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GTM – Keeping Your Eyes on Christ – 1By Steve Durham - 2/07/2024 This video invites you to explore the profound message of keeping your eyes on Jesus Christ and understanding the significance of faith, endurance, and spiritual growth. Drawing from Hebrews 12:2 and other passages, we reflect on how Jesus exemplified unwavering trust in God, even in the face of immense challenges. The central story of Peter walking on water serves as a powerful example for staying focused on Christ
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GTM – Keeping Your Eyes on Christ – 1By Steve Durham - 2/07/2024 This video invites you to explore the profound message of keeping your eyes on Jesus Christ and understanding the significance of faith, endurance, and spiritual growth. Drawing from Hebrews 12:2 and other passages, we reflect on how Jesus exemplified unwavering trust in God, even in the face of immense challenges. The central story of Peter walking on water serves as a powerful example for staying focused on Christ
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The speaker begins by emphasizing the importance of keeping our eyes on Jesus Christ. They reference Hebrews 2:2, which encourages us to lay aside every weight and sin and run the race with endurance. The speaker highlights the need to have our minds fixed on Jesus and to recognize His presence in our lives. They explain that Christ came to save the world, establish His church, and show us the way to eternal life. Miracles are discussed as a tool Christ used to authenticate His identity and teach us important lessons. The speaker mentions that Christ performed many miracles, and while the exact number is not known, they emphasize the significance of these miracles in confirming faith and trust in Jesus. The speaker also mentions the story of Peter walking on water and emphasizes the importance of keeping our focus on Christ and actively walking with Him. Welcome, everyone, to Building Meeting 1, and it's a pleasure to have you here. Tonight, the title of my message is Keep Your Eyes on Jesus Christ, Keep Your Eyes on Jesus Christ. I'm going to talk about how to do that, and we're going to show an example, a very important example of that, that Christ gave his disciples and gave it to us, so we'll learn some lessons from this. If you look at Hebrews 2, 2, Hebrews 2, 2, it talks about this, Hebrews 2, verse 2. It says, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great throng of witnesses, and we were talking about life and death, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily entraps us, and let us run the race set before us with endurance. That's what our calling is all about, that's what we're doing. Having our minds fixed, having our minds fixed, I think the King James says, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the beginner, the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that lay ahead of him endured the cross, although he despised the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Then it says, Now meditate on this deeply, on him who endured such great hostility of sinners against himself, so that you do not become weary and faint in your minds. The whole reason is to hang in there and to keep going, to endure, to follow Christ and keep our eyes on him, keep our eyes fixed on Christ. And what I mean by that is that Christ is in us and God the Father is in us, so it's easy for us to see him, but sometimes we don't recognize him, we don't notice him, we don't pay attention to him being in our lives, and we live our lives on our own, on our own opinions, on our own way of doing things, but you have to keep your eyes on Christ and listen and follow his word, his ways, know what they are, and walk in them. It's pretty simple, isn't it? But it's a lot more involved. So Christ came, let's look at some background here. Christ came to the earth in John 1, 14, as God in the flesh, some of the many reasons for his coming, of course, he was one of the things, of course he came to save the world, obviously, that's the number one reason, but he also came to establish his church, to set it up, to establish it, to get it going, to encourage and inspire it, to create holy righteous character in those he called, and to bring many sons to glory, and to show us the way, by example and by word, John 14, 6, he says, he is the way, the truth, and the life, eternal life, and we mentioned that at death, life begins, if we're in Christ, that's when life begins, at the resurrection, when we're changed, not necessarily at the moment of death, but in our eyes and mind, when we're dead, it's the next moment. So one of the tools he does to bring many sons to glory, and create holy righteous character in us, and to encourage us, and to help us to grow in grace and knowledge, and come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, with his mind, are miracles, miracles. A miracle is something that's outside the physical realm, right, it indicates a divine hand in something, in the physical element, that's a miracle. When Christ was on the earth, he did several miracles, do you know how many miracles he did? Do you know how many miracles? I looked it up, and one place says 37. One of the online internet sources said 37, well, if you turn to John 21, 25. John 21, 25, John tells us how many miracles, and healings, and exceptional things that he did. He says, the last verse of John, this is sort of a summation of what John had to write, 21, 25, but there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I do not suppose that even the world itself could contain the books that would be written. And it says, amen, it should say philo, think on that, the world couldn't hold the books. So he taught by miracles, he showed examples of the way he lived, he taught, the words he said were life, and the healings, what an awesome time that would have been to be alive and to watch him walk around with him. What were the purposes of miracles? We covered on a little bit, why did he do them, what's the purpose of a miracle? It showcases the power of God, it points to God, that that individual is God. Now there will be some miracles done by false prophets and false Christs, but they aren't like the miracles. You remember Moses with the rod and the snake that ate up the other snakes, and how it, God is always the one, the real miracle, and the others are fake, they're gimmicks. To authenticate and show us the character of Jesus and his relationship, what I mean by authenticate is the fact that he was God in the flesh, he was the son of God, his character and his relationship with the Father, and it's important to know that, okay, and