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In The Storm With Christ | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  To know that God loves us is one thing.
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  But if you read John 17, the high Priestly prayer, you will
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  learn that through the words of the son of God.
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  The Father loves us in the same way, he loves the Sun.
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  Consider that I think we hear that and we read that, but if we
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  really allow that to impact us, we would be undone.
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  And so, to be here today, I hope you were singing with the
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  confidence that God Almighty who created you, who fashioned you?
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  Though he may be one among close to 8.
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  Billion are loved are loved so deeply.
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  He wants to walk with you. He wants to talk with you.
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  He Delights in your fellowship so much so that he prayed to the
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  father that you you might be with him for all of eternity
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  that you might behold his glory. People wonder, what are we going
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  to do in heaven? I said, I don't think you're
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  going to be wanting to do anything else because all you're
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  going to do is stand in all of his glory day after day night
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  after night and 1000 years, will go by and there will be yet
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  another dimension of his glory that you didn't see a thousand
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  years ago. Another Paradigm of his Beauty
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  will come and it will sustain you for another 10,000 years and
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  from there another 10,000 years and it will be an unending
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  experience of God's love Holiness, Justice Purity,
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  stunning your soul. Captivating.
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  You forever and ever meet me in. Mark chapter 4 please.
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  Mark chapter 4. and if you will, would you meet me in verse 35,
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  the very familiar passage but we're going to ask God to give
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  us fresh eyes and fresh ears and Mark 4:35 God's word reads on
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  that day. When evening had come, he said
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  to them. Let us go across to the other
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  side and leaving the crowd. They took him with them in the
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  boat just as he was and other Boats were with him and a great
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  wind storm arose and the waves were breaking.
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  Into the boat so that the boat was already filling.
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  But, he was in the stern asleep on the cushion and they woke him
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  and said to him teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?
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  and he awoke, and he rebuked the wind and said to the Sea, peace
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  be still And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
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  He said to them. Why are you so afraid?
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  Have you still no faith? And they were filled with great
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  fear and said to one another who then is this that even the wind
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  and the Sea obey him. Oh Lord.
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  We do pray again. Lord.
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  It is our prayer that you would help us by the gift of the Holy
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  Spirit to really understand what you're saying here.
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  Protect the delivery of this word for men's fleshly
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  interpretation. Or mrs.
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  Judgment protect our hearts from hearing the wrong thing.
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  And Lord May there be just a pure transaction of the truth.
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  But oh God, we need your power. We need the power of the Holy
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  Spirit. Laurie confess to you that man's
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  eloquence will not suffice. It will not be the cleverness of
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  this message. Lord.
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  It must be your truth empowered by your Holy Spirit.
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  And we ask Lord that this word, this afternoon would make a
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  difference in Our Lives. May it caused us to react the
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  way the disciples did When they said who then is this Lord
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  manifest the Son of God to our hearts in a way that we have
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  never learned before that. We've never perceived before,
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  make him come alive in us. We trust that you will do so in
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  Jesus name, amen. The categories of the miracles
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  of Jesus in the gospels are vast, they include many things,
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  including the restoration of the broken bodies of people.
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  The rescue from Evil and demonic domination.
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  And even the effortless Reviving of the Dead among many other
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  unique Supernatural instances. The disciples were eyewitnesses
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  of many of Christ displays of great power and might.
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  But here as we just read there being prepared by the master
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  himself, to behold something that would shock them in the
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  innermost parts of their being. Up to this point, they have
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  already considered that there is an authority that this Jesus of
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  Nazareth has that is unmatched. They have already calculated and
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  concluded that Devils submit to his word that disease must
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  shrivel up and die by the touch of his hand.
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  But now, they are being introduced to another realm
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  where Christ will exercise his authority in a way that they
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  have never seen before, and the miracle that we are about to
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  explore. Will show just that?
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  You would think, after all that they have seen after all that
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  they have registered though is early in the ministry of Jesus,
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  that it would be difficult to match the authority of Christ.
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  You would think that the shock value has been lost.
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  But what you just read with me, will prove otherwise because
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  what the Lord is about to do before these 12 men who have
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  chosen to follow this hotly debated, Rabbi from Nazareth is
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  show his ascendancy over unpredictable and Unstoppable
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  nature. What Christ is going to do is
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  open the realization that he is not just Lord over sickness.
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  He is not just Lord over seducing Spirits.
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  He is the Lord over creation. over whether winds and waves
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  rain and sun clouds and clear skies, even such things bow when
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  he speaks This is what they are going to see and the event by
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  which the Lord will showcase, that Supremacy will be in the
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  event of them sailing at Sea and being visited by an unforeseen
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  storm. And the text before us today.
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  By the wisdom of the spirit has been graciously and neatly
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  divided for us to explore. What you?
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  And I have here in this, episode are three scenes.
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  The first scene deals with the stage before the storm.
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  Then we transition, secondly, to the experience during the storm.
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  And then we will conclude in the third part with the moments
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  After the Storm. And so come with me now, as we
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  examine the stage before the storm Riri and verse 35 on that
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  day. Well, what day, what you?
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  And I have been studying from the midpoint of Mark chapter 3
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  up to now all occurred in one day.
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  Consider that consider how jam-packed that day was You had
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  Jesus delivering people from demons.
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  You had the slander of the Pharisees accusing him from
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  coming with the power of Satan. You had his friends and family
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  trying to bring him out of the ministry because they thought
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  that he lost his mind. You have Jesus teaching Parables
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  to the masses and explaining it privately to his own disciples.
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  All of that happened from morning until evening.
