Jer 6:16
16 Thus says the LORD:
"Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. NKJV
On this blog you will find my sermons and some other writings and information.
If you click on profile you will find a second blog page. I'm also working on some writings of Pastor Maynard Force and others that I plan to post on a web page http://www.Haugean.com. This is still under construction. On my second Blog http://www.Haugean2.blogspot.com I will post these writings section by section, then when I have the work completed I will post it on Haugean.com.
I've searched for good Lutheran sources, Lutheran Pastors and laymen that preached and wrote life changing messages for our Lutheran churches and have found pretty much nothing written later than 1955. No wonder our churches are asleep, it's been 50 years since anyone's shook them awake.
Some of my favorite web pages are:
http://www.haugeinnermission/ Web page of the Hauge Lutheran Innermission Federation that I have posted for them. Upcoming conferences, and newsletters for download. Also some MP3 downloads from latest conference.
http://pietist.blogspot.com/ A Lutheran blog
http://users.ez2.net/lwmin/ Ollie Olson, former teacher at California Lutheran Bible School
http://www.livingwaters.com/ Ray Comfort and Kirk Camerons web page on Biblical Evangelism http://www.lutheranrenewal.org/ Paul Anderson, Lutheran Renewal
http://www.aflc.org/ Association of Free Lutheran Congregations web page
http://lutheranblogs.blogspot.com/ A site that lists Lutheran Blogs of all kinds.
Rev 3:2 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.NKJV
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
What the Lutheran Church Needs Today
In his book "A New Sprintime", Robert Lee, president of the AFLC said that there were Six principles that summarize the Spirit of awakening sparked by Hans Nielsen Hauge:
1. The demand for true conversion, with emphasis on the working of God’s law in bringing the sinner to repentance.
2. A living faith, a vital and personal commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, manifested in holy living.
3. An ethical emphasis on sactification.
4. An emphasis on personal Salvation.
5. Vigilance, or the continual need for Christians to watch and pray lest they fall and to examine themselves spiritually on a regular basis.
6.Evangelism, a burning compulsion to spread the Good News by means of simple and direct personal outreach.
We believe that these same principles that brought revival to The Lutheran Church in Norway in the 1800's can do the same for the Lutheran Church today.
Lets take a look at each one of these principles.
1. The demand for true conversion, with emphasis on the working of God's Law in bringing the sinner to repentance. Over the last 150 years the Holy Spirit has slowly been stripped of the only tool at His disposal to bring the knowledge of sin. Paul said in Romans 3:20; "By the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” He says in Romans 3:19; ”Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” And in Romans 5:20 ”Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound.” Jesus said when the Holy Spirit comes He would "convict the world of sin , and of righteousness, and of judgment."(John 16:8) One of the primary works of the Holy Spirit is to convict of sin, and this comes through the Law and Gospel preaching.
I'm out driving around in Des Moines and I get on interstate 235 and pretty soon I'm cruising with the flow of traffic. I look down at my speedometer and I see it’s at 70 MPH. Well the speed limit is 55 MPH, but everyone else is doing it, and it does feel good. Besides, it's only 15 over and everyone would stare at me and think I was strange if I was doing the speed limit when everyone else wasn't.
Then all of a sudden I see a cop car with its lights flashing and its siren blasting entering the freeway. I look at my speedometer and see that it’s at 70 mph and I think, "Oh no, 15 miles over". I know that for every mile per hour over it adds up to more money. It no longer matters that everyone is doing it. I know that if I'm standing in front of a judge, and I give him that excuse he will throw the book at me. So I hit my brakes and slow down to 55 and hope that he's after someone else, instead of me. The Law entered and the offense abounded. I saw my actions for what they were, lawlessness. The law is used to bring the knowledge of sin, which leads to confession and repentance, and that leads to eternal life.
2. Living faith, a vital and personal commitment to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, manifested in holy living. Hans Hauge faced the same dilemma that John Wesley faced in England. With the state church everyone was baptized and everyone's names were written on the churches rolls, so everyone presumed they were also written in the lambs book of life. But John Wesley preached that no one could claim they were a Christian unless they were born of God and had the witness of the spirit with in them.
3. An ethical emphasis on sanctification.
From Nelsons Bible Dictionary we read:
SANCTIFICATION is:
The process of God's grace by which the believer is separated from sin and becomes dedicated to God's righteousness. Accomplished by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, sanctification results in holiness, or purification from the guilt and power of sin.
As Christians we are set aside, we are separated from the world; we are God's own people. Eph 5:7-8 Therefore do not be partakers with them. 8 Walk in Light, For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
4. An emphasis on personal Salvation.
It’s a personal salvation. God doesn’t have any grandchildren. He only has children. And how do you be come a child? You have to be born? How do you become a child of God? You have to be born of God. John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
5. Vigilance, or the continual need for Christians to watch and pray lest they fall and to examine themselves spiritually on a regular basis.
Oh I think this is so important. "Prone to wander Lord to feel it. Prone to leave the God I love." We're like Adam and Eve, like Samson, David, Judas, like Peter, it's easy to loose our first love, it's easy to become lukewarm. In Hebrews 2:1 we read , Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. What have we heard, what have we read? We need to stay in His word; we need to hear the preaching of the word, lest we drift away. We need to: (2 Cor 13: 5) Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail the test.
It's easy to be deceived, to think we are saved and to not be. Scripture tells us that this is a big category, Jesus said many will come to Him on that day, and Jesus will tell them, “ Depart from Me, I never knew you”. We often time ask people "Do you know the Lord?" Maybe the correct way to ask is this; "Does the Lord know you?" Paul says examine yourself. This is a pass, fail test as Paul says, If Christ is in you, you pass, if not you fail, your disqualified.
6. Evangelism, a burning compulsion to spread the Good News by means of simple and direct personal outreach. Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which is lost. If we are His, that will be our desire too.
George Whitefield, the famous English Evangelist, said, O Lord give me souls, or take my soul.
Henry Martyn, missionary, kneeling on India's coral strands, cried out, "Here let me burn out for God."
Praying Hyde, a missionary in India said, "Give me these souls, or I die."
Charles Spurgeon said, "If sinners be dammed, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for."
These are the principles we strive to live up to in Worship and Ministry. If you are searching for a church home I hope you will come and visit us.
If you’ve read this and it has raised some questions in your mind as to the validity of your own Salvation and would like to talk, feel free to call or E-mail me, Wayne Almlie at: almlie@juno.com
or 515-277-5706 (Des Moines)
Or call Duane Larson at 825-3693 (Goldfield)
If you want to know more about being “Born Again” go to
http://www.wayofthemaster.com/
1. The demand for true conversion, with emphasis on the working of God’s law in bringing the sinner to repentance.
2. A living faith, a vital and personal commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, manifested in holy living.
3. An ethical emphasis on sactification.
4. An emphasis on personal Salvation.
5. Vigilance, or the continual need for Christians to watch and pray lest they fall and to examine themselves spiritually on a regular basis.
6.Evangelism, a burning compulsion to spread the Good News by means of simple and direct personal outreach.
We believe that these same principles that brought revival to The Lutheran Church in Norway in the 1800's can do the same for the Lutheran Church today.
Lets take a look at each one of these principles.
1. The demand for true conversion, with emphasis on the working of God's Law in bringing the sinner to repentance. Over the last 150 years the Holy Spirit has slowly been stripped of the only tool at His disposal to bring the knowledge of sin. Paul said in Romans 3:20; "By the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” He says in Romans 3:19; ”Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” And in Romans 5:20 ”Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound.” Jesus said when the Holy Spirit comes He would "convict the world of sin , and of righteousness, and of judgment."(John 16:8) One of the primary works of the Holy Spirit is to convict of sin, and this comes through the Law and Gospel preaching.
