Jehovah Jireh, my provider, God is Not intimidated by our
economy. He believed that he has his own
economy, right? He'll take care of us.
You'll guide us in this time of inflation and recession and all
the craziness and all the rumors of the American dollar.
What's going to happen? A new currencies and all these
things. God owns a thousand cattle on a
thousand hills. He has everything under control
my brother, he has everything under control my sister, I want
you to see that with me and God's word today.
Would you meet me in Mark chapter 6?
Meet me in that, glorious text. That is so, so, so common to our
understanding to our Vault of testimonies of what God has done
in the past, in the person of Jesus Christ.
But I pray today that you would see it in a new light that you
would see it with fresh fresh eyes.
And our brother prayed so beautifully, but I can't help
but pray again. Would you pray with me and maybe
pray for me while you pray as well.
Lord, we come to you in. Absolute, reverence absolute
awe. What we do to come.
Knowing that we have been accepted in the Beloved but Lord
our hearts our hearts are so easily distracted consumed with
the things of this world so weak so frail.
So, given over to emotion. Lord, we ask for a personal
Grace. Especially for the delivery of
this word. We pray that there would be a
special power in it. We ask Lord that there would be
a sense of your nearness Lord. We pray that you would peel back
the veil and that we would be able to behold you Lord, let
everybody disappear like Christ takes center stage.
And what we pray again that you would do wonders in our hearts
and our understanding. Yes.
But in our lives, practically speaking, we pray that you would
come and do Miracles Lord. Heal us heal the broken body.
Heal the broken marriage heal, the Wayward heart heal, the
confused. Soul heal the broken in spirit.
Oh Lord. We pray that you would indeed
heal us. Your Holy Spirit would speak to
us. O God, we pray that there would
be unction in the Holy Spirit this afternoon, true unction and
power Lord. We know that your own Apostles
could not go without the holy spirit being bestowed upon them
with a special Grace Lord, we do not presume and we do not rely
on our own strength. Let the Holy Spirit.
Have his way and may Christ be pleased with what he sees and
hears in this house. And Jesus name, we pray.
Amen. Twelve. twelve baskets was a
total number of leftovers that the 12 disciples were able to
gather after Jesus Christ performed, a miraculous banquet
to feed thousands of men, women and children at the time where
they could not eat for themselves. 12 12, baskets of
bread and fish. For 12 of Jesus, closest
servants, who were willing to suspend their getaway in order
to serve strangers in a desolate place.
It was no coincidence that the number of baskets that they were
holding in their arms was 12. Because in that Miracle of the
loaves, Jesus did not just want to communicate to a crowd who
are like sheep without a Shepherd that he is
compassionate. He also wanted to communicate to
his own that he does not Overlook them.
When Jesus mysteriously Made bread appear in fish to come
about out of nothing. He also calculated the amount
that would be left and that would be retrieved by his own
and Jesus wanted to teach so much in that one miracle.
And one of the things that you and I concluded on last week, Is
that when the Lord sees you, the Lord sees me serving him.
He does not forget us. He will not leave us to
ourselves. In fact, when we serve him
sacrificially, he will take care of us perfectly and more than
that one day, he will reward us abundantly.
I'm telling you that this is the truth for those who are indeed
dedicated to his purposes. In fact, there is a verse that
confirms that truth and I know we already we haven't even read
a verse from Mark, but I'm telling you to go somewhere
because I want you to make this a verse that you will cling to,
as you serve him day by day, month after month.
Month year by year. So keep your place their Mark,
but go quickly to Hebrews 6 10 because this is what will
Comfort some of you. and Hebrews 6, 10, the holy spirit says, for
God is Not unjust. So as to overlook your work and
the love that you have shown for his name and serving the Saints
as you still do. For God is Not unjust to
overlook your service. Your love to the church to the
people of God. Why would the Holy Spirit
include a verse like this and Holy Scripture?
Why would he insert this? Kind of a promise in the text.
You know why? Because we are prone to believe
at times that, as we give our efforts, and our resources, and
our energy to, the things of God, that he might forget us,
that he doesn't see us. And that awful thought is often
strengthened when we perceive and people that they don't
notice what we have to offer, and they don't express their
appreciation for our sacrifice and what we do to benefit and
all the time that we take apart from our families, or from other
activities that we could be doing on the weekend.
And so we interpret how people fail to see us.
And then we bring that to God, and we think surely Lord, you
have indeed in some measure. Forgotten me.