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  And on that day, we read that Jesus wants to head into another
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  chapter of ministry. He has decided to now sail
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  across the lake to arrive at a strategic Point as you.
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  And I will discover a Mark chapter 5.
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  And he is also going to take advantage of that Voyage.
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  As he rests his weary head on a pillow and the stern of this
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  boat. Oh, the humanity of Jesus.
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  The god of Israel who neither Slumbers nor sleeps is taking a
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  nap. He's taking a nap.
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  He is resting. But what's important to see
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  here, before this ship steers across the Sea of Galilee is
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  that Jesus was the one who initiated this trip on that day.
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  When evening had come, he said to them.
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  Let us go across to the other side.
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  The trip was organized by the Savior and it was expected of
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  his disciples to fulfill his wishes.
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  Let us go, no protest, no objection, just total sweet pure
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  submission. Now, why is that an important
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  thing to highlight? Right?
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  From the beginning, it's important for us to hold to
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  that, because we are going to see that the 12 will soon
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  encounter a life-threatening situation.
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  They will now come to the point where these expert fisherman are
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  going to lose control and actually realize and think to
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  themselves. This is it, we're Going to
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  become fish food. We've been fishing for a fish.
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  Now, the fish will have us. and you're saying well, yeah, that's
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  what the story reads, but let me remind you that that experience
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  was all due to obedience The storm that they will encounter
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  is the opposite reason for the storm that Jonah experienced.
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  When Jonah was fleeing from the will of God, God ordained a
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  storm to come to awaken his conscience and bring him back
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  into the path of obedience. There is a suffering believer
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  that you and I can invite into our lives as a result of our
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  sin. Peter talks about that in First
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  Peter for. He tells us not to suffer for
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  murder, not to suffer. Her with murmuring, not to
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  invite unnecessary suffering into our lives.
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  But then after that, he tells us that there is a suffering that
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  comes for being a Christian. And in the context, Peter is
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  speaking about persecution, but we know that suffering expands
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  Beyond just hostility from unbelievers, that there are
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  ordained, trials and tests and turbulent moments.
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  And that is precisely what we see here.
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  In this illustration, these disciples are obeying, the Lord,
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  and they're going to experience through their Love Of Christ.
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  A great test of faith. And the story is already showing
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  us that you and I abiding by God's instructions.
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  Does not promise us. A turbulent free Journey.
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  Not at all. As some would propose if you
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  can, confidently say this afternoon that your steps.
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  Are ordained by the word of God that you orchestrate your life
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  around what the Bible says you love Jesus that you love his
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  word that what he will tell you to do, you will do by the grace
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  of God. Then here's what I want to tell
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  you. If you do experience suffering,
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  if you do encounter pain, if you are Dragged In helplessly into
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  some loss or danger, then you have no reason to fear or doubt.
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  You have no reason to fear or doubt you have no reason to be
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  concerned because the one who sent you with his word is also
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  with you. As you obey, it always always.
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  And oftentimes, when I do experience something that I
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  can't seem to explain what I tried to do by the grace of God
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  as just look back and ask myself, how did I get here?
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  How did I get here? That I lose sight of the master
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  that I let go of his hand. No, no to my best of my ability
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  to do not perfectly. I know that I am.
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  I'm trying to abide by his words and Shirley.
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  What is before me is not a meaningless, futile, difficulty,
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  aah. The master must have sent me
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  here. The master must have brought me
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  here. The master must have known when
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  I would walk in his ways that this would come at this point.
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  So, I will take heart and not fear, not worry, not be
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  concerned, the disciples love Jesus.
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  Let us go across to the other side and we see a precious
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  phrase here in verse 36 and leaving the crowd.
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  They took him with them in the boat.
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  This is it just as he was. An interesting phrase for the
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  Holy Spirit to inscribe in holy writ, just as he was.
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  Why would that be said, I believe for two reasons.
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  Number one, it reveals that the disciples were Swift to obey
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  Jesus wishes. When he appeared to him and the
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  instant that he made his will known, they did not hesitate to
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  protectively, take the Lord from the crowds, and lead him into
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  the ship. And make way to Desired place.
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  Just as he was no delayed preparation, no sense of pausing
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  to give some kind of forecast or prediction of what can happen
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  that evening. No they simply said if this is
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  what the master said then we will go what an inspiring
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  example before us that these disciples here, show that Christ
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  Christ and his commands are worthy of Joyful submission.
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  Regardless of the interruption or the unfavorable time, we do a
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  lot of things in life, even though we don't feel like it.
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  I can tell you. I'm not a prophet.
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  You're going to wake up tomorrow morning, you're probably not
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  going to feel like it as you get ready to go to work, but we do
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  it and we do many things based out of conviction
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  responsibility, but if there is anyone, who is worthy of this
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  instant moment changed this turn of events at any time that you
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  desire, it's cry. Christ, it's Jesus, it's the
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  Lord and consider, it was not just Jesus here, who worked all
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  day. His disciples worked with him.
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  They supervise, they helped, they organized.
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  They were there from morning till evening and despite the
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  fatigue of their own bones. Jesus wants to go, then let us
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  go. Jesus said we're going and we're
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  going he is worthy of that quality of devotion and if the
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  disciples are willing to do this, after a long day of
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  serving, surely you can wake up for a 1 p.m. service on Sunday
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  afternoon Just as he was. Let's go.
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  We're going. But it reveals something else.
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  It reveals. Also the trust that they had in
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  Jesus evening time is not favorable to travel by land or
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  by sea. It's dark.
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  It's hard to perceive. It's hard to calculate heart
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  disease. It's hard to just register
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  what's happening before you and around you.
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  And yet the Lord said it, we will do it.