I'm out driving around in Des Moines and I get on interstate 235 and pretty soon I'm cruising with the flow of traffic. I look down at my speedometer and I see it’s at 70 MPH. Well the speed limit is 55 MPH, but everyone else is doing it, and it does feel good. Besides, it's only 15 over and everyone would stare at me and think I was strange if I was doing the speed limit when everyone else wasn't.
Then all of a sudden I see a cop car with its lights flashing and its siren blasting entering the freeway. I look at my speedometer and see that it’s at 70 mph and I think, "Oh no, 15 miles over". I know that for every mile per hour over it adds up to more money. It no longer matters that everyone is doing it. I know that if I'm standing in front of a judge, and I give him that excuse he will throw the book at me. So I hit my brakes and slow down to 55 and hope that he's after someone else, instead of me. The Law entered and the offense abounded. I saw my actions for what they were, lawlessness. The law is used to bring the knowledge of sin, which leads to confession and repentance, and that leads to eternal life.
2. Living faith, a vital and personal commitment to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, manifested in holy living. Hans Hauge faced the same dilemma that John Wesley faced in England. With the state church everyone was baptized and everyone's names were written on the churches rolls, so everyone presumed they were also written in the lambs book of life. But John Wesley preached that no one could claim they were a Christian unless they were born of God and had the witness of the spirit with in them.
3. An ethical emphasis on sanctification.
From Nelsons Bible Dictionary we read:
SANCTIFICATION is:
The process of God's grace by which the believer is separated from sin and becomes dedicated to God's righteousness. Accomplished by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, sanctification results in holiness, or purification from the guilt and power of sin.
As Christians we are set aside, we are separated from the world; we are God's own people. Eph 5:7-8 Therefore do not be partakers with them. 8 Walk in Light, For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
4. An emphasis on personal Salvation.
It’s a personal salvation. God doesn’t have any grandchildren. He only has children. And how do you be come a child? You have to be born? How do you become a child of God? You have to be born of God. John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
5. Vigilance, or the continual need for Christians to watch and pray lest they fall and to examine themselves spiritually on a regular basis.
Oh I think this is so important. "Prone to wander Lord to feel it. Prone to leave the God I love." We're like Adam and Eve, like Samson, David, Judas, like Peter, it's easy to loose our first love, it's easy to become lukewarm. In Hebrews 2:1 we read , Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. What have we heard, what have we read? We need to stay in His word; we need to hear the preaching of the word, lest we drift away. We need to: (2 Cor 13: 5) Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail the test.
It's easy to be deceived, to think we are saved and to not be. Scripture tells us that this is a big category, Jesus said many will come to Him on that day, and Jesus will tell them, “ Depart from Me, I never knew you”. We often time ask people "Do you know the Lord?" Maybe the correct way to ask is this; "Does the Lord know you?" Paul says examine yourself. This is a pass, fail test as Paul says, If Christ is in you, you pass, if not you fail, your disqualified.
6. Evangelism, a burning compulsion to spread the Good News by means of simple and direct personal outreach. Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which is lost. If we are His, that will be our desire too.
George Whitefield, the famous English Evangelist, said, O Lord give me souls, or take my soul.
Henry Martyn, missionary, kneeling on India's coral strands, cried out, "Here let me burn out for God."
Praying Hyde, a missionary in India said, "Give me these souls, or I die."
Charles Spurgeon said, "If sinners be dammed, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for."
These are the principles we strive to live up to in Worship and Ministry. If you are searching for a church home I hope you will come and visit us.
If you’ve read this and it has raised some questions in your mind as to the validity of your own Salvation and would like to talk, feel free to call or E-mail me, Wayne Almlie at: almlie@juno.com
or 515-277-5706 (Des Moines)
Or call Duane Larson at 825-3693 (Goldfield)
If you want to know more about being “Born Again” go to
http://www.wayofthemaster.com/
Monday, December 28, 2009
The Way of Salvation
At Hauge Lutheran Church, our goal is to teach people about the gift of salvation. While salvation is actually a simple concept, it can seem so complex. This post intends to explain salvation and show you the power of this gift.
What is salvation?
Salvation is God's plan of saving His people from spending eternity in Hell. Salvation means that, through Jesus Christ, we have been saved from eternal condemnation. Romans 6:23 tells us that "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." This is supported in Romans 8:1 where we discover, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Is salvation only available through Christ?
Yes, absolutely. In Acts 4:12 we learn that "Salvation is found in no one else, for these is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Why do we need to be saved?
Every person that has ever been born comes into the world a sinner before God. This is confirmed in Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
We are sinners not only because of the sinful nature we have inherited, but because we all have sinned. As Romans 5:12 says, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." Yes the opportunity to sin entered through Adam, but the reality is that we all have sinned.
The purpose of the Law is to show us our sins. Paul tells us in Romans 3:20 “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin”. Also in Galatians 3:24 he says, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” When we look at the Law, the “Ten Commandments” we see that we are lying, thieving, adulterers at heart and we deserve God’s wrath.
Because of our sin, we have been separated from God and condemned to an eternal punishment in Hell. If we want to escape this punishment, we must be obedient to Jesus who said "Repent and believe the Gospel" We must see our sins for what they are, crimes against an infinitly holy God. We must repent of the sin in our life, which is to gain a new attitude toward sin and turn from all know sin. Then we must believe the Gospel, the good news, that Jesus bore your sins on the cross, taking your punishment upon himself. Then you need to walk in that knowledge.
How can I know I am saved? How can I know I don't have a devil's faith or a dead faith? There are certain characteristics that accompany saving faith. First you will have a hatred for sin, a new attitude towards sin. Not that you will not sin, but when you do sin it will humble you and you will confess and forsake it before God. Second You will have a new attitude towards God's word. You will hunger for it. Third, you will have a new attitude towards Christians, they will be the ones you form your closest freindships with. And when you meet a Christian for the first time, it will be like meeting a long lost brother or sister, because they are. There are other evidences laid out in 1st John. Check out my other blog for Maynard Force's "Assurance".
Have more questions about salvation?
If you are looking for more answers about salvation, please contact us today.
Hauge Lutheran Church
An independent Lutheran Church Affiliated with the “Association of Free Lutheran Congregations”
Wayne Almlie: Almlie@juno.com
515-277-5706 (Des Moines)
Duane Larson at 825-3693 (GoldField)
If you want to know more about being born again go to http://www.wayofthemaster.com
Come worship with us.
Summer worship Schedule
Sunday Worship 10 AM
Wednesday Prayer 7 PM
School Year Worship Schedule
Sunday School 9:30
Worship 10:30
Wednesday Prayer 7 PM
Holiday Worship Schedule
Thanksgiving weekend, Christmas, New Years, Easter, Mothers Day, etc
Worship 10AM
What is salvation?
Salvation is God's plan of saving His people from spending eternity in Hell. Salvation means that, through Jesus Christ, we have been saved from eternal condemnation. Romans 6:23 tells us that "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." This is supported in Romans 8:1 where we discover, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Is salvation only available through Christ?
Yes, absolutely. In Acts 4:12 we learn that "Salvation is found in no one else, for these is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Why do we need to be saved?
Every person that has ever been born comes into the world a sinner before God. This is confirmed in Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
We are sinners not only because of the sinful nature we have inherited, but because we all have sinned. As Romans 5:12 says, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." Yes the opportunity to sin entered through Adam, but the reality is that we all have sinned.
