Jesus Treads on Chaos | Sermon 03/12/2023

Apologia Utah

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But church, starting in verse 16 of the Gospel according to John 6, hear now the inerrant and fallible words of the living and true

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God. Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea. And after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum.

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It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing.

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Then when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat, and they were frightened.

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But He said to them, It is I, do not be afraid. So they were willing to receive

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Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. Thus, ending the reading of God's holy and inspired word, let's pray quickly one more time.

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Lord God, would You please speak through me today, Lord. Would You get me out of the way, Lord. Would You reach

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Your people as You've reached me with this passage, Lord. Would You encourage us, and would

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You teach us and transform us. Lord, would You do what only

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You can do in our hearts and our minds. Please help us to see the glory of this passage, which points to Your glory, dear

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Jesus. We pray this in Your name, Amen. So the oceans and seas of this world are dangerous and often unforgiving.

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There are many stories throughout history of ships going to sea and never returning back to port.

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Even saints in the Bible were subject to the tumult of the raging waters of the seas.

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You can take, for instance, the Apostle Paul. After he appealed to Caesar before King Agrippa due to false accusations of the

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Jews, Paul was sent to Rome. If you remember, he said, I appeal to Caesar.

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And he said to Caesar, you shall go. Luke records that they embarked on an

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Andromachan ship to sail across the coast of Asia Minor in the

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Mediterranean. They sailed to Cyprus because the winds were contrary.

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They then sailed along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia. Paul's guard then found an

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Alexandrian ship that was sailing for Italy. And so Paul's guard said, you're going to board that ship.

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Luke recorded from that point on that Alexandrian ship to Italy that some considerable time had passed and the voyage was becoming quite dangerous.

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Prophetically, the Apostle Paul admonished the men that great loss and damage awaited them on this voyage.

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It says this, but before very long there rushed down from the land a violent wind called a

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Uruquillo. And when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven along.

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The crew even started to throw out cargo to lighten the load. A violent storm was tossing them about, and that's what you do.

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You toss over tackle and unimportant things. Most things are important, but things that you could go without for a time just to save your life, and they threw it overboard.

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But nothing was helping the situation on the Mediterranean for Paul. Many days and nights had passed in which they saw no sun, no moon, no stars, only storm clouds and blackness.

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All hope of getting through this alive was draining from the men, it said. But when all seemed lost, an angel was sent to Paul from God saying that although the ship must run aground, every single person's life on the ship will be saved.

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Everyone will keep their lives. And so Paul relays that to them. He says, eat a little bread because we're about to go swimming.

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That's what he tells them. So they kept sailing through the storm, and finally they struck a reef where two seas met.

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They run aground, and the stern began to be broken up by the power of the waves.

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It's just this catastrophe, this huge storm and breaking up of the ship, and all the men grab whatever they can, and they realize they're next to an island, praise

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God. The island happened to be Malta. You can go look that up later. If you go to the

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Mediterranean, you'll see Malta. It's just a little bit south of the boot of Italy.

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Not a little bit south, but it's right in line with it. They came to Malta, and the brethren and Paul and the guards and all the men, the crew, jumped overboard, and they swam to land.

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Against all odds, they actually survived. What was likely hard for them to accept was not too long after this, the only way to get off the island was to get back on a ship.

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That would be hard to do. It's like getting in a plane crash in a remote place, and the only way to get back is back on a plane.

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That would be hard. The prophet Jeremiah says there is anxiety by the sea, and it cannot be calmed.

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The psalmist says the sea roars and consumes. The bottom of the sea is where the enemies of God have drowned and laid waste, according to multiple

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Bible writers. This is a place of chaos, the sea, the oceans.

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And that's the mindset of the audience of the gospel, according to John. That's the mindset they had, is you don't go to the great sea.

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They didn't like large bodies of water in ancient times. And so that's the mindset that we are to have.

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We are now to place ourselves in that mindset, fear of these great bodies of water.

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So, that's what's going to help us understand what's happening with Jesus.

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Let's check it out. Go to verses 16 and 17. Now when evening came,

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His disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum.