People may forget even God's people God doesn't and what this
text shows is that it is contrary to his nature to be
forgetful and not to remember, every single deed of love that
you have performed in his name. It is actually a violation of
his character to dismiss whether smaller great, what you have
done for his namesake and that is what you saw last week when
Jesus provided 12, baskets of food for 12 of his servants, who
gave up that evening? That was devoted to them to
others. And we will continue to see that
truth conveyed though, manifested differently today.
You and I are going to witness another miracle and the miracle
that we're going to witness is going to teach a different angle
of God's all seeing Grace, the same disciples, who are able to
perceive that the Lord sees me. In my service are the same
disciples who are going to see that the Lord watches me.
Not just in my service, but in my struggles, And the way the
Lord is going to convey that gracious truth is by walking on
water. Yes, by walking on water Christ
is going to convey to the disciples.
And to us that he sees us not just as we toil and service, but
even as we struggle, while we try to serve him, And I want
your heart to be open to that truth and to believe it for
yourself, and though that might be the Central Point that's
going to be driven down into our souls.
That is not the only Point, there's so much.
There's so much that beautifies this text that we cannot ignore
and I want you to see it with me as we begin to read here in
verse 45, Mark 6:45. Immediately.
He made his disciples, get into the boat and go before him to
the other side, to bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.
And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain
to pray. Something happened right after
Jesus fed the multitudes, the Lord perceives something.
Something came to his attention. And clearly, it was urgent
enough for the Lord, to look at the 12, all of a sudden to say,
get in the boat and go get out. Meet me in B.
Ida go before me. And we may not perceive what it
is exactly here, but it's the concert of the word of God, that
actually shows us, but we might think to ourselves a what
happened exactly what happened for Christ to commission his
disciples and this way. And not only that, but to slip
into Solitude himself Did the Pharisees and Sadducees show up
on the scene again with another devious plot that Herod sent for
his men freshly after killing John, the Baptist to apprehend
Christ and his closest followers.
What was it that demanded such dispersion after a mighty
display of his majesty are. You don't have to guess, praise
God. You have to read your Bible more
carefully. And where we get the answer is
in the parallel account of this very same incident, and that
isn't John. And in John, chapter 6, I want
you to see exactly why it. That Jesus did this very thing
John 6:14. We read.
When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said this
is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.
They interpreted the miracle of the bread and fish and linked it
to the promise that was spoken through.
Moses, that there is a prophet who is to come and you shall
listen to him. And they saw the correlation
between a Moses Who provided Manna in the wilderness.
Now with Christ, Who provided bread for them in a desolate
region. And so they said it's got to be
him. But more than that in verse 15
perceiving, it says perceiving then that they were about to
come and take him by force to make him King.
Jesus withdrew, again to the mountain by himself perceiving,
then that they were about to come and take him by force to
make him king. That's the reason.
That's the reason Jesus looked at his table and said go.
And that's the reason where he pulled himself away up into a
Hilltop. So that he can be in prayer.
Why isn't as an encouraging thing don't we want Jesus to be
crowned as King by the Jews? Especially no actually it's not
a good thing. Because John goes on to tell us
that their motive, their desire and wanting to exalt him.
And give him a throne is purely because he made their bellies
full. They're their intention here is
just because purely because of material Miracles that were
performed and think about what Jesus can do for us, if we elect
him as our leader, think about all the days off work, Think
about all the vacations, think about all the endless meals,
think about all the things that he can do and so they were now
so excited and ready to start a revolution.
They were ready to overthrow Rome with this kind of Miracle
Worker on their side. Surely, we can do it.
And so, there is enthusiasm, but it's a misguided enthusiasm.
These people enjoyed the bread that Jesus could provide, but
they would not Embrace him as the bread, from heaven.
That's why Christ wanted nothing to do with their proposal.
And so, he looks at his 12 and he says, knowing their weakness
that they can get caught up in this frenzy and entertain the
ideas for themselves and side with them and say, Lord, come
on, this is good. They want you to be king, is in
this what we want. You're the Messiah.
This is our time. No, he doesn't even give him a
moment more. He says, get in the boat and go.
And he does tell them to do that, but at the same time, he
also senses the need to retreat himself to pull away, not just
from the crowd but from his own and to do what of all things.
After a long day of ministry, Of exercising, power teaching,
healing and doing things with bread and fish, he wants to
pray. That's for your instruction.
My brother. And my sister.
That's for our Council. This is included for us to know
something about prayer and here's what it is.
