You
And turn to him number two glory to his name
Him number two glory to his name
You
Glory to his name
There to my heart was the blood of white
Glory to his name
I
Am so wondrously saved from sin
Jesus
There at the cross where he took me
To his name
Glory to his name
There to my heart was the blood of white
Glory to his name
Full precious mountain that saves from sin
I am so glad I have entered in
There Jesus saves me and keeps me free
Glory to his name
There to my heart was the blood of white
Glory to his name
Come to this fountain so rich and sweet
Cast thy poor soul at the Savior's feet
Plunge into day and be made complete
Glory to his name
There to my heart was the blood of white
Glory to his name
Kneel at the cross
Christ will meet you there
Come while he waits for you
Listen to his voice
Leave him with your care
And be in life anew
Kneel at the cross
Meet him every year
Kneel at the cross
Jesus will meet you there
Kneel at the cross
There is room for all
Whom would his glory share
Bliss there awaits
Hark and e'er we fall
Those who are anchored there
Kneel at the cross
Leave every care
Kneel at the cross
Jesus will meet you there
Kneel at the cross
Give your idols up
Look unto realms above
Turn not away
To thy sparkling cup
Trust only in his love
Kneel at the cross
Leave every care
Kneel at the cross
Jesus will meet you there
For the camera can get you one
Again we have the Isaiah 53 passage
That we're working on memorizing
Service and soul winning times
As well as a new nursing
Home ministry opportunity
If you would like to be
In participation
Ask Brother Fer and we
Could use preachers and just helpers
So even if you don't want to preach
You could just go and help assist
And that would be a big blessing
As well
And then also we have our church stats
We have some events
On the right, our fifth Sunday
Fellowship is going to be barbecued
June 4th, men's preaching
July 29th
There is a homeschool PE class on
Mondays at 5.30
And the address is listed below
Then we have upcoming events
There is the homeschool field trip
To the Stafford Air and Space Museum
June 2nd
June 17th is men's paintball
I'm just disappointed I don't get to shoot Cameron
So maybe I should come up here
Just so I can do that
And then July 13th
Pastor Steven Anderson is going to be guest preaching
For us
I had to put in the bullets
We have our men's conference
August 17th through the 19th
And that's Thursday
Friday, Saturday
Even if you can't make
Every single day you're still welcome
To attend the event
Sign up sheet
Also I had mentioned this morning
We have the Fire Breathing Baptist
Fellowship event
It's a conference we're having in the DFW area
And it's October
I believe 12th, 13th, and 14th
So that's a Thursday, Friday, Saturday
And we're going to have a lot of guest preachers
Coming in
So if you can make it
That would be a lot of fun
We'll have our kids spelling bee again
That we've had every year
And we'll have some other fellowship
Type activities
But I just want to at least get the dates
Out there
We also brought some shirts with us
For the Preserve Bible film
We want everyone to get one
If, for whatever reason, we missed your size
Or you want a different one
Or something like that
Please let Brother Ferno
And we'll get some shirts in here
So make sure you guys can all get one
And we have some kids CDs
So if you want one of those kids CDs
It's an audio CD
And then we have our films
And our movie tickets
And it seemed like the people that we talked to today
Handing out the movie tickets, they really liked it
And so we like it as a soul winning tool
I think people are kind of interested
Usually they're confused
They feel like you have to go to the movies
So I'm just always telling them
It's an online movie you can watch for free
Whenever you would like
But it's very good to see you guys
Again, it's not all the time
But that's as much of Cameron I can handle at a time
And so, you know, you can blame him
But no, I'm just kidding
We love Brother Cameron
And our family loves coming up here and seeing all of you guys
And it's great to see you guys being steadfast up here
And still getting lots of people saved in the Oklahoma area
So someone's got to do the dirty work, right?
Alright, we can go to our third song
23, there is power in the blood
This morning we were washed
And now we get the power, alright?
I feel so loved after those announcements
There's power in the blood, hymn number 23
There is power in the blood, hymn number 23
Let's sing it
Would you be free from your burden of sin
There's power in the blood, power in the blood
Would you, O evil of victory, win
There's wonderful power in the blood
There is power, power
Wonder working power in the blood
Of the Lamb
There is power, power
Wonder working power in the precious blood
Of the Lamb
Would you be free from your passion and pride
There's power in the blood, power in the blood
Come for a cleansing to Calvary's night
There's wonderful power in the blood
There is power, power
Wonder working power in the blood
Of the Lamb
There is power, power
Wonder working power in the precious blood
Of the Lamb
Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow
There's power in the blood, power in the blood
Since things are lost in its life giving flow
There's wonderful power in the blood
There is power, power
Wonder working power in the blood
Of the Lamb
There is power, power
Wonder working power in the precious blood
Of the Lamb
Would you do service for Jesus your King
There's power in the blood, power in the blood
Would you live daily, it's gracious to see
There's wonderful power in the blood
There is power, power
Wonder working power in the blood
Of the Lamb
There is power, power
Wonder working power in the precious blood
Of the Lamb
Amen. Good singing this evening.
While the offering plates are being passed around,
please turn if you would to Matthew chapter number 15.
Matthew chapter number 15.
The Bible reads,
Then came to Jesus, scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?
For they wash not their hands when they eat bread, that he answered and said unto them,
Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and thy mother, and
He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or to his mother,
It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me,
And honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free.
Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition,
Ye hypocrites.
Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips,
But their heart is far from me.
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
And he called the multitude, and said unto them,
Hear and understand, not that which goeth into the mouth, defileth a man,
But that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
Then came his disciples, and said unto him,
Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly father hath not planted,
Shall be rooted up.
Let them alone, they be blind leaders of the blind,
And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Then answered Peter, and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.
And Jesus said, Are ye also without understanding?
Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth,
Goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the drought?
But those things which proceedeth out of the mouth,
Come forth from the heart, and they defile the man.
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adultries, fornications, thefts,
False witnesses, blasphemies, these are the things which defile a man,
But to eat with unwashed hands defileth not a man.
Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coast of Tyre and Sidon,
And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast,
And cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David,
My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil.
But he answered her not a word, and his disciples came and besought him,
Saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us.
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs.
And she said, Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table.
Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith,
Be it unto thee even as thou wilt, and her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee,
And went up into a mountain, and sat down there.
And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others,
And cast them down at Jesus' feet, and he healed them,
In so much that the multitude wondered when they saw the dumb to speak,
And the maimed to be whole, and the lame to walk, and the blind to see.
And they glorified the God of Israel.
Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude,
Because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat,
And I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.
And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness,
As to fill so great a multitude?
And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye?
And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.
And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground,
And he took the seven loaves and the fishes,
And gave thanks and break them, and gave to his disciples,
And the disciples to the multitude,
And they did all eat, and were filled,
And they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full,
And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children,
And he sent away the multitude, and took ship,
And came into the coasts of Magdala.
