1 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:04,880 Matthew 15, we're now in verse 32. 2 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,440 We're still in the same moment to give you quick context. 3 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:18,200 So remember, we've we've seen healing faith the the Canaanite 4 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:20,520 woman. Will you heal my daughter? 5 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:25,160 No, this woman was being tested. Of course, that's the only time 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,680 Jesus ever told anybody no. And of course, it actually 7 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:30,800 turned out to be a yes. And then we come across Jesus 8 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:32,520 healing many on the mountainside. 9 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:36,720 We looked at how all the people came there throwing people at 10 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,040 Jesus's feet. It's thousands of people, 11 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:43,720 thousands, many thousands, 4000 men is all that there was 12 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,840 counted of the men. So that means very likely their 13 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,160 wives, very likely all their children as well. 14 00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:52,640 So it's very easy to say there's 12,000 plus people here. 15 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:57,400 Conservative estimates would say that so many thousands of people 16 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:01,400 here rejoicing, celebrating, being healed, who's being 17 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:03,280 healed? The lame, the blind, the 18 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:09,280 crippled injuries, maimed limbs are growing out, all the things, 19 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:13,840 all in a day's work for Jesus, healing everybody, physical 20 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,520 healing, blind seeing, and they're glorifying the God of 21 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,080 Israel. Now we come to verse 32. 22 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:25,040 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I have 23 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,400 compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three 24 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,600 days and have had nothing to eat, and I am unwilling to send 25 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:35,560 them away hungry, lest they faint on the way. 26 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,240 And the disciples said to him, Where are we to get enough bread 27 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:43,400 in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd? 28 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,280 And Jesus said to them, How many loaves do you have? 29 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:52,600 They said seven and a few small fish, and directing the crowd to 30 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,120 sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish. 31 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:00,520 And having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the 32 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,360 disciples. And the disciples gave them to 33 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:06,400 the crowd. And they all ate and were 34 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:10,039 satisfied. And they took up 7 baskets full 35 00:02:10,039 --> 00:02:14,920 of the broken pieces, leftover those who ate or 4000 men 36 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:20,200 besides women and children. And after sending away the 37 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:24,480 crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan. 38 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:28,400 Let's pray, God, we're thankful for your word. 39 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:29,880 We're thankful for your compassion. 40 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:32,520 We're thankful for your provision. 41 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,080 We're thankful to have the opportunity to be in your 42 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:40,160 presence. You're worth pursuing 3 days 43 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:44,600 without food or longer, no matter what the challenges may 44 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,040 be or what the tests may include. 45 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:49,240 You're worth it and You're worthy of it all. 46 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:52,880 Lord, as we go through Your word today, I pray that You would 47 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,640 help me to make the right and appropriate application for your 48 00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:58,320 people. That they would be well fed and 49 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:00,920 that they would see their Christ and their King clearly. 50 00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:04,240 That they would love you more and that they would trust you 51 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:06,160 more. That they would know that not 52 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:08,880 only have you done things for others, but that you will, you 53 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:13,680 will still do things for them. Your compassion is never ending. 54 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:18,960 Your provision is also never ending, and in Your presence 55 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:23,160 there is fullness of joy. So bring us near to you this 56 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:26,520 morning as we come near to Your word. 57 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:30,400 Open up the eyes of our hearts. Bring us light and revelation. 58 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:32,240 Destroy the works of the devil God. 59 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:40,360 Destroy lies that are believed. God build our faith that we 60 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:45,160 would expect that we would be those who pick up the book of 61 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:50,120 God and read it and believe it in Jesus name we thank you, 62 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:54,880 Amen. I'm going to I'm going to make 3 63 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:58,440 applications, at least three applications of our passage 64 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,000 today. And as is our custom here in 65 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,520 Salt church, we're not going to use any fancy footwork. 66 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,880 We're going to make straight line applications from the word 67 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,200 of God and we're going to say, here's the scripture and then 68 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:14,120 we're going to apply that thing. So I've always done that with 69 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:16,040 you and we're going to continue to do that. 70 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,640 It's important to recognize that there are multiple things that 71 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,600 can be seen in a passage. So we we acknowledge the depth 72 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:25,400 of the word of God. And I don't think I'm going to 73 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:27,440 Plumb the depths for you this morning. 74 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:29,440 I think I'm probably just staying on the surface. 75 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:32,320 But thankfully we have all eternity to go through the best 76 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:35,200 Bible studies ever, where King Jesus will be continuing to 77 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,440 unpack his word. The word made flesh will unpack 78 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:40,880 the word for us forever, but we're going to make a few 79 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:42,200 applications. We're going to make the 80 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,960 application that says God is compassionate and that he loves 81 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:47,240 us. We're going to make the 82 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,280 application that says God will provide for us. 83 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:53,080 And we're going to make the application that says we should 84 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:57,680 pursue God's presence and his and and near fellowship with 85 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,280 him. So the first thing that we'll 86 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:06,080 notice here, Jesus calls his disciples to him and he said, I 87 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,240 have compassion on the crowd because they have now been with 88 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,040 me 3 days and have had nothing to eat and I am unwilling to 89 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:15,320 send them away hungry lest they faint on the way. 90 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:20,360 Jesus had pity on the people. That word compassion, it means 91 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,680 pity, but it's not just a pity that keeps you stationary. 92 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,680 In God's Kingdom. Pity leads to action. 93 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:30,400 We've talked about this before. The difference between saying, 94 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,000 well, I feel sad for that person, well, that's not 95 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:37,720 nothing, but it's not much. Just to feel the thing and then 96 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:39,560 not take any action to go along with it. 97 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,520 In the Kingdom, though, we're moved with compassion. 