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It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. So after the feeding of the 5 ,000 which we went over two weeks ago, it seems before Jesus retreated into the mountain to pray alone,

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Mark 6 and Matthew 14 both say, immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.

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After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray, and when it was evening,

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He was there alone. So it fills in some gaps for us there. Jesus sent the crowds away after understanding they wanted to make

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Him king. If you remember that sermon two weeks ago, they wanted to make Him king by force.

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And when you expend a lot of energy doing something like this, feeding the 5 ,000, doing spiritual things and physical things to serve others, you are often a bit weary.

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Matthew and Mark make it clear that He wanted to pray. And isn't that vital?

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That when you expend this kind of energy, you really need a time of prayer. You will gain new strength when you pray.

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You see, many of us want to feed ourselves with television and videos on your phone, and I'm not saying those are inherently bad.

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You can probably overdo it with television and videos, and some of you need to hear that.

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Maybe your kids. But the fact is that shouldn't be the singular source of your rest.

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That should not be the place where you get your rejuvenation solely.

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You need to get it from God. Jesus demonstrates focused and intentional prayer to God brings rest and relief.

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And there's some of us, and I know I used to be this way very early on in my walk, there's some of us who don't pray at all.

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We don't pray. It's maybe a chore we think in our minds. But it's actually really a gift from God.

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It's not a chore. It's a gift. He gives you access to Him. You can talk to Him. It is commanded and expected of followers of Christ, and yet it comes with immeasurable benefits.

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It's not even simply commanded. It's like He endows it with you. He gives it to you as a gift to come to Him in prayer.

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Jesus communes with His Father this way. Prayer is how

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He maintained His relationship with His Father and His earthly ministry. It stands to say until you and I are in the presence of God one day, we too will maintain our relationship with Him through prayer and the

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Word. That's how you do it. V. 17 is still up there.

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V. 17, it says, the disciples got into the boat while Jesus was praying. They set out to cross the sea.

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We're about to now enter into the conflict of this historical scene.

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Remember, they were on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. The people had followed

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Jesus and His disciples from the west side. They came around the north point of the Sea of Galilee and they were on the east side.

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And the people were sent away. They went back west. And Jesus is still on this little mountain, this little hill.

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And the disciples take off and they head west on a boat to get to Capernaum, which is kind of northwest tip of the

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Sea of Galilee. Okay? That's what's happening. It's possible they even left a boat for Jesus.

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He's going to need it. They were wrong. They left a boat for Him probably.

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He could join them later. It says it's already become dark. Night has fallen and Jesus has not yet come to them.

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It is dark. I'll tell you what, in the dark on a boat in the sea with a storm coming is not a place

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I ever want to be. I could go my whole life without being in the dark on a boat with a storm coming.

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I don't know about you. Someone say amen. Boy, I just talk about...

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I think Pastor Jeff says that one of his worst fears is being dropped off in the middle of the ocean at night.

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That would just be horrible. Oh boy. What John wants you to notice though, he intentionally mentions that it had become dark and Jesus had not yet come to them.

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Notice that. That is intentional. That's not just a simple fact of narration.

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That is key. He wants you to notice that there is an intentional link between darkness and the absence of Jesus.

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Darkness and the absence of Jesus. And it must have been hard for the disciples to depart without their

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Master. Like sheep without a shepherd. At sea without their captain.

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The very presence of Jesus was a comfort to these men. In fact, the very presence of Jesus was a comfort to many who

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He encountered. All at once, Jesus had a commanding and powerful presence, and yet, one of intimacy and gentleness.

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Unapproachable and approachable all at the same time. The glorious King Jesus. Remember, Jesus is the light.

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The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn't comprehend it. We went over that in John 1 .5.

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They are missing their light. Jesus. No doubt the absence of Christ made the darkness feel even darker.

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And maybe some of us here feel like Jesus is absent from us.

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Do you feel like Jesus has been absent from you? It feels dark.

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You've got to remember that you have access to Him. He promised at the Great Commission, He said,

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I will be with you always. Always. I will be with you always. The Holy Spirit has been given to us.

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Through the Spirit, we have a direct connection to our Lord. And take comfort in His recorded words.

