Once again, we come to the pinnacle of our worship service where we have the opportunity to look into the Word of the living God as He has revealed Himself to us. So will you take your Bibles and turn to Mark chapter six? We are making our way verse by verse through this gospel record. And this morning we will be in verses 30 through 44. And I've entitled my discourse to you this morning, “Common Grace Provided and Rejected.”

Before I read the text, and we look into it closely, may I remind you of this magnificent concept of common grace. Common Grace is God's kindness that's extended to all persons through his general providence. Its his universal goodness and benevolence that all people can experience, including those who will never receive salvation. In fact, the Lord Jesus said in Matthew five, verse 45, "He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." Donald Gray Barnhouse, a number of years ago, said this regarding common grace, quote, "you are not a believer in Christ, and yet you are still out of hell. That is the grace of God. You are not in hell, but you are on earth in good health and prosperity. That is the common grace of God. The vast majority of those who read these words are living in comfortable homes or apartments. That is common grace. You are not fleeing as refugees along the highways of a country desolated by war. That is common grace. You come home from your job and your child runs to meet you in good health and spirits. That is common grace, you're able to put your hand in your pocket and give the child a quarter or a half dollar for an allowance. It is common grace that you have such abundance. You go into your house and sit down to a good meal. That is common grace. On the day that you read these words, there are more than a billion and a half members of the human race who will go to sleep without enough to satisfy their hunger. The fact that you have enough is common grace. You do not deserve it. And if you think that you do deserve anything at all from God, beyond the wrath, which you have so richly earned, you merely show your ignorance of spiritual principles."

Now bear in mind common grace is not saving grace. There is no forgiveness of sins imparted in common grace, nor does it in any way regenerate unbelieving hearts. However it does reveal truths about the Creator, truths that the Spirit of God can use to bring conviction of wrongdoing. Moreover, it affords a sinner time to hear the gospel and be saved. Now many sinners will suppress the gospel, the truth of it all. They will suppress it in unrighteousness but common grace makes their rejection inexcusable. In fact, we read about this in Romans chapter one beginning in verse 19, "because that which is known about God is evident within within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." And this morning in our text, we have a stunning example of common grace in Jesus feeding of the 5000 as we read in verse 44 of our text. Actually, Matthew 14:21 indicates that there were also many women and children with them. And so that number could have easily been 15 to 20,000 or more. Now as we look at the text I want you to not only see God's common grace, but there are some magnificent symbols in the text that are worthy of our consideration; much symbolism in this historical narrative pertaining to the person in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here we're going to see at least three symbols of Christ. Number one, we're going to see that Jesus is the only source of spiritual rest. Secondly, he is the only source of spiritual truth. And finally, he is the only source of spiritual life. Now, I might add that this miracle is the climactic apex of Jesus' Galilean ministry. From here he is going to travel with his disciples into the Gentile regions of Tyre and Sidon, and then he's going to go on to the Decapolis. The Decapolis refers to a group of 10 Hellenistic cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire. This would have been east and southeast of the Dead Sea and of Galilee, north of Perea. There were places where some of us have been like Beit Shean in modern Israel, and most of them are going to be in the region of Jordan today. But anyway, he will then go to Decapolis, and then from there with His disciples, He will begin to make his way to Judea, down to Jerusalem. Now bear in mind, he has deliberately avoided that area, because that would be the headquarters of those that would want to kill him. Moreover, he is demonstrating to them that he wants nothing to do with their apostasy, that he is bringing the Gospel message to those apart from that region, apart from the scribes and the Pharisees. So he will eventually then make his way south, to Judea into Jerusalem, and finally, make his way to the cross. So that's the context here.