98 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:44,600 We're not stationary with compassion. 99 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:50,240 We're moved with compassion, and Jesus is moved with compassion. 100 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:52,240 This is what Kingdom compassion looks like. 101 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:58,520 For God so loved the world that he did what He took action. 102 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:01,480 I love them so much. They're doomed. 103 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:04,440 I love them so much. Too bad that they sinned against 104 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:06,200 me. And there's nothing that anyone 105 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:08,200 can do. God loved the world so much that 106 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,040 he took the greatest action that's ever taken place. 107 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,440 He sent his son to come and save and deliver. 108 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:16,600 That's what compassion. That's what love looks like. 109 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,280 It looks like something. It can't look like nothing. 110 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,680 I love my wife a lot, and that looks like something, right, 111 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:24,760 brother? Well, you know I love her. 112 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:27,160 I just feel it in my heart. Well, that. 113 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:29,280 But that has to have some sort of outward expression. 114 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,480 Love is always going to have some sort of action to go along 115 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:34,200 with it. I really love that person a lot. 116 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:35,600 Yeah. Well, then there there's going 117 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:38,040 to be some action. There'll be some evidence there. 118 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,000 There will be enough evidence to convict you of loving. 119 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:44,800 God pities us, and God acts on it. 120 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:48,320 And he calls it compassion. He did not leave us in our sin. 121 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:49,680 He did not leave us in our suffering. 122 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,080 He did not leave us in darkness. He came and he delivered us from 123 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:57,360 all that evil. He's father, He's shepherd, He's 124 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:02,680 brother, He's friend and he cares for you and he cares for 125 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,520 all of your needs. He has moved with pity. 126 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:10,600 He is not stationary with pity. Our application is we should do 127 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:12,720 the same. We should be the same way. 128 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,520 What did Jesus say? He said it out loud. 129 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:17,280 It's interesting. It's the only time we see him 130 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:19,640 doing this. As it says, I have compassion on 131 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,840 them, He told his disciples. He's looking out over the crowd. 132 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,040 He's been there three days with him seeing people. 133 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:28,160 People are coming up. This person is healed. 134 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:29,840 That person is healed. This person is healed. 135 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:32,600 People are over there singing, people over there praying. 136 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:35,160 People are over there just sitting together. 137 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:36,560 Children are running and playing. 138 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:39,600 It's on a mountainside. Maybe they can all see him. 139 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:42,640 Maybe he's in the highest position and they're all looking 140 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:44,520 up the hill and they can see him. 141 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:46,160 He's looking down on him and he's sitting there with the 142 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:49,000 disciples. He's going, I love these people. 143 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:50,840 I have compassion on these people. 144 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:54,240 He's been healing them and rejoicing over them and 145 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,240 delighting in them and fulfilling the will of God in 146 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:00,320 their lives. Interesting note. 147 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,400 It's likely, it's very likely that he was preaching and 148 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,400 teaching, but the scripture doesn't tell us that he was. 149 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:10,200 What does the scripture tell us? He spent three days doing, 150 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:15,120 healing their physical bodies, and now what does he do? 151 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,320 He looks out on with great compassion upon them and he 152 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:20,680 goes, I really just want to give them spiritual food. 153 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,600 No, no, I've been healing their physical bodies and now I want 154 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:29,560 to give them physical actual food to put in their mouths so 155 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,200 that they can be fed. I want to provide for them. 156 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:34,960 Why? Because that is an objectively 157 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,280 good thing to do. That is a good blessing that he 158 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:40,919 wants to give. And he said it out loud. 159 00:08:40,919 --> 00:08:43,600 I feel that compassion. We should do the same thing. 160 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:46,960 When you feel compassion, I think it's a good habit to say 161 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,200 it out loud. Let that help you to break your 162 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:52,480 stationary position to actually put words to the thing that's 163 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,720 going on inside of you instead of just that hit me. 164 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:57,240 Yes, yes, yes. That's good. 165 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,720 Let's take a next step. Let's build a staircase or let's 166 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:03,840 build the whole house. Now you got the foundation of of 167 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:05,160 the prompting of the Holy Spirit. 168 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:06,760 You got the you got the foundation. 169 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,000 That means you're a Christian. That's good. 170 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:11,040 That's a good witness to you right there to go. 171 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:14,000 Oh, I feel something. I care for that person. 172 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,160 Maybe it's just the news story. What am I supposed to do? 173 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:22,240 Something something, always pray. 174 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,840 But I feel I sense a compassion. So don't just sense love, don't 175 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:29,040 just sense pity, don't just sense care. 176 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:33,040 Say I'm moved with compassion for them and then pray for their 177 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:35,640 situation. And expect the Lord to give you 178 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:38,000 any other direction that he may have for you after that. 179 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:40,920 So if you're praying for somebody halfway across the 180 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:44,280 world, it's very likely that prayer is the highest and best 181 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:45,480 thing you'll be able to do for them. 182 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:49,360 Maybe the Lord will give instruction after that, maybe he 183 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:52,560 won't. But when it's your neighbor, the 184 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:56,320 person closest to you, it's very likely you will be able to show 185 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:58,000 love and show compassion and show pity. 186 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,760 Even after you pray. And as you're praying for them, 187 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:03,320 the Holy Spirit will give you creative thoughts and ideas and 188 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:06,280 go, ah, I want to bless them in this way. 189 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:08,880 I want to do this in that way. Haven't you had that experience 190 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:10,720 before? You're praying for someone that 191 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:12,920 you're close to and you're going, God help them to this and 192 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:14,000 help them to that and help them to this. 193 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:16,520 And all of a sudden, like ideas are coming up and now you're 194 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,400 excited you're going. It's better to give than to 195 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:21,320 receive. I've prayed for them. 196 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:22,680 And the Lord goes, I want to do it. 197 00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:26,680 I want to do it through you. The Lord can use whatever means 198 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:29,880 and method He chooses, but don't you want Him to choose you as 199 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,440 His means and method? I want to be a part of the work. 200 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:34,960 I want to be a part of the mission. 