 Matthew chapter 14 this is going to be one of those studies that take a while to get to the point So so bear with me. There are various increments that we're going to be Involved in as we get to the the thing that I wanted to share with you the exhortation and encouragement that we do find Here in Matthew chapter 14 what we're looking at is Where Jesus Christ is going to still a storm and sometimes you may be thinking in terms of like How is that practical to me? How often am I going to be on on a? literal body of water Attempting to walk and of course we know that the miracles of Christ were intended to to produce people within people the Ability to see that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh sent by God and that his message was intended to be received Because he validated his his his words by his works He was confirmed amongst men by the signs and wonders that he performed and so when you when you read the Bible you Discovered that there are various things that pointed to Christ as being the Savior and you will see things Related to his words and his activities and and witnesses that were given concerning him Witnesses of John the Baptist witness of the father Witness of of his miracles and you see that when you read your Bible and and it's pretty clear to us So sometimes when we're reading the Bible we might come upon some fantastic thing like walking on water and we ask ourselves How does that really pertain to us? What is that really going to show us? And so as we go through this I'm going to be laying the foundation for you fundamentally For some time so that we can get a more full picture of the events that are taking place I'm going to touch on some things that I think have practical application, but ultimately at the conclusion I'm going to take you to a few things that might help us to understand What the Lord would have us to learn today in this passage So let's begin reading here in Matthew chapter 14 at verse 22 We're actually going to go and conclude at verse 36, but I'll take you to verse 33 So we begin at Matthew 14 verse 22. I read the verse 33. We'll get into our study And we begin with verse 22 immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side Well, he sent the multitudes away and When he had sent the multitudes away, he went up on a mountain by himself to pray and When evening had come he was alone there But the boat was now in the middle of the sea tossed by the waves for the wind was contrary Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them walking on the sea and When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were troubled saying it's a ghost and they cried out for fear But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying be of good cheer. It is I do not be afraid and Peter answered him and said Lord it is if it is you command me to come to you on the water So he said come and when Peter had come down out of the boat He walked on the water to go to Jesus But when he saw that the wind was boisterous He was afraid and beginning to sink he cried out saying Lord save me and Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand caught him and said to him. Oh, you have little faith Why did you doubt and when they got into the boat the wind ceased And those who were in the boat came and worshiped him saying truly you are the Son of God And so let me give to you a couple of things to develop a context so we can flow into this passage Because last time we were together we looked at the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand and and I mentioned to you that Matthew in in chapter 14 verse 21 that Matthew only numbered the men It's estimated that the amount of people that were Ministered to on that day could have been as high as 15 to 20,000 because women and children were not counted and As I was looking at that I gave to you basically three applications And I want to begin with those applications by way of reminder I would remind you that they took up 12 baskets full of fragments Which could serve as a reminder that we're not to take God's blessings for granted and also Matthew made it clear that they all ate and were completely filled and the word filled means Glutted or satisfied totally satisfied So we need to remember that the Lord is able to satisfy our deepest needs I mentioned problem rather Psalm 23 5 where it says my cup overflows Psalm 22 verse verse 26 says the poor shall eat and be satisfied Those who seek him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever So they were completely filled and then third I pointed out that Jesus satisfies the hunger of all who come to him It was impossible to feed the multitude with five loaves and two fish But Jesus makes it possible Because he's able to meet the need of any and all who come to him is like what he said in John 6 35 when he said I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never go hungry He who believes in me shall never be thirsty and in verse 37 of the same chapter He said all that the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me I will buy no means cast out so any who come to him will be satisfied by him And so I was pointing that out to you last time we're together looking in Matthew and so now Matthew is writing a Continuation of the events that took place and so in verse 22 it begins by simply saying immediately Jesus made his disciples Get into the boat go before him to the other side while he sent the multitudes away And so immediately after the events had taken place. He does something He compels them when it says that he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side the word That speaks concerning Making is a word that literally is urging or driving it speaks of compelling and Jesus Compaled his disciples to get into the boat now. Why would he compel them to leave? Well, we know that the apostles would fear for his safety and would not easily leave him by himself As we've been going through Matthew we looked at chapter 13 verse 57 and Matthew 13 57 tells us that the people were