When you are presented the opportunity, the temptation to
Veer away from the will of God, you must learn to turn to
prayer. Jesus will one day Rule and
Reign on this Earth as king. You better believe it, he will,
but before he would be crowned King there in Jerusalem as that
mountain would be exalted above all other mountains.
We are told he had to face the cross.
No Crown before a cross. Jesus knew that.
Jesus knew that, but that didn't stop Satan in the wilderness to
give him a shortcut to the throne.
Jesus knew that the but didn't talk didn't stop the crowd to
approach him and to give him an easier way out.
And so what you have here in essence is the persuasion to
avoid the cross and to come to the throne.
Early. And the Lord would not have any
of it. And the way the Lord would be
strengthened to resist it. So to speak, is by exemplifying
what you need. And what I need when similar
Temptations, are brought before us to say why don't you just do
it this way? Prayer is what anchors Us in the
purposes of God prayer is what will fortify you on.
The path that God has ordained for you prayer, is what clears
your vision and helps you to perceive past the carnal prizes
and promotions of this life and to have a righteous perspective
on all things. That's what prayer does. and if
there's any take away, That you will make from this point,
please let it be this that apart from prayer, you you.
And I will not know, longevity in the will of God.
We will not know how to be sustained in the sweet purposes
of our King. If we don't know how to
cultivate a life of prayer, listen to this, Jesus had to
pray, that's fascinating to me. He didn't stand there and
linger. He didn't stand there and
entertain the thought he didn't, he didn't engage with those
people and what they would offer him now.
He went into secret and met with the father.
And the type of prayer that I'm speaking about that, will
promise you success and honoring the Lord Jesus Christ with your
life is the prayer that is modeled by Christ here.
What do I mean by that? Yes, the Lord sees your
thoughts? Yes, he sees your springing
concerns as you work in as you travel but there are conflicts
of the soul and there are certain temptations that require
this kind of caliber of praying. Do you know what that means?
Secluded undistracted, undivided time.
Time in prayer. And until you.
And I believe that about prayer and are willing to give
ourselves to this kind of prayer.
We will never know. The weighty promises that it
offers then, fusing Grace the shield and the strength that we
can know and isolation, with God.
And to meet with him and to wait on him until he gives us what we
need to be able to push through all the noise.
And I'm telling you in this day of surrounding Seductions in
this day of bombarding, Persuasions, if you and I don't
know how to pray. Not going to make it very far.
I can tell you that. Floor, praise.
But after he prays, we're told something else here in verse 47
and when evening came, the boat was out on the sea and he was
alone on the land. 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. We don't know how much time
Jesus spent in prayer, but eventually came out of that
intimate place, and we are told that he now made his way to the
disciples who were struggling at sea.
But before we see him planting his feet on those, Raging Waters
the Holy Spirit pauses and he wants you to pause and as we
pause he wants us to see that Christ sees something.
He wants us to have Christ perspective on this very scene.
and what it is that Christ saw from that Hilltop, As I like to
imagine the moon was shining on those Waters.
And as the Crickets filled the air, That they were making way
painfully. Translation, they were
struggling to go where Jesus told them to go originally.
He was watching them. And in John 6, 18, you're on to
turn there. We were told that it was a
strong wind, a strong wind. It was in a light Breeze.
It was a strong forceful wind that even made the waves rough.
Matthew tells us that those waves were beating against that
very boat and so they were struggling.
Indeed. And this is a familiar thing for
these men, but we see here that the Lord is watching them.
Watching them attempting to honor his wishes when he said I
need you to go Before me, I'll meet you there.
And they were met with opposition.
The wind was against them. It wasn't for them, it was
against them. And here's the point that I want
to make to you today, that obedience often is met with
opposition. You will know resistance as you
dedicate your life to serving Christ no matter what he asks of
you and what makes that resistance, especially more
challenging for the true soldier of God is that, while they are
trying to row forward, they sense the absence of Christ's
presence in the midst. Isn't that the most bothering
thing? I'll go where you go.
But Lord, let me just sense you along the way if you can just
walk with me. Lord, if you can, just peel off
this layer from my perception to help me.
See you and every step, I'll go wherever you go, but what do you
do when he's not on the boat? That is precisely what's
happening here and to add to this description, John adds to
it. John says in chapter 6 verse 16,
this time, John 6, 16 when evening came, his disciples went
down to the Sea, got into a boat and started across the sea to
Capernaum. It was now dark and Jesus had
not yet come to them. Jesus had not yet.