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  The Lord said and we will do it will take him at his word trust
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  and Obey. There's no other way.
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  There's no impression here in these texts of second thoughts.
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  There's no advice given by these fishermen, you know, Rabbi
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  you're a carpenter. I don't think you understand how
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  these Waters work. You want to go?
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  We will go now compare this attitude to a few verses later
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  in verse 38 of the same chapter, but he was in the stern asleep
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  on the cushion and they woke him and said to him teacher, do you
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  not care? That we are perishing?
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  What a contrast What happened to silent obedience?
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  Swift submission. What happened to the
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  unquestionable confidence at the shore?
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  And now the flimsy Faith at Sea. You're going to know why in a
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  few moments. But let me tell you this from
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  here, it's very easy to trust Jesus at the beginning of a
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  thing. It's very easy to express
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  loyalty and Fidelity when you're at the starting line.
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  True Faith. True.
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  Faith is revealed over time. True faith in the person of
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  Christ. Will be understood to you and to
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  others and to the Lord himself when the waters get choppy.
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  The perception and the person and the purposes of Christ can
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  easily Bend and even break. That's what this story shows.
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  True faith will prove itself when following Christ gets
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  uncomfortable. And when you see that this was
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  not something you foresaw. When you first said, yes to what
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  he desired from you. I will expand on that in a
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  moment here. But did you take into account
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  how Mark ended verse? 36, did you notice?
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  This detail, is there any detail by accident?
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  Holy Scripture? No, not at all, especially with
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  this, it says here and other Boats were with him.
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  Why would Marc include that? Like everything centers around
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  this boat, where Jesus is in and where he is sleeping.
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  But marked by the spirit goes out of the way to let us know.
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  There are other boats though. There are other boats here in
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  the scene so here's what happens.
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  Some in the crowd understood that Jesus was leaving and that
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  he was heading towards somewhere else and he couldn't get enough
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  of his power. They couldn't get enough of his
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  words, they couldn't get enough of the ability that he had to
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  restore and renew and revive and though their motives were
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  questionable some most they wanted to be there wherever he
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  was and so some realized they had the luxury of having their
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  own boats. He's headed the other way.
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  Let's get on and follow him. So they get on the ships and as
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  it makes way they follow along. Have you ever perceived that in
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  Sunday school? Have you ever seen that in the
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  picture Bible? Where you have this one boat
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  with the storm all by itself? Well, the Bible has a different
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  picture. There are other boats there so
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  consider this. Now, I meditating on this and
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  thinking, okay, that can tell us that people were so desperate to
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  be with Jesus. Sure.
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  But consider the context. Other Boats were with him.
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  That means that if the boats were going in the same direction
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  as the disciples were going and if they are traveling on the
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  same, see that they were traveling on.
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  Then they experience the same storm.
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  That Jesus and the disciples encountered.
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  They to know a great wind storm, they too, perhaps had their
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  boats filling with water. They too perhaps cried out in
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  one way or another though that is silent to us here in the
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  Scripture. It is assumed that as these
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  boats came with Jesus, they also encountered the severity of the
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  storm. and I couldn't help, but think how if they experience the
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  storm, then they also Witness that miraculous hush.
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  With the wind was reduced to a whistle.
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  And the pounding of the whipping waves.
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  Suddenly. Became tame.
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  In a moment. I don't know if these people
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  Were Believers if there's anybody I would like to find
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  some span of Eternity is those who are on that boat or on those
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  boats. They experience the same storm.
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  They also experience the same Miracle, but I'm under the
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  persuasion that the difference between these boats and the boat
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  that Jesus was on, is that they were not direct Witnesses of the
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  source of the silencing. The disciples saw Jesus, wake up
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  from that nap stand. So, confidently, while the waves
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  were crashing on the boat and making even him soaking wet,
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  peace be still. but what what registered for those who are on
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  those other boats, as there are rocking back and forth and all
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  for a sudden, just In some strange way, everything was was
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  just paused. You know, what came to mind when
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  considering this? How the masses throughout the
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  years, how the masses throughout the years generation after
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  generation have been, recipients of the goodness of the kindness
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  of the supervision of almighty God though.
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  They are unaware of the source. So many people this afternoon
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  are enjoying so much of God without giving him the credit.
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  You remember the words of Paul when he preached to a pagan
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  audience there with Barnabas and Acts chapter 14?
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  you can turn there with me in verse 17 in Acts, 14, 17, he
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  gave this many sermonette and he concluded with this universal
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  truth. We can begin in verse 16 in past
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  Generations. He allowed all the nations to
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  walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself
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  without witness for he did good by giving you reigns from heaven
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  and fruitful Seasons. Satisfying your hearts with food
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  and gladness What Paul is essentially conveying to this
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  audiences. That the common Grace, that
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  these idolaters were enjoying an experience day-to-day came from
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  a specific Source. It wasn't Zeus, it wasn't
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  Hermes, it wasn't evolution. God, the true and living God.
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  And he is Illuminating to their understanding, that all the
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  memories, all the favorable Seasons, all the joy, you knew
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  with your family, the friends that you've made over the years.
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  The weather that you are blessed by the homes that you live in.
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  That all came from God, testifying of his goodness to
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  you declaring to you, I'm the one who is doing this and you're
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  giving the credit and all the wrong places.
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  All the wrong places. And here's the most humbling
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  part about it, though. They failed, though, they failed
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  then and do Generations, pass and generations.
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  Future will fail to acknowledge God.
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  God still does it? He still does it, he's still
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  exercises, his good and his grace and his love.
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  Hoping hoping that they would catch on what we are,
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  experiencing is beyond us. There is a Transcendent provider
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  here and Paul calls it a witness.