Let's pray.
So I wanted to focus on the latter portion of this chapter,
Kind of referred to as the feeding of four thousand,
Which typically I think of the feeding of five thousand,
And they're very similar stories,
But I really like this one of the feeding of four thousand,
Based on some of the ways that it's describing the events,
And some of the spiritual parallels that you can draw out of this particular story.
But it starts here in kind of verse thirty, where it says,
And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others,
And cast them down at Jesus' feet, and he healed them,
Insomuch that the multitude wondered,
When they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole,
The lame to walk, and the blind to see,
And they glorified the God of Israel.
And often in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ uses carnal truths, or physical truths, to illustrate spiritual truths.
And salvation itself is often likened unto these miracles that Jesus often would perform,
Where someone is lame, or dumb, or maimed.
And it uses kind of four examples here.
It says, those that were lame, it shows in verse number thirty-one that they began to walk.
And so someone that's lame is someone that was not able to walk physically,
Their legs perhaps are either broken, or deformed, or some kind of issue,
But now they're able to walk, and they're able to do things.
One thing that I liken this on a spiritual perspective is,
We were lame spiritually, and now we're able spiritually,
And the context that I think would be in sin.
When we were in sin and we weren't saved, we were unable to not walk in sin.
We were not able to, you know, be a servant of righteousness, we were just a servant of sin.
But then when you get saved, you're actually able to walk in newness of life,
You're able to walk a spiritual walk, you have the capability of now serving God,
And being free from sin.
And so we see that kind of a spiritual connection here,
Where you have those who are lame, now they can walk,
Just like we, as being unregenerate in that state,
We were not able to do righteousness.
And that's something that's important to understand,
Those who are not saved cannot walk in righteousness.
They're a servant of sin, they're a slave to sin,
They don't have the capability of doing this,
And so, just like someone who's lame can't walk,
Those who are not saved can't walk in righteousness.
They can't truly love the way the Bible describes true love.
They're not able to conquer sin,
But now that they're saved, in a physical sense,
They're able, just like when we're saved spiritually,
We're able to walk and to conquer sin.
Another one is blind.
He shows those who are blind now can see.
When someone's unsaved, it's like a literal blindness,
In the sense that someone who's blind can't,
You know, they have nothing around them,
They have no perception of reality around them.
That's the same for unsaved people.
They have no perception of reality.
It's like they can't see anything,
And so their conclusions are all weird and bizarre.
And living in America today, wow,
You can really see the blindness, can't you?
People just believing all kinds of delusion,
And lies, and fraud, and all kinds of strange things,
And you're thinking like,
Why is this person succumbing to all of this lies and deception?
It's because they're just blind.
So much false doctrine.
You think like, how could anybody ever believe any of this stuff?
It's just because they're blind,
And they haven't been able to see yet.
And until you get saved,
Nothing in this world will even make sense, whatsoever.
Just like I always, I tell somebody,
If you've been blind your entire life,
Or if you're around someone that was blind their entire life,
And you try to describe to them what the color purple looks like,
It would be impossible,
Because they have no frame of reference.
You could say, well, it's kind of like a mixture of blue and red,
And they're like, well, what's that?
You know, it looks like grapes are purple,
And it's like, what's a grape?
You know, it'd be impossible to describe to somebody what color looks like,
If they've never seen in their entire life.
And this is the same way,
If you're trying to explain biblical doctrine to someone who's not even saved,
You're never going to get anywhere.
So that's why it's not really beneficial,
To try and explain a lot of doctrine,
Or theological concepts to someone that's not even saved.
You have to first get them saved,
Where they can even see,
To then explain other concepts in the scripture.
Another aspect of this is that some people were dumb,
But now they can speak.
And again, often when you hear words like lame and dumb,
You think of someone being stupid or not cool.
But dumb in the Bible is referencing someone that's incapable of speaking.
So there would be like a mute.
And what it's saying is this person was not able to speak,
But now they can.
And I like this spiritually in the context of when we were unsaved,
We were incapable of speaking the truth,
Or having any kind of wisdom,
But once you get saved,
Now you have the ability to speak the truth,
And you have the ability to speak wisdom that comes from the scriptures.
And so you now have the capability of having that boldness.
Also, those who were maimed,
According to the scripture,
It says that they have been made whole.
So it's a restoration.
It's a healing.
And the same is with us in the sense that when we were sinners,
And unsaved,
We were broken in a sense.
And once you became saved,
Your spirit has become alive.
It's become renewed.
It's become whole inside of you.
And you're just, you're truly saved.
You know, you actually have,
It's not like you're partially saved.
You know, we believe once you've been saved, you're saved.
You know, there's not like a needed checkup.
You don't have to go back to the spiritual doctor,
And make sure you're getting all your routine checkups or something like that.
No, once you get saved, you're saved forever.
And so we kind of have these spiritual pictures about salvation.
Now, I explained all that,
Because I think that this whole chapter,
Or specifically this whole portion of this chapter,
Deals a lot with pictures of salvation itself.
And the feeding of 4,000 has a lot of gospel pictures to it.
But if we look at verse number 32,
He kind of starts going into more about this group.
It says,
Then Jesus called his disciples unto him and said,
I have compassion on the multitude,
Because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat.
And I will not send them away fasting,
Lest they faint in the way.
So notice a couple things about this story.
A bunch of people came out to hear Jesus preach.
Many of them were in need of a physical miracle.
Whether they were lame, blind,
And he healed all of them physically.
But then after that physical healing,
They didn't bring any food with them,
Or they ran out of food at this point.
And according to Jesus,
He's having compassion on them,
Because he says for three days,
They've eaten nothing.
So for this period of time,
They've had no food.
That's a long time.
Can you imagine going to hear Jesus preach for three days,
And you haven't eaten a single thing?
Now that also tells me how compelling of a preacher Jesus was,
Because I feel like after about an hour,
People are already checking out.
They're like, you know,
I mean, can you imagine how long,
How long would you literally stay in the room if I just kept preaching,
With nothing to eat?
It would not be three days.
I know for a fact.
You know, pretty soon people would be like,
All right, we're heading out.
You know, I'm not that compelling of a preacher at all.
But imagine, Jesus is such a good preacher,
That you're willing to just keep hearing him preach,
And having no food.
I mean, that's a long period of time.
And he's not like thinking,
Oh, well, you know, that's your fault.
He has compassion on them.
He's upset that they don't have any of this food.
He's like, I don't want to then send them away now,
Because they might literally just pass out.
They might could just literally even die,
From not having eaten for this long,
And they're in the wilderness,
So they have nothing.
This is when he says in verse 33,
The disciples say unto them,
Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness?
As the filth so great a multitude,
And Jesus saith unto them,
How many loaves have you?
So he's like, Hey,
I don't want these guys to go away without any food.
