Would you please take your Bibles and turn to the Gospel of Mark, the eighth chapter. We have been studying through the Gospel of Mark all year, took a short break for our five-week sermon series on the Solas, but we have been trudging through this book and we're in chapter eight. And we're making some good progress. I cannot guarantee, I should say I will not guarantee that we'll finish this book by the end of the year, but we're gonna make a lot of progress. And I'd say at least, by God's grace, we'll be able to be through it by the end of next year, alright? But I pray it's been a special study for you. We're in Chapter 8. Last week we were together. We studied verses 10 through 13, just a few short verses, but that's where we studied the fact that God said no to the Jewish religious leaders. Perhaps that was a little bit startling to us. They had demanded of Jesus a confirming sign that would verify the fact that he was the Messiah. Of course, the Pharisees didn't believe that Jesus was the Messiah, and they weren't going to believe him even if he did that sign, and that was because they had hard hearts. When they had a hard heart, that manifests itself by just refusing to believe what was as plain as day. The plain truths about Jesus, they said no to. So what we find Jesus doing in last week's passage is actually leading his disciples who are in their own seminary training, he's leading his disciples to a place that was going to be really hard to people who would not accept the truth. And these are the kinds of folks who, having heard the truth, the good news of Jesus Christ, they often will try to dodge the real issue of sin and salvation in Christ alone. And instead of really battling with the truth of the gospel, they bring up questions. They want more evidence. They're trying to throw us off topic so they don't have to think about their own sin and salvation in Christ alone. And when people bring up those kinds of red herring questions and requests, what we're to do is, was given to us by example of Jesus Christ in the passage last week, we're to give the gospel and move on, just as Jesus Christ did when he encountered hard hearts. There is a time when we've given God's word faithfully and it is refused and we just need to feel comforted in our souls that we've done what God has asked us to do and it's time to move on to the next neighbor. It's time to seek the next soul for the Lord's sake. So we saw that example last week in Mark chapter 8 verses 10 through 13. Now today, my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, let's consider again hard hearts. But this time, let's consider the hard hearts of Jesus's disciples. Let's pray together. Father, as we consider your word, we would beg you that you would open our hearts and open our eyes, illumine us with your word. We ask that we would behold the glory of God and be transformed from one degree of glory to the next, Lord. Lord, that you would use these few minutes that we have together to make your children more like your son, by the work of your spirit, using your word. We beg for that, for your own glory, and we ask for that in Jesus' name, amen. Getting to sleep can be rather difficult at times. You see, once we get underneath the covers, our minds begin to race. We begin to wonder, you know, could what happened in Las Vegas actually happen here? We wonder, are the children at school ever going to be kind to my child? We wonder, is our money in the bank actually going to last long enough until we get our next paycheck? We wonder, are we going to be safe on the road tomorrow? We wonder, is that situation with that person ever gonna be resolved? You see, sometimes getting to sleep is incredibly difficult because of all of our cares. But even as we think about our thoughts as we have when we go off to bed, we realize that we are very prone to worry. So often we are uncertain and we're unsure of what the future holds. We see life as a bit of a rat race. We're just trying to keep up with all the worries that we have. We're trying to keep everything covered. And certainly, we all wish that life would just settle down for a little bit so we could have a breath. But you know, one day, We believers trust that things will settle down. As we read the end of the Bible in the book of Revelation chapter 21, we read that one day God will make all things new and we read that God will wipe away every tear from our eyes and death will be no more. Neither will there be any mourning or crying or pain anymore for the former things have passed away. You see one of the great joys of heaven is that we won't worry anymore. But let me ask a question that I have to ask myself. Why do we believe that one day in heaven we're not gonna worry anymore? Well, we believe that because that's what God has revealed to us in his word. God has promised us that one day things will be different, all things will be new. And indeed, God has promised that to us. And that promise to us fills us today as we are pilgrims and strangers on this earth today. That fills us with faith and confidence. But what is peculiar and very telling about today is that we have confidence in the eternal state and how things will be, but we have so many concerns as we live in our earthly state. And we have to ask ourselves the question, Isn't the God of eternity the same God of today? Isn't it the God who promised us that he will make all things new one day? The same God who has promised us today that