The purpose of the Law is to show us our sins. Paul tells us in Romans 3:20 “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin”. Also in Galatians 3:24 he says, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” When we look at the Law, the “Ten Commandments” we see that we are lying, thieving, adulterers at heart and we deserve God’s wrath.
Because of our sin, we have been separated from God and condemned to an eternal punishment in Hell. If we want to escape this punishment, we must be obedient to Jesus who said "Repent and believe the Gospel" We must see our sins for what they are, crimes against an infinitly holy God. We must repent of the sin in our life, which is to gain a new attitude toward sin and turn from all know sin. Then we must believe the Gospel, the good news, that Jesus bore your sins on the cross, taking your punishment upon himself. Then you need to walk in that knowledge.
How can I know I am saved? How can I know I don't have a devil's faith or a dead faith? There are certain characteristics that accompany saving faith. First you will have a hatred for sin, a new attitude towards sin. Not that you will not sin, but when you do sin it will humble you and you will confess and forsake it before God. Second You will have a new attitude towards God's word. You will hunger for it. Third, you will have a new attitude towards Christians, they will be the ones you form your closest freindships with. And when you meet a Christian for the first time, it will be like meeting a long lost brother or sister, because they are. There are other evidences laid out in 1st John. Check out my other blog for Maynard Force's "Assurance".
Have more questions about salvation?
If you are looking for more answers about salvation, please contact us today.
Hauge Lutheran Church
An independent Lutheran Church Affiliated with the “Association of Free Lutheran Congregations”
Wayne Almlie: Almlie@juno.com
515-277-5706 (Des Moines)
Duane Larson at 825-3693 (GoldField)
If you want to know more about being born again go to http://www.wayofthemaster.com
Come worship with us.
Summer worship Schedule
Sunday Worship 10 AM
Wednesday Prayer 7 PM
School Year Worship Schedule
Sunday School 9:30
Worship 10:30
Wednesday Prayer 7 PM
Holiday Worship Schedule
Thanksgiving weekend, Christmas, New Years, Easter, Mothers Day, etc
Worship 10AM
Sunday, May 24, 2009
05/24/09 Three Blind...
Three Blind....
Mark 8:9b-21
And He sent them away, 10 immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
11 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. 12 But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."
13 And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.
14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. 15 Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."
16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."
17 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? 18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"
They said to Him, "Twelve."
20 "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"
And they said, "Seven."
21 So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"
22 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. 23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.
24 And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."
25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. 26 Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."
NKJV
Mark groups three cases of blindness together in this section. We have the blindness of the Pharisees, the blindness of the disciples and the blindness of the man in Bethsaida. Two cases of spiritual blindness, one case of physical blindness. We have one case of blindness that was never healed, The Pharisees, and we have two cases that were healed, the disciples and the blind man. Jesus came to give sight to the blind, but many are so hard hearted that they refuse to see. It was true in the first century, it is true today.
In our text we again see that Jesus is on the move. He kept a tiring pace. He fed the 4000 and immediately it says he got in a boat and crossed the sea. He left the gentile side of the Sea of Galilee and he returned to the Jewish side and sure enough who shows up, but the Pharisees. It seems that word traveled fast. As soon as He reached shore they came.
The Pharisees obviously didn't want Jesus messing with the status quo, as soon as they hear about Him being there, they show up and try to entangle Jesus in a debate. They want to be argumentative; probably hoping they could trick Jesus into saying or doing something they can use against Him.
They were seeking from Him a sign, but not just any sign, a sign from heaven. They had already been given many signs, Jesus had healed and cast out demons right in front of them, but that is not the kind of sign they were wanting. They wanted a sign from heaven. They wanted a grand and glorious sign, they wanted an apocryphal sign.
They read in their scriptures about a Messiah who would come and restore Israel's glory. One who by His mighty hand would throw off the yoke of Rome. Yes that day was prophesied, and it's yet to come. The Pharisees ignored all the prophecies about the suffering servant, just as most Jews today ignore or explain away the same scriptures.
So they are not asking for just any sign, they are asking for the one true sign that in their view would prove Jesus' Messiahship: The restoration of Israel to its rightful place of prominence in the world. So this is the ultimate challenge, they are telling Jesus to put up or shut up. They are so blind, they cannot see.
Is it any wonder that in verse 12 it says he sighed deeply in His spirit? What must He have been thinking? The creator of the Universe, having to take that kind of scoffing from beings he created, and beings that he could have that instant been cast in to hell. Heb 5:8 says: "Though He was a Son, He learned obedience by the things which He suffered." This was part of the suffering; I'm sure Satan was tempting Him to do something outside of the will of God. But Jesus learned obedience by the things he suffered. He learned patience and trust. He suffered having to put up with those Pharisees who hassled him all the time.
God allows us to go through the tough times too; we also need to learn obedience through the things we suffer. God never promised us a rose garden. The message of the Gospel is not come to Jesus and have your best life now. The message of the Gospel is come and die. Our message is not come to Jesus and your life will get better. No, Jesus promised us trials, temptation and tribulation. When you come to Jesus he gives you eternal life and a cross to die on.
Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly no sign shall be given to this generation." The Gospel of Matthew adds this to the story. Matt 16:2-4 "He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; 3 and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." NKJV
The Jews were great at forecasting the weather; they could look at the sky and tell you what the weather would be. But they were totally blind in being able to discern the day they were in and who was standing in their midst. From scripture and from the events of the day they should have recognized their Messiah. Jesus chastised them for not discerning the signs of the times.
It is true that scriptures tell us that no one knows the time of the end; No one knows the day or the hour. But that does not mean we are to be ignorant of the times in which we live. We are not to be caught off guard, we are to be ready, we are to discern the times in which we live. We are to live ready, for the Lord might return at any moment. That is the way every generation of believers is suppose to live. Today it seems like the scriptures are being fulfilled right before our eyes. Israel has again become a nation, knowledge and travel has increased, there is a great apostasy happening in all the main line churches. Are you ready church to meet him?
No one knows the day or the hour, but that doesn't mean we live like he's never coming back either. We live with an expectancy that He might return today, and that is what keeps the church pure.
Jesus says no sign will be given this generation except the sign of Jonah, the resurrection. Probably the reason Mark didn't include that detail was because even a resurrection didn't qualify as a sign from heaven. That wasn't the kind of sign the Jews were looking for. As Jesus said in the Parable of the rich man and Lazarus when the Rich man asked that Lazarus go to his family and warn them, Abraham replied: Luke 16:31 "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead." NKJV We know the truth of that statement today. Even a resurrection was not enough for most people.
Jesus one time made an accusation against the Pharisees saying, "not only will you not enter the door, but you stand in the way and block others from entering too". That's probably what happened here. Because of there constant badgering, Jesus is not able to minister to any of the people in that region, so Jesus gets in the boat and heads east again across the Sea of Galilee.
While they were going Jesus charged them, "Take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod," some translations say Herodians, Matthew's Gospel says Sadducees. Herodians probably would have been a branch of the Sadducees. They both were nationalistic Jews, they were only interested in power and the Nation of Israel, they didn't have any strong belief in God, no belief in life after death, so no heaven or hell. Their only concern for the Law was societal, you had to maintain law and order to maintain a civil people and with out a civil people there is no hope of Israel gaining prominence. So they did believe in morality, at least for the people. They knew they needed a moral people in order to be able to govern them.
The Herodians were kind of the upper-class elite so they were above the law and they were characterized by there gross sexual immorality. The Pharisees were the exact opposite, they confessed a strong belief in God and the after life, but they were so hung up on the law, that their self righteousness made them blind to anything other than their own traditions.