we'll show, there's a reason why it's important for us to know that, for the disciples who have known that. And in that we are to follow Christ's example, he is our big brother in the family of God, and he's showing us the way. It shows a supreme hand in the work of nature and things physical. It shows us that God exists, because only God could do those things. It shows God's love to his creation by supplying needs such as food and protection and provisions, those sort of things, and equips and confirms the apostles and us today in the teaching of the gospel. It just gave credibility to it, and it helps our unbelief, and it gives us trust and faith in Jesus Christ, which we need to continue to walk, to endure to the end, to stay steadfast and diligent and hang in there. It's all part of what Christ was doing in establishing his church and getting it kick-started and moving it on in, to never end, to always be here. So miracles are the tool that Christ used in setting up his New Testament church and all those other things we talked about, to perfect us and to bring us to the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ, to give us faith and show us that we can trust in that individual. It tells us who he is and what he can do and what he will do. Okay. It's a tool to bring all his begotten sons to glory, and Hebrews 2 King talks about that. The reason for our trials and sufferings, again, is to develop holy, righteous character, which gets us to that end, and is what Christ is. We are his workmanship. Miracles help us to know who it is that we are worshiping. See, you can't worship someone or God unless you know that he is God and that you know what he does and will do in your life. When you know that, you can't help but worship him and praise him and thank him and be grateful. But you have to get to knowing, you have to know who he is. You have to keep your eyes on him and watch what he does and hear what he says. When we talk about walking on water, let's bring that in. Talking about walking on water, we say that they're so good they could walk on water, or they think they could walk on water. We use that as an impossible feat or insurmountable task that somebody does. There's only one person that I know of, maybe you know of someone else, that has ever walked on water, one physical individual, other than Christ, who is Peter. He's the only one, and we'll talk about that today. That's where the saying comes from. It's a story that is, you know, when we first come into the church, or maybe when we were in school, in church, Bible study schools, and in the world, we always heard about Christ. It was always said, Peter walks on water. Well, you know, we're missing the point here. It's Christ who walks on the water, and Peter attempted. He did it for a minute. But we've heard that story a lot. We hear it a lot. But there's a lot in it. And so what we're going to do today, tonight, is try to bring that out and talk about the miracle of Christ walking on the water, and show why Christ did it. Why did he do it? And what lessons can we learn from? What was he teaching his disciples? Again, he lived in the flesh, John 1, 1. We know we go through 1, verse 3, all the way 1 through 3. And during his earthly ministry, he did these remarkable miracles for our edification and our understanding of who he is, who he was, and what he wants us to become and be in our calling as begotten sons and daughters of God, in the family of God. We have to come to that point of becoming, therefore, perfect and grow in grace and knowledge. And all that we talk about, about going through this, okay, in our calling and overcoming and looking to God and Christ, his blood, and when we sin, justified in the whole package. So, in other words, in order to worship God, in order to worship Christ and the Father, we must know who he is, what he's done, and what he can do. Okay. And those miracles encourage us to continue. They build faith. They build the faith of Christ in us when we have God's Holy Spirit. But in order to do so, we can't take our eyes off of Christ. We have to keep our eyes and our focus. I'll say, stay focused. Stay focused on Christ. There's a reason I say that. And to do that, then we have to be willing to walk with Christ as well, because we have a part in this. Even though he lives in us in Christ and the Father, John 17, 11, and 21, we're one with them. They are in us. We are in them. Okay. But even though that close proximity is there, we can take our eyes off of them, right? We forget sometimes they are that close. When we're walking around doing our business and doing our job, throughout the daily tasks and things, we'll get in trouble and all. We've forgotten that Christ is right there with us. He's in us. So it's very important to remember that. We have to be a doer of the Word. We have to be actively in the arena. And we have to get out of the boat and walk. You know, there's a walk on the water with Christ. Because where is he? Is he in the boat? Not at that time. He's on the water. So we have to get out and walk on that water. Now, eventually he gets in the boat. But not during the trials and the storms and the things that happen. That's not where he is. So let's read the story. I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Let's look at this miracle and see the lessons that come from it. There are several lessons. There's an overall lesson and there are several lessons that come from it. The miracle of this story is found in Matthew 14, 22-36. Matthew 14, 22-36. Mark 6, 45-56. And John 6, 16-21. Christ walks on the water. Okay. Now, some background of this before this. As he's leading up to this, John the Baptist was beheaded. You know, he was the one crying in the wilderness. He was the Elijah setting up Christ's coming and preparing the way for him. He's beheaded by Herod. Christ then heads toward the wilderness, and he's going to pray to the Father of Christ then heads toward the wilderness, and he's going to pray to the Father, which he does all the time. And this is one of the things that we can learn from this all along in Christ's ministry. The reason why he ends up in the wilderness and by the sea is because he wanted to pray to the Father, as he always did. He's headed toward that point. But the multitude's here, he's coming, and they flock him. And so Christ had compassion for them, the 5,000 that are out there in the wilderness following him. He says, you know, we need to feed them. And I think it's filtered. He comes to him and says, hey, look at all these people. He says, well, give them something to eat. He says, I don't have any food or any money. He says, well, you feed them. So he finds an old boy who has