Come to them. There's an expectation for
Jesus. And this is not the first time
the disciples endured and uncomfortable storm, right you
were here when we preach on that first time, but this is the
second and the main difference between the first episode of the
storm. And this episode of the storm is
that this time Jesus was not on the boat.
He was the first time he was taking a nap, but he was there
I'll take Jesus having a nap on the boat then I having Jesus at
all. This time he's nowhere to be
found this time. He left us to ourselves.
And it's a good reminder. That with these two episodes you
see a principle that Lord is trying to illustrate he wants to
mature us. And in wanting to mature as he
does, so by allowing us to face circumstances that are more
challenging than the last. If you're going to grow in
Christ and expect to face greater trials greater test of
faith. And even this I was thinking
about this last night, you know, I have many conversations with
people who have very awesome questions and one of the
questions that I've heard over the years is brother.
Is it true for you? Because it's been true of me
that when I walk with the Lord. And when I was walking with him
in the beginning, God was just so real to me.
It's like I went to bed with him being by me.
I woke up with him being in the very same room when I went to
work. It was just this open Heaven.
Wherever I went, I just sensed The Nearness of the Lord, I
enjoyed him, that was uninterrupted Devotion to him.
And, and just him making himself known and specific ways in ways
that were tailor-made for me. And I had those conversations
with many sisters and brothers and then they, all they always
end up saying the same thing when they walk with the Lord
long enough, but it's not really the same.
Now, I just feel like the testimonies are less.
I just feel like the the Warmness of that place and
prayer is not as intense as it was when I first encountered him
at, this is make sense to anybody, okay?
And it's 100% always the same for those who are truly walking
with the Lord and I get it. And I think this is a perfect
illustration to explain why. That is the case.
Because when you start with them, he is so gracious with us.
Is he not? He is so patient with us and
he's always patient with us but there's a special sense of who
he is and where he is. When we first start out, But
then, as time goes by, we sense that he pulls away.
And why is that the case I'll tell you why.
It's the case because he wants to mature your faith.
Faith, pleases God. And what will require from us?
Often is for him to hide himself in order for you to Simply take
him at his word and not, wait for a testimony or an experience
to solidify your trust in him and what better illustration
than this, when the disciples were walking with the Lord early
on, he went in the boat with them.
And after some chapters go by, he tells him to go without him.
What is he doing here? He wants to train their faith.
What is he doing here? He wants to pull out of the more
trust and Reliance on him though.
They cannot immediately perceive him.
And so like a actual child grows up.
You sense this Independence though.
You're not completely Not relying on the Lord.
But there's a sense in which the Lord will let you move forward
and cloak himself as you go. So that when you go you're
trusting and what he had said and necessarily on how you feel
him that morning, what he did in your life last weekend.
I hope that gives you some kind of comfort.
This is what the Lord wanted to convey.
But the distant presence of Jesus did not mean that he was
any less mindful, right? Mark tells us that the watchful
eye of Jesus was over. The disciples, the watchful eye
of Christ was laser focused on those 12.
And that no matter how far they were, they were never outside of
his caring reach. That's the point here.
The Lord monitors you The Lord supervises you, you might not be
aware of it, but that doesn't matter.
It doesn't make it any less true.
He is there though. It's dark.
He is there though. It's difficulty is there though.
You feel deserted? He's there.
He never ceases to oversee you're going and you're coming.
And he is always ready to bring Deliverance when the time is
right. Here's Christ, watching them
all. Oh, what a sight, what a sight.
And he is ready to do just that to come to their rescue.
But before that may make a comment about the disciples.
The disciples here were told. Were rowing when it was really
challenging to do. So the wind was against them but
they didn't quit. They didn't quit, all they had
from. Jesus was one short, brief
command. Go to the other side, that's all
they needed. And when they went, they kept
going, they did not give up, you know, how tempting it would have
been to make a u-turn. The wind is now rushing against
them. All they had to do is make a 180
and the wind would support them, and they just come back to their
original place and, you know, call it a night and just go when
the weather was better, but they didn't why?
Because Jesus told him to go. And so, they gave themselves
over and you can imagine the muscle cramps and you can
imagine the frustrating process very slow.
And we often see the disciples in a negative light by here's a
praiseworthy thing, they were committed to what Jesus had
said. In this day of microwave
results, right? It's becoming more of a trend
for believers to be less committed less committed to
their Ministries, less committed to the local churches, less
committed to devoting themselves to the things that Jesus told
them to do. And I could tell you, the reason
for that, and it might sting, but it's okay.
Christ is not their primary audience.
All these disciples had was a word.