offended at him we know that death threats had been made against Jesus and They may have been concerned for him because all the way in the gospel of John chapter 5 verse 18 It says for this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father making himself equal with God And so they're already offended at him. They already desired to kill him And so it's very possible that his apostles were fearing for his safety We know that Herod was growing more interested in Jesus and Herod was beginning to pose a threat to Jesus Now Herod according to Luke 9 7 through 9 Herod the tetrarch heard about all the things that were going on He was perplexed because Some were saying that John had been raised from the dead others that Elijah had appeared and still others that one of the Prophets of long ago had come to life But Herod said I beheaded John who then is this I hear such things about and he tried to see him So we know that Herod was beginning to pose a threat to Jesus and a third thing that we would note is that These men may have very well been in danger of being influenced by the multitudes reaction to his recent miracle. I Point this out to you quite often but it's something that I want you to always know and to always remember and that is that you can be influenced by other people's opinions of Christ and Jesus is well aware of that Jesus is well aware of that Because John was speaking concerning this and speaking concerning the miracle and in John's gospel He records that they wanted to crown Jesus Christ as the king because he had fed them You see in John 6 14 and 15 how it says those men when they had seen the sign that Jesus did Said this is truly the prophet who has come into the world Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king He departed again to the mountain by himself alone So because the Lord had fed them they wanted to force him to become their king You see during that time there was a very fierce nationalistic longing amongst many Jews They wanted an anointed ruler who would lead them against the oppressive Romans and What they did is they wanted to crown Christ so that he could lead them as well as provide for them Well, Jesus saw it for what it was It was a hindrance to his divine mission the mission that he was sent on was to provide salvation And he saw this as another temptation from the enemy because it would have been a way for him to get the kingdom without a cross You remember how that Satan had said all these kingdoms have been given to me and Whoever I desire to give them to I can give them all you need to do is bow down and worship me And they'll be yours and and what he was promising Christ at that time was was a crown without the cross Well, this is another time that we see in scripture where they wanted to by force make him into the king And thus he's telling his disciples you need to move on while he goes and he prays So he orders them to leave according to verse 22 Because he doesn't want his disciples influenced by the world system of leadership. We need to remember That God's kingdom is primarily Spiritual in nature in Romans 14 verse 17 It says the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit And so Jesus wanted to teach his disciples that the greatest in the kingdom is the servant of all He wanted to remind them that in the system of the world Those who are great are called benefactors and they have a tendency of taking advantage of their positions in order to cause other people to Cow-tow to them and to do the things that they require so the model of Leadership that Christ would have the church to understand is what is called servant leadership That's why it says in in Mark chapter 10 verses 42 through 45 That Jesus said you know that in this world kings are tyrants and officials lorded over the people beneath them But among you it should not it should be quite different Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant Whoever wants to be first must be slave of all for even I the son of man came here not to be served But to serve others and to give my life as a ransom for many So the model of leadership is effective in all places leadership is needed And so when you have a servant leader servant leadership can be practiced in families and businesses churches and even in government And so as Jesus sends away the disciples He also dismisses the multitudes and he had them go according to verse 22 go before him to the other side And so they're obedient to this command they leave and as they're leaving verse 23 when he had sent the multitudes away He went up on a mountain by himself to pray when evening had come he was alone there and So it's interesting to note that Jesus went up to a mountain by himself to pray Prayer is central to the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ You know when you read your Bibles you might find this interesting when you read your Bibles The disciples are never ever recorded Asking Jesus to teach them how to preach Read your New Testament and see the various Interactions that take place between the man and Jesus and not one time Do you ever see one of the guys walking up to Jesus and say can you teach me how to preach the message? Not once you never see them asking teach me to preach They never come up to Christ and say would you teach me the proper way of fasting? Can you teach me how to give can you teach me how to serve? You never even see them say Jesus teach us to love But you do see them say Jesus Teach us to pray and Luke 11 verse 1 it came to pass as he was praying in a certain place when he Sees that one of his disciples said to him Lord teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples and so they never asked teach me to preach teach me how to To fast to give to serve to love they never said that but they did say Jesus would you teach us how to pray? Now Jesus had a habit of prayer It was the essence of his time of communion with the father He was sent to do the will of the father He had fellowship with the father and the father was communicating with