five loaves and two fishes. So Christ sets them all down, has them sit down, and they feed the multitude with those five and two. That's seven, perfection. And there are 12 baskets left, 12, completion. And he gives the 12 baskets to each one of the disciples. Later on in John 10 he tells them, feed my sheep. And then in Matthew 28, one of the last things he says, go you therefore into all the world and teach them and feed them, basically. So he gives them that symbolic, those baskets for a purpose of doing a job, feeding, giving the gospel, teaching, and going out, taking that bread of life, the bread, who Christ is, to the world. Symbolic. Okay. Let's look at the lesson about Christ praying, always praying to the Father. It's obvious and it's an overshadowing lesson in all of this ministry, but especially at this time. He's praying, let's go to Matthew 14, 23. That's where it starts. He sets the example of prayer to the Father for all of us, for the disciples and all of us. He made time to pray to him. It gave him guidance, gave him strength and direction to worship him, to thank him always, and to know what his will was and his plan to be fulfilled. The two of them contracted, and they say in Isaiah 50, it talks about Christ woke up every morning and was taught by the Father. They spoke every morning, every morning. That would be amazing. And so he had this connection. He always prayed before major events in his life, and he's showing us that we need to do that daily. His baptism, his transfiguration, before choosing the disciples, he would withdraw from the crowds to be with the Father like he was trying to do at this point. He prayed every morning. He prayed in the garden. He prayed before resurrecting Lazarus. In John 17, we have his prayer to the Father for us, and the disciples heard that. John 6 talks about how, how to pray. He prayed on the cross. He set an example for us always to be in communication with the Father and Christ, a very important point. You can read Matthew 6, verse 5, all the way through. He makes the statement three times. When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites. When you pray, enter into a private room. When you pray, do not use vain repetition. In other words, saying Father all the time. You say Father once. You don't repeat things. It's a discussion. It's a prayer. Okay. It's not a show. He says when, not if. When you pray, you are to pray after this manner. And then he tells us, he gives us an outline, very important for us. First Thessalonians 5 talks about praying always, rejoicing always, praying unceasingly, and giving thanks in everything. This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you, that we pray to the Father. Christ came to reveal the Father, so we know who he is. Remember about worship? It's important to know who that individual is, who God is, who the Father is and Christ is. And then we can't help but worship them and be grateful and glad and happy and praise them. It helps us to develop holy, righteous character because we learn the character of God by speaking with him and him speaking with us. And through miracles, he gives us the examples or the evidence of his presence, that he is God and he will do things for us. We have to remember that as we walk through life. So in Matthew 14, 23, we start to go there. Let's go ahead and read this. I'm going to try to coincide some of the other three books. I think it's Luke that doesn't say anything. So Matthew 14, 23, it says, And after dismissing the multitude, he went up into the mountain apart to pray. He went by himself. Remember, he says, go into your private area. And when the evening came, he was there alone. Now that, in John 6, verse 15, it tells us a little bit more. Because Jesus perceived that they were about to come and see him so that they might make him king, he withdrew again to a mountain by himself alone. And Mark 6, 45, these are all found in the Harmony of the Gospels. It says, We're going to go back to that. He commanded, requiring obedience from the disciples. His disciples to get into the ship at once and go ahead of him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the multitude. And after he had sent them away, he departed to the mountain to pray. Okay. A couple things. One, it says ship. This was a large fishing boat. When we think ship, I think of a big tanker or something, maybe a battleship. But this was a fishing boat. It held 12 men. So it had some size, but it wasn't, I wouldn't call it a ship. Maybe if we look up the Greek, it would have a smaller indication. Okay. Note that Christ commanded the disciples. And they obeyed him. Very important. Obedience is an essential element in faith. And worship as well. The more you understand who God is, the more you want to obey. You love him. You want to do what he says. And that's very important. And the more faith that we have in Christ in us, we will want to obey. And then we will want to worship him as well. Because he is the son of God. He says, obey my voice. Okay. Remember that these men were to become the basis for the church of God that Christ was founding. He was the foundation. He was the cornerstone. He was the head. And his establishment in setting up this church, the New Testament church, is going to last throughout, you know, basically throughout eternity. Romans 1, verse 4 through 6. Romans 1. Paul tells us in verse 4, Who has declared the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among the nations. And that phrase is said several times. For apostleship, to obedience to faith among the nations in behalf of his name, in Christ's name, in whom you also are called of Jesus Christ. And he says it again in Romans 16. Now to have him who has power to establish it. I'll just go ahead and read this. According to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that in past ages has been kept secret, but now, now here's what he was doing with the apostles, developing and creating his church through them and giving them his word, the gospel to go out. And by prophetic scriptures, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all nations unto the obedience of faith. Obedience is crucial in worshiping God and following God and ultimately developing the character of God. So let's continue then. In Matthew 14, 24. We're on the second verse. But the ship was now in the middle of the sea. Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Okay. He said, cut across the sea here along the shore to Bursaida. It was a short trip. Now the ship's in the middle of the sea. That's not where they were headed. Being tossed by the waves because the wind was contrary. And Mark says that the boat was tormented by the waves. Okay. The Sea of Galilee sits in the mountain range about 4,000 feet above sea level. The Sea of Galilee is 686 feet below sea level. So you have this pocket. Goes up and way down. 141 feet deep is the water. And the water's warm. The air is cold coming off the mountain. And from the mountain it creates violent storms and weather. Just comes right out of nowhere. There it is. The cold winds are coming down off the hills and cause instant storms and violent wind and weather. Okay. When this happens, when they start out, it's around 5, 6 o'clock. Well, we'll say that this is in the middle of the night. They're still rowing. A trip that should have taken a couple hours. Now it's turned into nine hours. The disciples find themselves in a violent storm in the middle of the night, in the middle of the ocean, having difficulty rowing. In fact, it was impossible. And they are seasoned sailors. They are fishermen. Four of them, at least, are fishermen. The rest knew the way around the ship, the boat. They found it impossible to control the situation. All right. So think about our storms that we get into. We've seen several here recently through the prayer requests that we received. People are going through some very violent storms. They're in the middle of the ocean or the middle of the sea at night, and it's dark. It's a daunting situation. And when you're trying to control the ship yourself, it's very difficult. As a matter of fact, it's impossible. And there's a lesson to be learned in this. And this is one of the lessons that we learned from this account. So if we continue in John, John 16. John 6, verse 16 says, John 6, verse 16. Now when the evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, and they went into a ship and were crossing the sea to Capernaum. For it had already become dark, and Jesus had not come to them. But the sea was tossing because of a strong wind and blowing. And Mark's account says, Now when evening arrived, the ship was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land. Christ was nowhere around. And remember he commanded them to get in the boat and go across. He put them in the water for a reason. And he saw them laboring and they're rowing. They were laboring. They were struggling because the wind was contrary to them. About the fourth watch of the night, that's around three o'clock, three, four, five o'clock in the morning. He came to them walking on the sea and would have passed them by. That's an important phrase. We're going to look at that here in a minute. He came to them in the middle of that storm, and it's dark, and they're out in the middle of the ocean in an impossible situation. And they were trying their best to control the ship. Matthew 14, 26. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled. The only one that could save them, and here he comes, and they're troubled. And said, it's a ghost, it's an apparition. And they cried out in fear. Fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them. Let's talk about fear for a second. In an individual who's been called and has God's Holy Spirit, fear and faith cannot reside in the same heart at the same time. One will out the other. Fear will kill faith. Fear destroys faith. So here they feared, and their faith was, you know, zippo, going down. So they cried out in fear, but immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, be of good courage, it is I. Do not be afraid. That same phrase, you hear that in Joshua, don't we? Joshua 1, we hear it three times in Joshua 1. Be of good courage. Don't be afraid. Don't fear. Have faith. Don't fear. And Peter said, answered, here goes Peter. Answered him and said, Lord, if it is you, bid me to come to you upon the water. If it is you. Peter, at least, was checking out and making sure that it was God's will, and that was God, or Christ, rather, and it was his will for him to come out there. And that's a good point because we need to, before we make a move doing something, we need to make sure that we check it out with God and God's spirit is leading us to do that, or that it's scripturally sound. Sometimes we jump out on our own and we do our own thing and we have a train wreck. But Christ is saying, you know, if it's you, command me to come out there and come upon the water. And he said, come. After climbing down from the ship, Peter walked upon the water to go to Jesus. That's amazing. Peter's faith and the faith in Christ, who was out there, and his eyes on Christ, allowed him to walk on the water. Another place that says you can't move mountains if you have the faith of a mustard seed. He had a little bit for a short time, and as far as I know, he's the only physical, you know, not Christ, but other than Christ, who walked on the water. Okay. Verse 30. But when he saw how strong he saw, that means his eyes were on Christ, he saw how strong the wind was, he became afraid. He took his eyes off of Christ. And as he was beginning to think, that's what happens when we're different. We don't keep our eyes on God and Christ and allow him to do the work, and we try to do something. He stopped. He cried out, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and took a hold of him and said to him, oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt? Another note is that he did that privately. He corrected or encouraged Peter privately so that he wasn't embarrassed. And that's a good point in, like, in HR. You don't dress a person down in public. You bring them into your office. And this was showing love to Peter. Why did you doubt? Now, when they went into the ship, once you got into the ship, the wind stopped. I mean, the wind ceased, the water stopped, the waves stopped, and it was placid. It was calm. There was peace. Remember my peace I leave with you? And those in the ship came and worshipped him. Notice they worshipped him. Why did they worship him? He didn't stop them. This is the whole point in saying you are truly the son of God. Now, if you go to Matthew 8, I didn't write it down, but Matthew 8, I think it's around 23, 4, 5, right in there. That's another account before this one where they were on the water and the wind picked up again, the waves, and they were afraid. Christ was in the back of the boat sleeping. They went in and said, how can you sleep? We're going to drown. Wake up. So they got up and they walked out to the edge and they looked at the water and he said, be calm. And immediately, the wind ceased, the water collapsed. Same thing. And they said, what sort of man is this? They didn't know. They suspected. They were beginning to grow in faith. They were beginning to understand who this was. Now here in verse 33, Now they answered the question back in Matthew 8. They