DCLM MONDAY BIBLE STUDY 27 December 2021 — CHRIST’S COMPASSION AND CONCERN FOR THE FAINTING AND FORGETFUL
TOPIC: CHRIST’S COMPASSION AND CONCERN FOR THE FAINTING AND FORGETFUL
Mark 8:1-21; Job 23:12
The Lord Jesus Christ came to this world for a purpose: to call sinners out of their sins and those in the shadow of darkness to light to receive forgiveness, salvation, freedom and be prepared for Heaven. To accomplish this He preached the word of God unto them and taught them many things. They came to Him from different places and would spend a day, a night, three or more days so that He can impart the word of God unto them. “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat” (Mark 8:2). Can you think about yourself attending a Church retreat, conference or going to a camp, and just hearing the word of God for three days without food? Yet these people because they were so passionate to hear the word of God, there was no complaint, criticism nor murmuring from them. There are people today that complain about things like the weather, time, food, water and physical structure of the church. But these people came to the Lord in the wilderness and were so interested in the teaching of the Word that those inconveniences mattered not to them at all. I pray that the spirit of murmuring and complaining will get out of our lives in Jesus’ name. This great multitude sought and came to the Lord, and the faithful Saviour, Shepherd and Teacher taught them the way of life and salvation. The crowds didn’t demand for anything from the Lord; it was Christ Himself that took the initiative to provide food for them. I pray that you will allow the Lord Himself at the right time to do His will for you and your family in Jesus’ name. This is the right attitude we need to have, that in our lives and church, no murmuring. There are those who without expected convenience at the Retreat will go back; but Job said, “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). That was the multitude’s attitude; they esteemed, exalted and honoured the words of Christ more than their necessary food. And Jesus had compassion on them, provided necessary food for them. He took care of their spiritual and physical wellbeing. If he were here today he would do the same. Tonight, you will not miss your blessing and teaching as you are open to receive the word of God in Jesus’ name. Many people forget what Christ had done in their lives in the past, from the chapter one of their salvation; praying, receiving and their experiences with the Lord, and when new problems come, they forget the promises and provisions of God. You will not be a forgetful hearer. As
you hear, you will keep, meditate and hold on to what you have heard, and the word of God will do good in your life in Jesus’ name.
1. HIS COMPASSION FOR FAINTING SOULS
Mark 8:1-9; Matthew 9:36-38; Mark 6:34; Matthew 14:14; Mark 1:40-42; Micah 7:18-19; Deuteronomy 30:2-3,6; Luke 15:18-20; Mark 9:22-24; Psalms 148:8-9
“And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?” (Mark 8:4). They were in the wilderness and had forgotten the provision of God for the three million Israelites in the wilderness for forty years. You will not forget, all God did in the Bible days. He is able and willing to do same today for He has not changed. Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour is the same yesterday, today and forever and He will do something in your life today. “And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.
So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets” (Mark 8:6-8). Do you notice that Christ and His disciples had not eaten at this time, but His compassion made Him to care for the people more than Himself. Actually, He came to sacrifice everything He had and His very life for us, so that the people of the world can come to the Lord. Christ is thinking about you and will provide every need of your life, in Jesus’ name. He blessed the bread and fishes and gave to His disciples to give to the people. Here we have a problem with present day workers in the church who are selfish, unfaithful, and want to take care of their own needs first before serving the people.
Others first, and God will supply the needs of your life. Be faithful; seek first the kingdom of God, and all other things will be added to your life. He cared not only for their physical needs, but He saved, healed and delivered them. There are additions and multiplications coming into your life, and the Lord will do it in Jesus’ name. “And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away” (Mark 8:9). Christ did a lot by His compassion; He took care of the needs of the body, soul and spirit. If all they had was the bread and fishes
He provided for them, would that take them to Heaven? No! And if all that you have are just the mundane things of this world, the provisions for the body only, they are not enough to get you into Heaven; you need the provision for the soul as well otherwise you will be the most miserable. But thank God, you will have more than the needs of the body because His compassion fails not. “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).
Whenever He saw the multitudes, He saw beyond their physical needs; they needed to be harvested from the field of sin, into the Kingdom of God. That was his compassion on them. Our compassion does not stop at dealing with the needs of the body, but we go beyond and meet the needs of the soul. “And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things” (Mark 6:34). When Jesus teaches you repentance, how to turn from darkness to the light, come out of the clutches of the devil and into the very hands of the Saviour and be saved, and how to get to Heaven when you die, that is compassion. Don’t limit His compassion to only food, but extend it to teaching the word of God. We have compassion in this Church to teach the totality of the word of God and the doctrines of Christ on repentance, hell, heaven, salvation, sanctification, good family life, parenting and raising godly children, living righteous lives; not just your physical needs. May we not miss the essence of Christ’s compassion. Prayer can do everything in our lives that money cannot do. Teaching the word of God builds your faith, for faith comes by hearing the Word of God, and that is compassion. The compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ has many branches, teaching, food, deliverance, forgiveness, healing the sick, (Matthew 14:14); so don’t limit His compassion to just one branch. ”And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed” (Mark 1:42). The need of this leper was not food but cleansing.