him And that's how Jesus was was moving along to do the work that God had called him to as a matter of fact his his prayer life was so obvious that the disciples in scripture often made comment or reference to it You see it in mark 135 very early in the morning while it was still dark Jesus got up left the house and went off to a solitary place where he prayed Luke 5 16 he himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed Luke 6 12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountain site to pray spent the night praying to God And so We all have people Who see our lives What is humbling is when you realize that if somebody were to be interviewed concerning the life of pastor David What do you see in his life? I wonder if they'd say he often withdrew to pray because Jesus did Jesus won off to pray often and so much so that his disciples saw this as an earmark and that's what he's doing here He's going off and he's alone and he's praying and he's communing with the father Now Jesus is real busy. He had a little time to eat We see in mark 631 that just before he fed 5,000 it says in mark 631 He said to them come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while where there were many coming and going and They did not even have time to eat Jesus was very busy. So after the feeding of 5,000 and after the pressure To become king without a cross and the enthusiasm of the crowd well naturally he would withdraw and pray More than likely as he was praying he would have been praying for his disciples because again that was that was his habit in John 1720 he says it I do not pray for these alone But also for those who will believe in me through their through their word It was his habit to pray for his disciples not only the 12 But he was also praying for us those who would believe because of them. It's interesting how Hebrews 7 25 tells us He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them So Jesus was praying then he still prays for us now and So he withdraws to pray it says in verse 23 when evening had come He was alone there, but the boat was now in the middle of the sea tossed by the waves for the wind was contrary It's in the middle of the Sea of Galilee John 619 tells us that they had rode for They had rode from three to three and a half miles into the Sea of Galilee They're in the middle of the sea and they're being tossed by waves Because it says in verse 24 that the wind is against him It's contrary and according to verse 25 in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them walking on the sea So the wind keeps pushing them farther and farther into the middle of the lake They've been battling the wind and see for at least nine hours. They must be incredibly tired Frustrated helpless and alone They must have been at that point calling on the Lord Can you please help us and they may have even had that question that many of us have had in the past? Where's God when you need him? dangerous and difficult situations Often provoke us to begin the doubt the love of God We can begin to question why he doesn't intervene and why he doesn't rescue us from our situations and in the case of the Disciples they'd seen Jesus Christ come to the rescue over and over again Matthew recorded that Jesus had saved them when they were in a similar situation We saw that in in Matthew 8 23 through 27 how they were caught in a great storm They were fearing for their lives while Jesus was asleep They even awoke him and questioned his care for them and Jesus stood up and still the storm They must have been calling on the Lord to help them again. Where is God when you need him? He most certainly must be aware of the trouble that they're in In Psalm 38 9, you know what I long for Lord you hear my every sigh Psalm 130 verse 2 Lord hear my voice let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication Well, here's the thing. Jesus is aware of their situation Mark tells us in chapter 6 verse 48 that he saw that they were in serious trouble rowing hard struggling against the wind and waves He was aware of their situation. He hadn't forgotten them His eyes were upon them even when they didn't know it my son David sent me a video yesterday I Busted me up busted me and my wife Marie up It's a it's a video of his son David my son David has a son named David Makes it easy to remember and so he sends us a video and it's of my grandson baby David would call him baby David or a little David and All you can see is this little guy. He's a year and a half or so little guy all you can see is He's behind something so you you can't see his head But you can't see his little body and his diaper and he heard David my son David's voice saying Baby David, what are you doing? You call them Papa Papa? What are you doing? What are you doing and the baby's quiet? What are you doing and the baby's quiet? He says what are you doing and the baby pulls his head out? So now you see his little face and he's got in his hand a cookie and He's hiding with the cookie and then then he hides again He thinks that he's not being watched and so David writes and says a little sneaky guy And I wrote back and he said he's just like his dad Because my son did exactly the same thing except he did it with ice cream Same thing so my prayer that I prayed has been answered God give my son David a son just like he was to me Teach him a lesson And he has them baby David, you know But the thing is little David baby David does not know that daddy's eyes on him But daddy never takes his eyes off the baby you see there are stairs in where they live and there's dangers that he's not aware of and Sometimes our kids our babies will be walking around and they think they're in control of their environment and they're not They can wander around thinking that they're completely in control because their perspective is limited Their experience in life is small and so they've always been cared for and thus they are very brave and they'll go out in adventure But they always do when a father's eyes are upon them and I can still