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Remember in Romans 8, Paul says that nothing will separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our

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Lord. He lists all these things. Everything in the spiritual realm and everything in the physical realm.

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Basically, every single thing in all of existence, none of that will ever be able to separate you from Jesus.

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That's what he says. Nothing will be able to separate you from Him. From your Redeemer. So we need to not go based off of feeling, because your feelings can deceive you.

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But who will never deceive you? God. God will never deceive you. His Word will never deceive you.

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But your feelings will. He's not here. He's gone. I'm in a dark place. The light will come.

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The light will come. In this moment for the disciples, though, things have gotten worse.

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Being alone without Jesus is darkness, chaos, and fear. V. 18, the sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing.

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The sea was getting stirred up. That Greek word could even be said, woken up.

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Something was woken up. It became alive and moving. And as a fisherman,

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John knows that that can happen when strong winds are blowing. He understands this.

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Sudden storms like this are very possible and still are today. The Sea of Galilee is 700 feet below sea level.

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It is about 8 miles wide and more than 12 miles long north to south.

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It places the sea plunges to depths of 200 feet. And what would happen at the

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Sea of Galilee is a wind would come down off the mountains and would be pushing cool air over the

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Sea of Galilee, and then this warm water air would be rushing up from the

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Sea of Galilee, and that warm air and that cool mountain air would collide and it would create these spectacular storms, wind storms, thunderstorms.

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That's what would happen. As I alluded to earlier in my introduction, in ancient times, people feared and avoided large bodies of water.

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And although the Mediterranean Sea has whales and sharks and creatures of all varieties, the

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Sea of Galilee is actually a freshwater lake. It's a freshwater lake. But for all they knew, some

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Leviathan was in the depths. It's possible.

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The sea was like an abyss to them. An abyss. Chaos and darkness.

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For the disciples, they were already in the middle of it. Matthew 14 .24 adds to this, but the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

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So the boat was being battered by waves. The word also means tormented or tortured. The boat was tormented by the waves.

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The image is that the waves were doing whatever they wanted to the boat. Thrashing it around.

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The boat had no control. The wind was contrary. That word literally in the

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Greek is anti. A -N -T -I It is against them. The wind is against them.

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The wind is opposed to them. It says in Mark 6 .18, again, you can see all this on the printout

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I gave you too, by the way. Mark 6 .18, the disciples were straining at the oars.

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They could barely row. They could barely row it. They couldn't control it.

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Mark agrees with Matthew that the wind was against them. This was an uncontrollable circumstance.

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The disciples were powerless to steer the boat. Powerless to get out of the storm.

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Powerless to get to land. They were at the mercy of the creation. Go to verse 19.

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Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat and they were frightened.

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The disciples had rowed a great distance. In the original language, it literally says they went 25 to 30 stadia.

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Now, a Greek stadion, which is the singular version of that word, a

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Greek stadion was 607 feet. That's literally how long the

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Greeks would make their stadiums. So they measured things by stadiums. So, basically, the disciples had rowed 25 to 30 stadia.

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That's 25 or 30 times 607. That's roughly 3 .4

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miles. That's how our

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English translations put it. They're in the middle of the sea. If it's 8 miles wide and they've gone about 4 miles, they're literally in the middle of the sea.

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They've rowed that far out. In all of the sea with all the distance they covered in the dark.

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Despite all that distance, Jesus was drawing near. It's amazing. All that distance in a storm.

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They're in the middle of the sea and Jesus is heading to them. He knew exactly where they were.

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He knew exactly where they were. It's possible. It wasn't the storm and the tempest that unsettled the disciples.

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They were used to these things for the most part as fishermen. It was actually seeing a figure walking towards them on the water that frightened them.

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And that's what you get from this text. They were fine with the storm and the darkness a bit until they see this figure coming.

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And they didn't recognize Jesus at first. If you look at your printout, both

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Matthew and Mark report that they thought whatever was coming to them was a ghost. It's not that they had some sort of theological doctrine for ghosts or that that was a common thing.

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It's that they didn't know how to explain what they saw. So the

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Greek literally says a phantasma. A phantom was coming their way.