finally understood who this was. And that was the point. If we're going to continue down this walk and we're going to be enduring and staying close and keeping our eyes on Christ, we have to know who he is if we're going to worship him. Worshiping God and worshiping the Father and what he can do. Those two things are important in worship. And we worship in spirit and truth. But we also have to know who this is. Do we know who Christ is? Do we really understand who he is? And Christ is under attack today. He always has been. But we need to understand who he is. So this is a significant account in the Gospels for us today. It was for them, establishing the church. But we're still reestablishing it every day that we live our lives and grow closer to God. So for us today, it's a fundamental bedrock teaching. It means for us, in order for us to grow in grace and knowledge, in faith in Christ, and trust in Jesus Christ, who is our Savior. He's our sacrifice. He's our Redeemer. He's the head of the church, our foundation, our salvation, our high priest, our advocate, our mediator of a better covenant, the new covenant. And he sits at the right hand of God, our Father. So he was teaching them who he was. And they would follow him and watch miracles that would not be, you couldn't put them in enough books. The world wouldn't hold them, all the things that he did. So there's some other lessons that are gained from this. So let's quickly go over some of the others. There's a lot of information here. Okay. To follow Christ, you've got to make sure it's him. You can't be listening to other people and be let off. You've got to keep your eyes on Christ and make sure it's him. Then step out on faith if it's his will to do so, which, you know, if it's his word and the truth, then we can be sure the Holy Spirit will lead us in that. Peter said, Lord, if it is you, command me to do so. 1 John 4, verse 1 through 2. 1 John 4, verse 1 through 2. It says, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits. That's what Peter was doing, whether they are from God. Why? Because many false prophets had gone out into the world. By this test, you can know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. Your litmus test. And remember that we're talking about trusting the Lord with all your heart, and we know that in your understanding. We know that with Proverbs 3, verse 5 and 6. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he'll direct your paths. Keep your eye on him, and know it's him, and he'll direct your path. We have to rely on the Holy Spirit rather than trusting in our own judgment, right, and promoting, you know, our own self and trying to do it ourselves. Having discernment is a key aspect of a faithful life because you're using God's Spirit to help you know what to do. He will lead you in that. Okay. Another lesson we've covered, fear versus faith. When the violent storms and the winds swept over the boat and drove them into the middle of the sea and they were afraid, you know, it's the same thing that happens to us. In the middle of the trials that we have. This is Satan's world, isn't it? And he is the king of fear. He wants us to fear. Everything set up and everything around us is fear. Well, Christ says, my peace, again. You live inside that peace. It's not like the world. But knowing God and who he is and having your eyes on him gives us that peace. And it keeps us out of fear, doubt, and worry. We've had COVID. We've had an uncertain political environment. It's still not, you know, I mean, still, you know, it's God's will. Whatever happens is God's will. We don't control that. We pray and ask God's will to be, and he's the one who directs it. Okay. But still, we look at it, and out in the world, there's a storm. Rumors of war. You know, the Ukraine, Russia just set off a missile that could carry a warhead, a nuclear warhead, and there was a big discussion about, well, if you do this, we're going to declare war. Well, you know, World War III. So we can't worry about that. We stay in Christ. We keep our eyes on Christ. He's in us. God the Father is in us. We have to recognize him. Why do you think they didn't recognize him? When they saw him out there, they thought he was a ghost. Why do you think they didn't recognize him? Could it be that they weren't looking for him? They had taken their eyes off of him? They didn't expect him to be out there? They didn't really believe that that was the son of God? I think that's probably the reason why they didn't recognize him. All right. So here are these seasoned sailors that are in distress, in trouble. They're in the middle of a storm. They don't see God's hand because they don't recognize his presence. And in our trials, when we have problems, sometimes we don't look to God, but we don't see Christ who's standing there ready to help if we cry out to him. There are many scriptures on crying out to God. I did a message on crying out to God. God hears our cry. We're not looking for him in our trial. All we haven't asked him is to take charge of the situation and take control. Maybe we don't believe he can. Maybe we're not thinking that way. It takes constant faith in Christ and God and their promise, their promises, to be with us always in order to navigate the waters in the storm and then make it to the other side in one piece. You can't do it without Christ in the boat. Psalm 46, 1 through 3. They had the Old Testament. They had the scrolls, and they should have realized this. Should have thought about this. Psalm 46, 1 through 3. It says, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. He was right outside the boat. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, and though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains shake with the swelling of it, he is an ever-present help in times of trouble. It says, Seelah. When Peter was sinking and Christ reached his hand out, in Matthew 14, 31, he said, oh, you have little faith. Why didn't you believe me? Isaiah 41, 10 says, he says, fear not, for I am with you. Be ye not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. And that's what Christ did, pulled him up. So, again, why was Christ out there walking around on the water at 3 in the morning? Why did he send him to the other side and knowing that that storm was coming or that he may have even created it and put him out there, put him into this task? What was the purpose? Well, there's one indicator. What was the lesson for disciples in us today? In Mark, it tells us, in Mark 6, 48. We'll just read that, and you'll find something in this scripture that might indicate why. And he saw them laboring in their rowing, because the wind was contrary to