201 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,560 I want to be effective in His harvest, and I want to serve His 202 00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:41,400 church faithfully. So it's a delight when I get to 203 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:45,040 be a part of it. This applies no matter what age 204 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:48,480 you are. This applies to younger people 205 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:51,240 or young men who we've got in here this morning. 206 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:55,400 This would apply to each of you. You're not supposed to wait 207 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:58,840 until you become an adult to get into the fight for God's Kingdom 208 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:01,160 come, for his Kingdom to come and his will to be done. 209 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:06,440 You're a Christian, so you get a gun and you go to join the 210 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:09,960 fighting lines right away. That's the interesting thing 211 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,000 about the body of Christ. We don't have like the front 212 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,240 lines, and then there's like the back lines and the other lines 213 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:19,040 and the support. Everybody's just on the front 214 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:24,480 lines together with the King. So kids should pray and obey. 215 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:27,960 Older believers you should pray and obey, Newer believers you 216 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:30,320 should pray and obey. We don't have ranks. 217 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,800 You are qualified and you are well able to talk straight to 218 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:38,000 the General himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, and make sure you 219 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:41,680 are moved with his compassion. You are already sensing his 220 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:43,240 compassion. I know you are because you're a 221 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:45,400 Christian. Now what do you do with that? 222 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:47,760 You take it to the Lord. Say Lord, I'm sensing your 223 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:49,200 compassion, I'm sensing your love. 224 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:53,240 How do I move forward? What would, what could I do? 225 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:55,280 What should I do? Maybe he'll say I want you to 226 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:59,160 pray, I want you to pray. I'm working and I'm moving, but 227 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:03,640 praying matters and it's needed. What else do we see here? 228 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:06,880 Well, I'll make the point I've made to you with many passages 229 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:10,040 as we've come to the gospel, that when we come to any 230 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:13,880 passage, we should prioritize the direct application. 231 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:16,880 The primary application should be our primary application. 232 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:20,360 The secondary application should be a secondary application. 233 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:24,040 I've told you how many times there are many faithful pastors 234 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:27,800 who I love godly men, and I'll listen to their sermons and week 235 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:30,760 after week they will handle the text that's right in front of 236 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:32,360 them. And they'll say the Bible says 237 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:35,000 this, and therefore it means this. 238 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:38,480 And it's just a straight line application to go praise God, 239 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,440 Amen. And they'll do it over and over 240 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:44,720 and over and over and over. And then you'll come to a 241 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:49,320 passage on healing and they'll say the Bible says this God 242 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:54,440 healed blind Bartimaeus, and that means that he wants to heal 243 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:59,560 the spiritual blindness and each of us and they go, oh, why did 244 00:12:59,560 --> 00:13:01,960 we take this hard left turn? That's such a weird thing to do. 245 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:03,440 There. You were doing so good, pastor. 246 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:05,920 How did how did we come to that conclusion? 247 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:08,840 So like I said, this is where we're not going to get any fancy 248 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:11,840 footwork and we're not going to twist ourselves into a pretzel. 249 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:16,480 We're just going to say that seeing the feeding of the 4000 250 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:20,560 plus, we should not over spiritualize this event and say 251 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:23,320 this only means that God will give us spiritual food. 252 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:28,200 Will God give us spiritual food? Say yes, yes, he will. 253 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,040 Thank God he will. Wasn't there another occasion 254 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,800 where Jesus was talking to a woman about water and he told 255 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:39,120 her, hey, you should ask me for the spiritual water? 256 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:42,320 So didn't he do it in the in the other direction before? 257 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:44,840 He most certainly did. And you know how we're going to 258 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:48,720 preach that passage exactly as it was intended in the Word. 259 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:50,440 That's how we're going to preach that passage. 260 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:53,440 We're going to emphasize what the Scripture emphasizes and the 261 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:57,360 way the Scripture emphasizes it. And I won't adjust it for your 262 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,800 comfort or for mine. And we'll take the Word as the 263 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:04,720 Word comes. So with this passage, we 264 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:07,920 shouldn't over spiritualize and say God will only give us 265 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:09,880 spiritual food. Oh, He most definitely will give 266 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,360 us spiritual food. But was that the Lord's 267 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:18,120 intention that day? They've been with me 3 days now. 268 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:20,000 So now I should give them some spiritual food. 269 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:23,600 No, that wasn't the lesson. He probably had been feeding 270 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,920 them spiritually, but like I said earlier, The funny thing is 271 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:30,320 we only know that he was meeting a physical need for sure. 272 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,520 Of course, right after he was meeting another physical need 273 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:36,400 that many Christians would be quick to tell you is not that 274 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:38,800 important. It's not that important. 275 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:42,760 He was healing everybody. So like I said, we're making a 276 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:47,680 straight line application. Will God actually provide? 277 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:49,560 Will God actually meet our needs? 278 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:53,240 Yes, yes, God fed thousands of people. 279 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:56,960 God will feed you literally with food. 280 00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:01,600 God is feeding you. Maybe the normative means, maybe 281 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:05,280 most of the time the means that he's using is income through 282 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:07,320 your employer. Well, that's fine. 283 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,440 His means and his methods are whatever he wants to do. 284 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:14,440 But God provides, which is why we pray before we eat and we 285 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:18,000 say, God, thank you. I don't sit at the dinner table 286 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:21,280 and have the family look to me and go, you know who did this, 287 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:23,000 right? It's me. 288 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:25,400 I work, I make those things happen. 