Application Oriented Preaching? - [Hebrews 3:12]

well we would all agree that life is full of questions everywhere you go there's questions and we tend to go to google to find answers these days i was asking a question a couple weeks ago that i've never been asked and it was do you want to shoot a wallaby?

have you ever been asked that question and my question back was why would i want to shoot a little tiny kangaroo wallaby and they said well they're just pests and rodents here in new zealand so if you want to go shoot a wallaby you can i guess that question could be answered but there are some questions in life that seemingly can't be answered i found a few online why is music so beautiful?

can you really truly answer that question? maybe on a funnier note do you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face he gets mad at you but when you take him on a car ride he sticks his head out the window cannot be answered can it?

if the temperature is zero outside today and it's going to be twice as cold tomorrow how cold will it be? if you cannot answer that question how can you?

can you cry underwater? maybe you can answer that question how important does a person have to be before they're considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

interesting questions but maybe for me the ultimate question that i could not answer a question i had no answer to was asked to me by sinclair ferguson the great scottish preacher back in two thousand my wife and children i grace wasn't even born then we were visiting scotland and we went to saint george's tron church where sinclair was the pastor and i was preaching here at the time the gospel according to jesus in mark and so i said to doctor ferguson after the service it was a sunday night service and i said doctor ferguson i'm preaching through the gospel of mark i'm talking about jesus but i'm feeling this compulsion i'm feeling this pull and this drive to give the people application to give them lists to have them do something i mean we like to do things and and i i feel like that's important thing for a preacher to do and he was just listening to me and then he looked at me and he said mike is there anything wrong with showing people the glories of jesus every week i mean i guess i could have answered yes but i didn't want to answer because i knew he was right is there any reason you just can't talk about jesus every single week you can get list of things to do in lots of places including outside the church but where can you go to hear about this great savior this great savior who was born under the law and he perfectly keeps the law in our place you go through the scanners at the airport and they've got the ones where you just walk through don't touch the sides you might set it off but they've got the other one which you go in like this and stand have you been in one of those right and they're like sir do you have anything in your pockets no you stand there like that and they go empty your pockets and what do you have a little gum wrapper something that small and they can detect it can you imagine on that day when we stand before god standing before him on judgment day and if there's any bit of unrighteousness any tiny little slip of of a wrigley's you know gum wrapper of unrighteousness we are undone we need a complete righteousness somebody who perfectly obeyed the law adam couldn't israel couldn't jesus did and so you stand before god complete and righteous because of the work of another and he in addition has paid for your sins how practical is that how relevant is that how relevant is with the doctrine of justification not only does the judge say you can go but the judge says you can come right that's justification you're not guilty you could go that would almost be enough it seems but how do we have access to the throne of grace how can we approach god because of christ's work it's not just go you're not guilty but you're completely righteous based on the work of another my question is how relevant is that very very relevant i think jesus is practical i think god is practical i think doctrine is practical i could put it this way what's the most important thing about you is it what you do that's what the world thinks hi my name is mike evendroth what's your name the first thing they respond back to me is if they already know i'm a pastor they say how big's your church but if they don't know i'm a pastor what do you do because we just do and we're just practical i say well i always have to say now i'm a bible teaching pastor because there are a lot of pastors that don't teach the bible because if you do teach the bible you work more than one hour a week kind of pastor right they think i get a hundred sixty seven hours off a week what do you do no here's the most important question about you what do you think about jesus was it not tozer who said when you think of god what comes into your mind is the most important thing about you and in the book of hebrews if you'll turn there please if i were those people getting this letter here's what i would want to know how much water can i bring when they start persecuting me where do i run to do i go north south east or west how do i say goodbye to my other friends i have lots of things that i want to do and that is fine and dandy but we won't talk about doing in hebrews until there's lots of believing you have to believe first in the lord jesus what's the most important thing about you is not what you do it's what you believe in whom do you believe and friends by the way it will