Understand that the compassion of Christ is like a river with many streams flowing from it, and wherever or whatever are your needs, His stream of compassion will flow to you and the manifestation will be, immediately, tonight. When God forgives you and bundles all your sins and cast them into the sea of forgetfulness never to be remembered anymore; when Christ prayed and atoned for your sins on the Cross, and now you are free, your conscience, mind and heart freed, and you have the peace of God, that is compassion. Salvation is the result of the
compassion of the Lord (Micah 7:19). Christ feeds the hungry, heals the sick, forgives the sinner, and gives salvation to the lost, all as a result of His compassion. ”That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee” (Deuteronomy 30:3). Every yoke is broken, and every bondage taken away as a result of the compassion of Christ. ”And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live” (Deuteronomy 30:6). The compassion of the Lord sanctifies us as well.
He knows that without holiness no man shall see the Lord. So He forgives our sins, heals our bodies, provides us bread, delivers us from captivity, breaks every yoke and all the fetters that bind us, sanctifies and circumcises our hearts. What you cannot do for yourself, to save, sanctify and make holy, He does that, and removes that Adamic nature and depravity of the heart out of compassion. I pray that the compassion of the Lord will not be limited in our lives and church, and we will have proper understanding of His word, in Jesus’ name. Backslider, your problems are not solved with food to satisfy your hunger but your returning back to the Lord to seek His compassion for your restoration and pardon, and like the prodigal son, a new life will come to you once again (Luke 15:18). The restoration, forgiveness of the backslider who had gone astray is out of compassion, “And he arose, and came to
his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). If you are a backslider here tonight, the Lord loves you and He want to restore you. ”And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us” (Mark 9:22). The power that sets a lunatic free is the compassion of the Lord. It brings total deliverance that the devils and demons cannot touch you anymore. As you believe tonight in your life, for your family and all your ones, all things are possible to him that believes (Mark 9:23). Lord I believe! How many people will God have compassion on? “The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works” (Psalm 145:8-9). The compassion of the Lord is coming to you. I receive mine today
2. THE CONDEMNATION OF FAITHLESS SIGN-SEEKERS
Mark 8:10-13; Acts 2:22; Matthew 11:2-6; John 3:1-2,19; 7:31; 9:22,30-34; 11:47-52; 12:10-11; 15:22,24; 20:30,31
“And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him” (Mark 8:11). They had been expecting the Messiah, and they were looking for a sign that He is the expected Messiah. He multiplied bread and fishes and four thousand were fed; He opened the eyes of the blind, healed the deaf, that the people said He had done all things well; cleansed the leper by a word; made the paralytic to rise up, raised Lazarus who had been dead for four days, and yet they were asking for a sign. They were sign seekers but not truth seekers nor salvation seeker. Pray that you will not be a Pharisee or religionist. You cannot see when you are closing your eyes. The signs and all the miracles that Christ performed were glaring, yet they closed their eyes. Even the Samaritans that were despised by these Pharisees recognised Christ as the Saviour of the world (John 4:42). He walked on water, the Holy Spirit like a dove came upon Him after His Baptism, and yet they sought a sign, so He left them (Mark 8:13).
We don’t need any other sign; we know that Jesus is our all in all and He will do everything in our lives in Jesus’ name. “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know” (Acts 2:22). They knew that they were the signs of the Saviour and Messiah, the only one that brought eternal life, but they were not confessing that He had done all those signs. Thank God, you know that He is your Lord and Saviour. “Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matthew 11:4-5). He did this over and over, to show them that there is nothing for
them to look for again. Actually the Pharisees had no excuse but were pretenders, “The same {one of them, Nicodemus} came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him” (John 3:2). They had resolved that among themselves that they were not going to accept Christ, and anyone that accept Him would be thrown out of the Synagogue, “These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue” (John 9:22). There are people who are afraid to be thrown out of the synagogue.