289 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:27,160 Is there an appropriate way to do that? 290 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:29,720 Well, sure. But I humble myself with my 291 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:31,920 whole family and say, God, you've provided. 292 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,240 You've provided. If you lose your employer 293 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:37,840 tomorrow, do you now have no means for provision? 294 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:42,160 Did your God die? No, just your employer has fired 295 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:44,400 you or your employer had to shut down the business. 296 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:49,920 This is why I will I will emphasize the supernatural, but 297 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:52,280 I will not chain you to the supernatural. 298 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:55,080 Why will I emphasize the supernatural? 299 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:57,200 I will emphasize the supernatural. 300 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:00,480 I will emphasize the miraculous because you and I grow so 301 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:04,160 accustomed to the natural means that God often uses. 302 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:08,320 And the problem is we can begin to trust those natural means as 303 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:12,280 the actual source instead of God himself, so that when those 304 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:15,920 things vanish, or when those things change, you and I can 305 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:20,560 feel doubt and unbelief and fear, because we are not 306 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:23,080 comfortable with and familiar with the supernatural and the 307 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:25,680 miraculous. So the moment our employer ends, 308 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:28,400 we go, I must find another employer. 309 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:32,240 But because I will not make it without that, you go. 310 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:35,040 Well, another employer might be the right move. 311 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:40,840 Sounds like a good idea. And also you have a shepherd and 312 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:44,080 he fed thousands of people on a hillside. 313 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:48,320 He'll feed you. So is this just a spiritual 314 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:51,600 application we should make? Well, we, we can make spiritual 315 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,720 applications. But no, not only a spiritual 316 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:58,440 application that we should make. God has made actual food fall 317 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:02,960 out of the actual sky to feed millions of people before he's 318 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:05,240 done it. He has had Ravens. 319 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:09,040 The greediest bird there is. Brings someone actual meat. 320 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:13,560 He's done it. He will multiply your bread and 321 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:14,920 your fish. He's done it. 322 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:18,800 Oh, and just in case you thought they were talking about he's 323 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:21,880 only willing to meet your extreme needs for physical 324 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:25,000 survival. Don't forget that his first 325 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:29,240 miracle ever was to provide wine for a celebration that had run 326 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:32,280 out of it. So is he only going to meet my 327 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:33,640 needs? Yeah, he'll he'll just just 328 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:35,400 expect your bare minimums to be met. 329 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:39,160 Well, not so fast. Remember, the book shows us 330 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,200 something else. His first miracle ever was, hey, 331 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:45,680 we ran out of ice, could you help us with our party? 332 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,280 We ran out of Doctor Pepper. Could you help us with our 333 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:52,000 party? And Jesus goes, yeah, I want to 334 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:55,360 bless this celebration and I want to put my blessing and 335 00:17:55,360 --> 00:17:57,800 approval in the celebration. And I'm going to spare this 336 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:01,480 person the embarrassment and I'm going to spare the crowd the 337 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:03,400 going without. I'm going to provide. 338 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:05,520 Why? Because he's good. 339 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,520 And as we've said often a six year old knows what good means. 340 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:13,760 Good is an objective definition, not some strange one. 341 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:16,320 God is so good. And that's why Pastor Michael 342 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:18,160 got run over today as he left service. 343 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:21,360 Well, hang on a second. God is good no matter what. 344 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:24,400 Passenger Michael got run over after service. 345 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:26,560 Why? Because the world is broken, the 346 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:29,640 devil is bad, and Passenger Michael was stupid because he 347 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:33,200 ran out into the road. Those are the those are why the 348 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:36,040 bad things happen. Well, will God work something 349 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:37,920 good out of it? Of course he will, because he 350 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,280 specializes in resurrection. He's good. 351 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,120 And are you going to mourn? Yeah, a little bit, but not as 352 00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:49,200 non believers because we're going to be together forever and 353 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:50,520 you're going to get to see me again and go. 354 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:51,880 Dude, remember that day you ran out in traffic? 355 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:52,840 That was so stupid. I go. 356 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:56,400 I know, but lucky me, I got here sooner than you. 357 00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:57,200 So ha ha. I win. 358 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:05,960 I'm not laughing, Natalie. Natalie didn't think it was 359 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:08,080 funny. Don thought it was funny. 360 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:15,880 Don appreciated it. So God is good, Turn to somebody 361 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:19,480 and say God is good. Turn to him and say he is better 362 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:24,520 than you think. God wants to provide for the 363 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:28,160 physical needs of His people. My point is not that He will 364 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:32,000 always do so in a spectacular way, although He might. 365 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:36,600 My point is that His people should trust Him to physically 366 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,240 provide for them and that they should be encouraged when they 367 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,920 see the spectacular lengths that He is willing to go through to 368 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:48,000 do so. So we're, we're not stupid. 369 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:50,320 You're not stupid. You're a wise and mature and 370 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:52,480 godly people. So you understand that I'm not 371 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:57,720 saying that you can just go out and claim the thing that you saw 372 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,920 in Scripture as a, as an exact duplicate, right? 373 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:03,480 We've talked about how faith is not formula. 374 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:08,280 Your responsibility is to believe God to be your father, 375 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,280 your shepherd, and your friend who will provide for you. 376 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:16,280 That's your responsibility. The method and the means are not 377 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:19,760 your jurisdiction. That's not my responsibility. 378 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:22,800 This is what it means to be childlike in our faith. 379 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:25,680 Remember being a little kid, like you didn't even know what 380 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,800 your dad did for work. It's just like, I don't what 381 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:29,920 what? What is daddy like? 382 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:31,200 I don't know. He works. 