determine then what you do he will give you motivation to do it will give you thankfulness so that you have the ability to do it based on union with christ here's the book of hebrews jesus is great and don't graduate to real life issues once you figure out jesus know the real life issue is when you think of jesus what do you think of do you think of profit priest king advocate savior lord captain risen savior what do you think of when you think of jesus i mean it's almost like there's matthew mark luke john and hebrews because they're all talking about jesus speaking of questions i was asked this question by a bunch of young men in new zealand if you're on a desert island and i'm like oh come on the desert you guys you're island crazy here in new zealand anyway you are on a desert island why are you asking me if you're on a desert island and you had only five bible books to bring which ones would you bring you know what i kept thinking the biggest ones job i'd bring because at least i'd get forty two chapters why would i pick philemon or obadiah no offense but luke gotta pick one gospel romans psalms psalms comfort and encourage and i said i've got to pick the book of hebrews not just because i'm preaching through it but because it even shows from the old testament he's god from the old testament he's man from the old testament he's all you'll ever need the book of hebrews and as we've been going through the book of hebrews yes we're going slowly but surely through to make sure we get this not a bird's eye view but a panoramic view of the glories of jesus you stand at one of those spots and you think you know what that waterfall is so awesome i have to take my iphone and put it to pano and then you just take it like this right and you push the button and you follow the arrow around chapter one he's human chapter two he's god chapter three he's the apostle chapter four slow down it says he's the high priest chapter five he's better than aaron chapter six and seven and eight and nine and ten and you're like i've almost gone in a complete circle by now that's the book of hebrews he will not let you stop thinking about the supremacy of christ jesus it answers every question the book of hebrews about jesus take a look at chapter two verse fourteen since therefore the children share in flesh and blood he himself likewise partook of the same things that through death he might destroy the one who has power of death that is the devil and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery for surely it is not angels that he helps but he helps the offspring of abraham therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of god to make propitiation for the sins of the people for because he himself has suffered when tempted he's able to help those who are being tempted hebrews answers the who question it also answers the why question take a look at chapter nine verse fifteen who is jesus he's the eternal god man and who is jesus he is the jesus that comes for a purpose and it answers the why question he came to live a perfect life and to die on our behalf therefore hebrews nine fifteen he is the mediator of a new covenant so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant why does jesus have to die because that verse and many others will show because we are lawbreakers and we have to have our sins paid for who is jesus he's the god man why did he come to die on the cross and live a perfect life what it answers what's jesus doing right now take a look at chapter seven verse twenty five jesus is still alive i wonder what he's doing hebrews answers the question chapter seven verse twenty five consequently he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to god through him since he jesus always lives right now to make intercession for them hebrews answers the who question the why question the what question it answers even the where question take a look at chapter nine verse twenty eight where is jesus now is he in my heart is he somewhere on the earth where is jesus now he's seated at the greatest place of honor so christ hebrews nine twenty eight having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him he was once as he seated at the right hand of the father and he's waiting there till he returns hebrews ask and answers all these questions and one of my favorite things about the book of hebrews is what he tells the author what he tells us to do he does and what he does he tells us to do hebrews chapter twelve please as we're just giving a nice overview of what's going on in the book of hebrews before we parachute down into some details what does hebrews do it focuses and fixes its eyes on jesus what are we supposed to do exactly what the writer of hebrews does chapter twelve verse one therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us what does the book of hebrews do well what it does it tells us to do verse two looking to jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of god friends when you're in a trial and these readers were many of you are in a trial what you don't have to tell the people is this phone rings you've got cancer what's nobody needs to tell you research nobody needs to tell you find a good doctor nobody needs to tell you well you know what do you have the right insurance nobody needs to tell you you better get a move on this you lose your job nobody needs to tell you by the way get another job start looking get your resume out you just know that because it's built in you're in a trial with a friend or a family member a spouse seriously nobody