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. When the Bible talks about leaven it's not talking about yeast, baking power or baking soda. This was a culture, a lump of bread dough left over from the last time you made bread. Maybe some of you have made what we would refer to as friendship bread. A friend gives you a lump of dough, you make bread, add the lump from the friend, that lump leavens the whole batch and before you bake it you cut off a lump of dough and pass it on to another friend. Leaven is aggressive and takes over what it's added to.
Beware of the leaven of legalism, and self-righteousness. Beware of the leaven of immorality. Beware of the leaven of moralism. Heresy is and always has been a big problem in the church. I heard someone say recently that 40% of the New Testament was written in response to false teachers teaching heresy in the church.
In medieval times they would take heretics out and kill them. We look at that and think that was barbaric. And maybe it was, but they understood something we don't understand in our day. They understood that if a heretic was allowed to continue in his heresy, that it would blaspheme God's holy name and damn millions of souls to hell. So yes their solution was extreme, but they understood that the consequences of doing nothing was unthinkable.
Leaven will permeate and take over the whole loaf. That's what's happened in the church today. Within the Lutheran church leaven was introduced into the seminaries in the 1950's and we can clearly see the results in the church today.
It's amazing how quickly the church seems to let its guard down.
2 Tim 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." NKJV
Is it possible that we are not living in the times of the end? There are so many sources of leaven, so many heretical teachers and preachers that one can hardly keep up with them. I took a piece of paper and without much trouble at all wrote out the names of 18 influential leaders of churches and ministries that I think are clearly heretical. Prominent names, pastors of mega churches, teachers, bishops, authors, these leaders influence millions of people, and there leaven is permeating the church.
Universalism has crept in all over. Even on the ELCA web site they have an article that very clearly says that they are Universalist. The social gospel, which is no gospel, is nothing more than self righteousness and moralizing about getting along, how to have your best life now, how to over come obstacles, how to love and care for the planet. They talk much about justice. But they don't know what they are talking about. They say they seek justice. They claim Gay marriage is a justice issue. My take is different, I don't seek justice. I'm afraid of justice, what I seek is mercy.
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the herodians. Beware of the leaven of the self-righteous and immoral, because it has a corrupting and a damning influence.
With this statement by Jesus we see the blindness of the disciples. They think Jesus is chastising them for not bringing adequate provisions for the trip; they only had one loaf of bread. In response Jesus asks them nine rapid fire questions. "Why do you reason because you have no bread?
Do you not yet perceive nor understand?
Is your heart still hardened?
Having eyes, do you not see?
And having ears, do you not hear?
And do you not remember?
When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"
"Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"
"How is it you do not understand?"
Again it must have grieved Jesus to witness their lack of faith. Jesus had just preformed these two spectacular miracles of feeding these multitudes and the disciples are still worried about how much bread they have. Those miracles should have really cemented in their minds the reality of who Jesus was. They should have been in such a state that they should have never worried about food again as long as they were with Jesus. But they just couldn't get it. They were still spiritually blind.
They should have learned that Jesus was Jehovah Jirah, the God who provides. He provides daily bread for their physical nourishment, and also he provides spiritual food for the sustaining of their souls. The miracles of Jesus were both a proof of his divinity, and they were instructional, they were living parables of a larger truth, a spiritual truth. Jesus is the food of His church.
But before we come down too hard on the disciples, we should ask ourselves, are we really any different. We are also blind in so many ways. We don't see the glory in Jesus that we should. We don't understand the attributes of God's Holiness and His righteousness; we don't understand the realities of heaven or hell. If we did our lives would be so much different than they are.
Are we blind, not totally, but in many ways we are partially blind, we see only through a mirror dimly. That may be the explanation for the third example of blindness in our text today. Many have wrestled with this. Why was the man's site not restored instantly?
The text says: "23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.
24 And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."
25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly."
Why was this man not healed right away? Did Jesus miscalculate in some way the amount of power needed? Of course not. It seems obvious that Jesus planned to heal the man in two stages as a teaching tool. For the blind man, it would have increased the man's faith. Having gone from totally blind to partial sight would give him hope and faith that Jesus could restore him to full sight. Just to see light and to see shapes and movement would have been a blessing to someone totally blind.
The disciples were not totally blind, but they were like the blind man after the first stage of healing. They knew they saw something in Jesus. But they were just seeing light, shapes and movement and they weren't really able to discern everything in truth yet. But just as the blind man was finally restored to full sight, so would the disciples be someday. The disciples were still partially blind, but the day would come when the fog would be lifted and they would see Jesus in all His glory.
I'm going to go back to verse 21 with Jesus' question; "How is it you do not understand?"
There is a direct correlation between how we live our lives and what our view of God is. The greater our view of God is, the holier our lives will be. Of course the first step to understanding is to be born of the Spirit. Without that, we have a perverted view of God. Maybe he's a cosmic Santa Clause, or maybe even a cosmic bogyman. Just as our nature is corrupt so will our view of God be.
Paul says: 1Co 2:12-14 "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. (13) And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. (14) The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."
So first we need to be born of the Spirit, next we have to know who God is and the clearer our image of God is the more it will change our lives. The disciples did not yet understand, because even after all they had been through with Jesus they were like the blind man, they had some sight, but had not fully received their sight yet.
Many people if you throw out the word theology, they will roll their eyes. What is theology but the study of God. Who is He? What are His attributes? We learn these things through scripture and prayer. This is our quest and it will be an eternal quest. Our quest as Christians is to find out who this God is. What God would become a man to take the punishment of beings that must appear like ants before Him? Who is this God? How can I describe him? And this is not just an intellectual quest either. It's a quest to know this God. Can I know a bacteria floating in my toilet at home. No, I can't, yet that must be what I seem to God. But yet scripture not only says it's possible but that it's imperative to know Him. I must know him. Paul's greatest desire was to know him. In Fact Jesus said knowing God is Eternal life. John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. NKJV
So this is our quest. To understand and know this great God of ours. May you have success. Go is peace, serve our King. Let's pray.
Mark 8:9b-21
And He sent them away, 10 immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
11 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. 12 But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."
13 And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.
14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. 15 Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."
16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."
17 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? 18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"
They said to Him, "Twelve."
20 "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"
And they said, "Seven."
21 So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"
22 Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. 23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.
24 And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."
25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. 26 Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."
NKJV
Mark groups three cases of blindness together in this section. We have the blindness of the Pharisees, the blindness of the disciples and the blindness of the man in Bethsaida. Two cases of spiritual blindness, one case of physical blindness. We have one case of blindness that was never healed, The Pharisees, and we have two cases that were healed, the disciples and the blind man. Jesus came to give sight to the blind, but many are so hard hearted that they refuse to see. It was true in the first century, it is true today.
In our text we again see that Jesus is on the move. He kept a tiring pace. He fed the 4000 and immediately it says he got in a boat and crossed the sea. He left the gentile side of the Sea of Galilee and he returned to the Jewish side and sure enough who shows up, but the Pharisees. It seems that word traveled fast. As soon as He reached shore they came.
The Pharisees obviously didn't want Jesus messing with the status quo, as soon as they hear about Him being there, they show up and try to entangle Jesus in a debate. They want to be argumentative; probably hoping they could trick Jesus into saying or doing something they can use against Him.
They were seeking from Him a sign, but not just any sign, a sign from heaven. They had already been given many signs, Jesus had healed and cast out demons right in front of them, but that is not the kind of sign they were wanting. They wanted a sign from heaven. They wanted a grand and glorious sign, they wanted an apocryphal sign.