Let me read the text to you Mark six, beginning in verse 30 , "The apostles gathered together with Jesus and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, 'Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.' (For there are many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves. The people saw them going, and many recognize them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. When Jesus went ashore, he saw a large crowd, and he felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. When it was already quite late, his disciples came to him and said, 'This place is desolate and it is already quite late, send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages, and by themselves something to eat.' But he answered them, 'You give them something to eat! 'And they said to him, 'Shall we go and spend 200 denarii on bread and give them something to eat?' And He said to them, 'How many loaves do you have? Go, look!' And when they found out they said, 'Five and two fish.' and He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass. They sat down in groups of hundreds and 50s. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves, and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all. They all ate, and were satisfied. And they picked up 12 baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish. There were 5000 men who ate the loaves."

Now bear in mind that like most people today who claim to be following Jesus, the first century Galileans that we're following him, were really doing so in order to gain temporal earthly blessings, not heavenly blessings, and Jesus knew this. They basically wanted free stuff, not forgiveness of sins. They wanted earthly pleasures, not heavenly pleasures, not heavenly reward. Many of them wanted physical healing. And that's understandable. A lot of them just wanted to be entertained. They wanted to see the next miracle. They were fascinated with his miraculous abilities. But most of them wanted temporal, physical blessings. They wanted a deliverer that would free them from the tyranny of Rome and bring the blessings of the Abrahamic and the Davidic covenants to bear upon them. But they weren't really wanting a Messiah, the Messiah, who he really was. These miracle seekers saw him as their meal ticket, not as the most high God that they should worship and obey. So instead of prostrating themselves, before him in humble adoration, and the fear of the Lord, they, they just wanted him to do something that would impress them, something that would benefit their needs, because they saw no need for a Savior of sin. They wanted a miracle working King that would bring in an earthly utopia. By the way, as I think about it, nothing has changed, right? It's exactly the same message that the enemy brings to us today through our politicians. So, instead of falling down and worshipping Him, they wanted to use him so that he would serve them. Because after all, God exists for us, right? No, we exist for him. In fact, most all of the crowds we know are going to reject Him. In short order, despite all of the miracles that he performed, that validated the fact that he was indeed, the Son of God, that validated His deity and therefore his message. And it's for this reason, that Jesus said in Matthew 12:39, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign." In fact, in John six, we have a very clear picture of the kind of thinking that was going on in the minds of the people that were following Jesus in this context, in fact, in verses 36 through 40 of John 6, we see how Jesus preached the magnificent truths of sovereign grace and salvation truths that are at the very heart of the gospel that so many people hate. Truths that summarize and clarify the truth of the gospel, the great truths, frankly, of the Reformation. Often it's headed under the category of Calvinism. John 6:65, we read and he was saying, "For this reason," referring to their unbelief," I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father." Of course, Jesus is there reinforcing the tension between God's sovereignty and salvation, and man's responsibility to believe. Men are commanded to believe and yet they are held accountable for how they respond. Yet, they will never believe unless God causes something to happen; unless God takes the initiative and overpowers their sin nature.

And so there you have that inscrutable mystery that seems incompatible in our finite minds, but perfectly compatible to the mind of God. So Jesus is preaching this along with other things. And as a result, John 6:66, "As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew, and we're not walking with Him anymore." It's been said that this was the greatest church split in history. Imagine taking 20,000 people down to just a handful. And that's what happened. And I might add that the same thing would happen in most churches today if the truth of the Gospel were really preached. We can either be faithful, or we can be popular, dear friends, but we can't be both. And in verse 67, of John six, we read, "So Jesus said to the twelve, 'You not want to go away also, do you?' Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life? We have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God.'" And of course, that is what we believe by God's grace.