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It comes actually from the root word appearance. So you could almost say like an apparition or a manifestation of something at the moment.

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Unexplainable. What is this coming towards us? But this was no phantom.

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This was not a phantom. And look, Jesus doesn't come tiptoeing on a placid, calm lake.

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He comes treading confidently and without hindrance, walking on crests and foaming waves, chaotic waters.

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The storm doesn't bother the storm maker. Against the violent waters, He appeared more fierce than the waves themselves.

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Can you imagine this? It's unbelievable. Nothing on the waters is staying still.

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Nothing is moving in a straight line during this storm. There are boats being tossed around.

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Everything is moving. The waters themselves are swelling and moving and gushing and crashing. But He's making a beeline to them.

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Nothing else is doing that. Only He is steady. Only He is straight, moving towards them.

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How is that possible? There are just these moments where the deity of Christ, the divine nature of Christ just bursts through the veiled glory of His humanity and you see

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Him for who He is. The Creator of the world. This glory. The water is spraying on Jesus' body.

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The wind is blowing in His hair and His beard and His tunic. And His stride is confident still.

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Unshakable. It's like His legs are slamming down onto rock bearing

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His weight on this water. Unshaken, impervious to the creation's attempts to knock

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Him down. His face? Probably calm and yet determined. He was going to get to the boat.

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The dark waters that sought to envelop and swallow up His disciples have no power over the

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Master of the Sea, the Ruler of the Sea, the Maker of the Sea, Jesus Christ. Now some scholars have said that Jesus was simply walking on the shoreline.

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Jesus was just walking on the shoreline. There was some shallow water with some flat rocks, just perfect set up for Him to walk along these rocks along the shore.

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And it looked like He was walking on water. It just doesn't make sense with the context or the original language.

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In on the sea, that word for on is epi, which is always on.

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It's always on. It's not by. It's on the sea Jesus was walking.

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And the second thing is, we were told by three accounts that they're in the middle of the sea.

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How are they going to be able to see Jesus three to four miles on shore walking?

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And the other thing is, how are they then frightened? They're frightened by seeing some guy walking on stones by the shore.

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They're frightened because a figure is walking straight into chaos and over chaos to their boat.

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That's what's happening. So no, that's false. Jesus was walking on water.

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He was walking on water. The question is, who could master the seas?

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Who could calm them or stand on them other than God Himself? Job 9 .8

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says God treads upon the waves of the sea. God treads upon the waves of the sea.

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Isaiah 43 .16 says, it is the Lord who makes a way through the sea and a path through mighty waters.

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And just as John 1 recalled Genesis 1, so does this account. If you remember from the beginning, darkness and void and the

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Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Genesis 1.

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This is none other than the Creator in control of His creation, because here now is the

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Son of God as we saw in John 1, the Lagos, who was there in the beginning, enters into the darkness as light, the light, and walks upon the surface of the waters.

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We're to think of that moment in Genesis 1. Jesus is walking over the surface of the waters, and He is the light in the darkness.

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There is no category for this type of supernatural event. There simply isn't.

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It only makes sense in light of God's attributes and power.

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Here in John it says that they were frightened. They had phobos, which is where we get the word phobia.

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The synoptics say that they were terrified, greatly troubled or disturbed. In fact, they audibly cried out.

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They cried out when they saw Him. They were truly afraid. Who is this?

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Who could actually walk on water? Remember, two weeks ago, when

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I preached at the beginning of John 6, I talked about the allusions to Exodus.

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In fact, the rest of chapter 6 will have more allusions to the Exodus and the wandering and bread and manna and all those things.

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Think about that now. Exodus 3 says, I am the

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God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God announces

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Himself. Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

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And the disciples were afraid just like Moses in the presence of God. They were in fear of God coming their way.

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It will be just like a burning bush in which the Lord spoke first. So does

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Jesus speak first here as well. Right here, verse 20, before they even say a word, verse 20 says, but He said to them, it is

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I. Do not be afraid. And it makes sense that with such an extraordinary event and miracle, that this phrase, this statement of Jesus would happen.

