[0:00] Good morning, everyone. I guess I'm by myself this morning. Come on, give them good morning, everyone.
[0:13] Fall is here. Plaid is back in style, right? Much to my chagrin. I just came from beautiful 32-degree weather where you would have to change your shirt four times a day.
[0:28] Okay. As you can see, I made it back safe and sound from the Philippines and the missions trip. Truthfully, I'm still tuckered out.
[0:43] It's about 1 a.m. Manila time, and I still feel like it's 1 a.m. right now. So it's taken me a little bit longer to get over jet lag than I had anticipated. But I want to express to you how very grateful and thankful I am for your prayer supports.
[0:59] One of the big concerns was getting sick because last time I was there five years ago, I got very ill, and I was on IV and all those type of things while I was speaking.
[1:13] So this was kind of funny because they had one guy in charge of watching all my food for the entire week because it was the first time that they'd ever had one speaker for the whole conference, and that was this guy.
[1:29] So everything was at risk on what I eat. So my fridge was filled with filtered water, Diet Coke, right? They knew ahead of time somehow, and a lot of other good things for me to eat.
[1:42] Every time there'd be food, there'd be special dishes for me to choose. So they went overboard on their love and care for me. I wanted to give you guys a bigger presentation of what happened there, but we're going to do that next week because this week I just did not have the energy to be able to put the slides together.
[2:02] But there was some stuff that I really want you to see. There was some dynamics of life. You saw the Facebook post I put on the first one about ministering to the kids that live in the cemeteries, right?
[2:17] That's like a sledgehammer to your heart. So there was a lot of different lessons learned. Just being able to learn from some of the pastors where they minister, who they minister to.
[2:31] Some are really good circumstances in others. They were tough circumstances, but I'll share a little bit more about that with you next week if that's okay.
[2:43] Maybe we'll take the first 15, 20 minutes just to go over. I think it'd be beneficial for us as a church. But a couple of things that it did for me, there was obviously some blessings, some lessons for me, some observations, but there's actually some great opportunities for future ministry, not just for me, but for the church.
[3:04] And in the future, I'd really like to be able to talk to you more about some of those opportunities that we would have to minister to the saints over in the Philippines.
[3:15] So before I go any further, I want you to open your Bibles to Mark chapter 6. Mark chapter 6. We're not going to be so much in the Life of Christ study. As you know, we're in this series, Life of Christ.
[3:27] We're in the Passion Week. But what I want to do is I want to pull a story from the life of Christ that, I don't know, it's one that we kind of understand, we're familiar with, but I don't really know if we really get what Jesus is trying to accomplish.
[3:49] So if you're familiar with the story of Mark chapter 6, you know it's the story of when Jesus walked on water.
[4:00] Even people who are not familiar with the Bible know the story that Jesus walked on water. Many movies, TV shows tend to satirize the story.
[4:12] They ask questions about it, but everyone seems to know that Jesus had the ability, as the Son of God, to walk on water. And as we are familiar with the story, most of us do not seem to understand what an incredible story, and the reason for this story for the disciples.
[4:32] Not so much for the fact that Jesus walks on water, but the why he walks on water. And I'm hoping to be able to answer that to you this morning.
[4:42] But before I go any further, I just want to ask the Lord's blessing upon our time in prayer. Dear Lord, Heavenly Father, we just thank you for your word.
[4:55] We thank you that it is meant to teach us. It is to instruct us. It is meant to train us in all righteousness. It is also meant to rebuke us, to correct us.
[5:11] Like a compass that always heads north, we are to read your word and understand how we should go, how we are to live our lives.
[5:22] Father, you have created us as both man and woman. We are made in the image of you. We have feelings, personalities.
[5:34] We smell, we taste, we experience life. And these are all the things that are just like you. But with that comes this purpose, that we have been created with a purpose.
[5:52] That we are not just empty vessels that happen to be floating through the universe on this rock just meant to make the best of it.