The synagogue did nothing for them, did not forgive sins, did not heal anybody, it was just a representation of empty religion, and yet there were people that would sell their souls for that religion. “They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out” (John 9:34). The one that gave them evidence of the signs of Christ, they cast out; they didn’t want to accept the signs. You will not be like them, you will believe and accept the signs of Christ as the Saviour and Messiah. “Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles” (John 11:47). They knew that this Christ does many miracles as the signs of His Messiahship. They knew it internally and pretended so that people will not believe Him. I pray you will not be so sold to religion to hinder people from believing in Christ. They wanted to kill Lazarus to erase evidence that He raised him from the dead, and stop people believing in Him (John 12:10).
They had no excuse because Jesus Christ had shown them enough signs of His Messiahship (John 15:24). “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:30-31). The Lord had done many not just one sign. He is your Saviour, Redeemer, Healer, Deliverer, and all in all for you; no other sign you are looking for. He died for you on the Cross of Calvary, and since you know and are convinced in your heart, now you come to the Lord and reject the tradition, superstition, and all the religionists seeking for signs. They will not stop you. You believe that Jesus Christ is Lord; salvation is
yours in Jesus’ name.
3. THE CAUTION AGAINST FALSE SHEPHERDS
Mark 8:14-21; Matthew 16:11-12; 7:15-20; 24:24; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12; 1 Timothy 4:1-2; 2 Peter 2:1-3,18-22; Jude 4-8
“And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?” (Mark 8:17-21). They had forgotten that He had multiplied five loaves and fed five thousand, seven loaves and fed four thousand, and yet they were reasoning about not having bread. They did not understand, and the Lord was warning them, “How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?” (Matthew 16:11).
The Pharisees projected themselves as shepherds, but they were false. They did not want the truth, salvation and proper understanding to get to the people. That was why Jesus warned the disciples to beware of the false prophets, teachers, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians. We must understand that it is not everybody that carries the Bible that is a true shepherd, guiding in the way of salvation. Therefore Jesus Christ cautions us as we come to Him the True Shepherd to beware of the false shepherds, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15). By their character, lifestyle and fruits, you will know these false prophets. We are living in the last days. “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20). Those who are looking for signs will be led astray. We will not be led astray, in Jesus’ name. “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24). The end of false prophets, shepherds and teachers is destruction because it will be according to their works, “Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 C orinthians 11:15).
You will not follow false prophets. The Pharisees did not have the love of the truth that they might be saved (2 Thessalonians 2:10). You have the love of the truth and it will never leave you; you will not love unrighteousness and will not depart from the faith in Jesus’ name. You have seen many signs Christ had performed in saving, healing and delivering multitudes of people, and you will not be led astray as those who are seeking for signs (1 Timothy 4:1). You will not follow false prophets and teachers who will come to entice you with money, gifts, and many other promises (2 Peter 2:1-2). False prophets are going to be damned and you will not share nor partake of their damnation in Jesus’ name, “And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not” (2 Peter 2:3). False prophets promise a lot of things, jobs, children, wife, husband, prosperity, healing, deliverance, money, riches and lots, but you will not follow them (2 Peter 2:19).
You will not go back to your vomit again. The evil, false doctrines, deceivers, you have left behind, you will not go back to them again in Jesus’ name (2 Peter 2:20-22). Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Lord is the Teacher come from Heaven, the wisest and greatest of all teachers, and He had taught His disciples daily, privately and publicly everything they ought to know, yet He did not assume that His disciples could not be deceived, He still warned them and said, beware of the leaven of the doctrine of the Pharisees. In our church here, we have taught line upon one, precept upon precept, the word of God without fear or favour, the clear word of salvation, and yet we must not assume that nobody here can be deceived. If Christ still warned His direct disciples, He is warning us today. Thank God, you will hold on to, and keep the truth; you will take heed and earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints.
False teachers, books, tracts, and the false propaganda of the people teaching error will not deceive you in Jesus’ name. You will stand by Christ as your Saviour, Lord, Redeemer, Healer, Deliverer and Good Shepherd, look away from every false shepherd, and look unto Jesus as the Author and Finisher of your faith and the Lord will keep you standing in Jesus’ name. There is nothing a false prophet can offer that Jesus cannot give you, for He hath done all things well, and even tonight He will do all things well. He will feed the hungry, deliver the oppressed, heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind, take incurable disease away, move your mountain away, and establish you in the truth that will take you to Heaven in Jesus’ name. Amen
1. Admit that you are a sinner. "For all [humans] have sinned, and comes short of the glory of God....[and] the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 3:23)
2. Repent now. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ...[for] if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness " (Acts 3:19, 1 John 1:9)
3. Believe that God loves you and Jesus died for you. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet Sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
4. Invite Jesus into your life through prayer of faith. Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20)