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  Yes, the burger that you're going to eat at 4:00 today is a
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  witness of the goodness of God. The car that brought you here
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  and we'll take you back to your warm apartment is a witness of
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  the goodness of God. A witness, every single thing
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  comes back to him and just like Jesus on the boat, he didn't
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  just rescue his own. He didn't just take the boat and
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  teleport it to shore when he calmed the Sea and the winds,
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  there are others who benefited from it though.
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  They didn't realize immediately where it came from.
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  That's the goodness of God. That's the kindness of Our Lord.
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  So, we look at this stage before the storm, but come with me.
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  Now, as we look at the experience during the storm, In
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  verse 37 of Mark, chapter 4 and a great wind storm arose and the
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  waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was
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  already filling you want to talk about panic.
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  Water was getting in, not just hitting the sides.
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  So you had these guys, their sandals are all wet.
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  Their robes are getting drenched.
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  They're going to sink if intervention doesn't come.
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  And so let's sympathize with these men to an extent Luke's
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  version tells us that they were in danger.
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  And so this is an exaggeration. This isn't just squeals of
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  discomfort because their hair is getting messy.
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  This is serious, they're in Jeopardy.
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  They can lose their lives. And so we have to acknowledge
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  that these threats were genuine, they were sincere and they were
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  severe. And for the fact that these men,
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  some of them were fishermen to be so panicky.
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  Testifies of the magnitude of the storm.
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  They've never seen anything like it.
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  Perhaps they've had no expertise to help them navigate.
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  These kind of waters. This is beyond them.
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  They're losing control here, and they've concluded that they are
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  going to perish. I don't know if you've ever
• 27:47
  been. And some kind of a car accident
• 27:50
  or you just saw an accident coming, your brake stop, working
• 27:53
  your sliding on ice and in those brief few moments you knew okay
• 27:56
  this could be it. That's exactly the kind of
• 28:00
  adrenaline that they are going through for an extended period
• 28:03
  of time. And when they realize that they
• 28:07
  can do anything that their history on the Waters of
• 28:10
  Galilee, could not help them, they run to Jesus and to their
• 28:14
  surprise, they find a slumbering slave savior, they find a
• 28:18
  sleeping teacher. I don't know what was more,
• 28:24
  starting the storm or that and as they approach, their beloved
• 28:30
  teacher. They wake him up.
• 28:36
  And they interpret his sleeping. As something that perhaps you
• 28:40
  and I might not interpret on this side of the story.
• 28:42
  We look at the sleeping Savior and we see Christ demonstrating
• 28:46
  the extent of his Humanity, he was really human.
• 28:49
  He worked hard and his body needed rest or perhaps.
• 28:55
  You see this glorious immovable, trust in the will of the father.
• 29:00
  Jesus moved every Pace every step, according to Divine
• 29:04
  appointment. And could it be that he is just
• 29:06
  sleeping soundly? Because he knows he knows.
• 29:08
  Was that he has across the Diane on this, isn't it?
• 29:14
  Do you know how they interpret it?
• 29:17
  They didn't see a proof text for the humanity of Jesus Christ.
• 29:23
  They weren't warmed in the Hearth when they realize that
• 29:25
  the Son of God trusted in the father, they interpreted the
• 29:30
  sleeping Jesus as indifference. And they cried out.
• 29:38
  Do you not care? That we are perishing.
• 29:45
  Here's where the disciples were, right.
• 29:47
  They ran to the right person in their distress.
• 29:52
  To interpret them crying out. To Jesus as an expression of
• 29:58
  weak. Faith is not a right
• 30:01
  understanding of faith. The fact that they did seek out
• 30:05
  Christ is actually the mark of great faith.
• 30:09
  Great faith. Regardless of the turmoil in
• 30:12
  their hearts regardless of the fear, that's consuming them.
• 30:15
  In fact, you get that impression when you read Mark and compare
• 30:18
  it to Luke and compare it to Matthew Matthew, Luke and Mark,
• 30:23
  give us different titles that the disciples Express, the Jesus
• 30:27
  Master, Lord teacher. Why?
• 30:29
  Because you can just tell this is how much they were panicking
• 30:31
  Master. Lord teach they just who said
• 30:34
  everything in the book. Wake up.
• 30:39
  And so we can honor the fact that they came to the Lord, but
• 30:42
  this is where they crossed the line instead of they're coming
• 30:46
  before the Lord being pure supplication.
• 30:49
  It became condemnation. Instead of asking, they were
• 30:54
  accusing. Instead of seeking, they were
• 30:57
  assaulting, assaulting the very character and the nature of
• 31:01
  their master and their lord, and our savior.
• 31:05
  And that is where they went wrong.
• 31:08
  Because the conclusion of their circumstance, In This Moment was
• 31:11
  not, let us go to the one who can save us because he loves us.
• 31:17
  That would be praiseworthy. That would be right.
• 31:21
  That would be a positive example, but they didn't say,
• 31:23
  let us go to the one who can save us because he loves us,
• 31:27
  they said he doesn't love us because he hasn't saved us.
• 31:32
  Big difference. And Christ here.
• 31:38
  Was an approach because they believed in his character, he
• 31:40
  was approached because they assaulted his character.
• 31:46
  Now, that's a lesson that you will get if you read Marx
• 31:49
  version, but when you go to Luke's version, you might not
• 31:51
  come easily to that conclusion. Can I show it to you?
• 31:55
  Go to Luke 824 quickly, The same account written by The
• 31:59
  Physician. And notice how Luke depicts the
• 32:02
  situation. Luke 8:24 reads and they went
• 32:17
  and woke him saying master master.