[6:05] But there's even a purpose for how the earth goes around the sun and how you keep every planet in this solar system in its perfect orbit.
[6:19] You are the God Elohim. You have created all. What's more importantly, you're also God Yahweh, the relational God, the God who knows us each by name, who creates us from the dust of the earth and gives us a purpose.
[6:43] This morning we're going to read about the purpose that 12 men will be given and how God protects them in their purpose.
[6:55] How he loves them and how he cares for them and how even in an interesting story, he protects them from themselves.
[7:06] All with the purpose that they will one day and how they live their lives and the word they speak will bring much glory to you.
[7:20] So Father, please give my words power, not because of my voice, but because the truth that they speak from your word that we have in front of us, oh God. I give you thanks for just even bringing me home safely and keeping the saints here at home safe as well.
[7:39] I pray just during these times as we commune with one another, as we pray for one another, you continue to bind us together as one. We ask these things in most holy and everlasting name.
[7:52] Amen. So before I get into the text itself, I have a very simple question for you. Have you ever been in a storm?
[8:05] And what I mean by the word storm, it's the type of life event that you are actually powerless to stop. That in fact, there's nothing that you can do on your own to get out of this storm.
[8:21] And the only thing that you can actually do by your own power is how you react to this storm, which in effect can even make the response to the storm wrong.
[8:35] The storm could be a financial crisis. It could be caused by a crashing economy, a loss of a job, loss of your home due to perhaps rising interest rates.
[8:50] Perhaps the storm is a relationship breakdown. Marriage falling apart. Your relationship with your children isn't as what you would like.
[9:04] Perhaps it's not bearing the fruit that you had hoped as an older parent with your younger children. Or perhaps you're even dealing with aged parents and that relationship begins to change.
[9:18] Or perhaps it's a health crisis. Cancer, an unavoidable accident, a disease, a loved one is sick, or a spouse is hurt and unable to function as they did before.
[9:39] Have you ever been in such a storm? Now, if I asked you the question, do you believe that God is with you in that storm, what would you say?
[9:54] I think for the most part, some people would say that that is the reason why God exists, right? God exists for us when times are tough.
[10:07] That God exists when there are storms in our lives. Perhaps some of you can say that the times where God felt the most closest was when the storm was the most harshest.
[10:23] But I want to talk to people that do know God and do know these experiences. I am sure that you'd all agree that God is with us during the storms and our faith was strengthened.
[10:41] Now, let me ask a different type of question. How would you respond to God being in the storm? Or do you perhaps believe that God would still be with you in the storm if the storm was your fault?
[10:58] Do you believe that Jesus Christ would be with you in a storm? Perhaps the financial crisis was brought about because of your unwise decision, because you were lazy at work and you were suffering low productivity.
[11:14] Is God still with you? The reason why your marriage is a disaster, for let's be frank, you're a jerk. You're selfish. You were consumed with self and your spouse couldn't stand being with you anymore.
[11:29] The reason your children don't talk to you is because they don't believe you love them. Right? There's those type of storms. The reason you have a health crisis is because you smoke 10 cigarette packs a day and or you chose not to wear your seatbelt when you're driving your car.
[11:55] Do you still believe that God is with you in those storms? Now, I believe some of you are going to be hesitant to answer that question, thinking that if perhaps the storm is our fault, God is not present.
[12:18] Some of you will respond that God is always present, but in order to be with us or for us to feel his presence, we need to repent and confess our sins.
[12:32] And there's some of you will argue that you believe that God permitted the storm in order to draw us closer to him, even though our own sin gave us an opportunity to learn and grow through the pain.
[12:54] Now, what if I asked you this question? Do you believe that God would purposely cause a storm in order to teach you a lesson, deserved or not?
[13:08] I'm not talking about allowing a storm to happen in your life to teach you a lesson, but I'm talking about a God who would cause a storm in your life to bring about a lesson.
[13:28] Do you believe such thing is possible? Now, I know some people would say, no way. God never brings hardships into people's lives for this person, purpose.