They read in their scriptures about a Messiah who would come and restore Israel's glory. One who by His mighty hand would throw off the yoke of Rome. Yes that day was prophesied, and it's yet to come. The Pharisees ignored all the prophecies about the suffering servant, just as most Jews today ignore or explain away the same scriptures.
So they are not asking for just any sign, they are asking for the one true sign that in their view would prove Jesus' Messiahship: The restoration of Israel to its rightful place of prominence in the world. So this is the ultimate challenge, they are telling Jesus to put up or shut up. They are so blind, they cannot see.
Is it any wonder that in verse 12 it says he sighed deeply in His spirit? What must He have been thinking? The creator of the Universe, having to take that kind of scoffing from beings he created, and beings that he could have that instant been cast in to hell. Heb 5:8 says: "Though He was a Son, He learned obedience by the things which He suffered." This was part of the suffering; I'm sure Satan was tempting Him to do something outside of the will of God. But Jesus learned obedience by the things he suffered. He learned patience and trust. He suffered having to put up with those Pharisees who hassled him all the time.
God allows us to go through the tough times too; we also need to learn obedience through the things we suffer. God never promised us a rose garden. The message of the Gospel is not come to Jesus and have your best life now. The message of the Gospel is come and die. Our message is not come to Jesus and your life will get better. No, Jesus promised us trials, temptation and tribulation. When you come to Jesus he gives you eternal life and a cross to die on.
Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly no sign shall be given to this generation." The Gospel of Matthew adds this to the story. Matt 16:2-4 "He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; 3 and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." NKJV
The Jews were great at forecasting the weather; they could look at the sky and tell you what the weather would be. But they were totally blind in being able to discern the day they were in and who was standing in their midst. From scripture and from the events of the day they should have recognized their Messiah. Jesus chastised them for not discerning the signs of the times.
It is true that scriptures tell us that no one knows the time of the end; No one knows the day or the hour. But that does not mean we are to be ignorant of the times in which we live. We are not to be caught off guard, we are to be ready, we are to discern the times in which we live. We are to live ready, for the Lord might return at any moment. That is the way every generation of believers is suppose to live. Today it seems like the scriptures are being fulfilled right before our eyes. Israel has again become a nation, knowledge and travel has increased, there is a great apostasy happening in all the main line churches. Are you ready church to meet him?
No one knows the day or the hour, but that doesn't mean we live like he's never coming back either. We live with an expectancy that He might return today, and that is what keeps the church pure.
Jesus says no sign will be given this generation except the sign of Jonah, the resurrection. Probably the reason Mark didn't include that detail was because even a resurrection didn't qualify as a sign from heaven. That wasn't the kind of sign the Jews were looking for. As Jesus said in the Parable of the rich man and Lazarus when the Rich man asked that Lazarus go to his family and warn them, Abraham replied: Luke 16:31 "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead." NKJV We know the truth of that statement today. Even a resurrection was not enough for most people.
Jesus one time made an accusation against the Pharisees saying, "not only will you not enter the door, but you stand in the way and block others from entering too". That's probably what happened here. Because of there constant badgering, Jesus is not able to minister to any of the people in that region, so Jesus gets in the boat and heads east again across the Sea of Galilee.
While they were going Jesus charged them, "Take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod," some translations say Herodians, Matthew's Gospel says Sadducees. Herodians probably would have been a branch of the Sadducees. They both were nationalistic Jews, they were only interested in power and the Nation of Israel, they didn't have any strong belief in God, no belief in life after death, so no heaven or hell. Their only concern for the Law was societal, you had to maintain law and order to maintain a civil people and with out a civil people there is no hope of Israel gaining prominence. So they did believe in morality, at least for the people. They knew they needed a moral people in order to be able to govern them.
The Herodians were kind of the upper-class elite so they were above the law and they were characterized by there gross sexual immorality. The Pharisees were the exact opposite, they confessed a strong belief in God and the after life, but they were so hung up on the law, that their self righteousness made them blind to anything other than their own traditions.
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. When the Bible talks about leaven it's not talking about yeast, baking power or baking soda. This was a culture, a lump of bread dough left over from the last time you made bread. Maybe some of you have made what we would refer to as friendship bread. A friend gives you a lump of dough, you make bread, add the lump from the friend, that lump leavens the whole batch and before you bake it you cut off a lump of dough and pass it on to another friend. Leaven is aggressive and takes over what it's added to.
Beware of the leaven of legalism, and self-righteousness. Beware of the leaven of immorality. Beware of the leaven of moralism. Heresy is and always has been a big problem in the church. I heard someone say recently that 40% of the New Testament was written in response to false teachers teaching heresy in the church.
In medieval times they would take heretics out and kill them. We look at that and think that was barbaric. And maybe it was, but they understood something we don't understand in our day. They understood that if a heretic was allowed to continue in his heresy, that it would blaspheme God's holy name and damn millions of souls to hell. So yes their solution was extreme, but they understood that the consequences of doing nothing was unthinkable.
Leaven will permeate and take over the whole loaf. That's what's happened in the church today. Within the Lutheran church leaven was introduced into the seminaries in the 1950's and we can clearly see the results in the church today.
It's amazing how quickly the church seems to let its guard down.
2 Tim 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." NKJV
Is it possible that we are not living in the times of the end? There are so many sources of leaven, so many heretical teachers and preachers that one can hardly keep up with them. I took a piece of paper and without much trouble at all wrote out the names of 18 influential leaders of churches and ministries that I think are clearly heretical. Prominent names, pastors of mega churches, teachers, bishops, authors, these leaders influence millions of people, and there leaven is permeating the church.
Universalism has crept in all over. Even on the ELCA web site they have an article that very clearly says that they are Universalist. The social gospel, which is no gospel, is nothing more than self righteousness and moralizing about getting along, how to have your best life now, how to over come obstacles, how to love and care for the planet. They talk much about justice. But they don't know what they are talking about. They say they seek justice. They claim Gay marriage is a justice issue. My take is different, I don't seek justice. I'm afraid of justice, what I seek is mercy.
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the herodians. Beware of the leaven of the self-righteous and immoral, because it has a corrupting and a damning influence.
With this statement by Jesus we see the blindness of the disciples. They think Jesus is chastising them for not bringing adequate provisions for the trip; they only had one loaf of bread. In response Jesus asks them nine rapid fire questions. "Why do you reason because you have no bread?
Do you not yet perceive nor understand?
Is your heart still hardened?
Having eyes, do you not see?
And having ears, do you not hear?
And do you not remember?
When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"
"Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"
"How is it you do not understand?"
Again it must have grieved Jesus to witness their lack of faith. Jesus had just preformed these two spectacular miracles of feeding these multitudes and the disciples are still worried about how much bread they have. Those miracles should have really cemented in their minds the reality of who Jesus was. They should have been in such a state that they should have never worried about food again as long as they were with Jesus. But they just couldn't get it. They were still spiritually blind.
They should have learned that Jesus was Jehovah Jirah, the God who provides. He provides daily bread for their physical nourishment, and also he provides spiritual food for the sustaining of their souls. The miracles of Jesus were both a proof of his divinity, and they were instructional, they were living parables of a larger truth, a spiritual truth. Jesus is the food of His church.
But before we come down too hard on the disciples, we should ask ourselves, are we really any different. We are also blind in so many ways. We don't see the glory in Jesus that we should. We don't understand the attributes of God's Holiness and His righteousness; we don't understand the realities of heaven or hell. If we did our lives would be so much different than they are.
Are we blind, not totally, but in many ways we are partially blind, we see only through a mirror dimly. That may be the explanation for the third example of blindness in our text today. Many have wrestled with this. Why was the man's site not restored instantly?
The text says: "23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.
