for three days. More than likely sleeping outdoors. They haven't eaten. They're so intent on seeing him, they have put aside concerns for their their own well-being. They wanted to hear him, receive from him so much, they put aside his own needs. I didn't have much to do yesterday. I was actually kind of resting. So I thought, well, what is the best thing to do when you're kind of bored? So I put on a football game. And as I was watching it, my wife Marie is seated next to me and she's bored too. And so as we're watching, and I don't know how she could be, I was with her, but anyway, as we're watching this game, I noticed that it was freezing. You know, freezing. They spoke concerning the ground being rock hard. You could see the breath, you know, the vapor, you could see that. They were wrapping up the players in these warm, you know, coverings and and then they show the fans. And the fans are seated out there with all of this, all this cold and discomfort, except for some of the fans who had been friends with alcohol, but the rest of them and they're just freezing. And then it does one of those shots of the arena and it's filled with people, filled. And you know where I'm going with this one, to see a football game, to see a football game. And I told Marie, would to God that the church had that kind of devotion. You know, fans is simply a word fanatic. That's what it is, right? It's just shortened fanatic and somebody who's exuberant for a cause or whatever. And I think that we ought to sometimes awaken as a church, as the church, not this in particular only, but us, the body of Christ in the world to realize that when when you're in love with Jesus, nothing keeps you from Him. When you desire Him, nothing keeps you from Him. These people here were willing to go without food for three days, talk to the average American and say, would you go without food for three days? You're kidding me. No, of course not. Why? Because food means something to us, right? Jesus is the one who shows compassion, because these people have more or less, more than likely rather been sleeping on the ground and they will not leave them. Why would they not leave them? Because what He was doing and who He was and what He was saying meant that much to them. In the book of Job in chapter 23 verse 12, it reads, Neither have I gone back from the commandment of His lips. I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. And so Jesus has taken note of this. These people have been there. They have sat there. They have listened. They have not moved. They haven't eaten for three days. And He says, I have compassion on the multitude because they have now continued with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come from afar. So His open awareness of this and His statement, I want to share some things with you about that, is a continuation of revealing His heart to His men and training them in ministry. You see, His concern for these people must become His men's concern for people. In Matthew 10, 25, Jesus said it's enough for the disciples that He be, for the disciple that He be as His master, the servant as His Lord. There were various things that were related to the mentoring process of a rabbi with a pupil. The pupil would learn how the rabbi prayed. If you go to Israel, even to this day, there'll be rabbis who will take their students and they'll go to the western wall. And some rabbis and their students will be praying at the wall. Some of them will be praying and they'll be leaning forward and moving forward. Another rabbi may be moving side to side. And you'll see this, you'll see this, where the students, the pupils, those who are being mentored are praying in exactly the same way, moving in exactly the same way. And when I was there on one occasion, I was with my pastor, Chuck Smith, and I said to Chuck, why is it that some are bowing, some are moving side to side? Why is that? He says, you know, I really don't know for sure, but I believe it has something to do with loving the Lord thy God with all your strength. He said, so as they're praying, they're exerting their strength. It's a demonstration of their love for God. And so each rabbi has a different way in which he may pray. And his students are learning to do the same. They learn how he preaches. They learn his theology. They learn everything. And then ultimately, like Jesus just said, that in the end, the disciple is like the master, the servant, is as the Lord. So what Jesus is doing here is he's continuing the training of the 12. He's teaching them what is necessary if they're going to reach the world. He wants to awaken in the disciples a genuine faith in God, as well as a heart for people. You see, ministry isn't just doing something. It is being someone. Sometimes people think, well, I can become a minister if I do certain things. If I open a Bible, if I have a band, if I can entertain people with my eloquence or my thoughts or my humor or whatever it may be. And we think we're ministering when in fact, ministry is more than simply doing something. He wants to teach them that ministry is being something. They have to have compassion for those that they're ministering to. And he wants to awaken in them an understanding of the ways of God. And if they're going to be able to minister most effectively, they need faith and they need compassion. Remember that Syrophoenician woman who had come to Jesus for help. When Jesus was not responding quickly, the