them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea, and here it is, and would have passed them by. Boy, is he just out there for a stroll? And, oh, you know, I'm just passing these guys by. They didn't recognize me. No, that's not what it means. The Greek word parachoma, parachoma, means to pass by. And it's used, here's how it's used. At times when God makes striking and temporary appearances in the earthly realm, you know, with among people, to select individuals or groups for the purpose of communicating a message. In other words, he's working with them. He's telling them a message. Here I am. I'm God. And I have chosen you to do something. I have a purpose for you, Jeremiah 29, 11. A purpose to cause good, not bad. I have a purpose. I created you, put you together, and I have a purpose for you. And he comes to individuals or groups of people to each, working with, like the disciples, like you, like me, calling us for a purpose. And he comes to them. That's what passes by means. For example, God put Moses in the clap of the rock so Moses could see, while my glory passed by, the Lord passed before him. Moses, Elijah. God told Elijah to stand on the mountain for the Lord is about to pass by. He had something he wanted Elijah and Moses to learn about him. And he was working with them. The same thing he does with us. The same thing he had to do with the disciples to get them to the point of faith in Christ, in that individual, who they were to keep their eyes on and not take them off or they would sin. He wants to get their attention, you know, the burning bush, wildfire, and the wind, and them walking on the water. He got their attention, didn't he? They can do that with us if we put our trust in them. So Peter begins to see it. He begins to get the point. The rest of them, when he walks onto the boat, they get it. They're starting to understand. And the same thing happens with us when we come through a trial, a major trial. Hopefully, we add to our understanding and we grow in that. That's part of growing in grace and knowledge. What kind of knowledge? Knowledge of who God is. In 1 Peter 4, 12, we have to remember this, too, the purpose of trials and testing. He says in verse 12, 1 Peter 4, he says, He says, So when God calls us, just like them, we can feel afraid and fearful and doubtful and worried, not sure, not sure. Maybe it's not easy to get out of the comfort of the boat. The 11 were in the boat. They were comfortable. They were watching. They were concerned. They were amazed. They were watching. But they were still in the boat. In the middle of this turbulence, it was difficult for them to get out of the boat and walk to Christ in that middle of the storm. There were 11 of them, and they were reluctant. They didn't get the same chance Peter got. Peter got a chance to walk on water. I'm sure he thought about that the rest of his life. I'm sure that was something that kept him motivated, kept him encouraged and inspired to continue and to do the things that he did. God was working with him. He passed him by. He passed by him, in front of him, and he saw his glory. When a person keeps their eyes on God and Christ and they decide to rely on that, on God, and start to walk with God, by getting out of the boat, they experience the life-changing power of God in their lives. It takes faith and trust and diligence and determination to stay in it with Christ to the end, to endure to the end, as it says in Matthew 24, 13. But you've got to keep your eyes on God, on Christ. You see his power, his presence, God in the flesh, the Messiah. That's who they were seeing. And it built their trust and faith and inspired them to go on after the day of Pentecost. They never really thought about all that. The same way with us, when we are baptized and have God's Holy Spirit, we think about the things. We start to see God. He starts working with us, and it's called first love. We learn to trust God. Colossians 1.10, Colossians 1.10 says, after Paul's telling the Colossians in a newly established church, he says, The knowledge of God is more than scripture. The knowledge of God is who he is. And how does he show us that? Through these miracles that happen in our lives. We ask for prayer. We ask God's will. And he answers. And we see it, and we go, wow, wait a minute. Well, that is really neat. And so you put that away, and again, you ask again, and you have another, and another, and another. And pretty soon, they add up. You start to see who God is. And you get excited about it and inspired. And your faith becomes rock solid, on the rock. Colossians 2.6-7, Paul tells the Colossians in chapter 2.6-7. Therefore, as you receive Christ, Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and establish in the faith, the faith of Jesus Christ. Galatians 2.20, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. You know, acting on and studying and acting on what we are given. Not veering one way or the other, staying exactly on what is said and given to us. And obeying it. It's very important that we obey. And we do what God says. Just like Abraham obeyed my voice. He saw, he says, now I know that you're going to follow me. Now I know that you have your eyes on me. And you're going to stay true. So with storms in our life, violent storms, or any kind of trial, adversity comes with obedience. You have to obey. Even in the middle of adversity, even though it doesn't seem like that's a good time to do that, the disciples were commanded to go to the other side of the lake in the boat, and they ran into a great storm. And sometimes we do too. God is wanting to see how we handle it. And if we will trust in him and his word for deliverance, there's a purpose for it. And we learn obedience through suffering just like Christ did in Hebrews 5a. Hebrews 5a. He set the example for us. And verse 7 says, who in the days of his flesh offered up both prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death and was hurt because he feared God. And he didn't want to go through those things either. Although he was the son, yet he learned obedience from the things that he suffered. And having been perfected, he became the author of our eternal salvation to all those who obey him. You can't do it your own way. You can't try to row the boat on your own power. You have to trust in him and obey him. 