383 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:32,880 He's like in grown up world. I don't know. 384 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:36,960 I don't care. Like dad goes to work, he buys 385 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:38,880 me GI Joes. I play with the GI Joes. 386 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:40,200 Like that's all that matters to me. 387 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:43,360 Like that was the arrangement. He was happy with it. 388 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:44,960 I was happy with it. I don't need to know what he 389 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:47,280 did. Just a few short years ago, I 390 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:48,560 asked Hudson what Daddy did for work. 391 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:50,760 He had no idea. He was like, I don't know, it 392 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:55,480 was kind of funny. He said, he said you, you help 393 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:58,880 your tax clients, which is like, Nope, not at all. 394 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,320 But in his mind, I guess like all grown-ups just do is taxes, 395 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:03,720 right? Like when you're a kid, like 396 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:07,520 what are grown-ups do? Taxes, I guess vote and pay 397 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:11,840 taxes, like send faxes and pay taxes, grown up stuff. 398 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:14,960 That was it. That was all I had to work with. 399 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:20,480 So that is that's the place we want to be childlike in our 400 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:24,800 pursuit, childlike in our faith, believing and going well, that's 401 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,200 that's his jurisdiction. But that's what you should be 402 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,520 encouraged by. You should see the miraculous 403 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:31,680 and go, yeah, God will do that. He'll do whatever he needs to 404 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:33,920 do. He'll do whatever needs to be 405 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:35,720 done. And you should know that your 406 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,080 situation is not out of his reach. 407 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:40,840 When you read things in the word, you're not supposed to 408 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:45,640 only say, yeah, I guess God can do that because of course he can 409 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:54,240 do that, Of course he can do that. 410 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:57,040 He can do anything. He made the whole universe. 411 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,280 Did you really think he couldn't make the sun stand still for a 412 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:02,640 day so Joshua could fight in the daylight? 413 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:07,080 He designed the molecule. Did you really think he couldn't 414 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:10,240 make an axe head float so that a man could return the tool that 415 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:13,680 he borrowed? These are things that actually 416 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:18,160 happened in your Bible and you believe them Saints, Of course 417 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:20,480 God can do anything. You need to believe that He'll 418 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:24,080 do anything for you. You need to believe that He will 419 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:28,320 provide for you when you lose the tool that you borrowed from 420 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:32,520 a friend and you pray instead of going, well, I either can find 421 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:34,840 it or I can't, and it's on me. What? 422 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:37,680 I thought you had a shepherd. I thought you had a God. 423 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:40,600 I thought you had a king. Can't you trust him for these 424 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:42,360 things? Well, I can't demand that. 425 00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:44,960 It'll be miraculous. You don't have to demand 426 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:49,520 anything, but you should expect, and he can do miraculous. 427 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,240 It's not hard for him. You've got categories of 428 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:53,760 difficulty. He doesn't. 429 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:59,240 So prayer is our first step instead of what we often make is 430 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:03,240 our last line of defense. God cares for you. 431 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:05,800 That's what he cares about. Does God care about this? 432 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:07,800 Does God care about that? Wrong question. 433 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:12,560 God cares for you. It was just yesterday. 434 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,880 Brock and I, we've been fighting something on a video game for 435 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:18,760 his for a while. He's got a a gift card and he 436 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:22,280 wants to be able to purchase stuff in the game so that his 437 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:25,320 character can, He wants to dress his character up as a Christmas 438 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:27,880 tree or he wants to dress his character up as a snowman or he 439 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:32,320 wants to dress his character up as a superhero or Donald Trump 440 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:34,520 or whatever. Like you can turn your your 441 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,400 character to look for however you want, but we could not 442 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:43,480 figure out how to do it. I'm not a stupid man and I do 443 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:47,360 understand a little bit about technology and I and I've done 444 00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:49,640 all the things we fought this for months now, right? 445 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:52,560 I think we tried last Christmas and I just gave up. 446 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:56,000 We're changing passwords, we're logging in, we're answering the 447 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,920 e-mail, we're doing the two factor authentication. 448 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:03,320 Daddy's getting frustrated. Brock's got like tons of gift 449 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:05,880 cards just building up in the and we just can't do anything 450 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:08,240 with them. And I'm, and yesterday I was 451 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:10,040 just going through it all again. I'm like, I'm going to, I'm 452 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:11,360 going to figure this out for my son. 453 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:13,800 I've got it. There's got to be a way people, 454 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:15,680 we, we are begging you to take our money. 455 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:17,000 Why won't you just take our money? 456 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:19,520 I can't believe they made it this complicated. 457 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:26,720 And we stopped and we prayed and, and I asked God to help us. 458 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:32,640 You prayed and asked God to help you purchase your son's skin in 459 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:37,080 a video game, they call it a skin The, the, the character 460 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:40,880 that they wear. You prayed for God to do that. 461 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:46,120 Yes. And guess what happened within 462 00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:49,600 like what a minute, Brock? As soon as we, as soon as I went 463 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,920 in and like within two minutes, it was done, wasn't it? 464 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:57,080 So it's taken me a year and a half to fight with and argue 465 00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:58,600 with. I ain't doing it today, Brock. 466 00:24:58,600 --> 00:24:59,800 I'm sick of it. They're dumb. 467 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:02,600 Their system's complicated. And then when we pray and say, 468 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,400 God, would you please help us to get through this thing so the 469 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:07,760 Brock could just have these characters and all this stuff, 470 00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:18,840 and now he has them. We're just using the rocket gift 471 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:20,720 card. Yeah, we'll Brock can Brock into 472 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:23,280 a clinic after service. Because it actually wasn't. 473 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:26,720 It actually wasn't a miracle. It was actually a systematic way 474 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:28,280 it had to be done. It's still stupid. 475 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:31,240 It's still incredibly complicated and ridiculously 476 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:33,480 absurd. Don't know why they make it that 477 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,760 hard, but we were able to get all the way through and figure 478 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:41,840 it out and get it done after we prayed and we asked God, it's, 479 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:45,640 it's one thing to say God did it for them, but let's walk this 480 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:47,520 through. Come let us reason together for 481 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,320 a moment. Why did God want to do it for 482 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:56,280 them? Why, why did God want to do it 483 00:25:56,280 --> 00:26:00,240 for that person? Because he cared for them, 484 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,040 right? I mean, I'm curious. 