disciples misread him. They thought that she was a problem that he didn't need to have. Matthew in chapter 15 verse 23 says that his disciples came and urged him saying, send her away for she cries out after us. She's a problem. Get rid of her so that we don't have her crying out after us. Well, these men needed to grow in faith and they needed to learn that they also can meet people's needs. They need to see that with Jesus compassion and care for others is paramount. And that's why Jesus says, if I send them away hungry, they're going to become exhausted and they're going to collapse. Some of them have come a long distance to see me and they made sacrifices to do so. So once again, Jesus is presenting his men with the ministry challenge. There's a need. How are you going to meet this need? Again, this kind of need had recently occurred and Jesus had fed an even greater multitude. Had they learned anything from what they had seen and had done? Well, notice verse four, how it says his disciples answered him. How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness? They're stating the obvious. They're stating the obvious. There are a lot of people and not enough resources. We're in a wilderness. We're in a desolate place. There's no place that we can go to find food to feed them. Well, not only is that true, but there's something else I want to speak to you about. Something that you might not notice at first blush. There's something that should be mentioned. These are not Jewish people. These are Gentiles. Under Jewish tradition, Jews did not eat a meal with the Gentile. Now, in the minds of the apostles, healing a Gentile is understandable. I can get that, but for me as a Jew to share a meal with a Gentile, that's completely unfathomable. But because of Jesus' compassion, he ministers to both Jew and Gentile. And that is something that they're going to have to learn if they're going to reach the world. You're not going to just preach this message in Jerusalem. You're not going to just preach this message in Judea. You're going to reach into Samaria and you're going to reach into the entire world. After the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you're going to take this message throughout the known world. And they need to understand that they're going to take a message to reach a world. And that's something that they need to learn in. And by the way, that's a lesson that took a great deal of time for them to learn. They never learned it during the life of Jesus. As long as Jesus was there, they did not learn that lesson because you read your Scripture and it makes it clear after Jesus died and was resurrected, after Pentecost had come. In chapter 10 of the book of Acts, the apostle Peter had been sent to minister in a Gentile home. We remember the story. It's found again in Acts 10, how that it was the hour of prayer. He'd gone to a roof. He was praying as he prayed. There was a vision. He saw a sheet with all kinds of animals unclean and all on the sheet. And three times he basically heard a word rise up, slay and eat. And then he began to argue with the voice of the Lord. Not so Lord. I've never eaten anything that's unclean. Don't say something's unclean that I have declared to be clean. The Lord speaks to him. And then after the vision is over, they come and get them because some representatives of a man named Cornelius has come and they said, we would see the apostle Peter. And so Peter goes and they say, you're to come with us. We want you to come with us to the home of Cornelius, who was a centurion. He was a Gentile. We want you to come into the home of Cornelius. And so he comes to Cornelius' home and when he arrives, a large group was waiting for him. And then as he sees this, Peter speaks and it's found in Acts 10, 28. And he said to him, you are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. He had not learned it. As a matter of fact, we went even further with that, which I'll resist. You'll see in the book of Galatians that Paul actually had to speak to him about this even after he had said, God showed me this for certain. I now know it. And he was separating himself from Gentiles. When Jews would come, he would separate from the Gentiles. And the apostle Paul spoke to him and doubt with him in front of witnesses and said, what you're doing is wrong. You're teaching people hypocrisy. He still hadn't learned. See, this is so rigidly within them, the idea of them feeding Gentiles unheard of, especially these pagans. So it took a long time for Jewish believers to finally understand this, that Jesus' message is for Jew and Gentile alike. We're going through the book of Ephesians. Those of you who are going with us on Wednesday night, you'll be seeing this. We'll be getting to chapter two soon and looking at it very carefully when we do. But it took a long time for Jewish believers to fully understand this. So as they're speaking, how can we, verse four, satisfy these people with bread here and the wilderness in this empty barren place? He asked them, verse five, how many loaves do you have? They said seven. He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground and he took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to the disciples to sit before them. They sat them before the multitude. They also had a few small fish having blessed them. He said to set them also before them. They ate and were filled and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. So