Now let's look at the text closely, especially as it unveils the marvelous symbolism here, pertaining to the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And certainly that is why we study these things, not so that we can gain intellectual understanding, but so that we can gain a deeper and more intimate relationship with the lover of our soul. Amen? Amen. So first we're going to see pictured here, that Jesus is the only source of spiritual rest. Notice Mark six, verse 30, "The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught." Now remember, Jesus had sent them out, had sent the 12 out in pairs into the regions of Galilee, to preach repentance of sin, and faith in the Lord Jesus. And they had been empowered by God with miraculous abilities, and now, they've come back. They are exhausted, they've experienced enormous rejection, and persecution. But they also witnessed some that had come to faith in Christ. And the Lord now wanted to give them their first taste of ministry combat, because when you're serving Christ, that's what it will be, it will be combat. In fact, we know a little bit of what the Lord told them in Matthew 10:6, he said, "go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. Do not acquire gold or silver or copper, for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals or a staff for the worker is worthy of his support.'" In other words, I want you to go out and I want you to learn to trust me, all right. He went on to say in, "whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. As you enter the house, give it your greeting. If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. Whoever does not receive you nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves." We learn in Matthew seven, verse 15, that this imagery of sheep and wolves, is used to describe the false prophets being the wolves that prey upon those who are vulnerable. And I might add that the greatest threat, as those disciples experienced, the greatest threat to genuine Christianity, the greatest threat to the gospel, will come from the corridors of religious people, many of them who claim to be Christians, and we see this today with false teachers. And there are unsaved sycophants that follow them. Satan prefers to join a church rather than attack it.

And the false prophets and teachers of Israel were Satan's servants. And this is what they experienced. And Jesus is calling them back now, for a time of rest. In fact, Jesus said of those false prophets and teachers of Israel, and John 8:44, "You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lives. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me." And we all have experienced that, you speak the truth, people do not want to hear it. Satan hates the truth. His followers hate the truth. Just look at the demonstrably false ideologies of both political and theological liberalism that continues to devastate our country, our churches, our schools, our families. These are purveyors of deceptions that destroy lives and damn men souls. In fact, most of the scribes and Pharisees of Israel were equally corrupt. They were self righteous, they were greedy. They were hypocrites. They were, as Jesus said, the blind, leading the blind. Matthew 15:14, "Let them alone;" Jesus said, "they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit." So he says, Let them alone. That's another illustration of God's wrath of divine abandonment. Just let them go. That's what the term means. Let them be, make no effort to even confront them. Don't debate them, don't cast pearls before swine. In fact, when you have such a person in a church, as we will encounter, as we have in this church from time to time, we are told in Titus 3:10, to "Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted, and is sinning, and is self condemned." So this is what they have been experiencing now. And they're coming back and Jesus gathers them around himself. And according to John 6:4, all of this took place shortly before the Passover, which would have been sometime around March or April, and that would have been in about AD 29. So he brings them together. Now, the text doesn't say this, but I would imagine he brings them together around a cozy fire, right? It's going to be cool. It's wonderful to be able to come to a fire, isn't it interesting how a bonfire is so inviting to people, or even a fire out on your patio or in your home, is always inviting, it warms the body and it softens the heart. And so they're gathering together now with Jesus. And one of the things that I want us to see in this is how important fellowship is to a weary warrior of the faith.

Dear friend, if you are serving Christ, as you should be, you're going to be persecuted, you're going to be rejected. And when that happens, you will long to be in the presence of other people that know and love Christ, you're going to long to gather around the fire with them, to share what you've gone through both the good things and the bad, to share how people have rejected Christ, to be able to pray for them, but also to share how others have come to faith in Christ. And frankly, that's a time as I'm sure they experienced; it's a time when you weep together, when you mourn together when you encourage one another when you pray for one another, and so forth. And I might add that those who know nothing of evangelism, know nothing of genuine worship, and know nothing of the soul nourishing power of fellowship with Christ, and with those who belong to Him. So this was a great and blessed opportunity for them to experience this. So the 12 disciples get their first taste of spiritual warfare. And they begin to see very quickly that Jesus is their only source of spiritual rest. You will find no rest anywhere else in life, but in Christ. And that's why he sent them out in the first place, I might add, from this time forward, Jesus is going to be spending much less time in public ministry, and much more time in private ministry, encouraging and instructing his disciples. It will be an increased focus on private instruction. He's preparing them for ministry.