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Why? Why is this statement amazing in conjunction with Him walking on water?

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Let me tell you. Because Jesus says to them this, Ego eimi me fobeste.

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I am. Do not fear. I am. Do not fear. He says the very name of God.

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He gives the very name of the Lord. This verse almost never makes the

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I am statements. If you were to Google, what are the I am statements of Jesus pointing back to His deity, this would not be one mention.

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Okay? I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the bread of life.

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I am the light of the world. I am the door. I am the Good Shepherd. I am the resurrection and the life.

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I am the true vine. Before Abraham was, I am. Now some scholars would argue that it is

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I is the better translation. That Jesus meant not to proclaim any high

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Christology or deity here. They say, guys, this is just another miracle like healing or something.

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He's simply in a storm on water announcing, hey guys, it's me. I don't think that's the case.

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I don't agree with that. I don't believe that. I think this is so much bigger than even splitting the

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Red Sea. This is as magnificent as His transfiguration on the mount when

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He changed and He showed His glory. This is an appearance of God.

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Like an unconsumed burning bush, Jesus claims I am as He walks on the waves of the sea.

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As Job said, for it is the Lord who treads upon the waters. He sang,

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I am Lord. I am Lord. The One who set the boundaries of the oceans can tell them to bear

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His weight. He can tell the oceans that He made. And when He told them, this is where you'll go, oceans, and you shall go no further, and thus the shore was made, that same

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God can say, you will bear My weight today and I will walk upon you. And He will. He'll do it.

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Because He is the I Am. Multiplication of fish and bread must be nothing for Him when

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He can do something like walk on water. You see, the apostles had no problem with Jesus being

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God. There's all these false religions and atheists that say that Jesus actually isn't

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God. That He's some sort of elevated man. But the apostles never saw that.

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You see, in the apostles' time, they were using the Old Testament instead of the

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Hebrew Scriptures, they were mostly using the Greek Septuagint Old Testament. And so, these phrases of God, ego eimi, they're thinking when

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Jesus says this, they're thinking back to the Old Testament when the Lord said who He was.

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He gave His name. There's no doubt. The apostles, the inspired writers of the

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New Testament, they wrote about Him. They said He was God. They believed it. It was understood with ease what

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Jesus is doing. All these Old Testament allusions. Think about when

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God had Moses put His staff in the waters and split the Red Sea. God literally says,

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I will do this act, this act with the water, so both the Egyptians and the

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Hebrews will know that I am Lord. God says this.

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And so we are to look at that. We are to look at what

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Jesus has done here and what He speaks and say, okay, this is the Lord. Yahweh said with the

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Red Sea, I'm going to do this with water so that the Hebrews and the

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Egyptians would know that I am Lord. And Jesus does the same thing. He goes, I'm going to walk on water.

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I'm going to do this with water so that you know I am Lord. And then He'll even announce it. Ego eimi.

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I am. There's no doubt about it. This is the Lord. And it's on that basis that Jesus is

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God that He says do not be afraid. Our courage or ability to cast down fear is based on who

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Jesus is, not who you are or who you are not. Your ability to conquer fear is based off of Jesus being the

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I Am. Jesus is

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God, so do not be afraid. How could we be afraid of the creation when

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Jesus is the Creator? The Gospels all have this same quote.

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Oh, it is I. Do not be afraid. But Matthew and Mark demonstrate that He also said take courage if you see that.

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In fact, take courage is in the imperative. The Lord Jesus commands them as He is walking on the water to be courageous.

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This is a sort of confidence and firmness of purpose in the face of danger or testing.

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He says be bold. Take courage. This is just like after the exodus.

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Once again, in Joshua 1 .9, the Lord says, have I not commanded you?

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Be strong and be courageous. Do not tremble or be dismayed for the Lord your

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God is with you wherever you go. You see, Jesus came to them.

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And when Jesus left, the Holy Spirit came and He is with us wherever we go. The Lord said, have

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I not commanded you? Jesus just commanded the disciples. It's the same thing. He commands you and I in the very same way.

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Isaiah 35 v. 4 declares, say to those with an anxious heart, take courage.