he is our shepherd and who cares for all of our needs so that we will lack nothing? And if God has promised us that, why are we so concerned today? You see, we still don't know Jesus Christ for who He is. We still don't know Jesus. Now as we think of that, we may battle with that statement and we may say to ourselves, oh yes, I do know Jesus. I know that He is God the Son. I know that He is the only Savior. I know that salvation is in Him alone. And when I say that we don't know Jesus, I'm not saying we don't know the doctrinal truths about Him. What I am saying is that we still don't know Him in a way that shows itself in our daily moment-by-moment lives. through our mundane choices of each day, through our thoughts that go through our mind, shows that we still don't know who he truly is and what that should mean for our life. And that's exactly where we find the disciples halfway through this study in Mark's gospel and over halfway through Jesus's ministry. You see, Jesus has been with his disciples for several years at this point, and his disciples have seen all sorts of miracles. They've heard his teaching again and again, and they, unlike the Pharisees, they know and accept Jesus for who he is. But as we read the passage this morning, we're going to realize that they still have so much more to learn about him, so much more room for growth. And that's what we need to realize for ourselves. No matter how long we've been saved, we have room for growth. Like the disciples, we've been with Jesus, but it's time that we know him more. It's time that we start trusting him more. So as we consider Mark 8, verses 14 through 21, we're gonna find Jesus and his disciples, as we have seen them so many times before, in a boat. But even though we find them together in the boat, they are worlds apart in the minds of the disciples. We're going to read in this passage that the disciples are weighed down with cares, but they shouldn't have been concerned about those cares because the Son of God was with them. we're actually going to learn that Jesus' disciples had hard hearts. Not like the hard hearts of the Pharisees who refused to believe the doctrinal truths about Jesus, but they had hard hearts shown by the fact that they misunderstood the implications of the plain truths about Jesus. So Jesus is going to warn them about unbelief. He is going to warn them because they are hard-hearted still. So let's look at this passage in two parts. The first part of the passage will see the warning that the disciples misunderstood. In the second part, we're going to see the rebuke for their misunderstanding. So in the first portion of the passage, we'll learn that hardened hearts are burdened with material things. Hardened hearts are burdened, weighed down with material things. In verses 14 through 16, we'll see how the disciples are so focused on temporal and material things instead of on what is lasting and what is spiritual. Even as we read verse 14, we see that life is full of physical cares. And food was the material matter of concern in verse 14. Let's read it together. Now they, that referring to the disciples, they had forgotten to bring bread. There's the material matter. And they had only one loaf with them in the boat. We remember from our study that Jesus and his disciples perhaps were only in Dalmanutha for a very short time. And perhaps due to their haste, because they had quickly had a change of schedule, the disciples had forgot to restock the pantry and replenish the refrigerator. And for that reason, Mark tells us that the disciples have forgotten to do what was their duty. They had a duty to maintain the food supply, but the food supply has been reduced to one thin, flat pita loaf of bread. When it says one loaf, we shouldn't think of our loaves of bread, we should think of Mediterranean loaves of bread. One little thin pita loaf, that's what they had. There's nothing strange or out of place that we have to keep track of the food supply. You know, we live lives for the Lord, but we always have to make sure that there's enough food in the fridge. And the thing about it is, when the fridge is empty and when the cupboards are bare, we can become very concerned about that to the point that it affects our living for the Lord. And that's exactly what we're going to find in the passage before us. that these disciples are taken up with the physical cares of life that are indeed a part of our life, but they're not the only matter that ought to be a part of our life. We remember what it says in Deuteronomy, and Jesus says again, as he was tempted by Satan, he says, man is not to live by bread alone. Indeed, that's a part of man's life, but man is to live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. And Jesus has a word from the Lord. He has a spiritual lesson for each one of us that we need to heed. And we see in verse 15 that Jesus had a word of warning for the disciples because they desperately needed to learn this spiritual lesson. We'll see it in verse 15. The Bible says, and he cautioned them saying, watch out, beware of the 11 of the Pharisees and 11 of Herod. If you write in your Bibles, which I encourage you to do, I want you to take note of the pile of words of warning that Jesus gives them. First, we see that Jesus cautioned them. And that's much more than making mention of something in passing. What he is doing is he is ordering what his disciples must do. He's cautioning them. And then he tells them two