And they're like thinking like,
How are you going to feed this group of 4000 people?
Which is an insurmountable task in some ways.
I was joking with Cameron before the sermon,
I was like, what if this was 4000 Cameron's,
you know, and he's like Taco Bell order.
I mean, you go to the talk about it.
I need 20,000 tacos, you know,
I mean, that would only be five tacos a person,
you know, per person.
I'm like, Cameron could probably eat more than that.
You know, I mean, I could eat like seven or eight.
So, you know, and I mean,
any grown man could eat a lot of food.
I mean,
so we're talking about a large amount of food,
think about just the cost associated with that.
20,000 tacos or, you know, burgers or whatever it is,
I mean, a five bucks a pop.
I mean, if it was $5 a taco,
which that might be a little extreme,
but just for easy math,
if you have 20,005 bucks,
you're talking about $100,000 worth of food for one meal.
How many of us could just how many of you could just
drop 100 G's on feeding some people real quick, right?
I mean, think about the impractical situation here.
It's they have no, they can't afford it.
How can you even get it?
How can you even prepare that much food that quickly?
You know, we've had food fellowships,
it's difficult to feed 50 people, let alone 4000.
And if you get the numbers right,
this is just the men that we're talking about.
We're not even, you know,
the women and the children apparently don't even count,
you know, but just in the census
for at least 4000 grown men, including tons of children,
women, this is something that's basically just impossible.
You're in the will.
It's not even like it would be impossible
to just get a fast food order for that.
But they don't even have fast food.
They're in the wilderness.
And a wilderness in this context
is not like a bunch of trees
and there's some squirrels and stuff like that.
Maybe you can catch a deer.
There's like nothing here.
We're talking about desert, sand, nothing.
And the disciples are looking at like this is impossible.
Now, it says in Jesus says,
well, how much food do we got, right?
How many loaves have you?
And they said seven and a few little fishes.
Well, that's not gonna work, is it?
I mean, how in the world could you cut that up?
How are you gonna cut up seven pieces of bread
enough to feed 4000?
I mean, you'd have to cut up
these pieces of bread like 500 times, at least.
I mean, more than that,
just to give everybody a slipper.
And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.
He took the seven loaves and the fishes
and gave thanks and break them
and gave the disciples
and the disciples of the multitude.
And they did all eat and were filled.
And they took up of the broken meat
that was left seven best of all.
So again, another amazing miracle.
This is not something that's physically possible.
There was nothing about this
that could even ever happen.
It was a pure miracle,
just like the lame walking,
just like every other miracle is performed.
But the cool thing about this picture
is the spiritual aspect of this one as well.
What is kind of the spiritual picture of this?
Well, the spiritual picture of this
is the gospel message.
Because just like they're in the wilderness
and they have nothing to eat,
is like those who are unsaved,
us as sinners, who have no way of saving ourselves.
We're destined to hell and we have no option
and there's nothing that could possibly
remedy the situation.
Only a miracle would be able to feed us.
Only a miracle would be able to deliver us
from impending doom.
And they're kind of arguably
in an impending doom situation.
If you go without food long enough,
you're in a wilderness,
you could just pass out, die.
It's a very dangerous situation to be in.
And so just like sinners who are not saved
are in a dangerous situation
because at any moment
they could literally perish and just wake up in hell.
And so you kind of have this situation
where Jesus has compassion on those people
and he wants them to have nourishment
and he wants to deliver them.
So he gives them bread.
It says in verse 34,
he gives them seven loaves and a few vicious.
Now, what's kind of interesting is this,
is they end up eating the food
and they were all filled.
But you remember what it was?
They were without for three days.
Isn't that an interesting number?
It's kind of like you have the gospel where Jesus dies
and for three days you have nothing.
But then on that third day,
what, they get completely filled.
And so you kind of have that little symbol
of the gospel message
where they're without for these three days
but then they're completely filled
just like they were without Jesus for three days
but then you have that restoration of Jesus Christ.
And that's kind of also how salvation works
in the sense that Jesus Christ,
he's the only way that they could get nourishment
in this wilderness.
There was no one else
that was going to be able to provide them with nourishment.
They had no other option.
But Jesus was enough to feed all of them.
He gave all of them nourishment
and they were all filled.
Just like when we get saved,
it's not like a partial salvation.
It's 100% salvation, 100% nourishment,
just like the gospel message.
Other things that are kind of interesting about this
is they were full.
They don't need anything else.
Jesus was enough.
Think about salvation.
It wasn't like them plus what they found for food.
It wasn't, well, I also got some berries.
Well, I also went and worked hard.
It's just a faith alone, isn't it?
They just trusted in Jesus
and Jesus is the only thing that gave them
and they were completely full only of Jesus.
Just like my salvation is only of Jesus Christ.
I didn't bring anything to the table.
I didn't have anything to offer.
I didn't give my life to get this nourishment.
Just like they didn't give their life.
No, Jesus is the one that gave them all the food.
He nourished them and blessed them
and so he gives them everything.
Another thing that's interesting,
in verse 34 it says there were seven loaves.
Now, seven is an interesting number in the Bible
because it often pictures completion or perfection
and you see the seventh day in the Bible.
That was the perfection, the completion of scripture.
You often have seven as a picture of completion
in a lot of different ways.
But think about this.
Christ, when he was put on the cross,
was a perfect lamb.
He was the spotless lamb
and there was no fault found within him.
He's perfect and he's complete.
But what does Jesus do with the bread?
Verse 36, he took the seven loaves and the fishes
and he gave any break them.
Well, what happened with Jesus Christ?
He was broken for us
so that we could then have restoration.
And in verse 37, they took up seven baskets full.
So we see it go from perfection to broken
to then back to a restoration of seven again.
But not only just seven loaves, it went to seven baskets.
So it was even more.
Think about this.
Jesus Christ, when he first came,
he didn't come in the glorified status.
He came in a little bit more humble and a lower status.
But after his death, burial and resurrection,
now he's in a more glorified status.
Just like now you don't have seven loaves,
you have seven baskets full of food.
And it's more than even what you need.
It's more than enough, right?
If you would keep your finger here,
but go to 1 Corinthians 11.
Let's look at some more Bible on the subject
and think about how the language is
in comparison to this particular story
of what Jesus Christ did for us.
Now, 1 Corinthians 11 deals with the issue
of the Lord's Supper and kind of the latter portion.
And Jesus Christ makes a lot of symbols
in the Lord's Supper clear about the New Testament
and what his body represents
and what the blood represents.
And in 1 Corinthians 11, the apostle Paul
is reminding us of what Christ said.
He says in verse 23,
For I have received of the Lord
that which also I delivered unto you,
that the Lord Jesus the same night
in which he was betrayed took bread.
And when he had given thanks,
he break it and said,
This is my body, which is broken for you,
this do in remembrance of me.