• 32:20
  We are perishing. After he woke and rebuked the
• 32:25
  wind and the Raging Waves, and they ceased.
• 32:27
  And there was a calm, he said to them.
• 32:30
  Where is your faith? Where is your faith now?
• 32:34
  Hold on. When you read Luke's version,
• 32:38
  there is no criticism. On the part of the disciples,
• 32:40
  there is simply a request. They're simply making something
• 32:44
  known to him more precisely master master.
• 32:48
  We are perishing. That sounds like childlike.
• 32:51
  Dependence. That sounds like a plan.
• 32:53
  Plea for God to intervene because you feel the danger
• 32:57
  around you. That's something that if you go
• 32:59
  from cover to cover the scriptures and courage, yes, cry
• 33:03
  out to him, make note to him your troubles, bring before him
• 33:07
  your worries and casts all your anxieties on him.
• 33:11
  So why is it that even if you look at Luke's Vantage Point,
• 33:16
  Jesus still looks back at them and scolds them for their lack
• 33:19
  of faith is not what they are doing the expression of faith.
• 33:24
  Do we not see the Lord, honoring different people throughout his
• 33:27
  ministry who have come desperately like this, for some
• 33:31
  kind of touch from above and the Lord honoring it by providing
• 33:35
  it, and even sometimes praising their faith for it.
• 33:39
  So what do we have here? We don't have Jesus here
• 33:43
  criticizing the fact that they cried out to him, perhaps the
• 33:47
  lesson here is deeper than the right or wrong, way to pray.
• 33:51
  Perhaps it's not even about prayer at all.
• 33:54
  For the Lord to say where is your faith should cause us to
• 33:58
  understand that there was an expectation that he had for them
• 34:03
  and on them before they even sailed.
• 34:07
  There was something that the Lord.
• 34:10
  Trusted that they would trust in and they failed to trust in it.
• 34:15
  Saying, what are you talking about?
• 34:17
  Do you remember what Jesus said before they got on the ship?
• 34:21
  Go to verse 22 of luque. It's the same in mark.
• 34:25
  One day he got into the boat with his disciples and he said
• 34:28
  to them, let us go across to the other side of the lake.
• 34:33
  So they set out. Do you know what it means?
• 34:36
  When Jesus says let us go to the other side of the lake.
• 34:40
  Means you're going on other side of the lake.
• 34:47
  Now, it makes sense. Where is your faith?
• 34:52
  I told you we were going to the other side.
• 34:55
  I told you we were going to the other side, Jesus and say, Let
• 34:57
  Us Go perish in the middle of the sea.
• 35:01
  Let us go to the other side of the lake.
• 35:04
  I make sense why he took a nap now?
• 35:07
  Yes, he was weary, but he knew that he was going to the other
• 35:11
  side and he trusted what the disciples failed to perceive and
• 35:16
  listen to carefully. Isn't that the reason for most
• 35:20
  of our troubles and fears in life?
• 35:23
  We hear it. We read it.
• 35:25
  But do we really believe it? That's the difference.
• 35:32
  And it will be tested not in Bible trivia.
• 35:37
  Not when you have a chance to share something, and you can
• 35:39
  quote it by heart. but when the storms come, Where is your
• 35:45
  faith? Where is it?
• 35:47
  Where is it? You heard me say it.
• 35:51
  We're going to the other side. so, regardless of the water
• 35:55
  that's at your feet, regardless of the weight of the ship, I
• 35:59
  told you we're going to the other side.
• 36:04
  Could not help but think about another man of God who had his
• 36:08
  own storms. Not figuratively speaking but
• 36:11
  literally speaking and figuratively.
• 36:12
  Speaking the Apostle Paul I mean, the Holy Spirit reserves
• 36:17
  for us in the last two chapters of the book of Acts the storm
• 36:20
  that he faced. But what a contrast with his
• 36:23
  attitude in comparison to the original 12.
• 36:26
  I mean, not only that. This is this was all in one
• 36:29
  evening that man, according to acts 20:7, endured a storm that
• 36:33
  lasted two weeks at sea. They were so disoriented because
• 36:39
  of the Blackness of the sky, there is no sunlight, there is
• 36:41
  no help from above Naturally Speaking.
• 36:46
  The people on that ship were so filled with anxiety.
• 36:48
  They couldn't eat for those two weeks.
• 36:52
  Oh and we think the Apostle Paul, right going through a
• 36:54
  storm and how people apply this as well.
• 36:57
  Jesus can with one word, calm, everything.
• 36:59
  That's true, that didn't happen for Paul though.
• 37:04
  They hit some rocks, the ship just becomes nothing and now
• 37:08
  he's abandoned on the island called Malta for a few months.
• 37:11
  That's it. That's a different story line
• 37:13
  than what we see here but the resolve Of that, man.
• 37:20
  The unshakable faith. I mean he went into this ship as
• 37:25
  a prison. He end up becoming the captain
• 37:27
  giving instructions to the rest of the people there.
• 37:29
  Hey, I told you not to go this way.
• 37:32
  All these guys are just sheepishly listening.
• 37:33
  They don't be afraid and he gives thanks, we're told there
• 37:35
  in Acts 27. He gives.
• 37:36
  Thanks he breaks bread gives. Thanks thanks.
• 37:40
  Can you imagine that? Do you want to know the secret?
• 37:45
  I'll tell you why I believe and I give you a verse for it, how
• 37:49
  Paul could be so unshakable in his own storm.