[13:45] Some of you would say, sure, I believe that. Some of you would say, I'm really not sure. Some would say, no way.
[14:00] And others might be thinking to themselves, honey, we may need to get closer to God while the sun is still shining, lest he happen to bring a storm into our lives.
[14:14] You see, some believe that God doesn't teach through pain, and there is pain in trials, that the only reason there are pain in trials is there must be sin.
[14:26] Well, this morning, I submit to you that God does exactly this, that he does, in fact, create storms in our lives.
[14:38] And the reason he does so is for several reasons. One, to get our attention. Two, that in order to grow us and draw us closer to him, he ultimately, purposely creates a storm sometimes so fierce and terrorizing that our only response is to cry out in terror.
[15:05] This morning, I want to look at this very simple story, and I want to draw from it five, I believe, simple lessons that we learn about Jesus, which I believe can bring us comfort during those storms.
[15:23] So before I get to the text itself, I want to explain the context. So Jesus, in the life of Christ, has just been healing some people, as he always does through his many miracles.
[15:38] Crowds come, because crowds continue to bring more and more people to be healed, to be loved, to be cared for. And then all of a sudden, they're so far from town that he's got to feed them.
[15:49] So Jesus creates food, and he creates this miracle, this feeding of the 5,000, which in fact we know was probably more like 20,000 to 25,000 people.
[16:01] Some would argue that this is the high point of the life of ministry. If you were an outside observer looking at Jesus at this moment in history, you would say he is quite clearly, most likely, the most popular man in the world.
[16:19] And secondly, he is at his absolute height of popularity to the point, remember Arnold Schwarzenegger? So powerful, so popular, I can be governor of California, right?
[16:31] Or as he would say, California, right? Like some people get so big, so known, even though they've got no background in political life, but they become so popular, so well known, that people put them up for political office.
[16:51] I believe that this is the time of history when the Jews who were looking for someone to supplant the Romans were starting to think, this is our guy.
[17:05] This is our time. If there was a time and place that we could overthrow Rome, now is the time. In fact, the Gospel of John John in chapter 6 records the events at this time.
[17:21] It says, when the people saw the signs that Jesus had done, they said, this is indeed the prophet who has come into the world.
[17:35] And then it says, perceiving, this is Jesus perceiving then, that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king.
[17:47] That's how popular. They didn't even care if Jesus wanted to be king. They just knew with all the power, the miracles, and the teachings that he was doing, the crowds that surround him and quote unquote loved him, now was the time that they were going to force him to make him king.
[18:10] The text says, Jesus withdrew again to the mountains by himself. So the text we're going to read actually occurs between the crowd saying we are going to force Jesus to be king and before Jesus heads to the mountains.
[18:37] You with me on that? Crowds big, Jesus going to get away from this. But there's a reason that this story happens.
[18:52] And the story is, you know who's getting caught up in this excitement? The apostles. The 12 men that were following Jesus Christ. They have eyes.
[19:04] They see the excitement. This has been kind of their thought, right? Jesus would become leader over Israel and guess who can be governors, right? If we attach ourselves to this man, we will have prominence, perhaps riches.
[19:19] We will have a place for us in the kingdom. Things will look really good for us. So these are the thoughts that they're going through their mind. They're sitting there looking. And remember at this time, Jesus Christ has not said anything about a cross.
[19:34] Jesus Christ has never told them that he is going to die. Jesus Christ has never told them yet that he will rise again. So when they hear Jesus Christ saying, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand, they're starting to think, this is it.
[19:51] This is it. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. The people are finally on board with Jesus. But they're forgetting that Jesus never spoke about a political agenda.
[20:12] Jesus never talked about his economic plans to put Israel at the forefront of the economies of the world. that Jesus never talked about his social agenda, that how he was going to remove poverty from the land of Israel.
[20:29] And of course, he hadn't put forth a moral agenda. His message had simply been, repent, for the kingdom is at hand.