commands here. First, he says to watch out, which means pay attention and be alert at all times. He says, beware, which refers to us keeping our guard up about particular things. We have to be cautioned. We have to watch out. We have to beware. What do we have to beware of? What is the matter at hand? Well, the disciples were to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. You say, well, what is leaven? Leaven is yeast. And for the most part, we all understand what yeast is and how it's used to help bread dough rise. We know that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump, and that means that a little bit of yeast can permeate and then influence a whole lump of bread dough. But what Jesus is talking about in this passage is not literal yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod. Jesus is using the word figuratively to refer to their influence. Just as yeast influences and affects dough, Jesus is warning his disciples about particular influences, and we have to consider very carefully what those influences are. If Jesus is telling his disciples, beware of these kinds of influences, we need to know ourselves what they are. How do we figure that out? What is the yeast of the Pharisees? What is the yeast or the leaven of Herod? Well, perhaps you have a parallel cross-reference to the parallel account in Matthew's Gospel, and we find the first clue of how we should interpret this in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 16, verse 12. It says, they, the disciples, understood that he, Jesus, did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. So the influence that Jesus is referring to is what the teaching of the Pharisees is and what the teaching of Herod is. So we have to think, what did the Pharisees teach? What did Herod teach? And I'll say this in brief summary, the Pharisees taught or the Pharisees demonstrated and therefore taught that they were experts in expecting extras. I say that so hopefully we'll remember it that way. They were experts at expecting extras and therefore they taught that the extras were essential. All that they had fencing around the law was essential to true religion, they taught. We remember the fact that when Jesus has encountered the Pharisees, this has not been good. The Pharisees come to Jesus telling him, no, no, when it comes to plucking grain on the Sabbath or healing on the Sabbath, and then they come to him again and they say, no, no, to his disciples eating with ceremonially unbaptized hands. You see, the Pharisees were experts at external religion, and they didn't realize that the real problem of sin was actually within each one of them and not outside and surrounding each one of them. They saw salvation as just keeping man-made rules, just being a good citizen, doing what they ought to do. They really didn't need Jesus because they had the rules. Jesus is saying, beware of those who don't say, thus saith the Lord, and instead they say, well that's how we've always done it around here. That's how it's always been done. Because that's what the Pharisees said. Why do your disciples not follow the traditions of the elders? That's always been done. Jesus says, be warned about that influence of the Pharisees. And then he gives a second influence that we need to be aware of, and that is the influence of Herod Antipas, who was the ruler of Galilee. We recall that Herod was the one who lopped off the head of the one who called him lawless. Remember the story that Herod took his brother's wife, who is actually already his niece, And then John the Baptist called him on it. And instead of heeding John the Baptist's rebuke, Herod had John the Baptist removed. You see, unlike the Pharisees who replaced the true law of God, the rules, with their own rules, Herod didn't care about the rules. And he had the whistleblower removed. You see, why did he do that? Well, it was all political to Herod. He converted to Judaism because of political expedience. So he made a show of religion, but he had no true submission to God or to God's law. He saw religion as a way to be prominent, have position, have power. And if someone is going to be so brazen as to say that I'm doing it wrong, I better get rid of that person, That's what he did to John the Baptist. But if we look at the Pharisees or if we look at Herod, neither party is submitting to the lordship of Jesus Christ. On one hand, the folks are legalistic, adding to God's word what is not God's word. They're demanding that their man-made religion be essential to everyone, that the extras are essential. And then the other group is licentious. They claim to be religious, but they're living lawlessly. And we see in both of those examples that they're truly unbelieving. They don't believe in Jesus. They don't trust in Jesus. They don't fall before Jesus and worship him. And Jesus' exhortation to his disciples is, be on guard to these unbelieving people. who are very, very influential. That's the spiritual lesson that he wanted them to heed, but as we continue to read through the passage, we're just gonna see that the disciples completely missed the lesson. They completely missed what Jesus was saying. You say, why did they miss the lesson? Well, they were so focused on the physical matter of bread. So we learn from that that it is so easy to focus on the physical and therefore miss completely the spiritual. Let's go to verse 16. Jesus has just told this great warning to his disciples, and let's