All they wanted to do is please the master and if Christ, my
friend is not your primary audience, then don't be
surprised when you jump from Ministry to Ministry.
Don't be surprised if you find yourself jumping from church to
church. Don't be surprised when you
resign from one community. And think it's gonna be better
with another community. That is a sign of immaturity in
the faith. Christ is worthy of loyalty.
He is worthy of loyalty. And if you don't have him as
your motivation, then you will be tossed to and fro in
different ways. And I don't want that for you,
and I praise God. That in this place, there are
solid Christians, who don't give up so easily they row, and they
push and they fight and in those days were their body betrays
them, or their schedule conflicts with them, they
realized this is for my Jesus. He told me to do this and that's
enough for me. Wouldn't be nice to gather
yourself with 11 others who had the same conviction.
Oh, may this be a boat filled with people who feel that way
about Jesus. We're going forward, it's not
easy but we're going forward. We're going for we're not seeing
the results that we wish we would see.
We're going forward, I'm not being promoted or recognized.
The way I would like to be promoter recognized, but it's
not even about any of that. My Jesus told me.
That's all I need. Whether the fruit that I
expected after two years of doing this is here or not,
whether the progress is slow, my Jesus told me, and that's enough
for me that kind of caliber of Christianity, makes the devil,
pull his hair. Christ, here.
Sees this And he's going to do something in a moment.
Verse 48, we read in the beginning that he saw that they
were making Headway painfully for the wind was against them.
And about the Fourth Watch of the night, you know what time
that is 3 to 6 a.m.? Think about how long they were
rowing for then hours. Hours.
When I try to paint something or chisel that my shoulders.
Get so sore after 5 minutes, these guys were these were
expert fisherman. Yes but not all of them.
And here they are treading. Wrestling.
Advancing. Till 3:00 to 6:00 in the
morning, and in those early hours, that's when Jesus decides
to plant his feet, on those, vicious waves on those
bulldozing wins. And he makes it seem like a walk
in the park. Like, it's a sunny afternoon in
Galilee. He just makes his way in walks
and their Direction. And when he does Mark tells us
something unique. Mark tells us that the end of 48
walking on the sea, he meant to pass by them.
Interesting and difficult to interpret.
You have many people believe different things about what this
means. What do you mean?
Jesus meant to walk by them. Are all these ideas.
But this is not the only time we've seen Jesus do this, right?
This is not the only time we've seen the Lord planning to move
ahead with his disciples when they were physically heading in
a certain direction. Do you remember those two
sorrowful disciples on the road to Emmaus with heavy hearts?
Jesus appears hides his identity and the way that he gives them a
prescription for their weariness is a terrific Old Testament
Bible study. And he goes through the Hebrew
scriptures and reveals Christ in them, and those Heavy Hearts
begin to burn. And at some point during that,
several mile, Journey, Jesus, and these to come to a
Crossroads. And when they come to the
crossroads, Luke tells us what Jesus was planning to do.
And in Luke 24, 28. So they drew near to the Village
to, which they were going, he acted, as if he were going
further. He acted as if he was going
farther. So here's the Lord with these
two others and mesas that way. And The opposite direction is
here and the Lord. Begins to make way in the
opposite direction. Why why would why would he do
that? And why is the holy spirit?
Telling us that he's doing that? Because the Lord in this moment
after revealing so much of himself wanted to see if they
wanted more. That's why.
Christ is so precious. He is such a treasure.
And in his personality, he Delights in seeing us seek him.
He enjoys seeing us pursue him. And at times he reserves himself
in order, to see if you're willing to, as you heard
earlier, press on to know him, do you want more truth?
Do you want more Revelation? Do you want more understanding?
Do you want more intimacy? There are times in your walk
with the, Lord will get quiet and I'm becoming quiet.
It's not, because he's playing games with you.
He wants to see if you want more of him.
These two disciples. They passed the test they
compelled him. It says to come with him.
You know what? Christ did?
When he came over for dinner. He honored that and he opened
their eyes even more. And they proceeded to he was, he
disappeared. And they made way to Jerusalem
to tell him about the resurrected Christ.
Could it be that Jesus doing the same thing here?
here they are and this storm tossed moment and through the
wind and the waves, you see somebody just strolling by I
wonder if he even looked at them, I don't think he did.
Just graciously and Heavenly like walking by them.
Perhaps wanting to teach him to cry out.
To cry out to cry out for his holy company.
For him to be near closer. The Lord desires that from us.