[20:41] Follow me. So what does Jesus do? Well, before he heads up to the mountains to escape the crowds, let's look at the text.
[20:52] In effect, Jesus sends the disciples out on a cruise in the Sea of Galilee. So read with me, Mark 6, beginning in verse 45.
[21:06] It says, Immediately, he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, where while he dismissed the crowd.
[21:19] And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. When evening came, the boat was out on the sea and he was alone on the land.
[21:30] And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified.
[21:54] But immediately, Jesus spoke to them and said, Take heart. It is I. Do not be afraid. And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased, and they were utterly astounded.
[22:12] For they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. I believe the first lesson we can learn about Jesus in this story is that sometimes Jesus sends us out in storms to protect us.
[22:29] That Jesus Christ sends us into storms to protect us. Let's take a look at verse 45 more closely. Notice it starts with immediately he made the disciples get into the boat.
[22:46] Take note of the word made. That word literally means to force demand, to give them no other option.
[22:58] It wasn't a suggestion. He essentially knew when the crowds were getting excited to make Jesus king, he forces them into this boat.
[23:14] Combined with the word immediately, we see that Jesus has demonstrated unmistakable urgency. Jesus knows that if he doesn't get these men out of, from, the rest of the mob, they may give in to their desire to make him king.
[23:40] The reality is why wouldn't they want to stay? Right? They were there at the beginning when the religious rulers denounced Jesus, when people said mean things about him, who promised to kill him, but the crowds continue to grow and grow and grow and grow to the point that Jesus is now just some, not some voice from the wilderness like John was.
[24:09] He is now world-renowned Jesus. Who can touch him? They want to stay. They want to bask in this glory.
[24:21] Isn't this what it's supposed to be? Let's enjoy this popularity. And what's wonderful about Jesus, Jesus knows them perfectly as he knows you and me perfectly.
[24:37] And Jesus makes this choice to get them out of a situation that is detrimental to their well-being. Immediately, he made the disciples get into the boat.
[24:53] I have a friend, I consider him to be an exceptional parent who probably knows his kids more than any other father that I've ever known.
[25:04] And of course, being Canadian, his kid's got to play hockey. His kid is actually quite dominant at hockey, kind of that, not saying he's Wayne Gretzky, who was able to score, I don't know, like 500 goals in 10 games kind of kid, but he was doing pretty well.
[25:19] And the next year, what he did for his kid, he moved him up an entire level simply to humble him. Because he knew he had to live with this kid who had such a big head for a teenager in the house that he thought the best lesson would be to put him into a place where he would be humbled.
[25:41] And my friend did not do that because he hates his son or he despises his son or doesn't think it's good for his son to be good. He cares about his son's soul's well-being, amen?
[25:52] We have to be looking beyond this age and if we are drawing our applause from this world and what the world tells us is good and righteous, we're in trouble.
[26:06] And parents, if that is what you are creating, your identity about the world says about your children, I would argue that you're in trouble already. that your child is to take his esteem, so to speak, from the knowledge of the love that you have for him and the person he is in Jesus Christ.
[26:29] So that's the first lesson. Sometimes Jesus sends us out in this storm to protect us. The second lesson we learn from Jesus is even though he sends us out in the storm, he continues to mediate for us.
[26:45] He continues to mediate for us. And what I mean by that is Jesus doesn't just ship us out of the storm and say bon voyage, good luck. He doesn't send us out and say work it out on your own.
[27:00] Jesus is still intervening. Notice verse 46. And after Jesus had taken leave of them, he went up in the mountain to pray.
[27:14] What do you think he was praying for? He was praying for his disciples. He was praying for their strengths. He was praying for their souls. There's two type of prayers that we read in the Bible that Jesus prayed.
[27:29] The first prayer is that he prays for his own strength and the longing of God's will, that God would be glorified with his work here on earth, right?
[27:41] Remember the story of the garden of Gethsemane. He knows he's going to die that next day and his prayer and focus is that God would give him that strength to take hold of the symbolic cup that will be offered to him.