So notice what happens in verse 31. And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." "Secluded" could be translated, "quiet or solitary." Then he says, "For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat." By the way, seclusion is key. When you've been in battle for the Lord Jesus, you're going to want to come to a place that is quiet, you're not going to want to go to Disneyland. You want a time of relief and instruction. The demands of ministry are great, dear friends, and if you have no desire to come away in quiet solitude to be with the Lord, and to be with other believers, there's something terribly wrong with your heart attitude. You're probably not serving him. You know, most Christians are like most Americans who spend their life you know, sitting in front of a TV drinking a soda eating Cheetos off their chest, you know, as lazy as a as a sloth on Nyquil. I mean, that's what we see with so many people today in our country. And many Christians are that way. They just don't do anything. They don't ever exercise their faith, they come and they hear a sermon, and then they go home and they do their thing. I know today is the Super Bowl. Some of you may get into that type of thing. That's okay. But for a lot of people, they're not even having church today, because of the Super Bowl. It's astounding to me. So dear friends, don't be a spiritual sloth. There is no greater joy in life than serving Christ and enjoying sweet fellowship with Him. So verse 32, "They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves." Now Luke adds something very interesting in Luke 9, beginning of verse 10, we read, "When the apostles returned, they gave an account to him of all that they had done." And we read, "Taking them with Him, he withdrew by himself to a city called Bethsaida." So that means that he sailed east, along the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee. Those of you who were with me this last October, the same direction we went out in the Sea of Galilee, and this distance would have been about an hour and a half or so in the boat. So they had some time of fellowship there, but it's going to be short lived, as you are going to see. And here we have, again, a beautiful picture of how Christ is our refuge in life. Christ is our source of rest and relief, and he is mindful of our needs. He is aware of our limits, I think of Jeremiah 31:25, where God says to His prophet, "For I satisfy the weary ones, and refresh everyone who languishes." Isn't that a precious truth? And Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden." Weary and heavy laden are in the present tense, which means it's a continuous state of being burdened by life, "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." You might recall the apostle Paul, when he was experiencing great strife as a result of the false teachers there in Corinth that was undermining his ministry, maligning him, turning people that he had led to Christ against him, and to believe things that were false. And we read in Second Corinthians 2 how, while he was in Troas, the Lord opened the door of ministry to him, but he was so depressed, he was so anxious, he was so distraught, he couldn't go through it. So in Second Corinthians two beginning in verse 12, we read, "Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord, I had no rest for my spirit." Then he adds this, "not finding Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I went on to Macedonia." So he was alone, he was hurting. Later on in chapter 7, verse six, we read how God ministered to him.

There we read, "But God who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more." Dear friends, christian fellowship, is a tonic for the aching soul. It's a refreshing drink of water to the thirsty traveler. It is a glowing fire on a cold in a dark night. And please hear this, each and every one of you need to be cultivating Christian friends that you can spend time with when these difficulties come into your life. When you need someone to be with to pray with you, to weep with you, to comfort your soul and you need to cultivate these kinds of relationships. And you need to be that kind of person that is always ready and willing to invite those people into your home, into your life, that you might care for them and love them as Christ loves us. I think of 2 Corinthians 1:3, where the apostle Paul says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ." And this is vividly displayed here in Mark six, as Jesus calls his disciples away, to be with him in a secluded place for a time of rest, for time of fellowship and instruction.