remember as a dad And now as a grandfather. I'm exactly that way. I still am that way just as last week We were someplace with the grandkids and all they were doing something and and and I see one walk away carrying the other one And and my eyes on them. I keep an eye on them even when they don't know that somebody's eyes are on them Somebody's eyes are on them and it's their father or the grandfather. That's how it is and my father my heavenly father His eyes are on me I may be thinking I'm getting away with it. Look at if I hide behind this sofa here I can do this and he won't see me. That's not a fact He sees me the same way that my David saw little David. They're hiding with his cookie and Sometimes a cookie can be sin Sometimes a cookie can be some I delight in it's what I want. Nobody knows I have it I'm not supposed to have it and we hide we think nobody's watching us or sometimes It's because we're there and we're not even aware that we're being watched when we may be entering into danger Here's the thing for you keep this in mind. We'll see this in a moment. I'm going to develop it further You're never alone There's never a time when God's eyes are not on you Don't forget that and it's not looking and say let's see what this brat does so I can take a two-by-four And put them into a left field. No because he loves you his eyes are upon you keep that in mind Because these men are at the point where they're thinking that they're all alone and that that God doesn't know Where they're at, but Jesus is aware of their situation again mark 640 48. He saw that they were in serious trouble He hadn't forgotten them and saw him 139 verses 1 and 2. Oh Lord You have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up You know my every thought went far away. He goes on in verses 15 through 17 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion as I was woven together in the dark of the womb You saw me before I was born Every day of my life was recorded in your book Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed How precious are your thoughts about me? Oh God? They are innumerable and So as this is taking place, they don't know that the Lord's eyes are upon them. It says in verse 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were troubled saying it's a ghost and they cried out for fear It says when the disciples saw the word saw means to look at Intently it means to stare or to be transfixed their eyes are firmly locked on this Person walking across the water Jesus acted it at first as if he was going to walk past them in the storm conditions dark misty They didn't recognize him On a spiritual level in difficult times That's what we also experience when things are in chaos We may very well think there's no help and God is just passing us by and it appeared as if he was going to walk past them Now of course He wasn't going to leave them in that situation. He intended to rescue them What was he doing? Well? He has given them opportunity to cry out for him for help That they might know that he cares and that he's able the Lord by way of application Will allow us to find ourselves in a situation where we cannot help ourselves And at that point when we've got nothing That can save us. He allows it sometimes. You'll see this in a minute He allows it sometimes so that we can see he can rescue us Psalm 77 verse 1 I cried out to the Lord with my voice to God with my voice and he gave ear to me Well, they thought it was a ghost which was a common superstition of their day But as they're beginning to cry out verse 27 Immediately Jesus spoke to them saying be of good cheer. It is I do not be afraid Immediately he spoke to them he calmed them down take courage. I'm with you Stop letting your fear direct your responses Before he stills this storm I want you to notice this Before he stills the storm on the water. He needs to steal the storm in their heart and As all of this has taken place when he says be of good cheer. It's another way of saying take courage Peter verse 28 answered him and said Lord if it is you Command me to come to you on the water of all The men who heard the voice it was Peter who spoke to the Lord It was Peter who responded Notice what he says Lord if it is you command me to come to you on the water He's wanting to see whether this is really Jesus Peter knew that Jesus could make it possible for him to do the impossible If it is Jesus then he can support his body on the water still he's not going to take a step without God's command to do so so Peter's overjoyed to see the Lord his fears are momentarily vanquished by gratitude So what does the Lord do well verse 29? He said come Jesus is calming the hearts of the apostles and he's working in the life of Peter He said come when Peter had come down out of the water. He walked on the water to go to Jesus, but When he saw that the wind was boisterous. He was afraid Beginning to sink. He cried out saying Lord save me So What's interesting here is as this is taking place the wind is blowing mightily against him The waves are raising. They're beating against his body. His faith turns to fear. He begins to sink beneath the water Somebody said his faith was enough to get him out of the boat, but it wasn't enough to keep him from sinking Somebody wrote my peculiar temptation has been constant unbelief. I know that God's promise is true Yet does this temptation incessantly assail me doubt him distrust him? He will leave you yet. I can assure you when that temptation is aided by a nervous state of mind It is very hard to stand day by day and say no I cannot doubt my God and so Peter in verse 30 prays the best prayer he could have prayed It's only three words Lord save me And what is Jesus's response? Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and pushed his head under the water and drowned him That's how we think of the Lord sometimes If you cry out to him, he's just gonna drown you That's where you can get when you're in a state of unbelief That's where you can get when you can begin to believe the words of the enemy who whispers into your ear when you're going through your storm And you can say even if I cry out he's not listening even if I ask for help he never comes Even if I need him at that moment. He rejects me We sometimes can think that what he will do will press our head further down into it so that we end up drowning But that's not how the Lord is at all and I'm gonna show you this in just a moment I want to share with you some things to make this Something that we can grab hold of you see the Psalm is said in Psalm 40 verse 17 I am poor and needy may the Lord think of me you are my help and my deliverer. Oh my God do not delay Jesus instantly takes action, but not without rebuke. He asks why did you waver between faith and fear? It doesn't say that Peter didn't have any faith. He said that he had little faith Why are you wavering? I called you into the water. I can sustain you as you walk on it Wherever God guides God provides When when God says I am calling you to do this though. It's impossible I'm gonna allow you to see the possibilities that come through relationship with me and So when God guides us he provides for us when Peter said if it is you call me Jesus gave a one-word answer. He said come and here comes the apostle Peter Doing the impossible because Christ made it possible Now you can picture as this took place. He looks around. He sees the the waves are rising the wind is against him He sees everything around him. He realizes as we would that I'm doing the impossible. There's no way that I could what up and so I I would sink to and It's interesting how the Lord reaches down and pulls them back up and as he pulls them back up I can almost see him put his arm on him and say let's take a walk and Walks back to the boat and As they're walking back to the boat I wonder whether or not Christ Jesus was speaking more than the simple words that we find here where he simply says to him You're of little faith. Why did you doubt? There may be other things that he spoke within his ear as he took them to that boat But when they got into the boat the wind seized and those who were in the boat came and worshiped him saying truly You are the Son of God Now here we go. I want to develop something with you. I Want to show you a few applications here? Applications to our own lives from this miracle. Let me share with you what I'm going to point to one We're going to see that Jesus sent them into a storm to That he left them on their own three that he watched over them Four that he came to their aid and then fifth that he gave them a teaching about faith and provoke them to worship This is where I want to get real practical with you when it comes to this particular miracle Walking on water. Let me share something with you that some of you perhaps may not realize yet But you will I want the first notice with you that he sent them into this storm Notice what it says in verse 22. It says immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side One Jesus sent them into the storm Now that's contrary to much of what is taught today about God in his way of working with us Many Christians think that after they're saved everything is going to be smooth sailing and They're taken by surprise When they enter into a season that is dark and painful. They're unprepared for real life Sometimes you think if I go forward at that invitation or I raise my hand or I pray that prayer From that point on my whole life is going to be smooth sailing I'm going to be just gliding in a straight path to the Lord. I'll never have a bad day again Every morning I'm going to wake up and it's going to be sunny Even if it's storming everywhere out my backyard is going to be sunny and there will be birds singing in the trees at the window And we can think that we can think that okay I got right with the Lord and now my marriage is going to be healed. I'm going to be I'm now right with the Lord My kids are going to follow God. I'm going to be right with the Lord and The the problems I've been having on on the job are going to disappear. I've got right with the God the Lord I'm going to receive a check in the mail to pay all my bills. We can think that way We can think that that I will never have another rough season in my life and That's not true There are times when the Holy Spirit is going to lead us right into a storm and it happens This is what took place with with the Lord right here We live in a time when a lot of people don't understand this I don't know how to say this without it sounding kind of like just mean But I'll say it in a way that hopefully it'll make some sense We get our participation trophies, right? You played you get a trophy you bring it home you put it on your mantle I we all came in first Nobody came in first. We all came in first participation trophy And we don't understand that to really win a race you really have to discipline yourself To really come in first you need to work at it But we don't realize a lot of times we don't realize that in order to do What is great? Requires sometimes a lot of pain. I I've spoken to and heard of young men for example Who will say that they're going to go into the military and They'll say I'm going to go into the army and I'm going to be an army airborne or army ranger Because it looks like it's easy, right? It does looks easy. So what are you going to do? Well, I'm going in the military. I'm going to be at the age of second or whatever really Yeah, and and how are you going to be in the 80s? Well, what I'm going to do is I'm just going to sign up and they're going to give me jump wings really They have no idea Then not everybody makes it. They're not they have no idea That you actually weed people out through having to do a lot of physical activity in the first jump that I had in the 82nd before I was in the 82nd when I was going through the training at Fort Benning Georgia for Airborne School The very first jump that we had 14 men broke their ankles and legs That's what happens Everywhere you go you run you'll run in the morning three