And it wasn't until they did cry out that he turned his attention
toward them and actually comforted them.
And entered into the boat, but maybe there's something deeper
with this. Maybe maybe that is part of it,
but maybe the Lord had a deeper desire in wanting to pass by.
Could it be that in passing by? He wanted to display his glory
This is not the first time, the Lord has passed by some of his
servants with the sole intent of demonstrating his Beauty.
Remember Moses said O Lord, Show Me Your Glory.
Show Me Your Glory. And the Lord agrees to that.
But he gives him a set of instructions.
He says, I am going to allow my glory to pass by you but I'm
going to put you in the cleft of The Rock and I'm going to put my
hand over you until I do pass by you.
That's Moses. In Exodus 33.
What about Elijah and First Kings, 19, 11, Elijah's
distraught, he is defeated, he's depressed, the Lord gives them a
meal, a drink couple of naps and he tells him to go on Mount
Horeb. Elijah goes, we're told they're
in First Kings, 19, 11, that the Lord passed by And when the Lord
passed by a wind came, and it broke some of those mountains.
And after that, wind came an earthquake came.
And after an earthquake came fire came, and he wasn't, and
are either of those things, finally, a low whisper came.
And the Lord spoke. The Lord passed by Moses and he
had a glimpse of his glory. The lord passed by Elijah and he
got a glimpse of his glory. Could it be that the Lord is
passing by these disciples to give him a glimpse of his glory?
That might be speculation. But there might be validity to
that when you see what Jesus says to them, when they
understand that it is him or at least At least discovered after
these words, what does he say here in verse 50?
For they all saw him and were terrified but immediately he
spoke to them and said, take heart.
It is, I do not be afraid, take heart, it is, I do not be
afraid. Take heart.
It is I 3 English words, right? those three English words are
two in the Greek ego and my Do you know what?
That translates. As take heart.
I am. Take heart.
I am don't doubt that that is a direct reference to how God
revealed his personal name to Moses.
In Exodus 3:14, when Moses was to go to the people of Israel.
God told him, tell those people I am sent you to them.
And here's Jesus passing by and as he passes by and they cry
out, he Comforts them with this Revelation, take Heart, The
Great. I Am.
I am was walking on those Waters and in job, 98.
We are told that God Alone is the one who spreads out the
heavens and who tramples on the sea.
I am. Is it no wonder that in Matthews
version? They fall down and they worship
him in that boat. This is what Jesus is doing.
He's revealing his glory. he's revealing his glory and he did
in indeed reveal it but that's not how the disciples
interpreted as first. They didn't see Glory at first.
You know what? They saw a ghost.
You saw Glory. I hope and me explaining this.
That's what, that's what we perceive.
They didn't they thought they saw a phantom.
Isn't that what we see here? Verse 49.
But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a
ghost. And cried out.
They thought it was a ghost. Wonder if this is exhaustion
playing with their minds, you wonder if there is superstition.
What was it? I mean, it's not common that you
see rabbis Walk on Water. I get it.
But a ghost of all things. They were terrified and we might
feel the right to criticize these men because they didn't
put the pieces together, but be very slow with your criticism.
Can we be humble this afternoon? Can we be humble?
And admit that what happened to them is often what happens to us
when it comes to our perception of Jesus during our trials and
our tribulations? How often do we discern Christ
in our troubles? Come on.
Be honest. Be honest.
This is church. You have to be honest.
How often do we calmly? Consider The Sovereign God.
In our storms. You know what, Christians are
more quick to do, oftentimes acknowledge and confess the
presence of Satan and demons. In their trials and
difficulties. It's very rare to hear a
believer that I praise God. It's not rare here for them to
assess. What is going on in the lives
and be able to say. But Christ is here.
God is here. I know that he is here, I may
not fully understand it. I might be very tired but I know
that he is here. Some good hearted believers.
Unfortunately don't. They are more willing to admit
that they are being harassed by Satan.
But listen, if you're walking in obedience like these disciples
were, he can't harass you and he can't haunt you.
And whatever Affliction might be upon you you know that Christ
permitted it to sanctify you Know when you're in the boat,
the boat that Jesus told you to be in it to go, where Jesus told
you to go, you don't have to be afraid of ghosts.
You don't have to be afraid of anything.
There are many Believers in 2023 who are Unfaithful churches, who
believe that they can have a curse placed on them.
They believe in the power of witches and warlocks.
They believe that the devil can have his way with their lives
and that he's in charge of the direction of their boat.
And all they do is live with fear seeing ghosts.