he says, verse five, how many loaves do you have? They said seven. Matthew 1534, Jesus said to them, how many loaves do you have? They said seven and a few little fish. Again, that sounds familiar, doesn't it? In the feeding of the 5000, Jesus said, where shall we buy bread that these may eat? And that had caused them to take inventory and they found themselves coming up short. Well, in the feeding of the 5000, they had five barley loaves and two small fish. This time they have seven loaves and a few small fish. So what's he do? Verse six, he commands the multitude to sit down on the ground. Once again, Jesus establishes the possibility of an orderly distribution of food. In 1 Corinthians 14, verse 40, everything must be done in a proper and orderly manner. And so he sits them down and he's organizing them. He commands the people to sit on the ground and then he begins to multiply the fish and the loaves. Notice again in verse 60, it says he took the seven loaves, gave thanks, broke them, gave them to his disciples to sit before them and they set them before the multitude. He also had a few small fish having blessed them. He said to set them also before them. And so what happens here is miraculously, once again, the fish and the loaves do not run out. They're being multiplied even as he's distributing this to the men. Verse seven said they had that few small fish. He blessed them. So what he does is he gave thanks for the bread and the fish. He offered up a prayer of thanks and blessing. Incidentally, that's always a good thing for us as believers to do. When you go and you have a meal, we should always thank the God who provided it to us. We should always. It's not only an attitude of a thankful heart, but it also is a witness to those, not that you're doing it to be seen, but it is notice. And sometimes people will actually walk up and speak to you about it. When I was in the military and I was a brand new Christian, I had been taught to say thanks. And so I would give blessing over the meal when I would eat. I always even, you know, a table full of people I didn't know, but I always, and I still have, I continue to give thanks to the God who provides. And I, you don't do it to be noticed, but I remember I was later on one day after lunch, one of the guys, I didn't know him, approached me and he told me, he said, I saw you today in the mess hall. He said, I saw you've been down your head. What were you doing? And I said, I was giving thanks to the God who provides. It's an opportunity to witness, but it's also really an attitude. It's most expressive of an attitude of thankfulness. And Jesus prayed. And as he prayed, he was thanking the God, God forgiven to him, the God of the universe. That is probably, the prayer he probably said is a very old prayer. To this day, the Jews will say this prayer, blessed are you, Lord, our God, King of the universe who brings forth bread from the earth. And so he more than likely said that or something very similar. You see, would it be unheard of for Jesus to provide a meal without direct inattention to the one who provides that meal? It's the God of the universe who's given food to these Gentiles. And then it says that his disciples distributed the food to the multitude. They're once again doing the work of ministry. That gave them the opportunity to participate in God's compassion for Gentiles. Because one day they're going to distribute the bread of life to the world. Which is what we do to this day, by the way, is we have the opportunity to take that message to the world. And I was thinking about this during First Service City and remembering over the years that the Lord has given to me as an opportunity. He's given to be opportunity to preach the Word and teach the Word in Scotland and England and in just South America and Mexico and so many different places. And I was remembering how that many years ago now we had been given an opportunity to go to Austria to a place that was owned by Pastor Chuck's Fellowship Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa. It was called the Castle. And what had happened is I had been asked to come along with the team of men to the castle there in Austria and to minister to a hundred, there were a hundred, exact number a hundred people who came from Italy. They had actually made reservations to use the castle for a retreat. They were Catholic people from Italy and had asked if they could rent the facility. And so they did and they said, whoever rented it said, but we would like to have our ministers minister the Word of God when you're there. And so these hundred Catholics said, yes, that'd be great. So what we did is we took them through the the Gospel of John, all 21 chapters. Each one of us were assigned two or three chapters. And over the course of a few days, we taught them through the Gospel of John verse by verse through 21 chapters. At the end of the week, we gave an invitation. And out of the hundred who were there, 99 of them gave their hearts to Christ. And see, we've had that opportunity many times to go to various places to take the word of life and to give it to the hungry. And so that's what we're taught to do. That's what we're to do, to distribute God's bread. And all we're doing is giving to others what we ourselves have been blessed by God to receive. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 3 says, Paul said, I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received. And so they needed to understand that they were a distributor of God's blessings. So what happens? Well, verse 8 tells us that they ate and were filled. And they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. Now, they had asked, how can we satisfy these people with bread in the wilderness? How can we provide enough for each one to become completely full? And once again, Jesus reveals that he's able to do just that. Because the Bible says they were completely satisfied. There was no food that was going to be left over because they took seven baskets full of leftover fragments and collected them. These baskets were larger baskets than the ones that were mentioned in the feeding of the 5,000. The feeding of the 5,000 had small baskets, but these are described as large baskets. And so there are seven. With that said, I want to give to you things that we can use as application. I want to give you seven things that can help us as believers. The first thing we see is a display of Jesus's power. From this, we can see that no need we have surpasses his ability to meet it. There's not a single thing that I need that surpasses his ability to meet that need. The Lord will show you that he's able to do these things, and he does as you trust in him. He does as you believe him. He does as you learn to follow him in faith. The Lord will show you these things. When I was a young believer, Marie and I were newly married. I was going to school, and I didn't have the money to pay the bill. I owed Biola $1,500 at the end of the semester. I didn't have the money to pay the bill. I was taught. My father taught me to make sure you pay your bills. We made an appointment with the financial officer there. Marie and I went. It was a time when we didn't have much money. A lot of you will understand when I say it like this, that Marie was pregnant, and we didn't have a bed, but we had as a rollout. I said, we're going to have to get something for you because Marie was becoming really, really pregnant. She was uncomfortable for a little thing. I said, we've got to get a bed that's comfortable. Now, again, this is in the 70s, and so we got a water bed. When we went to get the water bed, they had two different models we were looking at. One bed was $25 a month. The other was $20 a month. I liked the one that was $25, but I couldn't afford $5. That's where we were. So I bought a $20 a month bed. I'll never forget the first night we slept in that because Marie being pregnant, she was able now to sleep on her tummy, but to get out of the bed was a challenge because anybody who has had a water bed knows that. So I remember I was laying there looking at her as she was trying to get out of bed, and I didn't help her. I wasn't nice. I was just getting a kick out of it, and I saw her as she rolled and finally got herself up, and she's very pregnant at that point, and her legs are hanging over the side. I'll never forget that. And the wall was only about two feet away from the bed. That's how small our room was. It was a king size. I'm watching how she's going to get out of bed. So I got real quiet there, and I'm watching her, and she starts to move back and forth like this to get the water moving. And finally she sprang out of bed, and the wall is like right there, and she looked like Wiley Coyote, you know, and she went bang like that and hit it. But anyway, getting back to the story, we didn't have money to pay $1,500. It was a lot of money for us. I didn't have it. My dad told me, you need to pay your bills. Your name means everything have integrity. So I went and I met with the financial department, and I sat down with the guy, and I was one of these guys still to some degree. I'll do it one way or another. We will find a way to do this. We will take care of this. But this is the first time I can remember having to admit that I just don't have the ability to pay this bill. And I remember sitting there, and the man says, can you pay the bill? And I said, I'm sorry, we don't. I said, I will do what I can to pay it. He said, well, if I set up a pay schedule for you, would you do that? I said, yes, I'll do what I can. Yes, I will pay this bill. He says $1,500. He says, can you afford? And he starts saying, can you afford this much? And I said, no, started like $50 a month. No, went down, went down, went down, went down, went down until he finally said, can you afford $20 a month? And I said, I looked at Marie, I had to look at her. I said, remember looking at her like, can we, we did not have any money. Can I find a way to get $20? And I looked at her and Marie goes, and she's always taking care of the bills for us. And so she got this little look in her face and she goes, yeah, I said, we can do it. So you know what he did? He cut off $750 of that bill. He says, you now owe us $750. Now the next day, I go to, I was teaching Bible study at my parents' home. And at the conclusion of the Bible study, my mom said, we should be having our prayer requests. And so Dave, what is yours? Do you have a prayer request? And I said, no, no, God, it's good. She says, David, do you have a prayer request? I said, because she knew I did. And I said, well, maybe that the Lord would help us in what way? Well, we owe $750 to Biola. She says, okay, and then it's a small group of people. And we pray, and they prayed for me, Lord, would you provide the next day I get a phone call from the financial office. And he said, your bill has been paid in full. You owe us