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Fear not. Behold, your God will come and He will save you. What does this mean for you and me?

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What does this mean? Because Jesus is the I Am and He has saved us.

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We, number one, do not need to fear Him. We don't need to fear Him. The disciples saw a supernatural and powerful being walking towards them on water.

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Jesus wields creation, but we don't need to fear Him. Revere Him in a fear sense, but you don't need to be afraid of your

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Savior. You don't need to be afraid of Him for judgment if you are in Christ.

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He is our refuge. He is our strength. He is our high tower. In the storms of this life, you can come to Jesus and He will guard you from them and save you through them.

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We need to preach that to ourselves. We can approach Him and receive grace and mercy and love.

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The second thing is, we don't need to fear creation and the effects of the fall of man.

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See, don't fear sickness. He is the God over pestilence and disease.

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It's up to Him. He may remove it and heal it, or He may allow you to keep walking in it and keep it.

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The Bible shows both. The Bible shows that He often heals and He often lets people keep the sickness they have.

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There's the promise that He will remove it and He'll wipe away every tear at the resurrection.

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Each are within the sovereign bounds of our God. And if Romans 8 .28 is true, and of course it is true, then all things work together for our good and His glory.

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That excludes nothing. He works all things together for our good and His glory.

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Don't fear death if you are in Christ. You remember that sermon from chapter 5?

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When this old body dies, because one day it says this body will die, it will go straight away to be with the

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Lord. Go straight away to be with Him. Where we will be comforted by the Savior.

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We have that blessed expectation that we will rise again. Sewn into the ground perishable.

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Raised out of the ground with a body imperishable. That's what we saw.

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Don't fear the creation. The Creator does with it what He wills. Don't spend your time worrying about what

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He will do with droughts and fires and weather. Steward the earth well, but look to the

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Creator for joy. You see, when we fully trust God, we aren't moved by what we see or experience.

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And that's easier said than done. I won't be moved. Whatever comes my way,

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I won't be moved. Because we're supposed to have this anchor for our soul tethered from heaven.

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And the whole earth can move like raging waters, but Jesus, it says in Hebrews, is the anchor of our soul.

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And so, what may seem like things are moving all the time and raging in chaos, you just need to look up again.

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I'm anchored. I'm anchored. He is the anchor of my soul. And so we can be unmovable.

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And I pray that each of us keep growing in that way. You may have been moved very easily when you first turned to Christ, but little by little, may you be less and less movable.

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And when something happens in 10 years, you're not moved as much.

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And when something happens in 20 years from now, and it rocks your family, may you not be as moved.

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Because you have the anchor for your soul. You remember that He can walk on water. He can do anything. That He holds you in His hand.

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And nothing can pass through that hand unless He allows it. And that must mean it's the very best thing for you if He wants it.

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Our faith is built on the immovable stance of Jesus Christ on crashing waves.

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So take courage. Don't fear the circumstance you're in now. God is bigger than your circumstance.

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He can walk on water. Let's go to our final verse. V. 21

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So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

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Having seen it was Jesus, and having heard His voice, the disciples willingly received

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Him into the boat. When it comes to Jesus, we ought to remove all fear and be receptive and welcoming to Him.

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Now that can't happen to an unbeliever apart from the regenerative work of the

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Holy Spirit. But there is a lesson to be had here. Some of us may be walking still in the same circumstance or you're walking in a series of circumstances because you refuse to welcome

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Jesus and His words into the circumstance. You ever done that before? You're walking in the trial and you forget who

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Jesus is. You don't go to His Word. It's almost like you're trying to handle it on yourself, but you're no more in control than you were when you were a baby.

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He's in control. They invited Him. They willingly received Him into the boat.

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Again, this is not some sort of like seeker thing where you need to invite

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Jesus into your heart. We're talking about believers who are often not letting the

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Lord participate in this trial. Meaning, they're not seeking

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Him. They're not coming to Him. Of course, God's sovereign over everything. You and I can prolong our afflictions when we try to row the boat into the storm by ourselves and not have

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Jesus address it. Here's something interesting. Both Matthew and Mark state that as soon as Jesus got into the boat, the wind stopped.