see how they respond in verse 16. They began discussing. That's a little bit generous. It'd probably be better for us to translate it arguing. They began arguing with one another the fact that they had no bread. You see, this was their mind's thought. The only word that they heard from Jesus was perhaps, well, beware, be cautioned, watch out for leaven. Ooh, leaven, that's bread. Bread, where's the bread? How much bread do we have? There's only one loaf here. And that was all of their concern. It is so easy for us to have one thing come to our mind and it completely throws us off track. And they began to argue, they were pointing fingers perhaps at each other, they're trying to figure out who is to blame for the fact that the pantry is basically empty. It's striking as you look at these folks in the same boat, they're just not even on the same wavelength it seems. They're so focused on the material things that they miss the spiritual point. It's the stuff around them that is having so much sway in their life that they can't even hear what Jesus is saying. That's actually extremely easy. That kind of thing is extremely easy to happen in our lives, even at this very moment. This would be very dangerous for me to say at this time, now tell me something that you're thinking about instead of what's actually happening right now in the sermon. How are you daydreaming right now? And this is not a time for us to raise hands and think, well, actually, I'm daydreaming about this and this. But let me give you an example, perhaps, of what you could be thinking. You could be someone thinking, did I set the oven right for the Sunday lunch? Is everything set? I wonder if I pressed the right button and it's going to come on. Or we may be thinking, I really hope this sermon ends quickly so I can get to the beginning of the game or the beginning of the race, OK? Because you're supposed to have this over by noon, right? We could be thinking about all those other mundane, physical, earthly matters instead of actually what the passage is saying. It's so easy to daydream, but when we daydream, we miss the spiritual point. And I would say that our ability to focus on God's word and what he is saying is a good indicator of our depth of faith. Are we able to push the rest aside and to sit before God's word? You know, if we can't push the outward things aside, it perhaps shows how worldly-minded we are. If we are so careful about the common things of life, doesn't that show how worldly our character is? And doesn't it show how many spiritual lessons in our life have been lost because we pursue lesser things or perhaps too many other things that really don't matter and really won't last? How many sermons have you and I sat through and listened to that they really have come and gone with no effect in our lives? Even the preacher who has taken plenty of time of the message and prayerfully reflect upon his passage and his sermon, as soon as he's given one sermon, he has already begun to prepare his next sermon for the next service, and he hasn't even let the sermon that he just preached fall on his heart. And if that can happen, and it does, and if that can happen to the preacher, couldn't the same thing happen to the person listening to the sermon? how they hear it, and as soon as the clock strikes 12, our minds are running. And even before the clock strikes 12, our minds are running to other lesser things. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing for us to actually pray, Lord, when I stand, when I sit, when I bow before your word and read it and hear it, help my mind to be riveted to it. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing for us, after we've spent time in our devotions, perhaps after going to a service like this, wouldn't it be wonderful for us to reflect on what we've heard from the Lord and talk to our families about that at the dinner table? Wouldn't it be wonderful for us to, instead of so quickly running away from the spiritual lessons to lesser things, to actually stay put and consider what God has said? You see, a mark of a hardened heart is that they're burdened down by material matters. We know the truths about God. We know the doctrines about Jesus Christ, but we haven't let him communicate to us the spiritual truths he wants to affect us each day because we're so concerned about something else. We have to learn that man doesn't live by bread alone, but he lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. So first, we see in the passage the warning that the disciples misunderstand because they're so concerned about material matters. Secondly, we're going to see Christ rebuke for their misunderstanding. And he's going to rebuke them through a series of questions. And they're going to be very, very revealing to his disciples, and they're actually revealing to us if we would ask them of ourselves. So we see, secondly, that hardened hearts misunderstand Jesus's identity and what that practically means for each one of us. So in verses 17 through 21, we're going to see the disciples' anxiety over bread. And it's their anxiety over bread that shows they don't trust in the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ. We're going to see that the story is actually going to transition at this point. Jesus is not going to go back to the warning that he has given them about the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. He's actually going to move on to the concern of the people, of