You can go ahead and open your Bibles this morning. Mark chapter six, Mark chapter six, and we'll be looking at verses seven through 52. We'll read these verses. We won't read all of them. We'll skip parts of the portion about John the Baptist, but please hear the word of the Lord from Mark chapter six, verses seven through 52. And he called the 12 to himself and began to send them out two by two and gave them power over unclean spirits. He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff, no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts, but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. Also, he said to them, in whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. And whoever will not receive you nor hear you when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. So they went out and preached that people should repent And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. And if you'll skip down to verse 27. Here we have a section about John the Baptist and we'll read really what happens in the end of this story. Verse 27, immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head, that is John the Baptist's head, to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in prison, brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother, that is Herodias, Herod's wife. When the disciples heard of it, they came I should say, when his John the Baptist disciples heard of it, they came and took away his corpse and laid it in a tomb. Verse 30, then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. And he said to them, come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while. For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. But the multitude saw them departing, and many knew him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to them. And Jesus, when he came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things. When the day was now far spent, his disciples came to him and said, this is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. Send them away that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat. But he, Christ, answered and said to them, you give them something to eat. And they said to him, shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat? But he said to them, how many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they found out, they said five and two fish. Then he commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in ranks in hundreds and in fifties. And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them. And the two fish he divided among them all. So they all ate and were filled. And they took up 12 baskets full of fragments and of the fish. Now those who had eaten the loaves were about 5,000 men. Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he sent the multitude away. And when he had sent them away, he departed to the mountain to pray. Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land. Then he saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. And when they saw him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost and cried out, for they all saw him and were troubled. But immediately he talked with them and said to them, be of good cheer. It is I. Do not be afraid. Then he went up into the boat and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure and marveled. For they had not understood about the loaves because their heart was hardened. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we come before you this morning asking for your Holy Spirit to come and to speak to us, to take this word of Christ from heaven and to deliver it to our ears, and not our ears only, but to our hearts. We ask that you would change us by your word this morning, and we ask for your help in this. In the name of Christ, amen. Well, Dear church, once again the Lord's people enter the Lord's house on the Lord's day, weary from our week in the wilderness of this world. And maybe you are weary this week from the normal, everyday grind of life, such that surviving next week is a real question in your mind. Maybe you are weary with some battle with sin, some horrid flame of sin which continues to roar and ravage within your heart, such that you think you will never be able to defeat it or be rid of it. Maybe you are weary from earthly trials this past week. Maybe health issues, maybe unjust treatment over godly convictions that you have and hold to. Maybe there are big decisions that you are unsure how to make. Maybe, however, your weariness isn't so negative. Maybe you've had great success in your hard work this week. Maybe you've laid down in your bed at night tired, but satisfied with what you've been able to accomplish in that little slice of kingdom work God has called you to in this season of life. Maybe you come in with a mixture of all of these things. And our passage today, however, does not promise to remove that weariness, but rather to apply a soothing balm to it. Being on this side of heaven's service in Christ's kingdom comes mixed with weariness and wonderfulness. That is a given that every Christian must deal with. But another given is that we serve a great king who does not leave his servants starved and unsafe. He gives us exactly what we need to serve him well. And