24 And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."
25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly."
Why was this man not healed right away? Did Jesus miscalculate in some way the amount of power needed? Of course not. It seems obvious that Jesus planned to heal the man in two stages as a teaching tool. For the blind man, it would have increased the man's faith. Having gone from totally blind to partial sight would give him hope and faith that Jesus could restore him to full sight. Just to see light and to see shapes and movement would have been a blessing to someone totally blind.
The disciples were not totally blind, but they were like the blind man after the first stage of healing. They knew they saw something in Jesus. But they were just seeing light, shapes and movement and they weren't really able to discern everything in truth yet. But just as the blind man was finally restored to full sight, so would the disciples be someday. The disciples were still partially blind, but the day would come when the fog would be lifted and they would see Jesus in all His glory.
I'm going to go back to verse 21 with Jesus' question; "How is it you do not understand?"
There is a direct correlation between how we live our lives and what our view of God is. The greater our view of God is, the holier our lives will be. Of course the first step to understanding is to be born of the Spirit. Without that, we have a perverted view of God. Maybe he's a cosmic Santa Clause, or maybe even a cosmic bogyman. Just as our nature is corrupt so will our view of God be.
Paul says: 1Co 2:12-14 "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. (13) And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. (14) The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."
So first we need to be born of the Spirit, next we have to know who God is and the clearer our image of God is the more it will change our lives. The disciples did not yet understand, because even after all they had been through with Jesus they were like the blind man, they had some sight, but had not fully received their sight yet.
Many people if you throw out the word theology, they will roll their eyes. What is theology but the study of God. Who is He? What are His attributes? We learn these things through scripture and prayer. This is our quest and it will be an eternal quest. Our quest as Christians is to find out who this God is. What God would become a man to take the punishment of beings that must appear like ants before Him? Who is this God? How can I describe him? And this is not just an intellectual quest either. It's a quest to know this God. Can I know a bacteria floating in my toilet at home. No, I can't, yet that must be what I seem to God. But yet scripture not only says it's possible but that it's imperative to know Him. I must know him. Paul's greatest desire was to know him. In Fact Jesus said knowing God is Eternal life. John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. NKJV
So this is our quest. To understand and know this great God of ours. May you have success. Go is peace, serve our King. Let's pray.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
05/17/09 The Bread of Life (Mark 8:1-21)
The Bread of Life
Mark 8:1-21 "In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, 2 "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."
4 Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"
5 He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"
And they said, "Seven."
6 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. 7 They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. 8 So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. 9 Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away, 10 immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha."
By nature humans are slow learners, especially when it comes to spiritual matters. It would be nice if God could tell us something once in His word and we would go out and do it and do it for the rest of our lives. But we are no different today than those who went before us. Israel had to learn the same lesson over and over again. They never learned from history. There are two sayings about history. One says that those who don't learn from history will be forced to repeat it. The other says that the one thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history.
The disciples had to be told the same thing over and over and they really didn't get any of it until after the resurrection because they were regenerated by the power of the Hoy Spirit.
The supernatural feeding of the multitude with just a few loaves and fishes was such a demonstration of Jesus' divinity, and a type of how He would be the sustenance for the church, that He repeats it. These two accounts are similar but not identical. Some of the most noticeable differences I saw were that:
1. The feeding in Mark 6 is predominantly Jews; the feeding here in chapter eight is predominately Gentiles. Jesus is in the last year of his ministry and he is demonstrating to the disciples that His true mission is global. Yes He came first to the Jews, but he was for all mankind.
2. In Mark 6, it is the disciples who bring up the concern for the crowd being hungry. In Mark 8 it's Jesus who shows concern for the multitude. It would seem that the disciples were less concerned about the gentiles. In Mark 6 after just one day the disciples were concerned about their Jewish kinsman being hungry. In Mark 8 they had been listening to Jesus' teaching for three days and the disciples showed no concern for the gentiles being hungry. Jesus was not only going to be the Messiah for the Jews, he was going to be the Christ for the gentiles. Jesus in these last couple chapters is reaching out to the gentiles. This is probably one of the reasons the Jewish leadership is getting more and more hostile. They refused to believe that God also wanted to save the gentiles.
The third difference I see is that in the Mark 6 account Jesus had to send the disciples out into the multitude to find out how much food they had. In Mark eight Jesus asks them "how many loaves do you have", and they had an answer ready, "seven". They already knew, that tells me they had already taken inventory. They had anticipated that Jesus might do something. They already knew the answer. So it would appear that they did learn something the first time around.
Let's also look at some of the similarities. Going back to the beginning of chapter eight it says "In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, 2 "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat."
We see that the multitude is very great, it says four thousand men, and Matthew's account also mentions that there were also women and children. So we are probably looking at 10,000 or more. The gentiles are also flocking to hear the teachings of Jesus. It doesn't tell us what he said, but he had one message. Jesus said in Luke 4:18, that he came:
"To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." NKJV
His message was one of repentance and faith and people came in multitudes to hear him. And they were so taken by the message that they stayed with him three day. Now probably most of them had some provisions with them at first, but by the end of the third day most of them were out of food. Contrast that with Israel after the exodus out in the wilderness without food, they complained bitterly to Moses. The gentiles were three days and maybe some of them fasted for those days, and no complaining, they were hungry for the bread of life, the words of Jesus.
It says that Jesus had compassion on them. The first time in Mark 6:34 it says that Jesus was, "moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things. NKJV In both situations Jesus had compassion on the multitude. In Mark six, Jesus has compassion on them because they are wondering aimlessly with out a shepherd. Jesus had compassion on the Jewish crowd because the scribes and Pharisees weren’t doing there jobs. The scribes and the Pharisees should have been the shepherds, they should have been teaching the people the truth about God, but they were more concerned with protecting their own status and getting along with the Romans than the truth.
Jesus didn't expect the gentiles to have a shepherd so he was glad to be a shepherd to them. And for three day he led them to green pastures. They had very little food, but for three day they stayed with Jesus, they were more hungry for the words of Jesus than for physical food.
Can that be said about you? I try to have morning devotions totally separate from my sermon prep. I've found it's far easier to skip my devotions than to skip breakfast. That's a problem.
We should have the attitude of Jeremiah. He said: (Jer 15:16)
Your words were found, and I ate them,
And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O LORD God of hosts. NKJV
Jesus has compassion on them. As the song says, His compassions they fail not, great is His faithfulness. That’s the story of mankind. It's the story of God's compassion. All we like sheep have gone astray, and instead of pouring His wrath on us, he had compassion on us and poured his wrath out on His Son instead. His compassions, they fail not.
Sandwiched between these two feedings of the multitudes the Gospel of John tells us that Jesus taught the significance of these miracles. He said in John 6:32-36: "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."
35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. NKJV
Yes in these two miracles Jesus fed the multitudes out of their physical scarcity, but those miracles are dwarfed by the spiritual food he provides for His church everyday. In John 6:55 Jesus says: "For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven — not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever." NKJV
The church lives on the bread of Life, Jesus. Because of His compassion, He comes this morning in this worship service and says, I am the bread of life, take and eat and find nourishment for your souls.
In both miracles Jesus waits till the disciples are totally aware of there inability to do anything by there own strength and power. In Mark 6:37, Jesus had told them to give the people something to eat. And the disciples responded, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?" NKJV Two Hundred Denarii was about eight months pay, Judas had a money bag that they used for their needs and to give to the poor, but they didn't have anywhere close to that kind of money. It was an impossible thing that Jesus was asking them to do.