485 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:04,680 I'd be curious to hear, you know, the opponents of this 486 00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:07,560 teaching, like give their rationale that why did God want 487 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:09,920 to do that? They can't say that Jesus wanted 488 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:13,280 to heal people because it was a means to broadcast and and make 489 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:15,960 his ministry bigger when he literally threatens people and 490 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:18,360 says, don't you tell anybody what I just did. 491 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,520 So that one's out. So he had to have done it 492 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:25,040 because he loved him, right? Hang on. 493 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:27,040 A second opponent of this message. 494 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:30,120 You mean to tell me that when you love somebody, you'll want 495 00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:33,040 them actually better off physically instead of worse off 496 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:36,880 physically? There wasn't a trick or a trap. 497 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,280 I'm just trying to follow here. I'm not. 498 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:40,680 I don't want to get you with a gotcha. 499 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:43,240 I just wanted you to be consistent in your thinking. 500 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:47,600 So you walk through this and you go, well, God did that because 501 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,920 he cared for them. Did God care for Bartimaeus more 502 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:54,360 than he cares for Linda? Everybody say no. 503 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,240 So he wanted to heal Bartimaeus, his blindness. 504 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:00,760 Does he not want to heal Linda's vision? 505 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,840 He of course he does. Of course he does. 506 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,280 How could you say that, pastor? Because I know how to read. 507 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:09,200 Remember, that's my claim to fame as your pastor. 508 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:10,800 I know how to read. Good. 509 00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:14,360 So we keep coming back to the Scriptures and we see what God 510 00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:17,680 has done not only to go, wow, I'm amazed that he did that for 511 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:20,320 somebody one time. But we say, well, I just learned 512 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,920 about his nature and his character through what happened 513 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,920 there and also know that if he did it for them like they're 514 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:29,040 nobody special, can you really make that argument? 515 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:31,240 I sure can. Why? 516 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:37,400 Well, because James did turn in your Bible to James chapter 5. 517 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:46,960 This is literally the exact point that James is making with 518 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:50,000 this passage. Can you just look at somebody in 519 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:55,200 the Bible and think will happen for them, but can't happen for 520 00:27:55,200 --> 00:28:00,160 me or it happened for them so it should happen for me In James 521 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:03,480 chapter 5 and verse 13 actually is where I'll take you. 522 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:08,520 The context is physical healing. Everybody say physical healing. 523 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:13,120 I promised you no fancy footwork and no pretzels. 524 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:16,120 Let's read together or I'll read you. 525 00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:19,040 Watch along in your Bible, verse 13. 526 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:22,160 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. 527 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,480 Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 528 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:29,320 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of 529 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:32,720 the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil 530 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:36,200 in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will 531 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:40,520 save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and 532 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:43,360 if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 533 00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:47,600 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one 534 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:51,840 another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person 535 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:56,040 has great power in its working. Thank you, James, that really 536 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:57,920 encouraged me. James goes. 537 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:03,320 I'm not finished. Elijah was a man with a nature 538 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:07,760 like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain 539 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,640 for three years and six months on the earth, and it did not 540 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,480 rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven 541 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,960 gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. 542 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:23,200 James is trying so hard to make the point to go pray and believe 543 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:27,240 God, pray and believe God, pray and believe God. 544 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:31,560 Hey guys, Elijah prayed and believed God and he knew his 545 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,920 audience would go. Elijah the great prophet who was 546 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:36,960 carried up in a chariot and didn't die. 547 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:41,200 And James goes he, he was a man just like us. 548 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:46,400 He was a man just like us. And he prayed that it wouldn't 549 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:49,520 rain on the earth. So for anybody, I I would have 550 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:52,680 never taught this if it wasn't in the Bible, I would have never 551 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:54,800 made this leap. James did it for me, though. 552 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:57,000 I would have never done this. I don't know. 553 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,760 Like, yeah, if you came to me and this verse wasn't in the 554 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:02,640 Scripture, I'll just be honest with you. 555 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:05,640 If you came to me and you're like, pastor, I see in my Bible 556 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:09,320 where Elijah prayed that it wouldn't rain for 3 1/2 years on 557 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:11,400 the earth, and it didn't. And then he prayed again and it 558 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:13,560 rained. Can I do that? 559 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:16,600 I'd be like, absolutely not. That was prophet stuff. 560 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,080 That was prophet stuff. No, no, and no. 561 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:26,520 But now James comes and turns that upside down. 562 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:31,680 Now the exact example is where you would get lost if you would 563 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:33,880 go can I pray for, well, do you have that need? 564 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:38,200 Do you need it to not rain on the earth for 3 1/2 years to 565 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:41,160 bring judgment against, you know, wickedness? 566 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:42,360 Like, is that your power? No. 567 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:43,440 OK. Well, then that's not really the 568 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:46,840 relevant point that James wasn't trying to tell everybody. 569 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:49,440 So therefore that wasn't his connection. 570 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:51,040 His connection was for physical healing. 571 00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:54,360 For physical healing. He's saying, look, Elijah could 572 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:57,200 pray. He's just a man like us, and 573 00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:58,880 everybody's going, what do you mean he's just a man? 574 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:02,960 He's a prophet of God. And he's going, well, yeah, he's 575 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:07,040 the prophet of God, but also he he's just a man. 576 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:12,360 And God honors faith and God will respond to your faith when 577 00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:15,920 you're praying for healing. Did I do anything fancy there or 578 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:17,520 did I do like straight line stuff? 