yet, all too often we find ourselves confused about what we really need to live as a Christian and to serve him well in this world. We have our list of if only I had this or if only I had that, things would be better. If only I could achieve this or get that or do this or do that, everything would be okay. If only this thing would happen in our country, everything would be okay. If so, if we're asking these questions, we find ourselves in a very similar place to Christ's 12 disciples in our passage today. And you'll notice, of course, that Mark 6, 7 through 52 is a long passage of scripture. It speaks about Christ sending out the 12 apostles for what we might call a temporary mission work. We get a back story about John the Baptist's death at the hands of Herod. We see Jesus feed the 5,000, something certainly we're familiar with. And we see Jesus walk on water. We have a tendency to take these passages as disconnected mini-stories. And there is much to be had from looking at each one individually. There will be, in fact, many details that we will miss this morning. There will be many things that you wish we had covered that we will not get to. But hopefully, by taking a 30,000-foot view to these verses, we'll get a picture of how they are connected. And most importantly, we'll learn the same lesson that Christ was teaching his apostles about service in his kingdom in this series of events. And that lesson, simply put this morning, is that our Lord Jesus Christ is the only sufficient sustenance and safety for his disciples as they serve his kingdom. Our Lord Jesus is the only sufficient sustenance and safety for his disciples as they serve his kingdom. We'll see this in three points. First, the principles for faithful service in verses 7 through 13. We'll see persecution for faithful service in verses 14 through 29. And we will see power for faithful service in verses 30 through 52. So if you would then, we'll look first at principles for faithful service. And we see this in verses 7 through 13. We see that faithful service in Christ's kingdom is not by the power and preparation of man, but by a spiritual dependence upon God, which offends the carnal mind. We see in these verses the apostles sent out on a temporary mission assignment. Its character is such that it shows us the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom, of serving Christ's kingdom in this world. We see in verse 7 that the disciples are spiritually prepared by Christ. We see that he sends them out two by two. He gives to them spiritual companionship, for spiritual help, for a spiritual mission. We see also that he gives them authority over unclean spirits. Here we have in verse 7, right here at the beginning of this temporary commission, we have a phrase that shows us the kind of warfare that they would be engaged in in this work. So Christ spiritually prepares them, but he also sends them out carnally, if we will, unprepared. Carnally unprepared. You see this in verse 8 and 9. You see that they're commanded to only take one staff with them, such that they would not be hindered in their journey. They're also to take no bread, no bag, no money in their belts. Now, certainly many of us have just gotten back from traveling, maybe, and We, of course, fill our cars up with the things that we will need. Certainly, the younger your children are, the more it seems that maybe your car is filled up with things that you need for a journey. But in this case, Christ tells his disciples to take nothing with them. And those things needed for their carnal sustenance, for their nutrition, would be provided to them as they worked. So they go spiritually prepared by Christ, they go carnally unprepared. And we see that sometimes they're going to face carnal failure, failure in a worldly sense. And Christ says, if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, here he's warning his apostles about the chance of failure. And he's teaching them about what their concern ought to be in their work in service to his kingdom. Their concern is not to overrun the cities that they come in contact with by carnal persuasion or coercive force. Their concern should be to proclaim the gospel faithfully and to let the chips fall where they may. We might even say it better, to let the dust fall where it may. For Christ says to them, he says, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them. We see here that Christ is teaching his apostles that rejection in this life, rejection in their work, now is okay. It is okay. God's servants will be vindicated at the last judgment. This flows directly out of other things which Christ has said, which Christ said to Pilate, Christ's kingdom is not of this world. but one day it will overtake this world." This is the promise that Christ gives to his apostles. These cities may reject them now, but one day they will cling to the dust from their sandals as they await their judgment. And here, in all of this, in the way that he sends out his apostles for this ministry, our Lord was specifically teaching them what Paul would later teach the Ephesians. to put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For what reason? For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Christ is teaching his apostles