In Mark eight we have a slightly smaller crowd, but still possibly 10,000 people, plus these people had been without food for a longer time so these people were probably hungrier. The disciples see the hopelessness of the situation and ask "How can one satisfy these people with bread in the wilderness?" It's a hopeless situation, and Jesus waits for that confession from them before he acts. It is necessary that the disciples see this as a totally hopeless situation and a miracle, so that God gets all the glory.
Our spiritual condition is just as hopeless, and we need to see ourselves as hopelessly lost before we can be saved. Everybody is concerned today about self esteem. There is a different gospel out there that says God wants you to feel good about yourself. Our public schools are all about feeling good about yourself, we want to make sure the kids feel good about themselves it's about self esteem. Many churches are also about self esteem, they try to get everybody to feel good about themselves, to like themselves, to have purpose, to see their potential. Now these things can be good if focused properly but usually it causes a person to have an elevated view of their moral character, they think they are good, so it is impossible for them to get saved.
The scriptures give us a different view of mans condition.
Ezek 18:44 "Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Rom 5:12Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells.
Eph 2:3 (we) were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
This is how we need to view ourselves; we need to see ourselves as completely hopeless when it comes to any thought that we might be good enough on our own to go to heaven. Only when we reach this point will God reach down and save us. We need to loose all of our self-righteousness and then God will get all the glory for saving a wretch like me. He is such a good and kind God who would save me from Hell.
In both of these miracles Jesus takes the miniscule food that the disciple can manage to scrounge together and uses it to feed the multitude through the disciples. The disciples are not just spectators; they are busting their chops, hustling to feed these ten thousand people. Jesus takes the meager offering of bread and fishes and does an amazing thing with it.
Hauge Lutheran Church, How many loaves do you have? What do we have? The disciples had seven loaves. How many do we have? What tools has he given the church to carry out the work of the kingdom. Seven is a good Bible number, the number of perfection. If we were to identify 7 loaves, seven gifts he has given to the church what would they be? Let me suggest some.
1. The gift of baptism
Matt 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
2. The Holy Spirit.
John 16:8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. NKJV
3. The Communion Table
1 Cor 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.
4. The Word of God.
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. NKJV
5. The gift of repentance.
Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, NKJV
6. Prayer.
James 5:16 The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
7. The word of our testimony.
Rev 12: 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
This is not an exhaustive list; one could easily come up with more. But the world will look at this list and say, it's nothing. If that is all the church has then the battles over, they have nothing, and from a worldly point of view they are right, it is nothing. Just like seven loaves of bread in feeding 10,000 people. It's hopeless. But that's where God wants us. Because then he can display his power and no man can take credit.
2 Cor 10:4 says: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."
Satan has warred against the church for almost two thousand years now, and many along the way have prematurely read the eulogy pronouncing not only the church dead, but God to be dead. But the church has always risen from it's death bed and proven the words of Christ, that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.
Seven is a number of perfection in the scriptures, a number of completeness. In these loaves we know that God has given us everything we need for the life and growth of the church, and for our souls.
Both times He fed the multitudes He commanded them to sit down. We need sit and rest at the feet of Jesus. Ps 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God." We live in the day that Daniel describes. Dan 12:4 "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." NKJV From the beginning of time to the year 1900 the fastest way to travel was a good horse. Look at what's happened since. Today knowledge is increasing at a phenomenal rate. In the past it may have taken one thousand years for mankind's knowledge to double. Today it happens in less than a decade. I read that 90% of all the scientists that have ever lived are alive today.
What's the result of the "time of the end" that we are living in? People are running to and fro and being bombarded with an information overload. There are so many distractions. There are so many things that seem to demand our attention. But God commands us to slow down, to sit down, to be still and know that He is God.
We need to sit down for a time of prayer and Scripture reading each day. We need to clear our calendar, and make time each day to feed on His word and to open up our heart to Him in prayer. "Sit down" Calm your self, clear your mind, before you say your prayers, recall your thoughts, be patient and quiet and humble, try to remember to Whom you are about to speak.
We should "Sit down" and be still before our public worship. We should prepare our hearts and our minds by a good nights rest and we should seek to come and be ready to hear that still quiet voice that will feed our soul.
We should "Sit down" before each communion service we partake of so that we come adequately prepared and having already examined ourselves. We should calmly, honestly and thoughtfully look at our lives and try to see our lives and our sins as God sees them, that we might properly repent of all sin so that we might truly receive the forgiveness promised in the sacrament.
In both miracles, the fragments are gathered up, showing that God can (Eph 3:20) "do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." NKJV
With God nothing is wasted, every word of encouragement, every prayer, every time we witness of our faith, every time we quote scripture, every gift to the furtherance of God's work, God takes them, God uses them for His Glory and so that others too can be fed. This is the way it's always been, and this is the way it will be till the end. God takes what the world thinks is foolishness, and not worth keeping, God takes these scraps and changes the world.
1 Cor 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. NKJV
We are but scraps this morning, the leftovers, the misfits of the world. But that gives us hope, because that means we are the substance that God will use for His glory. Amen, Lets pray.
Mark 8:1-21 "In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, 2 "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."
4 Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"
5 He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"
And they said, "Seven."
6 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. 7 They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. 8 So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. 9 Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away, 10 immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha."
By nature humans are slow learners, especially when it comes to spiritual matters. It would be nice if God could tell us something once in His word and we would go out and do it and do it for the rest of our lives. But we are no different today than those who went before us. Israel had to learn the same lesson over and over again. They never learned from history. There are two sayings about history. One says that those who don't learn from history will be forced to repeat it. The other says that the one thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history.
The disciples had to be told the same thing over and over and they really didn't get any of it until after the resurrection because they were regenerated by the power of the Hoy Spirit.
The supernatural feeding of the multitude with just a few loaves and fishes was such a demonstration of Jesus' divinity, and a type of how He would be the sustenance for the church, that He repeats it. These two accounts are similar but not identical. Some of the most noticeable differences I saw were that:
1. The feeding in Mark 6 is predominantly Jews; the feeding here in chapter eight is predominately Gentiles. Jesus is in the last year of his ministry and he is demonstrating to the disciples that His true mission is global. Yes He came first to the Jews, but he was for all mankind.
2. In Mark 6, it is the disciples who bring up the concern for the crowd being hungry. In Mark 8 it's Jesus who shows concern for the multitude. It would seem that the disciples were less concerned about the gentiles. In Mark 6 after just one day the disciples were concerned about their Jewish kinsman being hungry. In Mark 8 they had been listening to Jesus' teaching for three days and the disciples showed no concern for the gentiles being hungry. Jesus was not only going to be the Messiah for the Jews, he was going to be the Christ for the gentiles. Jesus in these last couple chapters is reaching out to the gentiles. This is probably one of the reasons the Jewish leadership is getting more and more hostile. They refused to believe that God also wanted to save the gentiles.
The third difference I see is that in the Mark 6 account Jesus had to send the disciples out into the multitude to find out how much food they had. In Mark eight Jesus asks them "how many loaves do you have", and they had an answer ready, "seven". They already knew, that tells me they had already taken inventory. They had anticipated that Jesus might do something. They already knew the answer. So it would appear that they did learn something the first time around.
Let's also look at some of the similarities. Going back to the beginning of chapter eight it says "In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, 2 "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat."
We see that the multitude is very great, it says four thousand men, and Matthew's account also mentions that there were also women and children. So we are probably looking at 10,000 or more. The gentiles are also flocking to hear the teachings of Jesus. It doesn't tell us what he said, but he had one message. Jesus said in Luke 4:18, that he came:
"To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." NKJV
His message was one of repentance and faith and people came in multitudes to hear him. And they were so taken by the message that they stayed with him three day. Now probably most of them had some provisions with them at first, but by the end of the third day most of them were out of food. Contrast that with Israel after the exodus out in the wilderness without food, they complained bitterly to Moses. The gentiles were three days and maybe some of them fasted for those days, and no complaining, they were hungry for the bread of life, the words of Jesus.