nothing. The Lord has done that in so many ways. And yes, I know somebody at the Bible study was kind, but that's what the body of Christ does, right? The body of Christ helps to meet people's needs from the beginning to this day. I can give you story after story, after story, after story of how the Lord, my God shall supply. He doesn't supply all your greed, he supplies all your need. And there's a difference between the two. In Ephesians 3 20, God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think. And these men have to learn that God guides, God provides. So we see a display of God's power. A second thing is we see compassion. He is filled with compassion for those who are in need. Psalm 103 verses 13 and 14 says, just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him, for he himself knows our frame. He is mindful that we are but dust. In Psalm 111 verse 4, the Lord is gracious and full of compassion. So they need to see that he is able and that he is filled with compassion. A third application is that he is aware of our needs even before we are aware of them. And even sometimes, even before we ask of him, he's already aware. Isaiah 65, 24, it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer. And while they are still speaking, I will hear in Matthew 6 verse 8, your father knows what things you have need of before you ask him. These men need to understand that where God guides, God provides. They need to know that there is nothing too difficult for the Lord. They need to know that God loves the whole world. And so he's teaching them these very practical lessons. You see, he intends, a fourth thing is he intends his disciples to care for others even as he does. In John 13 verses 14 and 15, it says, If I then your Lord and master have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. There are only two places where Jesus Christ is specifically spoken of as giving an example. One is in his sacrifice. He gave us an example that he just speaks about when he died, but he also gave us an example of service. And he says, I have done this so that you can learn. You should do even as I have done to you. You need to give even as it's been given to you. And then a fifth thing is he takes our inadequacies and he makes us adequate. They didn't have the resources. He does. And so in 15 verse 5, I am the vine. You are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit for without me you can do nothing. But according to Philippians 4 13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me without me. You couldn't need to need to learn this without me. You can do nothing. The Lord, I believe very often will bring us to the place to expose our inadequacy in the way I had to humbly. And I have to tell you when I told them I cannot pay that bill. That was the hardest thing at that time that that I had done to admit that I can't do something for me was was very difficult. And to do it in front of my wife was very difficult. I can't do it was a hard thing for me to say because I am that guy. Still have to some degree. I'll do everything I can to get this done. I believe I have a responsibility to try as hard as I can. But sometimes you get to the point where you have to tell God and everybody else, I just can't. I'm unable to. I'm unable to. And it's very difficult. Most many men would understand what I'm saying. Many of us all would understand. I've gotten you to that point. But God wants to expose my inadequacy so he can show me that with him I can do all things. And then the goal of true ministry, the sixth point is to draw people to worship God. In our day people have a tendency of looking at the disciples who are serving God. And that results in giving glory to the vessel and not to the one who fills that vessel. The people could have given glory to the Apostles because they distributed the food to them. But the food came through Jesus and it originated with the Father. We are to worship God and not the disciples who have distributed his food. In 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 5 through 7, who then is Paul? And who is Apostles? But ministers through whom you believed as the Lord gave to each one. I planted, Apostles watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. You see true worship must always be of Jesus Christ, not the men or the women who are serving him. And we need to keep our eyes firmly planted on the Lord and not his servants. We have to be aware that we're living in a time where it appears to me that people are looking for heroes. There's only one hero and that's Jesus Christ. All of us are his servants. We need to understand that. We need to understand that. I believe this, I might as well say what was on my heart about this because I really believe that, and this has been for some time, but it's something you would know if you're a member of the church, you've been a believer for a while, you know this is true what I'm telling you. Because we're living in such difficult times even today, but we have been for a while, people have a tendency of coming around somebody who's saying the things they wish that they could see, they could see. And they're beginning to come around them and they're wanting a hero, they're wanting to prop them up so that they can say, see this is someone representing my views and all of that and what we've done is we begin to look sometimes at our Christian leaders and we begin to think of them as representing us when in