The Cooling Stream

Mark 8:14-21

The Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples were on a boat sailing across the Sea of Galilee.

*******

The disciples still had their minds on the bread.

They realized that they had forgotten to bring along bread for themselves.

*******

The Lord Jesus Christ used their forgetfulness as an opportunity to teach them some lessons.

*******

The Lord’s Command (15)

The Lord Jesus Christ warned them to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.

*******

In the Bible, yeast is a picture of sin, evil and wickedness.

It is used as a picture of corruption.

*******

We are to lay aside evil and spiritual corruption, and live for the Lord Jesus Christ.

*******

We are warned that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough.

*******

Sin is like yeast in our lives.

When we tolerate sin, it will soon infiltrate every part of our lives.

*******

The Lord Jesus Christ warned His disciples to beware of hypocrisy, worldliness and compromise.

*******

The Disciples’ Confusion (16)

The disciples misunderstood what the Lord Jesus Christ was trying to say.

Their minds were so focused on the material and physical world that they couldn’t see the spiritual side of thing.

*******

The Lord Jesus Christ wasn’t talking about real bread at all.

He was using the yeast found in bread as a metaphor, as a symbol of evil.

*******

The Lord’s Challenge (17-21)

The Lord Jesus Christ sensed their thoughts.

He asked them a series of questions to awaken faith in their hearts.

*******

Didn’t they see Him feed 5,000?

Didn’t they see Him feed 4,000?

Didn’t they hear His words and the responses of the people?

*******

Then He asked them specifically about how many baskets of fragments were left over in the 2 feeding miracles.

They answered that there were 12 in the first and 7 in the second.

*******

Our Lord’s point in this was to get them to see that it was God they were dealing with!

*******

A lack of bread was not the real problem.

Their real problem was a serious lack of faith!

*******

The heart of the issue was not the yeast of the Pharisees and the Herodians.

*******

The real issue was the lack of faith among the disciples.

*******

We read God’s Word, but many of us do not believe it.

We experience God’s power, but many of us are not convinced that we can trust Him completely.

*******

The Lord Jesus Christ challenges us to examine our lives in the light of His work in us.

*******

He is calling us to have radical and total faith in Him.

He is calling us to remember what He has done in our lives.

He is calling us to faith.

*******

He is challenging us to come to Him for salvation.

*******

He is calling us to purge the yeast of hypocrisy and worldliness from our lives.

*******

He is calling us.

We need to come to Him now!