[28:01] And the second type of prayer, the type of prayer is he prays for his apostles constantly. You see, Jesus knows there's no plan B.
[28:14] It's not like he's sending these 12 guys off in the sea and I'm now going to go find 12 guys who get what I've been talking about. He's stuck with them.
[28:26] These are the guys that he has chosen. Mark 3 tells us that Jesus prayed all night long before selecting those apostles.
[28:37] Those men that he is going to choose that eventually bring the gospel to Squamish, B.C. Right? Those are the men that are going to have to endure all sorts of trials, an entire world against them, that they're going to have to be true to the gospel that Jesus Christ preached.
[28:57] How easy it would have been for them to make that gospel about them, right? We see it today, sadly. There's more than a few preachers that exist today that are about the show me the money than actually put Jesus Christ on display.
[29:19] So here he is praying for them. Did you know that Jesus prays for us?
[29:31] That he is our mediator. It is because of him that we can go before the great high king. That the king that we serve, God, isn't a far off king, but he's made close because of his son who is fully man and fully God.
[29:53] So when our prayers are offered to Jesus, we can come into the great high priest. the throne is there. That's why we sing the song Boldly I Approach.
[30:08] In John 17, Jesus prays for our unity. He prays that our lives would be such a way that we would glorify God in how we live them.
[30:20] Jesus Christ prays specifically that we would be sanctified in God's truth. That this Bible, his words recorded for us, would wash over us.
[30:34] And by that term, wash, is we live in a filthy world that has all kind of philosophies and ideas and wrong thoughts. And the fact is, we accept those words when we're left alone with those words.
[30:49] And what cleanses us is when we read God's word. It reveals his truth to us. It is what washes us before him.
[31:03] It sanctifies us. We've also been given the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who serves as a comforter, who works with our conscience to indicate to us what is right and what is wrong.
[31:20] The Holy Spirit works in us to pray to God. You see, there's no such thing as a storm that God doesn't see us.
[31:32] There's a storm that God does not know what our needs are. This isn't a God who feels badly for us when we're in a trial. This is a God who knows how to make the winds blow in such a way to move us the way he wants us to grow.
[31:54] And the goal that God has for us is that we would live lives glorifying to him. My friends, this is a God who understands our needs even when you and I are completely blind to them.
[32:10] God's love. The third lesson, that even in the midst of this most horrifying storm, Jesus still sees us.
[32:22] Not only is he mediating for us, but in order to mediate, he sees us. And when he sees us, he knows us. Take a look at verse 48 of your text. And Jesus saw that they were making headway painfully.
[32:38] For the wind was against them in about the fourth watch of the night. Note the word painfully. This word can be translated as tormented.
[32:54] The other place it shows up, describing a woman's pain-giving birth. Right? So if it's anybody here who can identify with what's going on in the apostles' lives right now is you mothers.
[33:09] Right? There is a pain that is ongoing as they are working against the storm. Now I want you to remember, these are experienced seamen.
[33:20] They have spent their whole life on this sea. In fact, Matthew 14, 24 tells us, but the boat by this time was a long way from land.
[33:32] Any person who's in the boat in the Sea of Galilee, you hug the land. Right? Even when you want to get across to the other side of the ocean, you hug the land and you will cross. You never go across.
[33:44] And what's known about the Sea of Galilee, because it's got these mountains on the heights, when the winds blow, it comes off at a certain time, it begins to funnel. Can anybody from Squamish relate to that kind of a wind?
[33:57] Right? Right? Happens in the afternoon. I don't know if you knew, but there was a couple that was attending of our church and they left because of the winds. They just couldn't handle the winds.
[34:08] We know just the way it funnels as it comes into the sound and it blows into Squamish. Take that, multiply it by about ten, and you have what's going on in the Sea of Galilee.