Now, isn't that really cool
how it's making the same kind of connection,
how it has to be broken for them?
Just like the food was broken for them to all have it,
Jesus had to be broken for us.
If you had just the seven loaves,
then you wouldn't have fed the 4,000.
It was just like, well, here's one, two, three, four.
We passed out all seven.
In order to be able to multiply it,
it had to be broken, didn't it?
Just like for us to have salvation,
Jesus Christ had to take our sin
and had to die on the cross
and had to be broken for us
so that we could have forgiveness of sins.
Also, the number doesn't matter,
whether it be 4,000, 5,000, 10 billion people.
It doesn't matter what the number is.
Christ can multiply for everyone else.
And it makes me think of other scriptures.
Go to, if you would, to Romans 5 for a moment.
Go to Romans 5.
And this is where people who try to use logic
with the Bible often fail, especially Calvinists,
because they always try to logic everything.
But not everything always fits human reasoning
or human logic.
They'll say, well, if Jesus paid
for every single person's sins,
then how come people will go to hell for their sins?
And this is their logic.
They'll say, well, that's like double jeopardy,
because how can Jesus pay for it
and then you have to pay for it.
And that's why they believe in limited atonement.
And limited atonement suggests
that Jesus didn't pay for everyone,
didn't really buy everybody's sins.
He only paid for the elect's sins.
He only paid for those.
But no, no, no, no.
He paid for everyone.
Just like they had seven baskets left over,
he could have fed even more people.
His offering was sufficient to feed even more.
And if there had been more people,
there would have been more baskets full.
Because his sacrifice is enough for everyone.
And he truly paid for everyone.
Look what it says in Romans 5 18.
Therefore, as by the offense of one,
judgment came upon all men to condemnation.
Even so, by the righteousness of one,
the free gift came upon all men
under the justification of life.
Hey Calvinist, all men.
What does that mean?
It means all.
I don't know if theologians have a hard time with words.
But all is a pretty clear word.
I think even kids understand all.
And notice that the free gift was by one person unto all.
So you say, well, it's not fair for Jesus to pay for sins
and then someone else has to pay for them.
I don't care what you think is fair.
I mean, nothing from human logic is going to make sense
because wouldn't every single person deserve death in hell?
So does that mean that Jesus has to die
eight billion times or whatever?
No.
He could die one time, couldn't he?
And he could go to hell for just a short space.
He could just taste of death for all of humankind.
But he truly did die for everyone
and was broken for everyone.
And he has enough of himself that he can give
to every single person that piece of bread
and they can take the life,
the eternal life that God has for them
and he has even more beyond what people are going to take.
He had more left over.
And that's the sad reality.
Sad reality is that there's baskets full of bread
that Jesus was offering to people
and some people aren't going to take of it.
Some people aren't going to get the salvation
that is offered to them.
But be it known, he had enough to give to everyone.
Go to John chapter number six, go to John chapter number six.
So we see a lot of interesting parallels here
with Jesus Christ and the feeding of the 4,000.
I think it's kind of unique how
you have the seven loaves are broken
and then you have the seven baskets
of that full picture of the perfection
but then the brokenness and then the restoration,
the resurrection.
He also says something similar in John six.
Look at verse 32.
He says,
Then Jesus said unto them,
Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Moses gave you not that bread from heaven,
but my Father give you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven
and giveth life unto the world.
So Jesus Christ likens himself unto bread
and acts like he's the one giving them bread.
Skip to, or let's do verse 34.
Then said they unto him,
Lord, evermore give us this bread.
Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life.
He that cometh to me shall never hunger,
and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
So according to the Bible, if you believe in Christ,
you're never going to be hungry,
you're never going to thirst.
So he did physical miracles to illustrate the spiritual truth.
What was the physical miracle?
They came to Jesus and they got bread and they were full.
What's the spiritual aspect of this?
You believe on Christ and then you're full.
And when it means full there,
it's talking about that you're saved forever.
Notice you'll never hunger again.
You'll never thirst again.
What does that mean?
I never need to get saved again.
I never have to worry about hell again
because I'm not, you know what?
That got me closer to heaven,
but I need another booster here.
I need a little bit more here.
No, no, no.
That one meal satisfied you for your whole life.
It's called eternal life.
You only need to get it one time.
And then once you have it, you're completely full.
Look at verse 50.
The Bible says,
this is the bread which cometh down from heaven
that a man may eat thereof and not die.
Wow, isn't that cool?
Just like they're in the wilderness,
they have to eat that bread to not die,
to not faint in the wilderness and die,
just like we have to eat of the bread of life
so that we won't die, meaning perish and go to hell.
And it says in verse 51,
I am the living bread which came down from heaven.
If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever.
And the bread that I will give is my flesh,
which I will give for the life of the world.
So Jesus knew what he was doing
when he was doing these miracles.
He wasn't just randomly like,
let's just feed people a bunch of bread for fun.
No, he knew he was symbolizing
how he was gonna have to give of himself
and how he was the bread of life
and how he was gonna have to be broken
and how he was gonna be offering that to all these people
and how salvation was simply coming to Jesus
and accepting his free gift,
just like this bread was free.
He didn't charge anybody for it.
They didn't have to work for it.
They didn't have to be a good person.
Did he say, well, you know,
how many sins have you repented of today?
No bread for you, right?
It was just free bread.
Hey, you showed up, you came to Jesus,
take of the bread.
All you had to do is just take the bread
and of course you didn't have to just believe
the bread exists.
You had to actually take it and eat it, okay?
It's like calling on the name of the Lord, all right?
We put our faith in him.
You take of the water of life freely
and it's that free gift extended out to you
and you take it and he gave of himself.
Go to 1 John chapter one.
So when you kind of pay attention
to some of these symbols,
it's interesting how they connect
with a lot of other parallel passages
and a lot of other places.
And it gives us more meaning to these parables,
you know, or through these stories
or the places in scripture
where Jesus Christ performed a miracle
that it wasn't just random accidental.
All of Jesus Christ's miracles
picture and foreshadow the gospel
and things that have to do with his life.
They weren't just random.
And of course all the physical healings
that he did were to illustrate
the spiritual healing that everybody needed.
And the Pharisees, they just couldn't see it.
And isn't it interesting,
the Pharisees would get mad at the physical healing.
Why?
Because they were really mad
at the spiritual healing, weren't they?
They would get mad at Lazarus
or someone being, you know, risen from the dead.
They would get mad at the lame
or someone walking, the Sabbath, you know.
And they would just get mad at the physical healing
because they just hate Jesus.
And they hate salvation by faith
and they hate the gospel message.
And it's no different today.
We have Pharisees a day
that get mad about salvation being easy.
They get mad at it being free.
Why?
Because if it's free,
they can't make any money on it, can they?
You know, why do you think
so many churches don't like soul winning?
Because it's not gonna bring you anything.