• 37:54
  Whereas you see these disciples falling apart with something,
• 37:58
  that does not even come close to the magnitude of what he
• 38:00
  endured. Speaking of Paul, here's the
• 38:02
  answer acts 23, something happened, many many months,
• 38:07
  before Paul even got into that ship and headed towards Rome.
• 38:11
  Something happened. And I believe when he received
• 38:14
  it, he Locked it with chains of Faith around his heart.
• 38:20
  There he is. In the prison in Jerusalem.
• 38:24
  Awaiting trial and many other trials and in Acts 23.
• 38:28
  Are you there? Look at verse 11.
• 38:30
  What happens here? Acts 23:11, the following night,
• 38:35
  the Lord stood by him and said, take courage for, as you have
• 38:40
  testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem.
• 38:43
  So you must testify also in Rome In other words, Paul.
• 38:52
  You're going to go to Rome. The same way you testified about
• 38:57
  me here in Jerusalem. You are going to stand in Rome
• 39:00
  and preach my gospel. We're going to the other side,
• 39:06
  he took that word, he was reminded of that word in the
• 39:09
  ship and that's how he could endure the storm, he believed
• 39:14
  the word. What Christ said he took to
• 39:18
  heart and his faith was on him despite what was around him?
• 39:23
  He said it then, it must happen even when the very vehicle that
• 39:28
  was taking him to Rome came apart.
• 39:33
  I mean I get it. Okay, you're going through the
• 39:35
  storm, he said he's going to pull me through, but what
• 39:37
  happens when the boat is not even there?
• 39:39
  And now you're in Malta. And you have a scar from a snake
• 39:44
  bite that was dangling on your hand.
• 39:46
  You just threw it into the fire and just kept on going.
• 39:49
  I want that faith. I want that kind of faith and
• 39:53
  it's only going to come one way. When I really believe this.
• 39:58
  I had a conversation with somebody not too long ago, it's
• 40:01
  kind of long ago and they express some distress about a
• 40:05
  situation. You know, fear can be
• 40:11
  contagious. There are evangelist for fear.
• 40:18
  And I was on that phone call. And this person was fearful and
• 40:21
  I can, I can tell that they wanted me to join on that fear
• 40:24
  campaign. And I'm only just stopped his.
• 40:27
  Do you believe the Bible? Now, that's not how I usually do
• 40:33
  counseling. But in, I can't tell you the
• 40:36
  context for why it was so hard in that moment.
• 40:39
  Do you believe the God of this Bible or we just preaching
• 40:42
  stories to people here? I believe the God of this Bible,
• 40:48
  I believe he's real. I believe that he will hold me.
• 40:51
  Accountable for what I say. I believe that these promises
• 40:54
  are true. I believe they're not just to be
• 40:56
  studied for some historical benefit.
• 40:58
  I believe that it applies now Makes all the difference to
• 41:06
  believe the word instead of knowing it.
• 41:09
  Paul was told he was going to testify in Rome so he believed
• 41:12
  it. Jesus said to his own.
• 41:15
  Where is your faith? Where is your faith?
• 41:20
  It was the word of Christ that anchored him.
• 41:23
  He didn't have a peace be still. He just had a word, and he knew
• 41:27
  the direction that he was headed towards regardless of what was
• 41:30
  before him. There's a wonderful scripture
• 41:34
  and Psalm 112 verse 7, that speaks about the benefits of
• 41:38
  those who fear the lord. And here's one of my favorite
• 41:41
  benefits of fearing. God, Psalm 112 verse 7.
• 41:46
  He is not afraid of bad news. He is not afraid of bad news,
• 41:54
  his heart is firm trusting in the Lord.
• 42:00
  That's the faith that we can arrive to that when that phone
• 42:02
  call comes and it's bad news. It's not good, it's not in your
• 42:07
  favor, it's a challenge. And it seeks their to devour
• 42:12
  your faith, the fear of God can Shield that and keep you
• 42:17
  Untouchable concerning fear. This isn't pretend here, this is
• 42:23
  real, this is real Which transitions us perfectly.
• 42:31
  To the next and final point. We looked at the stage before
• 42:34
  the storm. We looked at the experience
• 42:35
  during the storm, but now let's examine the moments After the
• 42:38
  Storm. We read here in Mark 4 40 Jesus.
• 42:43
  He said to them. Why are you so afraid?
• 42:47
  Have you still no faith? Here's the part that moved me in
• 42:51
  verse 41 and they were filled with great fear, huh?
• 43:01
  They were filled with great. Well Lord, you just told them.
• 43:03
  Why are you afraid? You try to deliver them from
• 43:07
  that fear, and the result of you tell them, why are you afraid?
• 43:11
  Where is your faith? Is that they have now a greater
• 43:13
  fear And they were filled with great fear.
• 43:23
  Isn't that interesting? Can I tell you something?
• 43:26
  This isn't them trying to cope with a traumatic event.
• 43:29
  This isn't PTSD. This isn't that.
• 43:31
  I'm trying to sit down a process.
• 43:33
  All that just happened. There was an Unholy fear that is
• 43:40
  now replaced with a fear that God wanted them to have.
• 43:45
  Can I tell you how you can be saved from oppressive?
• 43:50
  My numbing. Stress inducing fear.
• 43:57
  Fear. Fear, what are you talking
• 44:02
  about? Fear God?
• 44:05
  Fear God. in that moment when those words came out, Of the Son
• 44:14
  of God, they realize that there is something bigger going on
• 44:19
  here than this storm. There is something in their
• 44:23
  boat. That was more powerful, more
• 44:25
  fierce Then the very water is that try to swallow them alive?
• 44:32
  Who then is this man? And now, that adrenaline has
• 44:39
  been replaced with a reverent. worship filled all of the
• 44:47
  Messiah. They understood that demons and
• 44:54
  disease were subject to his authority.