and us that service to his kingdom, even in this temporary assignment, is a spiritual work with spiritual ends. And we see in verses 12 and 13 that the apostles, who maybe we often find not doing well, they did well, and they have spiritual success. It says, they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. The kingdom of Christ advances not by means of political intrigue or worldly persuasion, but by the proclamation of the gospel. Not only did they proclaim, but in this instance and in this time, they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. We see here that their work was spiritual and by a spiritual means. They cast out demons, specifically demons which Christ gave them authority over in his commission. And they're anointed with oil. Not medicinally, certainly, but rather as a symbol or a sign of God's power to heal the people. So they have been, by Christ, spiritually prepared, sent out carnally unprepared, sent out with a warning of carnal or seemingly worldly failure, but yet we see them come back with spiritual success. Spiritual success. But then we move to verses 14 through 29. And we see here, maybe in your Bibles it's labeled, John the Baptist Beheaded. Or sarcastically, maybe, we could label it, A Disciple's Guide to Fame, Friends, and Long Life. But we ask the question, why is this here? Why is this here? While the apostles' temporary missionary work is presented as a resounding success, It would seem like John the Baptist's ministry ends in abject failure. I'd like to argue, however, that these verses are actually another picture of spiritual success, and one that, if we see it rightly, keeps us from placing our hope in the carnal results of our work in this world, one that keeps our eyes locked, rather, on heaven. In verses 14 through 29, John's beheading shows us that faithful service in Christ's kingdom comes with no promise of fame, friends, acceptance, or even physical safety in the kingdoms of this world, but instead calls the Christian to expend themselves for the sake of a heavenly kingdom. And yes, like John the Baptist, even unto death, if God in his providence brings us to it. We see in these verses persecution for faithful service. We see in verses 14 through 16 that Christ is misidentified and misunderstood by the world. Herod hears of these things happening and he says, John the Baptist has been raised. Others say that it's Elijah has come back from the dead. Others say that he is a prophet. But Christ, as we know, was much more than John the Baptist, much more than Elijah, and much more than just a prophet. Christ came bringing good news into this world, and this world, it seems, looks for every other possible answer. And this misidentification and misunderstanding of the world is the same for Christ's disciples as it is for Christ. Though his disciples proclaim eternal life to this world, they are misidentified and misunderstood in their righteousness. The world always looks, it seems, for another way that allows them to cherish their sins. The world is perpetually missing the point of the gospel unless God in his grace opens their eyes to it. We see that here in these verses 14 through 16. But then in 17 through 20, we see that John the Baptist and the disciples of Christ likewise are despised for righteousness sake. We see here in these verses a woman scorned. We have Herod, the king, who has decided that he would like to marry his brother's wife, Herodias. And, of course, Herodias also wanted to marry Herod, and so they did. And John the Baptist stood up and called out their sin. And we see here that her sin and reputation are constantly under attack by John's faithful service to Christ's kingdom. John the Baptist's great sin in this, I say quote unquote sin, to Herodias was not breaking the laws of Herod's kingdom, but bringing the laws of Christ's kingdom to bear on the sins of this world. John the Baptist, he is despised for this. We hear that Herodias holds a grudge against him, and we'll see where that grudge goes. But then we see, similar to the disciples that were sent out in verses 21 through 28, we see carnal failure, failure in this world, failure that we might see with our eyes, our physical eyes. We see a rash oath sinfully fulfilled. We see Herod has a birthday party and he has there sitting in his court many men and great nobles of the city of Galilee and he has his wife's daughter come and dance before them, and likely in his merrymaking and his wine drinking, he becomes pleased with her such that he offers her up to half of his kingdom, anything that she would ask. And he swears it by an oath in front of many witnesses. And this daughter goes then back to her mother and she asks, what should I ask for? I could ask for up to half the kingdom. And her mother, full of hatred in her heart for John, for John's great work of bringing the law of Christ to bear on her sin, she demands or she tells her daughter to go request the head of John the Baptist on a platter. And she does so. She does so. And we see that John the Baptist, there who has already been in prison, He is beheaded for his service to Christ. And John's death was neither necessary nor purposeful on Herod's part. Neither necessary nor purposeful on Herod's part. He