Thinking that Satan has somewhat the same level of power, and
there's a tug, of war happening in The Invisible realm.
No, no, no, no. God has all the rope and Satan
has on the end of it, like a leash.
They saw a ghost. No, it's Christ.
It's not a ghost. We see are suffering and we see
Satan and we see a forgetful God and we see all these different
things. When in fact, it's Jesus And
he's on top of the water, the very same water that you're
afraid of. And he is standing still.
Those waves seem to and those winds seemed to push you from
left to, right? Can I give you a life verse?
Let me give you a life first and Isaiah, 50 verse 10 and I would
love to hear those Bible Pages turning to Isaiah 50 10.
There it is. What a Sweet Sweet Sound.
Because I want you to see with your own eyes.
Isaiah, 50 verse 10. Make this a banner over your
heart, make this a banner over your future.
Isaiah 52:10 declares who among you fears?
The Lord and obeys, the voice of his servant pause.
I hope you can read that. And save me, I do.
Who among you fears the Lord. Lord, I fear you who among you
obey the voice of his servant. I tried to I desire to you
should stop at verse 10 and say me if you were questioning that
then the rest of this doesn't apply to you but if you can
confidently say my conscience is clear, I do want to fear God.
I do want to make my life of obedience to him.
Then the next part is for you. Let him who walks in darkness
and has no light. Hold on.
You just ask from the readers who fears, God, and who obeys
the voice of his servant. Why are you talking about
darkness and not having light? Isn't that for the person who
doesn't fear God and who doesn't obey?
No. This darkness is not talking
about the darkness of Disobedience or sin or being in
the Dominion and the domain of Satan, that's not the darkness
that we're talking about here. He already clarified and
screamed the Audience by saying, okay, let's just determine this
first. Who your fears God, who hero,
boys, the voice of a servant good.
So you can expect something in your walk and as you fear Him,
you might find some Darkness along the path.
Meaning, what you may not perceive?
You may not know. You may feel a sense of lack of
Direction, may not understand what is happening.
You may not have light on the current circumstance that can
happen to those who fear God and obey the voice of his servant.
and so when you do come to that season, where there doesn't seem
to be light somebody switch the light off, And they're all your
aimless or you're stuck or there's something there, that's
frustrating you and your progress and your advancement in
your confidence of what tomorrow will bring, what are you going
to do? Trust In The Name Of The Lord?
And rely on his God. That's what you do.
I can't tell you how much, how many times this verse has
consoled, my soul and I give it to you if you haven't heard it
before. To lock it deep down inside and
realize even for those who fear Him and Obey him, you might walk
in some season of darkness and what are you supposed to do?
See ghosts, no trust in the name of God and rely on him.
He'll pull you through, he can come and everything can change
in one moment. That's what happens.
Here. Everything changed in one
moment. Verse 51 of Mark 6 and he got
into the boat with them and the wind ceased.
He got into the boat and the wind ceased and they were
utterly astounded. You know what?
John tells us that not only did the wind cease but right away
the boat was transported to shore.
There is this like form of teleportation that happened, the
moment Jesus got in the boat, not only did the waves and the
wind quiet down, but within a blink sigh, they show up on the
dock. That's for another time. but
what's interesting here is we expect this reaction but look at
the commentary of Mark about their astonishment in verse 52
for they did not understand about the loaves but their
hearts were hardened That's interesting.
You know, what this tells me they were utterly astounded,
rightfully so. But you know what?
Mark says. In some sense, where was this
reaction, when Jesus multiplied, the bread and the fish?
It wasn't there. When Jesus did that, they were
not utterly astounded. The way they are here though.
That Miracle demanded this kind of recognition.
It was missing. It was missing.
And this shows me at least the patience of Jesus Christ.
The absolute steadfastness of his love that even when he made
himself known so powerfully, the disciples didn't give him.
What was his due? And he did not give up on them.
Nonetheless, he worked in a way to soften those hardened hearts
and this is an extremely important point that I want to
make. Your heart and mind.
Can be hardened even in the midst of God doing amazing
things. Isn't that a sad reality?
God can place you in an amazing. Local church.
God, can put wonderful people in your lives.
He can bless you through and through, and he can make things
appear when they were not there. And still what I see here is a
commentary. What's possible with us?
Our hearts can still be indifferent, we still don't get
it and we don't give the Lord, the worship that is his due and
we don't offer him the Zeal that he deserves and we don't commit
ourselves. The way, we should be committed
despite all that he did. Plays, we still can remain
hardened. And what I see here is that
those hardened Hearts were obviously softened.