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It doesn't say that in John, but it says that in those two Gospels. The wind stopped.

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Little by little, the waves died down. The waters became still. Jesus calmed the storm.

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Now, many question this last part and wonder if besides walking on water and calming a storm, which are two miracles, right?

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Jesus walked on water. Then He calmed a storm. And then people look at this verse in John and say, did

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He teleport them? Right? Because it says, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

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All of a sudden, Jesus gets in the boat and they're immediately at the shores of Capernaum.

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Is that a third miracle to this? What's happening here? I have to tell you, it's actually not as clear cut in the original language as you would think.

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John could be using this statement more as a closing statement than a revelation of a new miracle.

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Meaning that Jesus' presence brought the storm to an end, and because all was calm and they renewed their courage and their strength, and because their

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Master was with them again and they weren't alone, they were able to quickly make haste to their destination.

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It's possible. Or it is possible besides instant teleportation or this renewed strength to sail there.

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It's possible that John is trying to get us to think of something else. If you do have your Bible, turn to Psalm 107 real quick.

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Psalm 107. It's not on the screen, but if you want to grab your

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Bible. I'll read it though. Psalm 107. We're going to be in verses 23 -30 for just a moment.

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Psalm 107 says this, it says, "'Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they have seen the works of the

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Lord and His wonders in the deep.' Here it is. "'For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind.'"

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That is God. "'And that storm lifted up the waves of the sea, they rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths, and their soul melted away in their misery.'"

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That is the men. "'They reeled and staggered like a drunken man, and they were at their wit's end.'"

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And here it is. "'Then they cried out to the Lord.'" Who cried out according to the

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Gospels? The disciples cried out. "'They cried out in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distresses, and He caused the storm to be still.'"

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What did Jesus do? He calmed the storm. "'So that the waves of the sea were hushed, then they were glad because they were quiet.'"

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And here it is. "'So He guided them to their desired haven.'"

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Is this not just what happened in John? Jesus fulfilled

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Scripture from hundreds of years prior. Now, we can get all caught up in the glory of Jesus in this miracle, and I think we should and we have been, but I think we would be missing something if we didn't realize that Jesus also wanted in this moment to teach

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His disciples, and by extension, us, some lesson. I'm almost done.

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"'They just lacked faith, remember, in the feeding of the 5 ,000.'" They lacked faith in the feeding of the 5 ,000.

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So this storm was to be some sort of faith booster, I think. It's a faith booster.

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In fact, Jesus made them get into the boat. Do you remember that? Matthew and Mark literally report at the beginning of this scene, it says,

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Jesus made them get into the boats without Him. Jesus made them get into the boats without Him.

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Jesus tarried on purpose, of course to pray, but also to let them get into this chaotic circumstance.

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As the Creator, as Psalm 107 said, He roused the creation.

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He told the storm to come. He wanted to demonstrate that He is the solution because He is the

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Lord. He is the I Am and has control over all things. And for that reason, if you look at the end of this on your sheet that I gave you, at the end of Matthew, it says that they worshipped

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Him. They worshipped Him. At the end of John 6, the disciples don't desert

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Him because He possesses the words of eternal life. You see, church, there are two ways to get into rough waters.

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There are two ways to get into rough waters in this life. One, you'll get into rough waters by disobeying the

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Lord like Jonah did and he fleed God's will. He was cast into the storm waters and then into the stomach of the great fish.

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So that's number one. Number two, you can get into a storm by obeying the

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Lord like the disciples did, accepting God's will, and heading out in the direction that God tells you to.

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Both disobedience and obedience, according to God's Word, can get you into storms.

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Both. Moses would have never had the trials in the wilderness with an obstinate people if he decided not to obey

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Yahweh at the burning bush. He would have never had to face it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would have never been cast into the fiery furnace if they disobeyed the

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Lord's commands. Paul would have likely had a productive and long life in Jerusalem as a

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Pharisee and avoided persecution, imprisonment, and even death in Rome if he rejected the calling of Jesus on the road to Damascus.

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Do you see the theme? These men saw no other option. It was to obey

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God. The point is, in this world,

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Jesus says you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world.