Just like, I mean, Jesus,
you think it was, people were like,
hey Jesus, how can we also
just give a bunch of free food out?
Like restaurants weren't trying to do that plan.
They were like, no, we charge for food here, you know.
We're not looking to see how much we can give out.
And it's like soul winning is not something
that you're gonna get anything from.
It's just giving of yourself.
And Jesus was one who's just giving of himself
and just giving of the bread
and just wanting people to have nourishment
and to be rescued from death ultimately.
Now it says in 1 John chapter one, verse seven,
I always use this out soul winning
to illustrate something important.
Look at the latter portion.
It says in the blood of Jesus Christ,
his son cleanses us from all sin.
So what Jesus truly did is he truly paid it all
just like they were all filled.
They weren't partially filled.
They weren't somewhat filled.
They didn't need a snack later.
They were all the way filled
just like Jesus all the way paid every single sin.
So let's go to Matthew chapter number five.
I don't need to go to Matthew 15
if you're keeping your finger there.
What's some other applications we can make?
I think that the most important
that we can draw from this text
is the gospel message.
We made a lot of connections.
There's probably even more than what I just made.
And I am already blown away
by how many were just in the text just right there.
But we wanna make the gospel application.
Another thing that we could make
is an application of this
is how Jesus kinda gives of himself
for the nourishment of others.
And now we too should follow in his footsteps
to where we should be willing to give of ourselves
for the nourishment of other people.
This can be obviously in our family,
a husband laying down his life.
Just like Christ laid down his life,
a husband is supposed to be able to lay down his life
for his wife and for his family.
Meaning that as a man,
you have to make a lot of sacrifices often
for your family and for your children.
Also, just again, like I said, soul winning.
Soul winning is not going to benefit you
in a carnal sense.
I guess you get a little walking
and you get a little exercise.
But virtually speaking,
you're really just giving of yourself.
You're giving of your time.
You're giving of your effort.
You're giving of your energy.
You're giving of your intellect.
Sometimes soul winning can be a little challenging even
because you're dealing with someone
a little bit ornery or hostile or difficult.
They've been lied to a lot.
They've been deceived.
And having studied more and more Bible,
it makes you a little more skilled,
able to communicate with people.
And that can take a lot out of you.
You can be drained.
If you do a soul winning marathon,
boy you're tired at the end of the day.
And it's a giving of yourself.
But this is what Jesus did
so that others could have nourishment
and ultimately picturing salvation.
And that's what we should do is be willing
to give of ourselves for that nourishment.
Of course, we can look at this story
about the feeding of the 4,000
from the perspective of the individuals too.
These individuals came to seek after Jesus, weren't they?
They were hungry and thirsty for something.
Well, look at Matthew chapter five verse six.
The Bible says this.
Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.
Notice, isn't that an interesting beatitude
that if you're hungry and you're thirsting,
but notice this, after righteousness,
you're going to be filled.
Now, I would like both applications of this
because number one, they that sought after Jesus,
they were seeking after righteousness, weren't they?
And what's one way that they got filled?
Didn't they get filled physically?
They literally, Jesus filled them physically
and met their physical needs that they were wanting.
When Jesus Christ disciples asked him in the next chapter,
in Matthew chapter six,
hey, how do we pray or teach us how to pray
or he's teaching them how to pray.
What is one of the first things that he says?
Give us this day our daily bread.
So Jesus is concerned with our physical needs
and our physical needs are still met
when we're searching after righteousness,
we're seeking after his righteousness.
Another thing, obviously,
when you're seeking after Jesus' righteousness,
you know what you're going to get?
Spiritual salvation.
Because what does Romans chapter number 10
tell us that his righteousness is?
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth.
So when you're seeking,
how do I get righteous from Jesus?
You're seeking, how do I get righteous from the Bible?
You realize, oh, you can't on your own.
You're not righteous.
The only way you get is the imputed righteousness
from believing in Jesus.
And those that truly seek after Jesus
will find the truth and they will be saved.
They will seek and they will find
and they will get that, they'll be filled.
Because everyone that seeks Jesus' righteousness
gets salvation, eternal life, and they're saved,
and so they have that.
But once we get saved,
should we stop seeking after Jesus?
Should we stop hungering and thirsting for righteousness?
Well, no.
Look at chapter 6, just flip the page,
and look at what it says in verse 31.
Matthew chapter 6, verse 31.
Therefore, take no thought, saying,
What shall we eat?
Or what shall we drink?
Or wherewith shall we be clothed?
For after all these things do the Gentiles seek,
for your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things,
but seek ye first the kingdom of God.
And notice this phrase.
And His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you.
So notice it's telling you to seek His righteousness.
Just like in Matthew chapter number 5,
it's telling you, hey, you're hungering
and thirsting after righteousness.
And notice in chapter 5 it says to be filled.
And notice in chapter number 6,
it says all these things shall be added unto you.
What were the things that are added unto you?
Well, in verse 31 it says what you eat,
what you drink, and what you're clothed with.
So notice all of your physical needs
are met for when you are seeking His righteousness.
What if I'm not seeking His righteousness?
Well, then you may actually be without.
You may end up having problems in these areas
of your carnal and your physical needs.
And, you know, when we talk about food and clothing,
it's pretty hard for us Americans to really relate to this
because almost none of us
have probably ever even struggled with that.
I mean, how many of us are really just, like,
on the edge of our bed or biting our fingernails
of thinking, am I going to get food today?
You know, it's probably not happening.
But what I would say is this.
There is a lot of other physical needs that we have
or carnal needs that we have
that Jesus is also going to meet
when you're seeking His righteousness,
that you're going to miss out on
when you're not seeking His righteousness.
What would be some of those other needs,
carnally speaking, Pastor Shelley?
How about the blessings of marriage?
There are real blessings of marriage
that you get when you're seeking His righteousness.
And people that are not married
or living a fornicating lifestyle
or living a lifestyle of adultery,
they're not really reaping all the benefits
that come from seeking God
and having righteousness in your life
has been as of a godly marriage.
You know, they might act like they're having so much fun,
but I guarantee they're not having nearly as much fun
as a happy married couple.
They're not getting all their physical needs met
the same way that they would from a happy married couple.
You know, I guarantee these guys with their girls,
their baes or whatever you want to call them,
they're like, oh, me and my bae.
You know, I bet your bae is not making you lunch every day.
I bet your bae isn't just doing whatever you want her to do
all the time.
You can't just tell her what to do, right?
And she's probably not putting little love notes
all around the house for you
because you're not even having a godly marriage, right?
You don't have that same connection you would
in the carnal world.
Not only that, just even children.
How many people are not going to church,
not serving God,
and their children are just wonderful
and they just love them?
You know what I noticed from the world?
They can't stand their own children.
And even just us, when we go out in public
and they see our children,
they're just thinking like, whoa,
how do your kids like obey and sit still?