So Jesus has not only the source, the only source of spiritual rest, but secondly, he is the only source of spiritual truth. Notice verse 33, of Mark 6, "Then people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities and got there ahead of them." Now, if you've been in this region, as some of you have, you are able to see the boat leaving the shore. And there are pathways all along the shores, the hills role, and you could travel those roadways as they did. And that day, it was elevated, a lot of those pathways are still there today. So many of these people see which way the vessel is going, and they start running ahead on the shore, to hopefully intersect with them. So many of them would have run. By the way, people were in far better shape back then, than we are today. So don't be shocked at that. They did not have processed foods, and fast foods and all the junk that we eat. Plus, they walked everywhere. And if you go to third world countries where they don't have vehicles, you see that people walk everywhere, for miles. I remember the first time I taught in Kenya, the pastors that came there, many of them had walked for three weeks to get there. And that's not at all uncommon. So these people were motivated, they wanted to see Jesus, and they were going to get there any way they could. And it was quite a crowd. Verse 34, "When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things." Luke adds this in Luke nine beginning in verse 11, "But the crowds were aware of this and followed him and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God, and curing those who had need of healing." Well, so much for the rest and relaxation, right? It was ministry, head on once again.

Now stop and think about it. Jesus could have said, "Oh, no, look, you see all that crowd they're heading for where we're going, let's go south, or let's go back somewhere else. I don't want to deal with these people anymore." And I will confess that there are many times when I feel exactly that right? We all do. But no, he did not do that. It says that he felt compassion "splanchnizomai" in the original language is a interesting term. It means "to be deeply moved in one's bowels, in one's viscera, in one's entrails, in our inner being especially characterized by sympathy and compassion." May I ask you When was the last time you were deeply moved over people that did not know Christ? When was the last time your burden for these people was so great that you wept for them? Sadly, few Christians have deep feelings like this. Most Christians have what I would call a flat effect. They never get too high and they never get too low. They just kind of move along. It's a horrible thing. Having a spouse like this as some of you do. Or a parent like this. Everything is just matter of fact. Mechanical, cold. The kind of person that has never wept over their own sin, has never wept over an unsaved family member, nothing moves them. The lights are on but nobody's home. What a sad thing, no burden, no passion. Therefore no compassion, no real love for Christ. They're just superficial, shallow, heartless, unsympathetic, cold, indifferent. By the way, compassion is made up of love, patience, kindness, gentleness, fruit of the Spirit. And if that is missing in your life, it's because you are not walking by the Spirit. You are not surrendering yourself to the Spirit of God as He has revealed Himself in His Word. Because when you do that, the fruit of the Spirit is going to grow on the vine of your life. And certainly, one of the marks of walking by the Spirit will be to have a heart of compassion. And that's what we see in Jesus. Now, mind you, Jesus was exhausted, like the others, but still He felt compassion for them. And here's why, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Now, clearly, this was a slam against the religious leaders of Israel, they cared nothing about their sheep, the sheep of their pasture. Earlier in Jesus ministry, we see him expressing the same thing. We read about this in Matthew nine, verse 36. "Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited, like sheep without a shepherd." They were "distressed" a term that means they were grievously troubled. They were deeply affected. And if you read the context there, of course they were, they were being gaslighted by the Pharisees and the scribes. They're seeing with their own eyes, Jesus doing these miraculous things, casting out demons raising the dead, healing the sick, and then the Pharisees are coming along, said, no, no, no, no, no, no, all of that. And you know, that's, that's of the devil. Right? So what are they supposed to believe? Not only were they distressed, it says they were dispirited. So interesting term, it means they were feeling rejection. They were feeling as though they were just cast aside. And they were, they had no shepherd. And that's what Jesus saw. And it broke his heart. It motivated him to serve them and to love them. There in Matthew 9:36 goes on to say, "Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.'"