fact that Christian leader is supposed to be pointing us to the one who takes care of us. That's what the leader is supposed to do, but instead they can somehow slide into a position where they begin to take things unto themselves and believe that they somehow are very much more important than the average person. A number of years ago now, it's been a number of years now, I got a phone call, somebody wanted to meet with me, I met with somebody who was representing a national Hispanic organization that was putting on the first, in history, the first national Hispanic prayer meeting in Washington DC and they called me up and they wanted to meet with me so I met with this particular man, I'll leave names unmentioned and so he asked me, would you be part of this? We want to have Hispanic leaders from throughout the nation and we're going to be putting on the very first in history national Hispanic prayer breakfast, we'd like you to be part of that. So I met with this guy, got to know him fairly well, he and I and a few other representatives even went to go and speak to James Dobson on one occasion to speak to him concerning focus on the family and the lack of representation of Hispanic families on that particular program. So they started drawing me in and so I said yeah and he put me on a small council of advisors and so I got involved to a degree and we went and participated in the first national Hispanic prayer breakfast that ever was held in history in the United States and Marie my wife and I began to speak to each other about this and I said I'm uncomfortable, not to malign the person who's putting it together, God knows I don't have will towards him at all but I said this isn't for me, this is not something I'm calling to do, this isn't, I said my calling is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, that's my calling and this is moving in the direction of political persuasion where they're going to want to use us as voices for a national community of Hispanics and I said and I believed it then, I believe it now, I said the only thing that is going to save this nation is the gospel, not dividing the nation into various subgroups and saying we're this, we're this, we're this, we're of this, I don't want to be part of that, I'm not going to be part of that, I'm always going to just preach the gospel of Jesus Christ because that's the answer, that's the answer and so I stepped out of that, I stepped out of it, why? Because the only thing that will change a human heart is the gospel of Jesus Christ and anything that moves me away from Jesus Christ is moving me from the will of God, I will stay in the center preaching the gospel of Christ because that's the message all men and women must hear and believe to be saved, there's something greater than the United States and that is the kingdom of God and I will preach the kingdom of God, there are people, I think we should be, I'll say this briefly, I think we should be aware of what's going on, we should be involved, we're going to be having a speaker in a couple of weeks and I believe that's important but we have to always remember that true worship and true transformation is coming through Jesus Christ and true worship always has to be given to God. Many years ago Thomas K. Beecher once substituted for his famous brother Henry Ward Beecher at the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York. Many curiosity seekers had come to hear the renowned Henry Beecher speak therefore when Thomas Beecher appeared in the pulpit instead some people got up and started for the doors sensing that they were disappointed because he was substituting for his brother. Thomas raised his hand for silence and announced all those who came here this morning to worship Henry Ward Beecher may withdraw from the church and all who came to worship God may remain and that's how it works. Many years ago, many years ago if I gave the name you would know this person came, we had a young lady, we had to come and do some worship for us and as many years ago it was before we had this sanctuary here and the place was packed as they came to hear her sing great voice. The recording artist Joy loves the Lord but I could see that the atmosphere was we've been entertained and so when I walked up to give the Bible said I still remember doing that I stood behind the pulpit and I said well this was a great night and I just love don't you just love yes we love yes great voice and everything but some of you came just for a concert you're not here for a Bible study and I'm aware of that I said you're going to get up and walk out when I start teaching so I said let's do this I'll give you a minute I'm not going to teach you can go if you're not here for the study and people got up and people walked out because they had come for entertainment not for Jesus Christ and as far as I'm still that same guy I'm here to talk about Jesus Christ the things that changed lives and that's what a pastor is supposed to do and that's what one who's being mentored by Christ that's what one who is learning his ways that's what they're to do they're to keep their eyes on Jesus Christ because God is to receive all glory for whatever work is performed it isn't for our own glory it's for his it's like it says in Psalm 115 verse 1 not unto us oh lord not unto us but unto your name give glory for your mercy and for your truth sake not unto us not unto us but unto you and then finally in verse 8 the people ate