579 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:21,160 I thought so. But you keeps you stick with the 580 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:23,160 book. You stick with the book. 581 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:26,720 The word of God is safe. The book of God is safe for the 582 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:29,600 common man to pick it up, read it and believe it. 583 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:32,880 You know, Christians have enough struggle with doubt and unbelief 584 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:35,920 without their pastor being an additional speed bump for them 585 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:41,440 or other Christians getting in their way. 586 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:43,400 Bartimaeus knew about that too, right? 587 00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:46,400 He remember the story. Bartimaeus, he's crying out. 588 00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:50,240 He hears Jesus is going by Jesus, son of David, have mercy 589 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:51,840 on me. Go shut up, shut up. 590 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:54,200 He's a preacher. He's a teacher. 591 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:59,080 Please have have mercy on me. He's a preacher, he's a teacher. 592 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:01,480 And then Jesus goes, bring him to me. 593 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:03,920 And they go, Bartimaeus, the master's calling you. 594 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:06,640 Oh, let me, I'll walk you up front. 595 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:10,040 Oh, thank you, thank you. I thought I wasn't supposed to 596 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:13,160 get with him. It's almost as though Bartimaeus 597 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:17,800 persistence mattered, right? Just like the woman who we just 598 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:24,200 saw just a few weeks earlier who Jesus was testing told her no 599 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:28,960 when he meant yes because he wanted to bless her and her 600 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:37,920 daughter. This verse here in James is 601 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:41,960 saying explicitly what other verses say obvious, what other 602 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:44,520 verses obviously imply. What is that? 603 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:48,440 That God is not random or arbitrary with his blessing, 604 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:50,960 with his goodness, or with His power. 605 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:55,040 He responds to faith. And there is no age of miracles 606 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:58,600 or man of miracles, but there is a God of miracles. 607 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:04,480 Trust your God, Christian, you will not be put to shame. 608 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:09,600 Amen. Trust your God, trust His word. 609 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:15,760 Again, I'm not attempting to overemphasize the supernatural, 610 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:20,160 although I'm certainly not de emphasizing it because again, 611 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:22,840 there's not an age of miracles, but there is a God of miracles. 612 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:26,800 But I am putting the emphasis on believing God to come through. 613 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,160 The details are His responsibility. 614 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:31,840 The means, the method should be irrelevant to you and I. 615 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:35,680 He could use your financial, He could use your employer to meet 616 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:37,360 your financial need. He could do something else. 617 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:39,680 He could do something so spectacular I can't even think 618 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:44,080 to give an example of it. Just like I didn't care what my 619 00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:46,440 dad did for work. I just trusted. 620 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:49,680 I just believed. Believe God more than you 621 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:52,640 believed your parents as a child growing up. 622 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:57,360 If you asked your earthly father for bread, he wouldn't give you 623 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,000 a stone. Who am I quoting? 624 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:05,840 Jesus, if you asked your earthly father for fish, he would not 625 00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:09,560 give you a snake. Him being evil, if he would do 626 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:13,840 that, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts 627 00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:17,600 to those who ask him? Jesus again makes straight line 628 00:34:17,600 --> 00:34:19,880 connections for us on what good and bad is. 629 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:23,239 He's saying. You guys being evil, you know 630 00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:24,639 how to give good gifts to your kids. 631 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:27,719 Wait, did you just call bread and fish good? 632 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:32,080 Yeah, yeah. Don't get weird, man. 633 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:34,880 That's weird. Like, well, sometimes the Lord 634 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:36,080 might want you to starve to death. 635 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:40,360 Do you want your kids to starve to death? 636 00:34:40,639 --> 00:34:42,120 Well, no. Oh, because you're better than 637 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:43,239 God. Well, no, no, no. 638 00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:45,520 His goodness is like, twisted and different, though. 639 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:48,360 His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our 640 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:50,000 thoughts. Yeah, but he wants them to be. 641 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:54,320 I appreciate that you're quoting that, but the point was he wants 642 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:59,760 our thoughts to be his thoughts. He wants our ways to be His 643 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:02,960 ways. So if a earthly father knows how 644 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:07,360 to give good things, how much more does our heavenly Father 645 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:10,400 know how to give good things? God is good. 646 00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:13,800 He's better than you think. So what are you saying, Pastor? 647 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,000 I'm saying God will provide for you. 648 00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:21,560 Believe His word when you see him feed many thousands with a 649 00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:24,800 miracle on a mountain. Don't just say wow, but no. 650 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:26,400 And remember, Elijah was just a man. 651 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:29,960 Those other people, those people on a mountain were just people, 652 00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:33,880 and the only thing they had was that they were close to God. 653 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:37,360 And that matters. And that's not nothing. 654 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:40,520 That's big. So let that be your other 655 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:42,000 application here. We're closing. 656 00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:50,920 They had been with Jesus. Let that be true for us, that we 657 00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:56,840 are faithfully following Him, loving God, and enjoying Him. 658 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:07,890 We'll close in Matthew chapter 6, verse 25. 659 00:36:07,890 --> 00:36:12,930 Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what 660 00:36:12,930 --> 00:36:19,730 you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body what 661 00:36:19,730 --> 00:36:23,250 you will put on. Is not life more than food and 662 00:36:23,250 --> 00:36:26,210 the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. 663 00:36:26,570 --> 00:36:30,130 They neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your 664 00:36:30,130 --> 00:36:34,640 heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than 665 00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:37,360 they? And which of you, by being 666 00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:39,760 anxious, can add a single hour to His span of life? 667 00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:42,240 And why are you anxious about clothing? 668 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:45,360 Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. 669 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:49,880 They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon and 670 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:51,840 all his glory was not array like one of these. 671 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:56,480 But if God so clothes the grass of the field which today is 672 00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:59,480 alive, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much 673 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:03,640 more clothe you? Oh, you of little faith? 