needs to tell you fix that repair that figure that out top priority but what needs to be said that we forget that it's not natural to us is this the book of hebrews don't forget who jesus is in the middle of this trial he won't leave you he won't forsake you he's faithful he gave himself for you he loves you lo i am with you always even to the end of the age that's what you need in a trial when you're going through things that's what you need to understand and so when we come to the bible we have to be careful that we don't come saying you know what i need is a life coach that would be a good new title for pastor mike life coach friends you don't want me as your life coach i can't even lose these last ten pounds how are you going to try to figure out how to follow me do what i do but if i can point you to and preach you to something remember hebrews is a sermon it'd be fair to say that hardly anyone here with few exceptions is going through what they're going through they're going to lose their house let's say today we're meeting right now you can't go back to your house because they're taking it over christian persecution what would you like me to tell you today then if you can't go back to your house we're all on the run starting now i could say rightfully so now some of you younger people take care of the grandmas in here we're in this together i could say those things that might be right but the author of hebrews is saying and has said do not forget about fixing your hope on jesus there are things that are invisible going on there's a god who reigns and who rules and who's a king and when the nations are raging he does what he's not running he's laughing psalm two that's what the book of hebrews is about when you're in any trial up to including almost death how should you respond what should you do when i think about my trial what should i think of and the default is release the default is get me out of here the default is escape hatch so therefore we have revelation from god outside of us that says this christian i've not only given you salvation rest i don't have to work for my salvation i'm not gonna let anything happen to you that's not outside my plan i'll be with you i can't think of anything more practical there is an outworking of the greatness of jesus yes and in chapter thirteen it talks about money and leaders and marriage but it's secondary to the greatness of jesus where is jesus when i'm in a trial hebrews answers it who is jesus when i'm in a trial hebrews answers it what is jesus doing right now when i'm in a trial hebrews answers it to think that i can approach him as a song that we just sang with joy and even when we stumble and even when we sin in our response to trials the book of hebrews is this jesus is greater than your sin he's not going to unadopt you now here's the wonderful thing about the book of hebrews and this bent toward you need to look at jesus before you need to look at yourself and your trials and everything else hebrews author learned it from jesus himself turn to mark chapter six mark chapter six jesus sends the disciples into a trial for a reason we kind of like to have jesus as he gets us out of the trials you got a storm in your life go to jesus how about go to jesus but he's going to send you into a storm he sent them there for a reason why so here's what we're doing in mark chapter six i was thinking about mark when i was thinking of sinclair ferguson by the way my response to sinclair was there's nothing wrong with showing people the glories of jesus every week actually i think paul said i determined to know nothing among you except jesus christ even him what crucified we don't preach ourselves second corinthians chapter four but jesus as lord what jesus does with the disciples fuels what the writer of hebrews is doing and has done now this passage is found in matthew fourteen and john six but especially like mark because it's just it's just fast and it's wonderful there's no three rings to a circus with three spotlights everything is in the middle so you're focused here on who jesus this great i am that sends his own people to a storm for a reason i wonder what the reason is is it similar to hebrews i almost just said out loud how many questions can you ask a congregation during a sermon but today is about questions and answers and it is not about life coaches i heard there's good money life coaching though my life coaching would be this whatever you've done this week we'll call n next week n plus one get going now this walking on the water passage chapter six verse forty five i want you to know ahead of time jesus is really going to walk on the water the liberals don't think he did albert schweitzer actually in his book called the quest for the historical jesus nineteen oh six said this was an optical illusion you know how you look at things with heat and like the highway and everything else and jesus was on a sandbar but it looked like water even in our language in english we say walk on water and use it as just as a kind of a catchphrase of doing something wonderful this isn't just wonderful this is super natural verse forty five immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side to beth seda while he dismissed the crowd so eves fed the ten thousand people the five thousand men supernaturally and now he's making the disciples get into the boat why because he's the lord of the sea and he's sending them into this trial he made them does not the text say that he made his disciple that means to compel to strain and to push uh...