didn't want to do it, we see in the text. He rather liked John, and he feared him even. He had reverence for John, but with a rash oath He killed him. He killed him. So John is dead, who's faithfully served, and the king and his wife are left in their sin. And it seems that John's ministry has failed. It has ended in abject failure. But we see in verse 29 that his disciples came, and it says, they took his body and laid it in a tomb. That is his headless body. His head was on a platter in Herodias' home. They took his body and laid it in a tomb. And here we see a spiritual hope. So whereas it seems like John's ministry has ended in carnal failure, we see, however, in this passage that there is spiritual hope. J.C. Ryle, a pastor from the 19th century, he said, stories like this are meant to remind us that the true Christian's best things are yet to come. His rest, his crown, his wages, his reward are all on the other side of the grave. Here in this world, he must walk by faith and not by sight. And if he looks for the praise of man, he will be disappointed. Here in this life, he must sow and labor and fight and endure persecution. And if he expects a great earthly reward, he expects what he will not find. But this life is not all. There is to be a day of retribution. There is a glorious harvest yet to come. Heaven will make amends for all. Eye hath not seen and ear hath not heard the glorious things that God has laid up for all that love him. The value of real religion is not to be measured by the things seen, but the things unseen." And here, This awful story of John the Baptist being killed wedged in between a powerful miracle of Christ on the one hand and this wonderful success of the apostles on the other reminds us, just as Mr. Ryle said, that the value of real religion, the value of faithful service in Christ's kingdom is not to be measured by the things seen, but by the things unseen. Listen maybe to even a more current man. His name is Pastor Wang Yi in China, who is currently serving a prison sentence for preaching the gospel. And in a letter he released after being imprisoned, he explained why he, as a pastor, was willing to civilly disobey the government. And I think those men who would make the church's mission political change or social transformation would do well to listen to his and John the Baptist example. He says this, as a pastor, my civil disobedience is one part of the gospel commission. The goal of civil disobedience is not to change the world, but to testify about another world. If God decides to use the persecution of this communist regime against the church to help more Chinese people despair of their futures, to lead them through a wilderness of spiritual disillusionment, and through this to make them know Jesus, if through this he continues disciplining and building up his church, then I am joyfully willing to submit to God's plans, for his plans are always benevolent and good. If this regime is one day overthrown by God, it will be for no other reason than God's righteous punishment and revenge for this evil. For on earth, there has only ever been a thousand-year church. There has never been a thousand-year government. Those who lock me up will one day be locked up by angels. Those who interrogate me will finally be questioned and judged by Christ. When I think of this, the Lord fills me with a natural compassion and grief toward those who are attempting to and actively imprisoning me. Separate me from my wife and children, ruin my reputation, destroy my life and my family. The authorities are capable of doing all these things. However, no one in this world can force me to renounce my faith. No one in this world can change my life. No one in this world can raise me from the dead. You see here, And all these men, John the Baptist, and their quote from Mr. Ryle, and this longer quote from Pastor Wang Yi, we see men who have their eyes fixed on another world, who are not concerned with the carnal, what may be, what seems like success in this world, in the kingdom of God, but they are fixed upon the spiritual success for which Christ's kingdom is aimed. So we have the principles for faithful service, the persecution for faithful service, and then lastly we have the power for faithful service. We could ask the question then, after hearing a man die for his faithful service to Christ's kingdom, another one locked up for it, who then is sufficient for these things? Who is sufficient for these things? We are attacked on all sides. Paul tells us that in Ephesians. He commends us to put on the full armor of God. We are attacked on all sides by spiritual forces, as the disciples were, and by carnal forces, as John the Baptist was. From where can we get spiritual strength to serve Christ's spiritual kingdom faithfully? Jesus' feeding of the 5,000 and his walking on water are meant to show his disciples and us that he is the only sufficient sustenance and safety for his disciples as they serve his spiritual kingdom. So in verses 30 through 52, we see the power for faithful service. We'll consider these miracles quickly. There's much that could be taken from them. And in some ways they are both testaments to the divinity of Christ, and we could preach a whole sermon on each of them