674 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:09,320 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat, what 675 00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:10,800 shall we drink, what shall we wear? 676 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:14,280 That the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly 677 00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:15,720 Father knows that you need them all. 678 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:21,400 But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and 679 00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:24,600 all these things will be added to you. 680 00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:28,640 Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow 681 00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:32,800 will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its 682 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:37,240 own trouble. God cares about the birds and He 683 00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:39,160 feeds the birds, so that's important to Him. 684 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:42,040 Are you of not much? Are you not worth much more than 685 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:46,240 a bird? Your Father knows what you need. 686 00:37:46,240 --> 00:37:47,920 This is the reassurance of Jesus. 687 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:52,560 Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these 688 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:54,040 things will be given to you as well. 689 00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:56,960 All these things given to you How? 690 00:37:57,240 --> 00:37:59,600 That's not my problem, that's not my business. 691 00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:03,600 I have a father for that. That's up to him. 692 00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:07,200 And I will certainly not rule out the miraculous. 693 00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:10,040 And there will be certainly times in life where you will 694 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:13,280 need the miraculous. There will be times where you go 695 00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:17,760 on, OK, all natural measures have been used up, so we need 696 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:20,800 something to happen here. Miraculous, OK. 697 00:38:21,240 --> 00:38:24,040 Your job will be the same though, to just say God, I 698 00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:28,920 believe you, God, I trust you, I believe you, I trust you, My 699 00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:33,640 creativity is limited, Lord, but the Holy Spirit will rise up in 700 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:38,080 you with faith. That is not a formula to cause 701 00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:41,240 you to believe and trust God. And then they will have action 702 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:43,800 to go along with it. He'll give you something to do. 703 00:38:44,560 --> 00:38:47,840 He'll give you a prompting, He'll give you an obedience, but 704 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:50,080 all of this comes out of fellowship with him. 705 00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:52,720 That's the thing that these people had going for him. 706 00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:56,640 If he came with Jesus for that first day and you left in the 707 00:38:56,640 --> 00:39:00,800 fish on day three, no, But those who were there, they stayed in 708 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:02,640 his presence. They decided he's worth it. 709 00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:05,640 When are we going to eat? I don't know if we're going to 710 00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:11,040 eat, but we're with Jesus and I don't know if we're ever going 711 00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:12,920 to experience anything like this ever again. 712 00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:16,720 This is a special moment, and it's worth whatever we have to 713 00:39:16,720 --> 00:39:19,120 give up, whatever suffering we would endure. 714 00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:23,240 So we have times, we have seasons. 715 00:39:23,240 --> 00:39:26,680 We have moments of trials, we have moments of testing, we have 716 00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:31,760 moments of difficulty. But we don't need to wonder. 717 00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:35,040 Or be confused about the nature and character of God during 718 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:38,240 those things and we don't need. To wonder be. 719 00:39:38,240 --> 00:39:41,480 Confused about the final outcome and what the Lord's will is for 720 00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:44,600 it to look like? Look at the compassion of Jesus. 721 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:47,400 This is the. Compassion that he has for. 722 00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:48,560 Those who are close with him, he says. 723 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:51,240 I have compassion on them. I don't want them to faint. 724 00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:57,920 We're reminded by Isaiah. They who wait for the Lord shall 725 00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:00,880 renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings 726 00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:04,320 like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. 727 00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:06,640 They shall walk and not faint. Amen. 728 00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:09,400 It's in the. Presence of the Lord. 729 00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:13,960 Where fainting is prevented. God's promises are. 730 00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:20,680 Conditional Amen. Those who wait for the Lord, it 731 00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:24,040 doesn't just say everyone everywhere all the time shall 732 00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:27,760 renew their strength. But many Christians read their. 733 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:31,600 Bible that way. Everyone, everywhere shall 734 00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:33,160 mount. Up with wings like eagles all 735 00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:36,440 the time. Everyone everywhere shall always 736 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:40,120 run and not be weary. Everyone everywhere shall always 737 00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:43,360 walk and not faint. There was an important, 738 00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:45,080 important statement at the beginning. 739 00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:50,560 They who wait for the Lord. Do I qualify for? 740 00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:54,720 The promises that follow. If I don't, I won't. 741 00:40:54,720 --> 00:40:57,400 Get into condemnation. I will get into his presence. 742 00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:01,320 And I'll say, God, I love you. God, I need you. 743 00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:03,200 I haven't been seeing your power. 744 00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:05,240 I do feel dry. I do feel weary. 745 00:41:05,240 --> 00:41:08,200 I do feel faint. Well, what does that tell you, 746 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:09,520 John? Michael, where have you been? 747 00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:12,960 Apparently not on the mountainside. 748 00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:21,720 God is compassionate for you. God is going to provide for you 749 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:24,440 wanting to. Look around and get eye. 750 00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:26,920 Contact with every you as I say it. 751 00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:34,040 And you? Pursue the Lord. 752 00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:40,000 You pursue the Lord. You pursue him and His presence. 753 00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:42,640 All these other things will be added unto you. 754 00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:47,280 God, we thank you for your. Promises We thank you for your 755 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:49,480 protection. We thank you for your provision. 756 00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:51,280 We thank you for your compassion. 757 00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:54,000 We thank you for your love. You're so good and you're 758 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:59,120 perfect in all your ways. I thank you for blessing your 759 00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:01,760 people. And caring for them. 760 00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:05,320 You are better than any earthly father, and we have known some 761 00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:09,360 good fathers on this earth. We've seen some loving and. 762 00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:11,720 Kind and compassionate, caring fathers. 763 00:42:12,080 --> 00:42:15,760 How much more how? How they must just be a? 764 00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:21,040 Small token, a small emblem, a small representation of the. 765 00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:24,800 Bigness, the greatness. Of your goodness, you're so 766 00:42:24,800 --> 00:42:26,320 wonderful and you're better than we think. 767 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:29,760 Build our faith. Help us to. 768 00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:33,040 Trust you more, not just for ourselves but for others. 769 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:37,720 They we would be the ones who see the Kingdom come and your 770 00:42:37,720 --> 00:42:42,320 will be done as we pray for it, as we pursue it and as we as we 771 00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:45,880 are the hands and feet for it. Glorify your name among us. 772 00:42:45,880 --> 00:42:56,800 God move in power in Jesus name. And now the Lord bless you and 773 00:42:56,800 --> 00:43:00,080 keep you. The Lord make his face shine 774 00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:02,360 down upon you and be gracious to you. 775 00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:06,560 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you great 776 00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:09,120 peace in Jesus. Name. 777 00:43:09,840 --> 00:43:10,280 Amen.