They're like blown away
that your kids aren't just a burden 24-7, right?
And of course kids are difficult
and even our kids, we all struggle and we have problems.
But you know, the world's children are really a headache
and they're really a problem.
Why?
Because they're not seeking his rights.
They're not disciplining them appropriately
and they're not reaping the benefits,
carnally speaking, of having good children,
godly children, children that love the Lord,
children that are sweet.
How about this?
Just children that are innocent.
I'll tell you, it is a blessing
to have children be so innocent and so pure.
You know, have eight-year-olds,
nine-year-olds, 10-year-olds,
teenagers, young teenagers,
not understand all the weird things
that are going in the world.
Whereas we go to some of these rough apartment complexes,
you'll have five, six, seven-year-olds
saying the most filthy, weird, gross things
and you're like, who is feeding you this junk?
And you're not getting the benefit
from the child's innocence.
It's already been robbed from them, hasn't it?
Because they're not seeking God's righteousness
and they're taking away a lot of the innocence
of this youth.
They're taking the innocence away from the young teenagers
and they're going down a wrong road,
going down an evil road.
People have children who end up growing up
and becoming alcoholics,
getting into all kinds of weird things.
I saw someone posting a testimony.
Some girl is basically into, you know,
for more or less prostitution in a sense.
And she's saying, man, my whole family
wants nothing to do with me because of my lifestyle.
And they're not saved.
None of them are saved.
And she's like, I wish I'd never got into this lifestyle,
the adult lifestyle or whatever,
because now my dad won't even hang out with me
in public anymore.
He's too ashamed, he's too embarrassed to be around me
because I've become like famous on the internet
or something like that.
And it's just like these people
aren't even enjoying their adult children.
They won't even be in their presence physically.
Why?
Because they weren't seeking his righteousness, were they?
And when you're not seeking his righteousness,
you know, us in America might think like,
well, I got a Big Mac, you know.
I got clothes on my back.
Yeah, well, there's more to life than just that too.
And there's a lot of other carnal physical benefits
to serving God that people are missing out on
and destroying their lives
because they're not seeking first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness.
You know, a lot of people get saved.
But you know what?
It's not just that.
It's also seeking and his righteousness.
We want to get every part of his righteousness.
And you know, when you read Matthew 5, 6, and 7,
it's not just talking about getting saved.
It's talking about following all his commandments.
It's talking about how to pray.
It's talking about how to give alms.
It's talking about how to live a righteous lifestyle.
It's telling you not even to look at certain things,
telling you to avoid certain things.
It's telling you not even to have hatred in your heart.
It's telling you to love your enemies.
It's telling you all kinds of different things.
And Christ is saying, hey, seek this.
Seek this in your life.
You know, obviously, it also goes beyond just physical needs,
even just spiritual needs.
Comfort and joy and peace that passes all understanding.
How are you going to get peace that passes all understanding
without Jesus?
You can't.
And I'll tell you something.
We all need that.
I mean, the world, the way it is going right now,
I don't understand how unsaved people could have any peace
looking at our future.
Looking at the future of America,
looking at how we have open,
we have open corruption at this point.
I mean, basically, the government's just bragging
about how evil they are
and how no one's going to do anything about it.
And you're just thinking like, how is that going to end well?
It doesn't.
It hasn't in history.
It didn't work well for Rome.
And it's not going to work well for us.
You know, in Rome, they had open corruption.
In fact, it was so bad,
the secret guard for the Roman soldiers would essentially
list out or advertise, hey, if you want to be Caesar,
just pay us enough money and we'll put you in.
So basically, you just buy your way in
to becoming the next Caesar.
You just go to the secret guard and say like,
all right, I'll give you all this money.
And they're like, all right, we'll kill the next guy
and put you in.
Then they said, you know, we don't need more money.
So they just made a sport of it.
They would just bet.
They would have people bet.
And then whoever won the bet,
then they would just put him in as the next Caesar
because it was just open corruption.
Nobody really cares.
Nobody's really in control.
And the whole society is just collapsing around them
and allowed barbarians and other groups to come in
and just take over Rome and destroy Rome
because it was destroying itself.
How could you, if you're unsaved,
look at that and feel any kind of peace?
How could the Caesar feel any kind of peace
when he knows that the next highest bidder
could just come in and they'll just kill him like that?
There's no peace.
If you were buddies with Hillary Clinton
and you had dirt on them,
how could you feel any peace at night?
It's kind of like these old movies,
these like old casino movies.
It's like anytime they ask to meet out in the desert,
it's like no one feels comfortable
meeting out in the desert
because it's like not everybody comes home.
And it's just like in this world,
it's so depraved.
There's so much crime.
There's so much evil.
You're not going to get that peace
that passes all understanding from anywhere
but Jesus Christ.
And how do I get that?
Well, I first seek his righteousness.
You know, I don't think Jonah felt very safe
when he was running away from the Lord
and he's on that ship
because then he gets tossed in
and a whale eats him.
You know, there is no safety net
being saved and running away from God.
Hey, I'm glad you're saved.
And you know what?
You can't go to hell.
You know what?
You can still flee from the presence of God.
And if you're not running towards Jesus,
you're in big danger.
You're in danger of not only the devil,
you're in danger of the Lord too.
Now you have two people chasing after you.
You know, I don't want both people.
I want to be in the safety net of the Lord.
Just think about 1 Corinthians 5.
Those that decide to disregard
church discipline issues,
I mean, basically it says
to deliver such and one unto Satan.
Why is he saying deliver?
Well, it's because it was like
they were in a protection
when they were in the church.
They had some kind of protection,
but now they're taken away from that protection
and they're given unto the devil.
I don't want to be given unto the devil.
I don't want to walk away
from God's protective shield.
I want to stay within his boundaries
and be seeking him
so that he can give me physical safety
and spiritual safety
and he can be meeting all of my needs.
You know, you think about these 4,000
when they have no food in the wilderness,
they're kind of just doomed.
Like, in essence, they have no option.
They have no food.
So you could almost look at it
from a big picture.
It's like they have no economy, right?
I mean, they have no real,
they have no resources.
They have no food resources.
And you could even look at that
from our perspective of,
okay, well, how are we going to survive
in the coming years
with America's horizon?
I mean, America,
it looks like the economy could be in shambles
in the future potentially.
It looks like there could be a lot of issues
in the future.
You know, a nation or economy,
you could apply this to a state, to a household.
There's a lot of evil that could be happening to us
and this literally happened so many times in the Bible.
But you know what?
God still took care of those people
when they had no capability themselves.
So many people are thinking,
well, you know what?
I'm going to be able to,
I got Bitcoin.
You know, you don't understand, Pastor Shelley,
I got gold.
Have you ever eaten gold?
You know, Moses did that for the children of Israel,
but it was a punishment
where he took their golden calf
and shaved it down, put it in the water
and made them drink it.