• 44:59
  Now, they realize even the wind's and the waves Bow Down.
• 45:05
  And you see here, the problem with the disciples is not merely
• 45:09
  that they did not believe the words of Jesus at the shore.
• 45:13
  It goes beyond that. It was that they failed to
• 45:16
  understand that before us, is someone more powerful than the
• 45:21
  very thing that's trying to overpower us.
• 45:23
  Here's the essence of their issue.
• 45:25
  They had a small view of a big God, the bigness of their view
• 45:29
  of God. Was not large enough.
• 45:35
  And that is essentially what it means to fear.
• 45:37
  God comprehend, just how awesome he is and that alone will help
• 45:44
  you. Realize, there is nothing else
• 45:46
  to fear in this life because this God is with me and he's on
• 45:48
  my side. Small view of God.
• 45:53
  I sure you something again, I'm not a prophet.
• 45:56
  Small view of God. You have a great future filled
• 45:59
  with fear ahead of you. Big view of God fear will have
• 46:06
  much trouble, even visiting your heart.
• 46:13
  They had a limited view of the person who is taking a nap in
• 46:16
  the stern. Here's the thing.
• 46:17
  I want to tell you the greatest investment that you can make,
• 46:20
  for the uncertainties of Tomorrow, is to grow and be
• 46:24
  certain of who your God is today.
• 46:29
  I don't know what's ahead for you or for me.
• 46:35
  All I know is that the greatest investment that I can make to
• 46:39
  prepare myself for what's ahead is to know my God, as much as I
• 46:43
  can. Now, Much of our approach to God
• 46:50
  as reactionary. When the thing comes, then we
• 46:53
  try to seek to understand things, but here's the problem,
• 46:55
  you become so overwhelming. What's happening?
• 46:57
  That you don't even have the capacity to really understand
• 46:59
  who God is and many cases. Be pre-emptive and prepare your
• 47:04
  heart now. Build your faith.
• 47:07
  Now, strengthen yourself now, help yourself by viewing.
• 47:12
  God for the totality of who he is in the word of God and you
• 47:16
  will be prepared for the uncertainties of tomorrow.
• 47:18
  I wonder what went through their mind when they saw this man who
• 47:21
  was sleeping all for a sudden. Now, commanding nature to submit
• 47:30
  These guys had some knowledge of the tour, they had some
• 47:33
  knowledge of the of the Old Testament.
• 47:34
  What we would refer to. I wonder what came crashing to
• 47:38
  their mind that caused them to look at one another's who then
• 47:41
  is this man. Turn with me to Psalm 107.
• 47:49
  And you will wonder how this fear is much more than the
• 47:52
  obvious that the the nature around them became silent know.
• 47:57
  There was implications regarding the identity of Jesus Christ
• 48:01
  that makes their fear totally relatable.
• 48:06
  Psalm 107 verse 28. And verse 29.
• 48:15
  Then they cry to the Lord, in their trouble.
• 48:18
  And he delivered them from their distress.
• 48:21
  He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were
• 48:26
  hushed, Who's the one who heard the cries of the distress of his
• 48:32
  people who is the one, who delivered them from their
• 48:36
  trouble? Who is the one who caused the
• 48:38
  storm to be still, who is the one who hush the sea.
• 48:42
  According to the psalmist, it's Yahweh.
• 48:47
  God Almighty, the Covenant name of God revealed to the nation of
• 48:52
  Israel is the one who receives the credit.
• 48:57
  For the Deliverance of the distress of his people in the
• 48:59
  context of being out at Sea. And isn't it interesting that
• 49:03
  when we come to Mark, we see Jesus Christ.
• 49:07
  With some sailors. Who perfectly parallel, this
• 49:12
  very description of the goodness of God.
• 49:15
  That when they cry out in distress, he hears them.
• 49:19
  And he doesn't shoo them away. He doesn't say I'm sleeping.
• 49:21
  Wake me up later. He gets up with total strength,
• 49:26
  and with his own word, he brings everything into subjection to
• 49:30
  his authority. The sea was calm, the winds were
• 49:34
  still Who then is this man? Who then is this man?
• 49:47
  Meet me in proverbs 30. Here's agur.
• 49:57
  With his sayings. And in the beginning of her,
• 50:02
  this proverb, he expresses his frustration for his limited
• 50:05
  knowledge of God, the depth of his knowledge of God, the
• 50:09
  intimacy that he has with God. And he goes on to explain his
• 50:14
  plight by giving us rhetorical questions of the greatness of
• 50:18
  God. And he says here, in verse 3, I
• 50:21
  have not learned wisdom. Nor have I knowledge of the Holy
• 50:25
  One. You want to make an interesting
• 50:27
  study? Go to the Hebrew of that word.
• 50:30
  I don't have time to get into it of the Holy One and then hear
• 50:35
  the questions that he expects us to know who has ascended to
• 50:40
  heaven and come down. Who has gathered the wind in his
• 50:44
  fist? Who has wrapped up the waters?
• 50:48
  In a garment, who has established all the ends of the
• 50:52
  Earth? What is his name?
• 50:56
  What is his name and the Jewish audience?
• 50:59
  Who would have read this freshly?
• 51:00
  And even centuries, later would say I know his name, his name is
• 51:04
  Yahweh, And I wonder what they would say after where we were
• 51:10
  told, what is his name and what is his son's name?
• 51:15
  What is his son's name? Son's name.
• 51:21
  Surely, you know. Surely, you know.
• 51:27
  But here's the thing that's so interesting.