his disciples. And we see this because this passage shifts in focus to the bread. We see the word bread coming up in verse 17, where Mark the narrator tells us, or verse 14, they didn't bring bread. And then they start talking about bread in verse 16, and now Jesus is going to talk about bread in verse 17. And then he's going to continue to talk about food in verses 19 and 20. So the topic of the passage is now shifting from a spiritual lesson to this whole focus on material things. They're moving from figurative leaven to literal leaven, the leaven that the disciples are so concerned and anxious about. I tell you, when folks are anxious, when they have anxiety, that is a chief indicator of a hard heart. It shows the disciples' care for bread, it shows that they lacked spiritual insight. And therefore Jesus is going to sharply rebuke them in verse 17 for their anxiety. Look at verse 17 with me. And Jesus, aware of this, aware of what? Aware of their argument in the boat about the fact that they don't have bread. And obviously it's hard to keep this from him because he's in the boat with these men. certainly would have heard them arguing, but then he says, asks a probing question, why are you arguing about the fact that you have no bread? They're not. They're having a problem, they're arguing about bread. They shouldn't even be talking about bread in the first place, and the fact that they're arguing about it is out of place as well. They have a concern, but they shouldn't even be concerned about that, because when they're concerned about their bread, that's like being concerned about what we eat and what we drink and what we wear. which Jesus said, don't be anxious about in the Sermon on the Mount, because those are the things that unconverted, condemned Gentiles are anxious about. Jesus commanded them again and again, don't be anxious, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things, all these material matters of life will be added to you. So Jesus's question, first to his disciples, shows that they lack faith. And their lack of faith is manifest in their anxiety over bread. Now let's continue to look at Jesus's rebuke for their lack of perception of who he is, verse 17. Do you not perceive and understand? Or I should say, I missed a word. Do you not yet? perceive and understand. Then that word get is important. That shows us that Jesus has taught them for a very long time and they still don't get it. He expected more from them given the fact of how much he taught them. Then he goes on to ask, are your hearts hardened? And that is to say Have you turned away from the revealed truth, and instead of becoming enlightened by all the things I've told you, have you now become insensitive to it? Have you hardened your hearts to what I've said?" Then he goes on to quote Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and he says, having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? We know that the eyes and ears are sensory organs. We're supposed to perceive things, but we see that Jesus is saying the disciples aren't making spiritual sense out of what he has taught them and who he is. They're not figuring it out. They haven't got it yet. And all of these questions add up to a very sharp rebuke. What Jesus is saying to his disciples is, come on, guys, let's get with it. And from time to time, we need to be shaken up just like that. We, like the disciples, are sometimes all too familiar with Jesus Christ, yet we still have so little faith in him. And it is shown by the fact that we are all too concerned about this or that, which is passing away. We're too busy with something else that doesn't matter. And our concern for the temporary is misplaced given the fact of who Jesus is. So what Jesus is going to do is so graciously guide them to remember who he is. Yet we're going to see that simply recalling the facts And missing the lesson is another indicator of a hard heart. We're gonna see that's exactly what happens for the disciples. Jesus questions his disciples in verses 18 through 20 about the facts. Verse 18 and halfway through he says, do you not remember when I broke the five loaves for the 5,000 and how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up? He asked them a simple question and we finally have the disciples answering a question. Certainly the other questions would have been rhetorical. But this is a strike right down the middle. What do you remember? Do you remember how many were left over? They say, yes, there were 12. Then he asked another question. And the 7, and 7 for the 4,000, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you take up? And they said, 7. You know, if we were to ask these questions to a child who'd gone to Sunday school, they would have the answers. They would know from the feeding of the 5,000 that there were 12 baskets taken up. They would know from the feeding of the 4,000 that there were seven baskets taken up. They would remember the bare facts, the basic facts. And Jesus asked, do you remember the facts? And they say yes, but then he asks if they remember the lesson in verse 21. And he said to them, Perhaps that means that he paused and let them, allowed them to think about the questions he had just asked them. And then he says to them, do you not yet understand? Do you still not understand? You see, the disciples could recall the details, but they completely lost the lesson. Jesus has done so many miracles at this point, and they have