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You will have trouble in this world, but take heart, I have overcome the world.

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That means when the world comes crashing down on you, Jesus already conquered what's crashing down on you.

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You can make it through it. You can get through it. These men also got to taste the heavenly gift.

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They got to see the glory of God through it all, and we do too. We get to see the Holy Spirit flowing through our lives.

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The afflictions according to Paul in this life are, as he says, momentary and light.

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You're like, but you haven't seen what I've gone through. Have you seen the rap sheet of Paul? He's gone through quite a lot.

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And he says that these things in this life are a momentary and light affliction compared to what?

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To the glories that are in heaven. Compared to the glories that are in heaven that are awaiting us.

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These are momentary and light. And we typically always see the providence of God.

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I know I have. I've heard you say this before. You look back and you see in hindsight God's providence working in your life.

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We often say we would never change a thing. So the point is stop roaming the boat by yourself.

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Have Jesus come into the situation. Seek Jesus in the situation. He is the one who foreordained it.

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We saw that with the disciples. And watch Him get you to the destination that He has already determined for you to get to.

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So let's wrap that up. Think about all that John has been showing us.

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You remember the lame man and a multitude of sick huddled around the pools at Bethesda.

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And they wanted to see these magical waters stirred up and if they got in there fast enough they would be healed.

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We talked about how God wasn't in the magical waters. God was actually right outside the magical waters.

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The magical waters. Now the only God, the I Am, has stirred up the waters of the

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Sea of Galilee and He demonstrates His mastery over them. Each time when you doubt in that case, you can forget the power of God.

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Moses yelled to the Hebrews, do not fear, do not fear, as they walked down a path of this hill and they headed down and they came right to the seabed and the people looked and on each side of them, their left and right were walls of water.

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Walking on the seafloor, Moses said, do not fear, with a derivative authority.

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Moses was a prophet and his power was derivative in nature from the

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Lord of the burning bush on the mountain. But Jesus, the Prophet, not a prophet, the

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Prophet comes off a mountain from giving supernatural bread to the people and says, do not fear.

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He says the very same thing with the inherent authority of the Lord because He is

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Lord. And it is the same power of God that split the sea, that solidifies the sea to tread upon.

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The God of peace treads on chaos. Jesus treads on chaos. So have faith, brothers and sisters.

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Learn the lesson that Jesus is giving here. The overwhelming message from this miracle that points to heaven is that Jesus is the

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I Am. He has all power. He has master over creation. Therefore, the overwhelming message pointing from heaven down to earth for us to look at is that Jesus is bigger than the storm.

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Jesus is bigger than the storms and trials of your life. And you are to stop believing that He isn't.

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You are often walking through this life, and so am I, and you're believing that Jesus is smaller than the circumstance.

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You're believing a lie. That's false. Jesus is much bigger than anything you'll ever walk through.

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So change your heart and your mind today. Jesus is master over your life and He will bring you to the exact destination that He's determined.

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Believe it. Believe it not just here or there. Believe it about that thing that you're thinking about right now.

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Believe it about that thing that you've been walking through. And as Andrew read for us

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Psalm 29, it said this, it said that the Lord sits as King over the seas.

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Yes, the Lord sits as a King forever. The Lord will give strength to His people. The Lord will bless

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His people with peace. And if you believe it, say amen. Amen.

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Let's pray. Lord, thank You for this glorious reminder of the power of Jesus, the great

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I Am. Jesus is who He says He is. And He demonstrates it,

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Lord, in this very passage. He walked on the water.

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He treads on the chaos. He can calm any storm with the Word of His power.

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And that means He can change anything we're going through.

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He can help us walk through anything we're going through. And Lord, we take courage and are comforted knowing that You even sent the disciples into the storm.

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Sometimes, Lord, You're sending us into storms so that You would show us who You are in the middle of them.

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Help us to remember that in the moment, Lord. Sometimes we enter into trial and affliction because You want to show us how

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You're bigger than it. Help us to recognize that, Lord, in the moment when we need to.

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Lord God, we praise You. We thank You for all that You have done in the sending of Your Son for us and the redemption that we have in Christ.