i think it's our can use it said he should basically shove them in the boat get going i don't know if you could see bad weather coming or he was making the bad weather come it doesn't really matter he sends the multitude away verse forty six and after he'd taken leave of them he went up on the mountain to pray as pastor cv start john chapter six there was so much messianic enthusiasm running around jesus that he has to just get away from these people because they're trying to make him king by force and he goes to pray and when evening came the boat was out to sea so jesus is praying they're out in the sea the boat was out to sea and he was alone on the land i think jesus is probably still praying he jesus they're miles away by now 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 it's night time certain watch of the day right jesus can see them right because he he's god x -ray vision kind of coast guard infrared if you will he sees them straining the word they're straining at the oars means tormented or tortured if you look at a person who is demon possessed in matthew or mark the same word would be used it's as if the water is demon possessed frothing and foaming and agitated they're fighting against the waves they're not making progress they're sweating as they're straining and rowing and what does the text say i mean we're almost so familiar with it it doesn't help but when you just look at it and just imagine if you're there you've seen jesus feed people supernaturally ten thousand people i mean we have a hard time feeding ourselves after church right at lunch what we're gonna have for lunch we have we have a shop stop and shop right over there he feeds all these people he pushes them in a boat i'm gonna go pray you guys go out there and now jesus is walking to them this is amazing walking on the sea not by but upon epi on top of upon now when i see pictures kind of flannel graph things did you guys anybody grow up on flannel graphs where are flannel graphs these days i know i have such a sweet memory of flannel graphs except it's almost like you know daniel you have the daniel flannel graph set but we're still missing jesus because we don't want to dare to be a daniel the key to daniel is daniel's god and his name is jesus and he was in the fire etc but anyway that doesn't help with flannel graphs see i'm happy for you know what those laughs mean i'm listening that's what those laughs mean we think that it's just kind of walking right on that sandbar and it's flat firm footing but flat the sea is raging the waves are going up and down even on the sea of galilee and you think about the wind coming up over the mountains in the north with the pressure coming from the mediterranean sea it's turning we grew up with the phrase there are white caps you go across the causeway and you look to the left by the old stone church if you see white caps not a big deal but if on the left hand side is white caps multiply by 10 and jesus is walking so it's as if he's walking up the wave down the wave up the wave he hasn't still the storm yet progressively marching across the water why did he do it hey look at me look what i could do i heard if you go to israel now you can pay several shekels to walk on some plexiglass just underneath the water in the sea of galilee and have a little photo taken that's more stupid than shooting a wallaby can i get a witness monday is the last day to sign up for israel by the way we are going to go on a boat across that sea why did jesus do this the text says he intended to pass by them what do you mean he intended to pass by them people don't know what to do with this one commentator said it's a mystery clothed with unexplanation other people think you know what jesus was praying he sends them out and now he's just going to go to the other side and meet them there but he sees them floundering so he's going to help them one man called this a playful surprise somebody else said this is just a bad translation but the key is think i'm going to make up a word now old testamently think about the old testament what does it mean to pass by if you were thinking does the old testament ever use this kind of language to pass by the answer is yes god i'm going to have to lead your people it's a herculean task i need your help i need to know who you are and god said to moses i'm going to just tuck you in the cleft of the rock and you're going to see my glory and as i pass by you're going to see that i have mercy upon whom i'll have mercy i have compassion upon whom i have compassion i'm gracious i'm slow to anger i forgive transgressions i'm going to pass by so you see who i am to pass by has old testament connotations in job 9 in exodus chapter 33 and 34 with elijah and the lord passed by i am going to show you men as i pass by who i am you didn't get it with the fish and the bread but you're going to get it now the lord passing by it doesn't quite make it but it's close if i said to you i'm going to pass an idea by you he's going to pass by and show his identity because they're in a storm and what do they need an escape hatch resolution they need to know this that if jesus is either in the boat with them or out of the boat they can trust him it doesn't matter if he's in the boat it doesn't matter if he's out of the boat you can trust in this one who loves sinners so jesus passes by to help them and their faith who else could do this only god can walk on water who can control the sea only god can control the sea job 9 .8