seen these miracles. And he draws out two of these miracles, and the two that he brings up, they remember, but they are none the wiser for remembering them. Let's remember them ourselves. And as I like to think mathematically, let's remember the math of these two miracles. First miracle, feeding of the 5,000. There were five loaves, and there were two fish, and there was Jesus. When you add that all up, you get 5,000 satisfied men, plus 12 grocery bags full of leftovers. An amazing miracle. That's the first math equation. Now the second math equation, feeding of the 4,000. On this occasion, there were seven loaves, and a few fish, plus Jesus. And that equaled out to 4,000 satisfied men, and seven hampers of leftovers. That's the math. Now let's consider the math equation at hand, the math equation of this story. And as we think of what the disciples thought, they thought, well, we have one loaf of bread, and that's not enough to satisfy 13 men. That's how they looked at the math equation on that day in the boat. but they forgot that Jesus was supposed to be in the equation. You can advance it there, Jim, if it's gonna advance. Because when you add Jesus, you're gonna get 13 satisfied men. The thing that they ought to be concerned about is where are they gonna put all the leftovers? Because when you have Jesus with you, One loaf of bread is plenty. With Jesus in the boat with us, we have enough, and there's nothing that we ought to care for and be concerned about. But too often, we, like the disciples in this passage, lack faith. We have too little faith. We have the little faith, we believe in Jesus, but we don't have the faith that Jesus wants us to have. We are so concerned about the stuff, When Jesus has said to us he's our shepherd and that we will lack nothing. Jesus has said to us that he will lead us in his will. Jesus has said to us that God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. So why are we worried? Why are we worried about the government that we have today? When the Bible tells us plainly that God has placed each authority in place and that authority only comes from God. They're in office because God put them there. So why are we worried about them? Why are we worried about the balance in the bank when God owns the cattle on a thousand hills? Why are we worried? Why is the doubting believer worried about his prayer he prayed when he reads in God's Word that God has chosen him, that Christ has died for him, that the Spirit has regenerated him, Why are we worried today when we have a God who is an all-sufficient Savior and who cares for every need of his children? Brothers and sisters in the Lord, who God is has to be added into the equation of our one-loaf equations of life, because that's often how life is. We have one loaf. If we're going to think of life without Jesus in it, and without all that that means for life, we're going to look at it and be worried. But that's not what Jesus desires for our life. You know, one day in glory we will see Jesus face to face, and all of our fears at that time will flee away. But God has revealed himself in his word today for us. And we truly have no reason to fear today. We have no reason to fret. We ought to be able to sleep easy because we cast our cares upon him because he cares for us. We ought to turn to him and trust in him because we know him. And when we know him, that will be manifest by the fact that we are not so concerned about material matters. and it will show itself by the fact that we're actually going to understand his spiritual lessons for us instead of being burdened down by all the cares of this world. The message to Jesus' disciples on this day is that you need to not be so distracted and concerned about all these things. You need to admit that is wrong and instead need to acknowledge that we ought to trust God more. And if the disciples who were with Jesus needed to trust him more, That's what we need to do as well. Trust Him more. Do we know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the only Savior? Absolutely, by God's grace. But do we need to trust Him more because He is the all-sufficient Savior who shepherds us through every moment of life? Oh yes, we do. And let's pray for God's grace that we will trust Him now. Father, thank you for this passage. Thank you for the passage that we can see ourselves so clearly in the disciples who are with Jesus. They were with Jesus, which we would think that would be such a tremendous blessing. And perhaps we think if we were just with him, we would do so much better. But the disciples teach us that's not even the case. We are so concerned with the temporal things. We miss so many important, valuable things that you've spoken to us. And Lord, we just show how much we don't know you. We show how much we need to know you more. So Father, by your grace, magnify your son Jesus Christ on our eyes so that we would trust you. We would walk around Even with terrible news that we receive and troubling things that we have from day to day, with the confidence that you are gonna sort things out, that you've prepared a way. You've prepared your will for us and you have a way for us to walk in it. And we can have every confidence as we go through the day, as we put our head on the pillow, that we have done God's will and he has provided for everything we need. Father, may we be people who trust you. and not people who are so worried about the world. We ask for that in Jesus' name, amen.