to that end. And certainly we will not leave that aside, but we will not dive into it as much as maybe we would like. But consider these miracles side by side. We see that both of them are introduced by a deserved earthly rest, if you will. The Apostles have just gotten back from their mission assignment. And we see that Christ attempts, in verse 31, to give them a chance to rest. We see that our Lord honors his disciples who serve him well, attempting to give them a chance to rest. He says, come aside by yourselves to his deserted place and rest a while. And this sets the circumstances, sets the stage for this feeding of the 5,000. But we see also in verse 45, in the next miracle where Jesus calms the sea, walks on the water and calms the sea, we see that that miracle as well is started by Christ attempting to give the apostles a deserved earthly rest. It says, he made his disciples get into the boat while he sent the multitudes away. Well, remember that the disciples were sent off on their temporary mission assignment with no bag, no bread, no money. These men are hungry. They are hungry. They are tired. And so Christ tries to give them rest. But we see that both times in these miracles, the disciples are denied their earthly rest. Before the feeding of the 5,000, they get out to this deserted place, and the crowd, wanting so badly to hear from Christ and to be healed by him, the crowd follows them out to this deserted place. And the crowd is hungry. The crowd is hungry. The disciples, themselves hungry, having no food of their own, having just come back from this temporary mission assignment with no bread, no bag, no money to buy, they are hungry. But the crowd is hungry. And Christ commands them to provide the crowd food. The disciples, of course, have no way to provide it for themselves, certainly, or for the crowd. And the disciples, being hungry themselves, without enough food, they respond to Christ's command with maybe a hint of sarcasm. And certainly we could all imagine. Lord, I've been serving you, and I've done a lot of good work. We had great spiritual success. Can I just get something to eat? And so they say, shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread? This is certainly a large sum of money. And in effect, they're saying, do you really want us to go do that? Do we really have to go do that? Can we not just send these people out on their own to buy their own food? But in the other miracle, in which Jesus walks on the water and calms the sea, we see that their peaceful trip across the Sea of Galilee was interrupted by great storms. Christ made his disciples get into the boat while he sent the multitude away. That is, he did all the cleanup work. And he sent them away, and he sees, he goes up to pray, and he sees them from the mountain on the Sea of Galilee, straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. These men now, of course, they have eaten, and we'll get there in a moment. They have eaten because of Christ, but here they're straining at rowing. Certainly their bellies are full, but their backs are still tired, and yet they are in the middle of the sea, straining at rowing, having the wind set against them. So they're denied their earthly rest in both of these. But also in both of them, the disciples are supplied with divine rest. In the first case, our Lord Jesus supplies them with a miraculous supper. It says, when he had taken the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before them. And the two fish he divided among them all, so they all ate and were filled. Before I read the next sentence, consider again the disciples. They're hungry. They've just maybe been sarcastic with Christ. They're frustrated. This miracle happens. And it says, they took up 12 baskets full of fragments and of fish. You'll note one basket for each disciple. It's as if Christ is saying to them in this miracle, not only do I have enough for the crowd, I have enough for you. I am enough for you. You have not had time to rest or to eat, so I will be your sustenance. In the second case, the second miracle, in which he walks on water, we see that his presence among them brings them through a watery trial. It says, then he went up into the boat to them and the wind ceased. So here they are, backs hurting, straining against the wind, rowing hard. Christ comes on the water, and he steps up into the boat with them, and the winds cease. It's as if Christ says to them, the winds and the waves are great, but I will be your safety. You still have not had time to rest, so I will be your rest. Dear friends, the apostles like us were not sufficient for the work that they had been called to. Certainly Christ in these miracles makes that clear to them. We see that our Lord brought them to the end of themselves so that they might discover that only he could supply all their needs, spiritual and physical. And we see that he does. We see that he does. So let us conclude quickly with a few applications To the believer, as you serve Christ's kingdom in whatever place or season of life that he has called you, do not mistake this world or the things of this world as the goal of Christ's kingdom. The glory of this world is fading. its glory will one day give way to the glory of that other