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2.18. Principle. And people hate this, you know. They hate the word obedience and submit and you. They hate that. They do it their own way. They appropriate Christ to them. They don't openly say, what is it you want me to do, Lord? Here I am. What do you want? What should I do? Submit yourselves to your masters in all fear. Not only to the good and gentle ones, but also to the harsh and unjust. Because this is acceptable. If for the sake of conscience toward God, anyone endures sorrows, suffering unjustly, for what condemnation is there if disobeying and being beaten, you endure it? But if while doing good, you endure suffering, this is acceptable with God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should not follow in his footsteps. Or that you should follow in his footsteps, sorry. Who committed no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return. When suffering, he threatened not, but committed himself to him who judges rightly. What do you want me to do? And didn't speak back, didn't try to protect himself or justify himself. He did exactly what God wanted him to do. He said, you know, he said, Father, forgive them for they don't know what they do. We know we're killing them. He wants us to learn suffering and go through these trials and adversities and continue to keep our eyes on him. And that's how we learn Christ. And we understand who he is and who the Father is. And the other thing about this is that he will never leave us or forsake us. That's another lesson we learn. That he was out, he told them to go out in the water and he was there for them. He's always just outside the boat waiting for us to recognize him. Hebrews 13 5. Hebrews 13 5. For he said, in no way will I ever leave you. No, I will never forsake you in any way. And Paul wrote, and I love this section, Paul wrote in Romans 8 33. To calm down a few verses. Romans 8 33. And all these things happened to us and all these trials and difficulties. You know, in Matthew 5, 8, 9, and 10 right in there, it talks about being persecuted for righteousness sake. Here he says, who shall bring an accusation against the elect of God? God is the one who justifies. So don't worry about what they say. Who is the one that condemns? It is Christ who died, but rather who is raised again, who is even now at the right hand of God, and who is also making intercession for us, the jobs that he does for us. Knowing what God does for us helps us to worship him. What shall separate us from love of Christ? Shall tribulation? Or distress? Or persecution? Or famine? Or nakedness? Or danger? Or sword? Or a violent storm? Accordingly it is written, for your sake we are killed all the day long. We are reckoned as sheep for the slaughter. But in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. With Christ we can do all things. With Christ we win out in the end. We conquer the world from Satan. We overcome. Christ said, I overcome the world. You can overcome the world too with him and with his help. For I am persuaded that neither death, and that's a big trial, facing death, and having a loved one that has died, major storm, major dark, middle of the night, wind, wave, major storm in our lives. God has a God of comfort. And he comforts us in ways that we just never know how it's going to happen. And he says, I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels or principalities, nor powers, nor things present, or things to come. Now look at all this. Neither height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And he said in John 10, he said no one shall take them out of my hand. No one shall take them out of my father's hand. Those are promises that he's always there with us, but we have to keep our eyes on him, and we have to obey, and we have to have faith, and believe, not fear, and doubt, and worry. You have to get out of the boat. See the problem is, there are 11 in the boat. Okay, so what were they doing? They were comfort. They were in their comfort zone. Okay, so what's our boat that we stay in, that we're comfortable in? All right. Stepping out of the boat takes courage, and wisdom and discernment to know we're doing the right thing, but then stepping out takes prayer, meditation, fasting, studying. So what is your boat? You know, in the time I've been in the church, now, many of you have been in longer than I have, 67, I've been in 58 years, I've seen a lot of people stay in the boat and end up bleeding because they didn't keep their eyes on Christ. They didn't have the faith of Christ in them to step out and trust him and obey him. And where are they now? I don't know. Many have been in the boat and walked away from Christ. Hundreds, thousands, we had 150,000 at one time, maybe more than that. So what is your boat? Whatever represents your safety and security, apart from God himself, whatever you think is safety and security. Your boat is whatever you are tempted to put your trust in, and especially when life gets a little stormy. Your boat is whatever keeps you so comfortable that you want to stay in the boat and not take a chance on walking on the water with Christ. Maybe it's not convenient. Maybe it's not popular. Maybe it's, you know, I can work this out myself. It's whatever pulls you away from the calling and continues walking with Christ, even in difficult times. If you want to know what your boat is, ask, what produces fear or concern in me? Especially when you think of leaving it behind and stepping out of the boat in faith and conviction and determination and courage and knowing Christ is there with you and he's going to give you all of that. Maybe it's your job. Maybe you're being threatened with the Sabbath and working on the Sabbath or the holy days, or maybe it's school and, you know, you can't get off. So being pressured to work on the Sabbath. I know we can all talk about the situations in our work that we've endured and had confronted. We're faced with the loss of income and a career, and that looks terrible. That's daunting. That's, this is a dark, dark storm. And Christ steps in if we trust in him, keep our eyes on him, and maybe we lose our job. He always gives us a better one. Or maybe the person who caused trouble gets fired or leaves or gets transferred, and the problem's no longer there. It always gets worked out if you put your trust in God and keep your eyes on Christ. But you have to step out of the boat. Proverbs 6, 13 says, Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established. Keep your eyes on him and he'll help you. Maybe it's a relationship of some kind, and there are many scenarios there. You know, you think about them. We have all sorts of situations relationship-wise in the church. God will help you with that. You know, let's say it's family. I had a problem with my family. They thought I was nuts. I was sort of the black sheep for years, for years. In Matthew 19, I always remember 19, 1929, Matthew 19, 29. It says, Everyone who has left house, or brothers and sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my name's sake, you chose to