[34:20] It's not a time for kite surfing. It's a time to get in when those winds start to blow. Blow. John 6, 28 says, the seas became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
[34:34] They were now three to four miles out. Basically, the apostles are out of control. They're no longer able to control the direction of the boat, but they're just trying to keep it somewhat going in the right direction and without sinking.
[34:51] And when it says this is going on in the fourth watch, Mark is a gospel written to Rome, which means it was the Roman designation between three and six a.m.
[35:07] So it's stormy, stormy, and it's dark. And all they're trying to do is get to the other side. What is good for us to know is that during our times of trials, we are never outside the sight of God.
[35:30] No matter how dark and how far these men are in the sea, the text says, and Jesus saw that they were making headway.
[35:41] He knows exactly where we are in the midst of our storms. And even though we might not know where we are, God knows where we are.
[35:57] But if I can share something with you, and sometimes Christians, we believe the opposite, but it's okay to ask the question, God, do you see me?
[36:11] It's okay to ask the question, God, I doubt you're hearing me. I don't know where you are. In fact, the Psalms are littered with these stories or these writings where they question.
[36:30] This morning, Dave read from Psalm 10.1. It simply says, why, O Lord, do you stand far away? It means he's not experiencing the closeness of God.
[36:43] Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? The insinuation is, he's been crying out, crying out, crying out, and yet God doesn't seem to be there.
[36:58] Psalm 13, David writes, how long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? Think about what's going on in that man's heart in that moment, that it feels like it's been forever that he has felt the presence of the Lord.
[37:17] And he simply asked the question, how long will you hide your face from me? Anybody ever been there?
[37:28] The reality is, God always seems to arrive just in time, right?
[37:40] Never too late, never too early. But when God arrives, he arrives with a purpose and at the right time. The fourth lesson we learn about Jesus in this storm is that Jesus will reveal himself to us when we are obedient to him.
[38:00] Remember, obedience. Remember, the apostles were told to head out in the boat. They actually didn't want to go. When Jesus said, get in the boat, that's why it says he made them get in the boat.
[38:16] Right? Isn't that our lives? Sometimes we're a little bit reluctant to obey. We think we've got a good reason to be where we are. We think that maybe God's glory may be greater served where we are right here.
[38:27] But God knows better. He puts them in the boat. Verse 48. And about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea.
[38:41] So this is the time. It's the middle of the night. It's dark. They're in the middle where they know they shouldn't be. They're struggling. And notice the text. It says, he meant to pass by them.
[38:54] But when they saw him walking on the seas, they thought it was a ghost and cried out. For they all saw him and were terrified. Now, that word cry out means they cried out in terror.
[39:11] So not only is it dark, not only in the middle of the water, there's a storm. But now they're seeing this apparition, this ghost, and it's terrifying him.
[39:22] Now, if you use different verses, versions of the Bible, ESV says, he meant to pass by them. The NIV says he was about to pass them by.
[39:36] New King James Version said, and he would have passed by them. It kind of gives the idea that Jesus was trying to walk around them. Right? Isn't that the way it kind of reads?
[39:47] He meant to pass by them. Oh, but he happened to see them. That's actually not what the text read, reads. It's very clumsily. It's very, it's written in a very clumsily, clumsy form of English.
[40:00] Pass by means Jesus meant to reveal himself. You with me on this? He meant to reveal himself. The moment Jesus is coming in this moment is now to reveal himself.
[40:13] And what is he doing? Walking on water. Right? If you remember in the Old Testament, in Exodus 33, 22, Moses says, and the Lord said, behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock and while my glory passes by.
[40:35] You with me on that? That's that whole passes by. My glory is going to go before you. And in Moses, he says, and I will cover you with my hand until I've passed by.
[40:48] Elijah in Kings, first, in first Kings 19, 11 said, and he said, go out and stand on the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by.
[40:59] And a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rock before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake.
[41:10] But the Lord was not in the earthquake. Followed by fire. And then a low whisper. What that text means is God, Jesus, is revealing himself as God.