and noticed were filled again the word filled speaks of being satisfied completely bread from heaven is more than adequate to meet every human need and Psalm 1 or 7 verse 9 he satisfies the longing soul and the hungry soul he fills with good things so this miracle serves to emphasize the fact that Jesus is more than enough Philippians 419 my god shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus and according to verse 9 there were about 4 000 who had eaten and he sent them away and notice nothing else is said there's no record of the people's response Jesus fed them and sent them away and then immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and came to the region of Delmanutah also no one is chino but that's a different bible study now when it says he left and went to this region he crosses from the eastern shore of the Galilee he goes towards the western shore he doesn't need the crowd attempting to crown him king he leaves the area and then according to Matthew 1539 Matthew said he refers to it as Magdala but Mark here notice calls it Delmanutah those are two names that refer to a general area that these two towns occupied on the western shore there and so he went there into that particular region and made his way up to do more ministry because from there he once again ministers to the people of Israel what we need to take away from this is very simple our god is able to do abundantly above all we could ask or think there's not a single situation that we find ourselves in that he isn't greater than no no matter how low I ever go he goes lower still his grace is always there not only cushioning me but he's also lifting me that's what our god does and the disciples needed to learn that god can supply and yes sometimes he teaches the same lesson more than once it took me over a year to discover that when my mother said David she was talking to me that was my name and took me over a year to learn that that was my name she had other names but that was the name she used most of the time because some lessons are learned over and over and over again some lessons need to be done again and again and again because each time the Lord teaches you that lesson he also gives you a deeper understanding of what he wants you to know that's how it works in the kingdom of god and some of you right now I would think because this is this is natural have god are going through something that you've been through before and you're beginning to wonder is god going to deliver me is god able and I'm here today through this bible study to remind you that my god is able my god is able and he will bring you through because what he's doing is he's peeling away you so that more of him can be seen and that's what he's doing he's been doing that in my life for 51 years so that's something I can tell you is true he's removing from you things that are not like him so that he can be seen through you it's like when when when the artist has a blank canvas and starts putting these lines on it and if you're watching them put these lines on it it looks confusing but after a while you start seeing other colors and other things before you know what you're looking at a beautiful beautiful painting doesn't come out at first it doesn't look beautiful it looks like a mess it almost sometimes looks disorganized but if you watch it long enough eventually what happens is the painting seems to actually come alive right in front of you and that's what the lord is doing with you the lord is painting something beautiful right now it's going to take a while or to use a different metaphor he's he's working on you like your your piece of wood and he's chipping and filing and sanding but at the end the product is going to give him glory or again one last he's a surgeon removing from you what shouldn't be there when I was 14 I was hospitalized with an appendix that had was close to bursting I laid there very still as they gave to me you know they gave me a spinal and they they they put a mass they told me to count down from a hundred and and I went out but I remember waking up and seeing the doctor when he said scalpel and then he plunged it into my stomach I remember that and saw him slice and I said he just cut me open and I fainted you know I was already but I learned then that when the surgeon is removing something the wisest thing you can be is still be still as he removes that which is not pleasing which will destroy you don't jump up off of the table and run away remains still because the surgeon our god is removing from you that which will harm you later that because they told me that the the appendix burst in his hand and if the appendix had remained any longer and burst it would poison my whole body and so he sliced and removed it was painful but I survived and what you're going through may be painful but he's taken from you that which will destroy you so instead of crying and saying but I love him the lord may be saying not this one I've got something better for you something better for you never forget that because he never removes from you something that he has doesn't have something better something you didn't even know that he was preparing for you so wait and see my god shall supply all your need my god loves you our god loves you and he's conforming you into the image of his son jesus so whatever you go through you go through you don't stay there you proceed through and at the end you shall say he does all things wow that's the god