And God knows exactly what to do with our hardened hearts.
You know what he doesn't do? He doesn't give up on us.
You know what? He doesn't do this and put us on
the shelf and recruit more disciples for your place.
No, he doesn't. He works on you but here's the
part that some people don't get you ready for this.
Listen. Sometimes it requires a storm.
You know what I learn about some Christians.
Blessing doesn't do them very good.
Blessing doesn't really keep them closed.
They appreciate it. And the spontaneous moment of
receiving it but afterwards, they go their own way.
And the hearts are hardened. You know, how God's often the
hearts of these hardened men. He put him on a boat and he sent
him into the sea and he allowed waves and wind to come.
To wake them up. That might be true of you
because as you sit here and you've been sitting here week
after week, nothing has changed. You know what's going to happen.
If God loves you, he's going to realize that the hundred
sermons. You've heard haven't worked.
So, here comes a storm. And when that storm comes and
you realize that you are not standing on Solid Rock as you
thought and things Begin to Fall Apart all around.
You can I give you a word of suggestion cry out to him.
If you forgot anything with the sermon, remember that?
Cry out to him. When the storm comes. and when
the storm comes and you cry out to him and he reveals himself in
his grace and mercy, stay with him, Matthew gives us a
different angle on this and this is how we're going to end.
Go to Matthew chapter 8. Matthew's way of teaching is a
little different about what happened with the disciples but
it's encouraging still. Now, do you remember when the
disciples went through the first storm?
Do you remember the response? If you don't, look what Matthew
826 says and he said to them. Why are you afraid o?
You of little faith, then he arose and rebuked the winds and
the Sea and there was a great calm.
It's not the same incident, he this is it.
This is the first one and look what happens in verse 27 and the
men marveled saying, what sort of man is this that even winds
and sea obey him they marveled. And rightfully so.
But what happened when they underwent the second storm, what
happened with The Following episode, the spirit of God,
records for us, their reaction in that, as well.
And you will notice the difference.
Matthew 8 is the first storm, Matthew. 14 is the second storm.
And in Matthew 14, I want you to see here in verse 32 What
happened after Jesus got on the boat. 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.
The first time they marveled and they questioned his identity.
This is different. I've never seen a Pharisee, do
that. I've you Andrew know I've never
seen a Sadducees do that know? This Rabbi is different.
Who is this man? And they left it at that the
second time. You're the son of God.
And it isn't just marvel, they praised him.
They worshiped him. And guess what?
Jesus didn't deny their worship. He received it the first time
they Marvel. The second time they worshipped.
Do you want? You know what, you see here and
increase in their faith? Growth, and their understanding.
And I love how the Holy Spirit teaches that in the context of
storms. Because that's what storms do.
That's what trials do they stretch your soul.
They help you see. Who Christ?
Is they train, you? They bring you to a clear
understanding of his person. And if you respond correctly, he
receives more Glory from you. They marveled.
And then they worshipped. Truly we go from glory to glory.
And truly, our paths are determined, no matter how unique
they might look in comparison to the person sitting beside you.
The goal is the same. To take you into greater
understanding of who he is and to take you from one degree of
Glory to another and for him to receive greater glory from one
degree to another. This is Christ.
He doesn't just see you in your service.
He sees you in your struggle as you serve him.
And perhaps you are in a place today.
Where you're tired and the last, you looked you're here because
you've been following Jesus. and you're wondering, Lord, I
remember the early days where it wasn't really like this.
He sees you. he sees you, he knows you, he perceives you, he
studies you and at the right time, he'll pull you through
those who walk in darkness and have no light trust in the name
of the Lord, and rely on his God Lord, we thank you for these
glorious truths but we pray Strengthen our stride.
Thank you for not giving up on us when our hearts become hard.
And we don't give you what you deserve and we eat from your
hand. And we're blessed by your power.
but we don't give you the honor and that moment thank you that
when we walk with calloused hearts, You know how to deal
with us, accordingly to soften us again.
And yes it is true that your goodness and kindness leads us
to repentance but Lord, it is also true that you afflict us
for our good. Although we love you.
You are an awesome God lord of prayers for the people here.
That they may know you. and perhaps some have come here and
they Marvel about you and they Marvel about sermons about you
but they have not yet worshipped you We asked for that the Holy
Spirit would bring into that place.
And they would confess, he is the son of God.
And I want to give my life to him.
Only you can do that in Jesus name.
Amen. Can we stand worship mark?