[41:27] He's reminding the apostles, this is who I am. You see me as the miracle worker. You see me as the prophet.
[41:38] But this is actually who I am. I am the God who walks on water. See, in the Old Testament, the book of Job's and Psalms clearly states that only God walks on water.
[41:58] You see, without Jesus, they're getting nowhere in this storm. One writer states, in storms, adversities, and defeat, human self-sufficiency is revealed for what it is, human insufficiency.
[42:19] What that means is when we're in the storm, when we try to work against the storm, it just reveals to us how useless we are. So notice what the apostles do in their terror.
[42:36] And another word for terror here is to be out of their minds. Verse 50. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, take heart.
[42:52] It is I. Do not be afraid. Take heart means to take courage. Buckle up. Be brave. Have you guys ever seen someone in terror?
[43:08] They could be yelling, screaming. They're like out of control of their senses. Some people freeze. What's interesting about the phrase take heart is that it's actually used in eight other times in the New Testament.
[43:26] And it's always Jesus says it in the context of enduring a trial. There's this great example. Paul, if you remember Paul, he wants to go to Rome.
[43:40] He's in Corinth. He writes them a letter. And he says, hey, I'm coming to you. In fact, in Romans, he writes this letter. I can't wait to get to you. But before I go there, I got to go to Jerusalem first.
[43:51] He goes to Jerusalem. And then he starts teaching. And a mob goes crazy for him. And in fact, the guards who were assigned over Paul grabbed Paul and they take him out.
[44:07] For the guards feared that he was going to be torn to pieces. That's how enraged the Pharisees and the Sadducees were.
[44:17] Because what was Paul doing? Preaching Christ. They thought they were done with Christ, right? They crucified him. They put him on a tree. We don't have to deal with him anymore. But yet, these apostles, they keep coming out and they're preaching truth.
[44:31] They have the same power as Jesus. They're healing. They're doing miracles. They can't stop it. But it notices in verse 11, it said, the following night, the Lord stood by Paul.
[44:44] And what did he say? He said, take courage. For as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.
[44:55] But it's take courage. I'm with you. Wouldn't that be terrifying? The crowd literally wanting to tear him physically apart.
[45:11] What Jesus does, he reminds us who he is. As he says in the Old Testament, I am. It is I.
[45:24] Verse 51. And Jesus got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. That tormenting wind that was blowing them across the sea ceased.
[45:42] And then notice, and they were utterly astounded. A minute ago, they were out of their minds.
[45:54] And now they are of the right mind. And it says, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
[46:06] Matthew 14, verse 32 says, And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, Truly you are the son of God.
[46:21] They did it. They get it. They didn't get it on the field when the 25,000 people were clamoring to make him king.
[46:36] They declared him to be a prophet. But Jesus wants them to understand that he is the son of God.
[46:46] You see, this is exactly what Jesus does to us when he takes us through storms. So that we would recognize ourselves as insufficient and him all sufficient.
[47:04] And the final lesson that we can take from this short story in the life of Jesus is that we learned about Jesus in the storm is that Jesus is the same outside the storm.
[47:20] Look at verse 53 of the text. It says, When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And if you remember Gennesaret, that comes from Mark 51, where there was a man living in the tombstones that was possessed by the demons named Legion.
[47:40] And it says, And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to whenever they heard he was.
[47:55] Isn't that beautiful? If you remember the story in Mark 5, they chased him from the land. They got rid of him. They were so scared because he had the power over demons.
[48:09] Within a year, he returns. Remember that if you don't know the story, the man was actually wanting to get in the boat with Jesus because the man was smart enough to know that the greatest place to be on the face of this earth is to be next to Jesus.
[48:26] Jesus instead sends him out and said, Hey, go and share what I did for you. He does. And now when they came out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard Jesus was.
[48:47] And wherever he came in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment.
[48:58] And as many as touched it were made well. You see, Jesus isn't closer to us in the storms.