Let me talk to you for a moment about sheep. I know from my cowboy and cattle days that cowboys and cattlemen hate shepherds and sheep. And so I've learned quite a bit about why that is the case. A lot of it has to do with how sheep, ruin grazing areas and so forth. But I've got some friends that are also shepherds, I've learned a little bit from them. One of the things that is certain is that wandering sheep are a danger to themselves. Sheep have the IQ, about the same IQ as cattle. I might add that they're not as smart as pigs. By the way, pigs are quite smart. They're kind of like bears. In fact, pigs and bears are in the same family. Interestingly enough, sheep do not have any ability to defend themselves. They're unable to find suitable pastures, they're unable to care for themselves to clean themselves. They're easily deceived, easily frightened. If you get around a sheep, and all of a sudden, one sheep gets scared of something the other see him get scared, and it's just a chain reaction, they all get scared and run off the cliff, you know, and they don't know why he's scared, but if he's scared, I'm scared. And that's kind of what they will do. In fact, I learned from shepherds that if you have all your your flock of sheep here, and you want to go from here to there, you don't just kind of march right straight through them, because that will spook them. They don't understand what's going on. So you kind of meander, and you talk with them. And you go back and forth. And finally, little by little you make your way over there. That's the gentleness of a shepherd. Well, the point is sheep need a shepherd. These people didn't have a shepherd. We see this metaphor Numbers chapter 27, beginning in verse 15, regarding Israel, and their wanderings in the wilderness, this happened at the close of Moses life, his leadership was coming to an end. And then we read in numbers 27, verse 15, "Then Moses spoke to the Lord saying,' May the Lord the God of the spirit of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be like sheep, which have no shepherd.'" And you will recall that God solved that problem by the appointment of Joshua.

So indeed, Israel was wandering alone in the wilderness of spiritual apostasy with shepherds that were really nothing more than wolves. They were desperate for a true shepherd. And even today, there is a difference between a sheep herder and a shepherd. A sheep herder uses fear to drive the sheep, especially through the use of dogs, and they get behind the sheep and drive them in fear. But a shepherd gets in front of the sheep. And because they trust him, and because they know him, they will follow him. That's what the people needed. Might add as well, research indicates that sheep can recognize up to 50 other sheep faces and remember them as much as two years. An amazing thing. They can also recognize human faces. I've seen this before, when several men came up to a large group of sheep, many of them turned away, but a lot of them saw his face. And when they heard His voice, they started coming to him. An amazing thing to watch. They will also follow the voice of their shepherd, because they have learned that that is the voice that has consistently protected them, and given them res,t brought them to good pastures, and freshwater. This helps us understand what Jesus said in John 10 and verse 27, "My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they want they follow Me." Those that are not His sheep, do not hear His voice. Nor does he know them and they therefore do not follow Him. By the way, every family, every church needs a godly shepherd. And how sad to see wives was languishing in a leaderless marriage. Children left unto their own devices. I've seen so many families and some even in this church, that languish in absolute misery and dysfunction. Not only because they are not following the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, the Lord Jesus, but they don't have a shepherd in the house. Men, you need to be the shepherd of your wife, and of your children. And certainly, you need to be in a church, where you have shepherds that will care for you. So the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, he's aware of all of this going on with the crowd that is there. And the primary responsibility of a spiritual Shepherd is to lead and protect and provide for the flock primarily by catch this, teaching them. Teaching them, Mark 6:34. And he began giving them free stuff and promising their best life now is not what he says is it? "And He began to teach them many things."

So Jesus is not only the source of spiritual rest, he's the only source of spiritual truth. In fact, all truth is from God. He is the source of all truth. No truth ever originated from man. Whether it's the law of mathematics, the law of physics, spiritual truths, none of it came from any of us. We might know it, we might understand it, but we are not the source of it. Jesus is the source. In fact, in John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the Father but through me." So he began to teach them many things, because he knows that it is truth that will nourish their soul, that it truth that will protect them. It is truth that will guide them, it is truth that will provide for them eternal life. So he didn't teach them as people are teaching today, these ridiculous things like the social justice gospel. He didn't teach them diversity, equity and inclusion. All of the wokeus pocus nonsense that's out there. Boy, this stuff is going crazy, isn't it? I had a friend that lives out by me, tell me about a family from California that moved in next to them. Now, please. What I'm about to say, has no reflection on the people from California that continue to populate this church at CBC in record numbers, all right? But he said, You're not going to believe what happened to me. He said, I saw this guy pull up into my drive. And he said, I want to introduce myself, I'm your new neighbor moved here from California, blah, blah. They talked for a minute, and then the man said this to him. Sir, I would, I would like to ask you to sell your cows, and to clean up the manure out in your fields, because they give off methane gas.