It says that Jesus had compassion on them. The first time in Mark 6:34 it says that Jesus was, "moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things. NKJV In both situations Jesus had compassion on the multitude. In Mark six, Jesus has compassion on them because they are wondering aimlessly with out a shepherd. Jesus had compassion on the Jewish crowd because the scribes and Pharisees weren’t doing there jobs. The scribes and the Pharisees should have been the shepherds, they should have been teaching the people the truth about God, but they were more concerned with protecting their own status and getting along with the Romans than the truth.
Jesus didn't expect the gentiles to have a shepherd so he was glad to be a shepherd to them. And for three day he led them to green pastures. They had very little food, but for three day they stayed with Jesus, they were more hungry for the words of Jesus than for physical food.
Can that be said about you? I try to have morning devotions totally separate from my sermon prep. I've found it's far easier to skip my devotions than to skip breakfast. That's a problem.
We should have the attitude of Jeremiah. He said: (Jer 15:16)
Your words were found, and I ate them,
And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O LORD God of hosts. NKJV
Jesus has compassion on them. As the song says, His compassions they fail not, great is His faithfulness. That’s the story of mankind. It's the story of God's compassion. All we like sheep have gone astray, and instead of pouring His wrath on us, he had compassion on us and poured his wrath out on His Son instead. His compassions, they fail not.
Sandwiched between these two feedings of the multitudes the Gospel of John tells us that Jesus taught the significance of these miracles. He said in John 6:32-36: "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."
35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. NKJV
Yes in these two miracles Jesus fed the multitudes out of their physical scarcity, but those miracles are dwarfed by the spiritual food he provides for His church everyday. In John 6:55 Jesus says: "For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven — not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever." NKJV
The church lives on the bread of Life, Jesus. Because of His compassion, He comes this morning in this worship service and says, I am the bread of life, take and eat and find nourishment for your souls.
In both miracles Jesus waits till the disciples are totally aware of there inability to do anything by there own strength and power. In Mark 6:37, Jesus had told them to give the people something to eat. And the disciples responded, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?" NKJV Two Hundred Denarii was about eight months pay, Judas had a money bag that they used for their needs and to give to the poor, but they didn't have anywhere close to that kind of money. It was an impossible thing that Jesus was asking them to do.
In Mark eight we have a slightly smaller crowd, but still possibly 10,000 people, plus these people had been without food for a longer time so these people were probably hungrier. The disciples see the hopelessness of the situation and ask "How can one satisfy these people with bread in the wilderness?" It's a hopeless situation, and Jesus waits for that confession from them before he acts. It is necessary that the disciples see this as a totally hopeless situation and a miracle, so that God gets all the glory.
Our spiritual condition is just as hopeless, and we need to see ourselves as hopelessly lost before we can be saved. Everybody is concerned today about self esteem. There is a different gospel out there that says God wants you to feel good about yourself. Our public schools are all about feeling good about yourself, we want to make sure the kids feel good about themselves it's about self esteem. Many churches are also about self esteem, they try to get everybody to feel good about themselves, to like themselves, to have purpose, to see their potential. Now these things can be good if focused properly but usually it causes a person to have an elevated view of their moral character, they think they are good, so it is impossible for them to get saved.
The scriptures give us a different view of mans condition.
Ezek 18:44 "Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Rom 5:12Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells.
Eph 2:3 (we) were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
This is how we need to view ourselves; we need to see ourselves as completely hopeless when it comes to any thought that we might be good enough on our own to go to heaven. Only when we reach this point will God reach down and save us. We need to loose all of our self-righteousness and then God will get all the glory for saving a wretch like me. He is such a good and kind God who would save me from Hell.
In both of these miracles Jesus takes the miniscule food that the disciple can manage to scrounge together and uses it to feed the multitude through the disciples. The disciples are not just spectators; they are busting their chops, hustling to feed these ten thousand people. Jesus takes the meager offering of bread and fishes and does an amazing thing with it.
Hauge Lutheran Church, How many loaves do you have? What do we have? The disciples had seven loaves. How many do we have? What tools has he given the church to carry out the work of the kingdom. Seven is a good Bible number, the number of perfection. If we were to identify 7 loaves, seven gifts he has given to the church what would they be? Let me suggest some.
1. The gift of baptism
Matt 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
2. The Holy Spirit.
John 16:8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. NKJV
3. The Communion Table
1 Cor 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.
4. The Word of God.
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. NKJV
5. The gift of repentance.
Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, NKJV
6. Prayer.
James 5:16 The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
7. The word of our testimony.
Rev 12: 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
This is not an exhaustive list; one could easily come up with more. But the world will look at this list and say, it's nothing. If that is all the church has then the battles over, they have nothing, and from a worldly point of view they are right, it is nothing. Just like seven loaves of bread in feeding 10,000 people. It's hopeless. But that's where God wants us. Because then he can display his power and no man can take credit.
2 Cor 10:4 says: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."
Satan has warred against the church for almost two thousand years now, and many along the way have prematurely read the eulogy pronouncing not only the church dead, but God to be dead. But the church has always risen from it's death bed and proven the words of Christ, that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.
Seven is a number of perfection in the scriptures, a number of completeness. In these loaves we know that God has given us everything we need for the life and growth of the church, and for our souls.
Both times He fed the multitudes He commanded them to sit down. We need sit and rest at the feet of Jesus. Ps 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God." We live in the day that Daniel describes. Dan 12:4 "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." NKJV From the beginning of time to the year 1900 the fastest way to travel was a good horse. Look at what's happened since. Today knowledge is increasing at a phenomenal rate. In the past it may have taken one thousand years for mankind's knowledge to double. Today it happens in less than a decade. I read that 90% of all the scientists that have ever lived are alive today.
What's the result of the "time of the end" that we are living in? People are running to and fro and being bombarded with an information overload. There are so many distractions. There are so many things that seem to demand our attention. But God commands us to slow down, to sit down, to be still and know that He is God.
We need to sit down for a time of prayer and Scripture reading each day. We need to clear our calendar, and make time each day to feed on His word and to open up our heart to Him in prayer. "Sit down" Calm your self, clear your mind, before you say your prayers, recall your thoughts, be patient and quiet and humble, try to remember to Whom you are about to speak.
We should "Sit down" and be still before our public worship. We should prepare our hearts and our minds by a good nights rest and we should seek to come and be ready to hear that still quiet voice that will feed our soul.
We should "Sit down" before each communion service we partake of so that we come adequately prepared and having already examined ourselves. We should calmly, honestly and thoughtfully look at our lives and try to see our lives and our sins as God sees them, that we might properly repent of all sin so that we might truly receive the forgiveness promised in the sacrament.
In both miracles, the fragments are gathered up, showing that God can (Eph 3:20) "do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." NKJV
With God nothing is wasted, every word of encouragement, every prayer, every time we witness of our faith, every time we quote scripture, every gift to the furtherance of God's work, God takes them, God uses them for His Glory and so that others too can be fed. This is the way it's always been, and this is the way it will be till the end. God takes what the world thinks is foolishness, and not worth keeping, God takes these scraps and changes the world.
1 Cor 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. NKJV
We are but scraps this morning, the leftovers, the misfits of the world. But that gives us hope, because that means we are the substance that God will use for His glory. Amen, Lets pray.
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