I don't think they enjoyed that.
And you know, you can have all the Bitcoin
and gold in the world,
but if they outlaw it
and no one will trade gold with you,
you're up a creek without a paddle.
I mean, you're not going to have anything.
You know, when you're seeking God,
he can multiply bread out of nowhere.
He can take ravens that'll just feed Elijah
by the river when the whole world's in a drought.
He can take the children of Israel,
a multitude of millions,
and walk through a literal wilderness for 40 years
and they get to eat.
They get to eat manna
and they get to eat, you know, birds
until they, you know, they don't want anymore
coming out of their nostrils.
But didn't God always provide for the physical needs?
Whose needs is he providing for?
Those that were seeking him.
Those that were walking to the promised land.
Those in Egypt, they're dying of starvation
and they're going to perish
and God doesn't care
because they're not seeking him.
This could be the same with America.
You know, if you're really worried
about the future of our country,
the last thing you want to do is become less spiritual.
What you want to do is you want to seek he first
the kingdom of God and his righteousness
realizing no matter what the falls mean,
no matter what kind of drought or wilderness,
God could feed me with loaves that came out of nowhere.
God can somehow just rain down bread from heaven.
God can make sure that I'm taking care of
and he always does.
He always takes care of those who are seeking him first
and putting him first
and making him a priority.
In this chapter, it kind of gives us an idea here
of this context.
Look at verse 22.
The light of the body is the eye.
If therefore thine eye be single,
thy whole body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil,
thy whole body shall be full of darkness.
If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness,
how great is that darkness!
No man can serve two masters,
for either he will hate the one and love the other
or else he will hold to the one
and despise the other.
He cannot serve God and mammon.
Now, that's a really interesting portion of Scripture.
As you keep developing this thought,
we get to the final conclusion of
seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Why do people serve mammon?
Because they want to eat and have clothes
and have all the things the Gentiles see.
He's saying, though,
there's this connection with your eye
where whatever your eye is looking at,
it's going to become you
and it's true that the eye is the gateway into the soul.
Think of it this way.
When you're driving on the road,
isn't it important that your eyes are on the road?
What happens if you take your eyes off of the road?
You're going to crash.
And wherever your eyes are focused,
that's where you're going to be going.
And just as important it is to keep your eye on the road,
it is to keep your eyes on Jesus
because as soon as you take your eyes off Jesus,
you're going to crash just like you would on the highway.
As ridiculous as it would be for you to say,
all right, honey, I'm going to drive us home.
I'm going to close my eyes the whole time.
Your wife wouldn't get in the car.
She would jump out of the car.
You're like, I'm not going with you.
How insane would that be, right?
But that would be the exact same as saying,
all right, I'm going to keep living my life
and I'm not going to serve you.
I'm not going to go to church.
I'm not going to read the Bible.
I'm not going to pray.
Pray is even more insane than driving on the highway
with your eyes closed.
And he's saying, how great is that darkness
when your eye is evil?
When you're looking at the world,
you're looking at the evil in this world.
And let's be honest, what you're looking at
is what you're going to become,
where you're going to go,
and the affections you're going to have.
Did you notice that Eve, when she was in the garden,
she looked at the forbidden fruit
and then she got the desire for it.
And when it comes to men and women,
we kind of have our differences
when it comes to this issue of what we're looking at, right?
What are men in America looking at as opposed to Jesus?
How about sports?
You know, even throughout history, they said,
well, give them bread and circuses
and they'll never rebel.
And it's like, you look at America,
it's like our country is destroying itself,
but game seven's on.
But, you know, we watch the Masters.
You know, we can watch the NHL, you know, Stanley Cup.
We can watch baseball.
I mean, there's 180 something baseball games every year
for one team, let alone all the games combined.
I mean, you can just keep your eyes focused.
And look, is there anything wrong with sports?
No, I love sports.
I love playing sports.
I don't think there's anything wrong with getting exercise.
I like the competitive nature.
I like the team aspect.
I like the leadership aspect of sports.
There's a lot of good things about sports,
but let me tell you something.
If every single person in America said,
on Sunday, my eyes are on Jesus,
the NFL would change their schedule.
Everybody would change their schedule
to a different night or a different time
because they don't want to lose viewership.
That's how they get their money.
And look, is there anything wrong with someone
going and watching a sporting event or enjoying sports?
No.
But what if they're replacing church with sports?
And isn't that happening in America?
You think it's a coincidence
the NFL has their games on Sunday?
No, because people have taken their eyes off Jesus
and they put their eyes on something else, haven't they?
What's the most beautiful buildings in America?
Is it churches or is it stadiums
where we're idolizing and worshiping
men prancing around playing a game?
And look, again, I'm not saying I'm against sports,
but I'm saying where are our eyes at as men in this country?
Well, I took my eyes off Bud Light and I put it on Coors Light.
Well, that's stupid.
Coors Light has been the most profag organization
for like the last several decades.
Why do you think that that's going to make
a big difference in America?
It's like get your eyes off booze.
Get your eyes off of sports.
You know, here's a big one for men,
get your eyes off other women, right?
Your eyes should just be on your wife.
That would fix a lot of problems in America
if there was no more fornication and adultery.
You know, they always want to talk about these problems
of these adult industries thriving online
and in all these different places.
But it's like if nobody ever looked at it,
we wouldn't have that problem, would we?
But guys don't have their eyes on Leviticus.
They don't have it on Matthew.
They have it down on some disgusting thing
that they shouldn't.
You know, of course, it's not like it isn't tempting.
It's just that their eye is not where it should be.
Just like if I'm looking at the billboard while driving,
I'm gonna crash and there's no different in your life.
You know, you need to keep your eyes on Jesus
and the things he gave you, your wife, right?
How about money?
I mean, that's the essence of this chapter.
How many men are only focused on making money
and getting lots of money?
And he's saying you're on a crash course.
If you really want your needs met,
I'm gonna give you all the needs
by putting your eyes on me.
But they chase after money
and then they end up falling into all kinds of traps
because the love of money is the root of all evil,
but it's also a snare
and it brings many foolish hurtful lusts
and it's gonna trap you and destroy you
because you're gonna make
all kinds of horrible decisions in your life.
People don't realize that just like
driving down the road, if I just start veering off,
pretty soon I'm gonna find a tree
or I'm gonna find a hole.
I mean, you could, in Oklahoma,
you could probably veer off the road
and be fine for a little while, right?
I mean, it's pretty flat, it's a lot of just land.
I mean, you might, it might be a little bumpy,
but you're just kinda like, oh, this isn't that bad.
But then eventually, you know, after a couple hundred miles,
you'll find a tree somewhere.
You're gonna be like, there's a tree in Oklahoma?
I think there is somewhere, okay?
You'll find that Hefner Lake or whatever, right?