Now, it would be inappropriate for me to share with you what he told him. But I'm quite confident that man from California will not be receiving a Christmas card this year. And it's interesting, the guy went to the other farmers and ranchers around and did the same thing. It's amazing how, how people are just completely given over to the insanity of our culture. Well, John, I'm sorry, Luke, chapter 9:11, tells us a little bit more about what Jesus did preach to them. It says, "He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God." That's what he taught them. They're all there, they want to see another miracle, they want to see something fascinating. And what does he do? He begin to give them what they need, not what they wanted. He began to teach them about the kingdom of God while he heals some of the people as well. Well, Jesus and his fore runner, John the Baptist, preached the same message right? You remember, Matthew 3:2 and chapter four, verse 17, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And certainly this was the kingdom proclaimed by the Old Testament prophets. He is proclaiming to them that He is the fulfillment of the promised Davidic covenant, He is the Davidic King that they expected. You will recall that the angel Gabriel informed Mary that she would have a son who would be great and sit on the throne of his father David and rule over Israel forever. In Luke chapter one, that he would establish this earthly kingdom and physically rule along with a restored Israel, a rule that would bless all of the nations. Matthew 19:28, A time that would ultimately be that consummating bridge between human history and the eternal kingdom of God for all of the redeemed, but you cannot enter the kingdom, apart from repentance, and saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So repentance was the condition for entering this kingdom. This was and is today, the truth, wandering sheep must hear and must believe. You cannot enter the kingdom of God apart from genuine saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. John 18:37, you will remember Pilate said to Jesus, "'So you are a king?' Jesus answered, 'You say correctly, that I am a king. For this, I have been born, and for this I have come into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.'" So that's what happens. Jesus gets off the boat. They're all there. This is what he begins to teach them. So we see that Jesus is the only source of spiritual rest and spiritual truth.

But finally, he is the only source of spiritual life. Notice verse 35, "When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, 'This place is desolate, it's already quite late; send them away so that they may go into their surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves, something to eat.' But He answered them, 'You give them something to eat!' They said to Him, 'Shall we go and spend 200 denarii on bread and give them something to eat?'' In other words, are we supposed to spend what little we have in the kitty to buy food for all of these people? Well, obviously, Jesus was aware of the crowds need for food. I mean, in all of this is a providential setup right for what He's about to do. In fact, we read in John six beginning of verse five, "Therefore, Jesus lifting up his eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, 'Where are we to buy bread so that these may eat?' This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. Philip answered Him, 'Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.'" So Jesus is aware of the great need, but he's also aware of the disciples great need for stronger faith, to really trust in Him. And you're not going to have a strong body unless you exercise it. Moreover, you will not have a strong faith unless you exercise it. And so that's what Jesus is doing here.