world which our Lord will bring at his return. So do not mistake this world as the goal of Christ's kingdom. Do not mistake the methods which are effective in changing this world for the methods that Christ has ordained for use in his kingdom. It's easy, certainly, maybe in our day, with all the media and such, it's easy to get wrapped up in action and do-gooderism and so-called culture warring for their own sake, thinking that if we can change the outward form of this world, then Christ's kingdom will have succeeded. It's not the case. Lastly, do not cut yourself off, then, from the means of grace. If service in Christ's kingdom is chiefly spiritual, we would do well to not cut ourselves off from the means of grace. Do not miss that Christ supplied his disciples in our passage with a miraculous supper and his presence in their watery trial. For Christ still supplies his disciples by a miraculous supper. The Lord's Supper we'll celebrate here shortly. Not that his physical body is brought to earth miraculously in the bread and wine, but rather that much more miraculously we are raised to truly and spiritually feast upon him by faith for the sustenance of our souls. His blood was shed for us. His body was broken for us. And we see this in the Lord's Supper as a visible word to us, a picture, so that we might, by it, by faith, have rest in Christ. We see also that Christ still supplies his disciples by his presence in the watery trial of baptism. And we've seen a few of these in recent weeks. And hopefully, we'll see more soon before the end of the year. But think then upon your own baptism. See the picture of Christ accompanying you in those waters. and because of his presence of being raised again to new life in him. These things should be a great encouragement to the believer. To the unbeliever, then, consider your state before Christ. Like the disciples, you are without food. You are without food in the desert and straining against an unbeatable, unovercomeable wind. Your sin condemns you before a holy God. There is nothing which you could ever do to supply yourself with the righteousness needed to be right in his sight. You are quite figuratively stuck in the Sea of Galilee with no hope of getting to shore. Consider then also that the world that you now serve is passing away. The world that you serve in your sin is passing away. Herod killed John the Baptist. It seems like a victory for the kingdom of this world, but his disciples buried his body in hope that he will one day be resurrected. The sad news is that for those who serve this world and love this world, they have no such hope and receive their reward here. Everything which you see around you that gives you great comfort that you will be able to achieve, those carnal desires of your heart, your goals and aspirations in this life, your talents, maybe give you comfort, a stable society, maybe political victory, a good job, whatever else you might put your trust in, it is all passing away. One day all that will be left is the sinner and his sin naked before a holy God who is just and will punish sin. But consider then that Christ offers you rest. So many promises sit at the ready in his word for any sinner. You've seen pictures of them here, of him providing a miraculous supper for his disciples and teaching them of his sustenance for them, of his presence in their watery trial. But there are so many promises sit at the ready in the word for any sinner. Christ says, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He says, no less whom the sun sets free is free indeed. He says also, the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out. Scriptures say that today is the day of salvation. So I call on you to set down your sin. and lift up your hands to receive what Christ freely offers to sinners. He is the sufficient sustenance and safety for his disciples as they serve his kingdom, and he is the only sufficient sustenance and safety for sinners in this world. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning for your kindness, your goodness to us, your grace to us. O Lord, we are disciples in your kingdom, and we serve a spiritual kingdom, one that is not of this world, as you, Lord Jesus, told Pilate. We pray that we would not serve your kingdom with the eyes of the flesh, but that we would serve them with the eyes of faith. We pray that you would give us spiritual success, that we would see that our spiritual battle is great, that the enemy of your kingdom is great, that this world and its systems are opposed to your kingdom and its spiritual aims. So Lord, bring us to the end of ourselves. would we confess that you are the only sufficient sustenance for your people. You are the only one who provides true safety. Though we may die in this world, though we may go hungry, though we may go with our backs hurting for your sake in whatever season of life that you have called us to, Lord, we know that you provide all that we need, and we pray that this morning you would do so greatly for us, especially here as we take the Lord's Supper. We pray that you would lift our hearts to heaven, let us feed upon our Christ, and Lord, give us all the grace that we need to serve you this morning. We pray all these things in his name, amen.