keep your eye on Christ and step out of the boat, shall receive a hundredfold and shall inherit eternal life. It says, But many of the first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Okay, maybe it's that you found yourself in a church group. You're in a boat. You're in this church group. You've got people around you. You've got fellowship. You've got warm bodies, right? But they're not keeping the faith. They're not keeping the things you know are true, and they're doing things that are different. They're compromising with doctrine and starting to do what is convenient. Maybe there's a snowstorm and they move Passover from when the date is, the 14th, to that Sabbath because, you know, it's going to snow on the 14th, so we're going to move it. Or maybe they allow the foot washing. All the kids can come in and do foot washing. They start watering down things. And your faith with staying in, knowing that this is not what God wants, or trusting God and stepping out of the boat and finding God and where he wants you to be. Where does he want you in the body? Does he want you to be unequally yoked with the individuals, or does he want you to step out of the boat and trust him? It's a tough one, isn't it? Okay, what about money? See, John kind of goes to that. What about the rich man? Remember the rich man in Luke 18? 18.8? A certain ruler, you know, what should I do to inherit eternal life? And he says, get rid of all your riches, get rid of everything, and follow me. And, you know, his eyes went sunk, and God said, Christ said, you know, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than a rich man to inherit the kingdom. It's tough. The rich man's boat was his wealth and riches. It gave him a comfortable life. You know, God's not against having riches. He's against seeing them as an idol and putting them first in our lives and putting them before God and making them an idol. What's first in our lives? Are we loving God? Shall I reward your God with all your heart, mind, and soul? Are we seeking the kingdom first? Those are the difficult things, and we're going to get persecution for it. He doesn't promise us a rose garden, but he does promise us eternal life and his kingdom if we endure it and many other things. So we see those ways and the difficulty and the storms. It's tough to follow Christ in our lives. We have that first love. There's blue skies, sunshine, the right perspective, and you don't let Satan turn your eyes from Christ and the kingdom, but he begins to work on you, and he pulls us away if we take our eyes off. And there are setbacks and opposition, unexpected obstacles. They can catch us by surprise and cause us to falter in our faith, in our walk with Christ. It's at those times that we need to keep our eyes on God and shut the door of our mind. And if we make a mistake, go to him immediately. Cry out, help. And he reaches down and he pulls us out if we're sincere. That's part of developing holy, righteous character. It says in Psalm 18, you know, the solid, you know, okay, Christ is the rock. He's the solid bedrock we stand on. He's our foundation and our rock. Psalm 18, verse 1. I love you, O Lord, my strength. A relationship, you begin to see those things. You begin to love God. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. My God, do you call him my God when you're praying? My God, I come before you. You're my God. My rock in whom I take refuge. He's my shield, the horn of my salvation. Look at all these things. My high tower. I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised. How do you know he's worthy to be praised? If you haven't seen him, if you've seen him from the elements and control the sea and the wind and the river, whoa. He's worthy to be praised. So shall I be saved. It says for my enemies, at that time it's the storm. It's the trials. The cords of death hemmed me in. The floods of unrighteousness assailed me. The cords of the grave surrounded me. The snares of death confronted me. In my distress, I called upon the Lord and I cried out to my God. And he heard my voice out of his temple and my cry came before him into his ears. Psalm 89.26. Psalm 89.26 says, he shall cry to me, you are my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. The example of the story of Christ walking on the water is an inspirational story. It's true. It happened. It's in God's word. It's there for a reason. It's there for our encouragement. It's there for our growth. It's there for us to know who God is so we can worship him and praise him. It gives us hope and confidence when things happen, when things get tough and difficult, knowing that God is always there and he's just a breath away. He's a cry out to God away. That's all he is. He's just right there. So those lessons are set up for our learning. They teach about the power of faith, the power of God, that he is God, that's who he is. It talks about compassion and the reality of God's personal presence in our own personal lives. He created us personally. He calls us personally. He works with us personally. Nothing is impossible with God. It encourages us to trust in his ability to provide and heal. So I love this song, okay? I'm just going to read this and end with it. But a lot of times in our trials, in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, in the middle of the night, in the dark, and the waves are crashing all around you and the wind's blowing and it's coming over the ship and you just can't do anything and you feel like you're all alone. You're by yourself. Well, you are at that time because you're trying it yourself. But if you look and recognize that Christ is right there and you call out to him and you step and walk toward him in faith, keep your eyes on him, you're not alone. So I want to read this to you. It was my special woman's favorite song, my mother-in-law, and she was a saint. She was a fantastic individual, close to God, and had a lot of faith. This is what kept her going, this song. I'll just read the lyrics to you and I'll end with this. It's from Rodgers and Hammerstein, You'll Never Walk Alone. When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high and don't be afraid of the dark. At the end of the storm is a golden sky and a sweet silver song of a lark. Walk on through the wind, walk on through the rain, though your dreams be tossed and blown. Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart and you'll never walk alone. You'll never walk alone. Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart and you'll never walk alone. You'll never walk alone. Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart and you'll never walk alone.
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