[49:10] We just seem to cry out for him more there, don't we? The fact is, he's just as close in the everyday walks of life. When we go through tough times, we still see Jesus as the same one who heals, who frees and cares.
[49:24] My question for you is, are you willing to call Jesus Lord, knowing that he too may take you through a storm?
[49:39] There is nothing too Lord nor too high that somehow causes Jesus to be anyone else. The fact of the matter is, the Jesus who walked the earth 2,000 years ago came to serve.
[49:57] He came to feed. He came to heal. But can I tell you something? The Bible also tells us that when Jesus comes back, he's not coming to feed.
[50:12] He's not coming to heal. He's not coming to calm storms. Jesus is not coming back to convince you to get in the boat.
[50:30] In fact, the book of Revelations makes it clear that when Jesus comes back, there will be starvation. There will be wars. There will be storms.
[50:41] And he will be the cause of most of it. Because the purpose he will be doing that is to make sure that every knee on earth will eventually bow and recognize him as the son of God who's coming back to this world to claim it for his own.
[51:15] That is the Jesus that is coming and that is the Jesus we need to make peace with. And the way we make peace with is what he calls us to in the New Testament.
[51:29] To repent. To turn away from our sinful, selfish desires. And remember, I use that idea of faith. To have faith in Jesus Christ means your allegiance and obedience to Christ.
[51:42] That there is no such thing that is allegiance to Jesus but obedience to somewhere else. To another king, another country, even your own heart.
[51:54] The call of Jesus Christ is to worship him and him alone. My friend, when I read the news, I cannot help but think that that time is getting nearer and nearer.
[52:11] So if you are new or visiting, I'd continue to welcome you to come. We are unfolding the life of Jesus. He is the most amazing person. This man who is fully man, fully God, who walked on this earth, who had a perfect message for us that brings about perfect salvation.
[52:28] A salvation that you and I cannot earn, we cannot work for, but that he freely offers it to us as a gift. My prayer is that you would continue to seek him, to call out for him, and to want to know him.
[52:44] The Bible will always teach him, teach us about him. And my prayer is that you would submit your life to that story. Let me pray.
[53:01] Father, there is so much that is written within these pages that you even quickly state that even all the books in the world could not contain your works.
[53:15] Father, I pray for those that are in the storm right now. I pray that they would indeed seek you and seek to know you within that storm.
[53:28] I pray that they would draw confidence from the text that you do indeed see them, you mediate for them, and your ultimate goal as they being created beings is life meant to bring glory to you.
[53:44] Father, I pray for some of the saints in here who I know who've been through incredible, incredible storms. the storms that shake people from their faiths, storms that they sometimes choose to forget God, to forget worship, to worship God.
[54:09] Father, I pray that you bring those testimonies together. Some storms take years to recover others' decades. through that process, you continue to teach us, you continue to mold us, and you continue to reveal yourself to us one day at a time.
[54:34] Father, we know that the Bible teaches that we are loved. We are loved so much, in fact, that you died for us. Father, you command us to put our burdens on you.
[54:48] that there is no one here that is strong enough to carry their own burdens of life. In fact, the only one who does so is one who drowns himself in his own self-sufficiency that it leads him to hell.
[55:07] It's only when we give you our burdens are we lifted into heaven. A complete humbling process that simply says, Father, to you, I cannot offer you anything except my obedience.
[55:27] So, Father, as you continue to call us through these words of Scripture, as you continue to call us through the grace of this creation around us, that you continue to call us to an understanding of you through the relationships we have with the people that are around us, may we see and see clearly that there is a purpose to this life and that it is your will that we be a part of that purpose.
[55:54] Father, we pray against the comfort that this world, this town offers us. It is a town of millions of distractions. It is easy to think about you, but it is another thing to truly worship you.
[56:15] So, Father, we ask and pray that in all you do and all that you present us before us, that you would continue to be kind, merciful, and that we would totally and utterly bend the knee to you.
[56:31] We ask these things in your most gracious and powerful name. Amen.