And now, not only is he preparing them for this astonishing miracle that will display his creative power and His divine nature, but he's also going to picture himself as the only source of spiritual life. Indeed, He is the bread of life, that eternally satisfies all who trust in Him. He alone can satisfy those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, a hunger that the Spirit of God places within the redeemed. That passionate longing to be right with God, to have a right standing before God, to be pleasing to Him. So verse 38, "He said to them, 'How many loaves do you have?'" Now loaves here, little flat loaves, they still have them over there. These are like little pitas, they call them lafas, I mean, they are kind of like a pancake or, or I guess in the Mexican restaurants, you have some things like that the little skinny things. Well, I forget what you call those things, but you've rolled them up, put your meat in there. This is a little bit, a little bit thicker than that. And I remember my Jewish friends when I was growing up, they would they would bring matzah to church or to school. Unleavened flatbread, so that's what's going on here. "How many loaves you have? Go, look!" And when they found out they said five and two fish." And John adds this in John six, beginning of verse eight, "One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, 'There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish.'" Now this would have been pickled fish. That's how they did that, they used salt and would pickle the fish. And this was basically the little boys lunch. And then the little baskets, little lunch basket for a small boy, that's all they had. But he goes on to say, but what are these for so many people, verse 39, "And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass." Beloved, here is a magnificent picture of a shepherd leading his flock to green pastures, Psalm 23, in verse 2, remember that passage, "He makes me to lie down in green pastures." A place of abundant food, a place of rest, a place of protection. By the way, isn't that what we have in our church? What would we do if we didn't have a church to be able to come to, to be a part of? This is also a foreshadowing of the Messianic banquet in heaven, marriage supper of the Lamb, Revelation 9:9, that symbolic meal that will take place when at the establishment of the millennial kingdom and lasts throughout, that's also pictured in the Lord's Supper, remember, in Mark 14:25, Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." So all of this is pictured here, verse 40, "They sat down in groups of hundreds and 50s." By the way, this would have been a miracle in and of itself, right? To get 15, 20, maybe 25,000 people to sit down in groups of hundreds and 50s. But that's what they did. You do the math. And I mean, even if there's 20,000 people and they did it, and with groups of 100. I mean, that's 200 groups. That's, that's a lot of groups. And it would have been necessary for orderly distribution. Verse 41, "And He took the the loaves and the two fish and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves, and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all." I can just see the disciples, maybe they had some help but you I know you guys are tired, but you're going to have to do a lot of running here to get this food distributed to all these people. And then we read in verse 42, "They all ate and we're satisfied." Reminds me of what Jesus said in Matthew five, verse six, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness," for they shall be what? "they shall be satisfied."

And then we read in verse 43, "and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish." Twelve full baskets for twelve hungry disciples. The Lord did not forget his own right, he provided for them. And I thought to myself, Well, I wonder why it wasn't 13 I mean, the Lord needs some too. Well, I'm sure his disciples would have shared with him, maybe we'll find out someday in heaven. My what a miraculous display of God's creative power of His divinity. Surely He is our only source of spiritual rest and spiritual truth, and spiritual life. Now, we know that the people were so overwhelmed by what they had just experienced. And according to John six, beginning in verse 14, we read, "Therefore, when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, 'This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.' So Jesus perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force, to make Him king withdrew again to the mountain, by Himself alone."

And then we know if we were to read on that the next day, he reappears to them, he begins to teach them about the sovereign grace of God and salvation and all those amazing truths of the gospel. And we read that they heard this, wanted nothing to do with it, and they abandoned him. As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew, and we're not walking with Him anymore. Dear friend, if you're here today, and you need rest for your weary soul, if you're here today, and you're confused about life, with all of the competing voices that are out there, if you're here today, and you're not sure what's going to happen to you when you die, I offer you the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only source of spiritual rest, spiritual truth, and spiritual life, eternal life. And for those of us who know these truths, well, let's know them even better. May I encourage you to meditate upon these truths? May I encourage you to celebrate these truths in your heart, and in your life and around the table with your family? And then may I encourage you to disseminate these truths in the proclamation of the gospel, that Christ might be glorified in your life. Common grace was provided but it was rejected. Don't be among those who reject God's common grace that can lead you to saving grace. Okay. Let's pray together. Father, your eternal truths are always so penetrating to each of our hearts. And I pray especially for the hardened heart, the rebellious heart. The heart that down deep doesn't want to believe any of these things. That heart that has conjured up their own ideas about life Lord only you can break through that type of recalcitrance. Only you can tear down that kind of a wall. Only you can give that person eyes to see and ears to hear. And to that end, I plead with you that you will do just that, even this day. And for those of us who know and love you, may we know and love you all the more as we meditate upon these great truths, and celebrate them in our lives, and proclaimed them with our lips. We pray all of this in the precious name of Jesus, our Savior, and coming King. Amen.