• 51:28
  Out of all the things that the Holy Spirit could have described
• 51:31
  concerning the greatness of God out of just the endless
• 51:36
  possibilities of his power. He selects things that we see in
• 51:42
  the master who has ascended to heaven and come down now.
• 51:48
  Look at this, who has gathered the wind in his fists, who has
• 51:51
  wrapped up the waters in a garment, what does that implying
• 51:54
  control T. Transcendent ability.
• 52:01
  He's able to take the win and his fist and tell it what to do
• 52:04
  is able to bring it down to that.
• 52:07
  He's able to gather the waters in His Garment and out of all
• 52:11
  the things that the Holy Spirit could have put here.
• 52:14
  And and alger's turmoil about trying to understand who this
• 52:18
  God is. We have the Son of God who does
• 52:22
  just that, he tells the wind what to do.
• 52:26
  He tells the see what to do. With the Garment of his word, so
• 52:30
  to speak. With the word of his power.
• 52:37
  Who then is this man? No wonder they feared greatly.
• 52:47
  Because they realize Yahweh is in our boat.
• 52:53
  God is in our boat. Not just one who hasn't
• 52:58
  extremely beautiful connection to God.
• 53:03
  But God himself condescended. God himself, who Stills?
• 53:09
  The Seas was just taking a nap in the star.
• 53:17
  They feared greatly. Do you know how this glorious
• 53:23
  Revelation came to these disciples?
• 53:26
  I'll tell you how through a storm If it had not been for the
• 53:32
  storm, I wonder if they would have arrived to such a
• 53:35
  conclusion. At least this early on.
• 53:38
  You see what opened their perception to the depths of the
• 53:41
  person of Jesus Christ. Was the very thing necessary to
• 53:45
  try to display and prove the very power that references him
• 53:50
  to that very identity. Let me make it very plain and
• 53:53
  simple. There are some things that God
• 53:56
  will reveal to you about himself.
• 53:58
  That can only come through the store.
• 54:00
  Orm. So, don't shun it.
• 54:04
  Don't shrink from it, don't squeal.
• 54:09
  If he has sent you with his word, if you were walking in his
• 54:12
  word and here you are now looking around saying, how did I
• 54:15
  get in here? Hold tight.
• 54:19
  Because the Lord desires to reveal something about himself
• 54:22
  to you. Paul says that I may know him
• 54:25
  and the power of his resurrection and we stop there
• 54:27
  and say Yes Lord I want to know the power of your Resurrection.
• 54:29
  Bring it on, I want the Miracles.
• 54:31
  I want the healings, I want the quick answers to prayer.
• 54:33
  I want to know the power of your Resurrection.
• 54:35
  Paul didn't end there. And the fellowship of his
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  sufferings. There is a fellowship with
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  Christ that comes particularly and reserved, merely and
• 54:48
  uniquely in sufferings. Is that not what job concluded
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  at the end of that amazing book. When the Lord comes in, that
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  tornado-like manifestation and addresses him.
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  By revealing to him, his omniscience and omnipresence on
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  omnipotence, through all his suffering.
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  And this is what job says. I've heard you by the hearing of
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  the ear. but now my eyes have seen you I Now understand that.
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  You are bigger than all of this and you have been with me all
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  along. Job had a deeper sense of who
• 55:35
  God was and Job chapter 42, but he had to go through chapter 2
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  and 3 all the way up to that point.
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  To see it. To see it.
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  And so, I encourage you. Your suffering is not in vain.
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  if you want to know him and grow in your knowledge of him, then
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  be prepared to be brought through some circumstances.
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  That require a facet of God that you have not known yet to be
• 56:08
  made known through that circumstance.
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  May God help us to place our faith in him to trust him at all
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  times. And may He fill us with a great
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  fear concerning who he is. So that we may be rescued from
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  all other trivial fears, he will do.
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  So let's pray. We're breaking bread today, as
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  you are aware. And we heard briefly how God
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  became a man. He slept.
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  And that body was prepared to be a sacrifice.
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  So that you and I would know an inward rest that nothing in this
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  world could ever purchase for us.
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  We are here to remember that your sins are forgiven. that
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  every record of wrong, even the accusations that you've made
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  against a good and perfect, God, Have been cancelled.
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  And we have this promise the same way, the disciples had a
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  word, we have a promise that we can take to the Grave.
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  He who began a good work in you. He will bring it to completion.
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  and that by one sacrifice, he has perfected for all time those
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  who are being sanctified We have come to remember the promises of
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  God concerning our salvation and we can trust in the words of our
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  savior. And so, just reflect on those
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  promises. And be prepared to come before
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  this table. For those who are not
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  Christians, please reserve yourself from participating.
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  This is solely for those who have confessed that Christ is
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  Lord and have been born again of the spirit.
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  You are welcome to come to this table.
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  After you have given your life to Christ, This is a promise
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  reserved for those who have pledged their allegiance to
• 58:38
  Jesus. This is not a promise for those
• 58:40
  who have not believed on him. Therefore, this participation
• 58:44
  would be futile for you, but for those who are in Christ, we've
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  come to rehearse the promise of God, concerning our souls and
• 58:53
  the destination of our eternity. And so we come yes with
• 58:59
  sobriety, but we come with excitement.
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  That his body, and his blood has been made, perfect and
• 59:06
  sufficient for our salvation. Lord, we thank you for this
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  time. Help us examine ourselves, help
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  us Worship You In This Moment and may you receive glory for
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  our recognition and remembering what you've done two thousand
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  years ago. We give you all the praise and
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  honor in this place in Jesus name.
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  Amen. Let's stand and sing and we'll
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  invite you to the table to partake.