And you'll just drive right into destruction.
And that's how sin is often.
You start driving off the road,
you're thinking, oh, this isn't that bad.
But then all of a sudden that tree comes out of nowhere,
that lake comes out of nowhere,
that rock comes out of nowhere,
and you just destroy yourself.
How about women?
Women have this problem.
How about just constantly looking at shopping?
I mean, it's just weird.
I mean, think about this.
Do you really think throughout most of history,
women were shopping?
How much shopping were they doing out in the wilderness?
How much shopping were they,
I mean, they have no option to shop.
But of course, what does shopping do?
There's nothing wrong, obviously we have to buy stuff.
But what is American consumerism
and shopping really about?
It's a covetousness.
There's always wanting things that you don't have,
things that you don't need.
And of course, advertisers love that women
are just constantly looking at shopping,
rather than looking at the Bible or how to serve God.
Women are constantly looking at things like traveling,
houses, glamour, clothes, luxury.
They just want things that they don't have,
and they get filled with covetousness,
and boy, does it just ruin their lives.
Then they want to divorce their spouse
because they want more, they can't have enough,
and our country is just being destroyed
because men and women aren't keeping their eyes on Jesus
and looking to Jesus.
They're looking to the things of this world.
Just like Eve has got her eyes fixated on the forbidden fruit.
Go over to Luke 17, we'll finish in this verse, Luke 17.
I like the parable, or it's not a parable,
but it's the story of the feeding of the 4,000
because these people were filled
because they were seeking Jesus.
And I'm telling you, you people in this room,
you're going to have a horrible life
when you get your eyes off Jesus.
I see it all the time.
As a pastor, unfortunately you experience it.
People call you and they're like,
my life is in ruin, and you can tell
it's because they got their eyes off of the road.
They got their eyes off of Jesus Christ.
They weren't going out and seeking him.
You know what I don't have people do?
Pastor Shelley, we need to have a counseling session.
Our family's going, we're doing too much soul winning.
We've been reading the Bible too much,
and man, I've been serving the wife a little bit too much.
That doesn't happen.
People aren't complaining to me.
We're just having too much spiritualness in our life.
They're coming to me and they're saying,
hey, my spouse is committing adultery.
Hey, we got drunk.
Hey, we got high.
Hey, my kid's in prison.
Hey, this person died.
Hey, we're screwing up this area of our life
and just thinking like, wow.
It's like, hey, I hit a tree.
Hey, I hit a rock.
Hey, we drove in the lake.
And you're just thinking like, what happened?
And it was because they started getting off the road.
They don't have a lot of trees and lakes
in the middle of the road.
It's safe.
Just like when you're serving God
and seeking after his righteousness,
you're not going to just constantly hit
all these bumpy roads.
Oh, teenage daughter's pregnant now
with some yahoo.
Well, does he even know the guy?
No, the guy doesn't like us
and we'll never have any relationship with him.
So now you're just stuck with a bastard child.
You think that happens rarely?
No, it happens all the time.
Why?
Because they were just driving along,
just woo, just off the road.
They're not keeping their eyes on Jesus.
Oh, now I got an STD.
Oh, now, you know, my spouse wants to divorce me.
And it's like, it doesn't just accidentally happen.
It doesn't like a one day, you know,
you're soul winning.
And she's like, you know what?
This soul winning experience
makes me just want to divorce you.
It's like, they weren't going to church.
They're not reading the Bible.
They're drifting apart.
They're not serving each other.
They're not loving each other.
They're not doing right for a long period of time.
And then all of a sudden, just bam.
Then the big tree comes out of nowhere.
But let's be honest.
You've got to keep your eyes on Jesus Christ
and be seeking Him.
Otherwise, you can have all kinds of evil befall you.
And you don't want your eyes on the wrong thing.
What happened to Lot's wife?
Well, what does it say in Luke chapter 17?
Look what it says in verse 32.
Remember, Lot's wife.
That would be an easy memory verse.
And we got Jesus wept.
That's really easy.
This one's like a little bit harder.
It's got one extra word.
Remember?
Remember Lot's wife.
What was Lot's wife problem?
She couldn't keep her eyes off Sodom and Gomorrah.
She couldn't keep her eyes off of the TV.
She just couldn't keep her eyes off of RuPaul's Drag Race
or whatever, you know,
whatever garbage is on TV today
or some filth out there, some smut.
Look, Sodom and Gomorrah.
But you know what Sodom and Gomorrah
actually represented?
Because she wasn't like super into like homos
or anything like that.
It was the well-watered plain, wasn't it?
Sodom and Gomorrah was a beautiful city
with lots of money, lots of riches.
And you know what?
She didn't want to leave that.
She didn't want to go in the wilderness.
She didn't want to go off
and live in small town USA or something.
She was afraid of going to Oklahoma or something.
You know, I'm just kidding.
She's like, but Sodom.
But what happened?
Just worthless.
Just destroyed her.
She's getting her eyes off of Jesus and serving God.
She's got her eyes on this life
and you know what?
It destroyed her.
What does the next verse say?
Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it.
And whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
4,000 men lost their life for three days
and they went to just hear Jesus preach.
They didn't take any food with them.
They didn't, they had nothing.
They were just completely dependent
and completely reliant on Jesus.
You know what?
They sought after Jesus Christ.
They sought after his righteousness
and they were filled.
And I'll tell you what,
as men in this room,
if you really want your needs met,
if you really want to be filled,
if you want to avoid the dangers of this life,
you got to get your eyes on Jesus
and you have to seek after him and his righteousness.
Otherwise, you may perish.
Let's close in prayer.
Thank you Heavenly Father for this great story
that you've given us
of an example of all the spiritual truths
that your son Jesus Christ offers us.
I pray that we would realize the importance
of seeking first Jesus Christ
and seeking his righteousness
and seeking to obey his commandments
and to get our eyes on Jesus.
The world has so much things to offer.
There's so much lust and so much temptation.
And I pray that we wouldn't get distracted
and get our eyes off of what really matters.
We keep our eyes on Jesus
and I pray that all of us struggle with this
and have difficulty,
but we would all be reminded
of where our eyes need to be.
And that as we look to Jesus
that you could bring us back on the smooth road
and you could continue to meet all of our needs
and we just thank you for all you give us.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Hymn number 37,
There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes.
Let's sing starting on the first verse.
There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes.
Together is love, one soul.
There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes.
Together is love, one soul.
There'll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes.
But a glorious sorrow when Jesus comes.
Together is love, one soul.
There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes.
Together is love, one soul.
There'll be no more weeping when Jesus comes.
But a blessed repeat when Jesus comes.
Together is love, one soul.
There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes.
Together is love, one soul.
There'll be songs of grieving when Jesus comes.
And a joyful meeting when Jesus comes.
Together is love, one soul.
There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes.
Together is love, one soul.