miles and after that you run everywhere else for the next eight hours You do that every day. It isn't something that's easy to do You do three hours of PT in the morning three hours of PT in the afternoon and then you do other training not everybody makes it But we have people today saying all I need to do is sign my my name on the dotted line. I'm going to be airborne I'm going to be a ranger. I'm going to be special forces. Maybe you will maybe you won't I hope you make it But it isn't that easy. It takes discipline. It takes strength. It takes Determination I remember a guy when we were going through jump school who went and put a tattoo on his arm It was it was a little devil. It was called hot stuff the devil back then They used to have hot stuff as an emblem and he had parachute and he had jump boots And he in the first week of airborne training he went and he had a tattoo of himself Hot stuff the little devil because he was going to be airborne and he washed out within three days He didn't make it. So I want he even bought jump boots He never made it because it isn't that easy But people think it is and oh I signed my name I'm going to know that's not how it works if you want to succeed It takes work and effort and discipline and a lot of people don't understand that They just say well that guy did it. I can do it. Maybe so maybe not Because you don't know what you're like until you're put in the fire then you discover what you can and cannot do You can sit there watching this you can watch video of it. You can say I'm going to do that That's one thing but you put those boots on you run those miles you do that PT you jump off that tower you jump from that Helicopter and then you've made it That's how it works, but we don't understand that everybody wants jump wings because they participated And it doesn't work that way. There are times that they get disappointed and they don't understand They don't understand what happened. They don't understand why they didn't succeed They didn't understand the price of the cost. That's why Jesus said pick up your cross daily and follow me It's discipline. It's learning his lessons so that you can grow in the ways of the Lord and in one of the ways that God Will will raise you and this is for those who want to grow One of the ways that you will grow is once you discover God sends you into storms So that you can learn how faithful he is no matter what AW tozer once wrote God knows how long we can endure the night So he gives the soul relief first by welcome glimpses of the morning star and then By the fuller light that signals the approach of the morning Slowly You will discover God's love in your suffering Your heart will begin to approve the whole thing You will learn from yourself What all the schools in the world could not teach you the healing action of faith without supporting pleasure You will feel and understand the ministry of the night It's power to purify to detach to humble to destroy the fear of death and what is more important to you at the moment the fear of life and You will learn that sometimes pain can do what even joy cannot such as exposing the vanity of Earth's trifles and filling your heart with longing for the peace of heaven God will send you into a storm So that you may learn that he is the Lord who delivers you from that storm You will learn that Jesus sent them into the storm and we are sent into storms in order that we might put our Dependence completely on him. You see peace and prosperity are often the greatest pitfalls because faith is refined in adversity And so I'm 66 verses 10 through 12 you oh God tested us you refined us like silver You brought us into the net you laid affliction on our backs You've caused men to ride over our heads We went through fire and through water But you brought us out to rich fulfillment You allowed this so that you could bring us out and show us how great you are He also secondly he left them alone in order to teach them that they are never alone Listen remember that we walk by faith and not by sight He had left them alone But they in reality were never out of his sight Job 36 verse 7 says he does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous Isaiah 43 2 says when you pass through the waters, I will be with you through the rivers They shall not overflow you when you walk through the fire. You shall not be burned nor shall the flame Scorched you He watched over them and he was Constantly aware of their danger They were concentrated on rowing. He was concentrating on them in Storms we learned that God is always vigilant even when we think he doesn't care Even when you're by yourself in your house or you're sitting in a in a car And you've got your hands at ten o'clock and two o'clock. You know that I was in a Doctor's office. I had years ago now and had to go and met with a what our what was called what is called a neuropsychologist Put through a battery of tests. I had lost my memory and was hospitalized in Miami, Florida for four days and I had had some scans and it was I Was told that I needed to go and have a battery of tests and so I went and had a battery of tests and as I was there with the Neuropsychologist who was giving to me these tests to see what was wrong with my memory she told me that The things that I was suffering could possibly lead to Dementia I asked her How long do I have and She said if you do everything you're supposed to do Seven years That's when I was 58 years old So I I remember walking out of the Of the doctor's office. I turned to Marie who was there next to me and I said honey take care of Whatever paperwork and stuff needs to be taken care of and And I went to the car and I know the ten o'clock and two o'clock position that you have on a steering wheel because I had it and I was gripping that steering wheel and I started thinking seven years When I'm 65 I will have Dementia I won't remember my wife my children my Family it's all going to be gone Ten o'clock two o'clock You've been there. Have you been there? Have you been there yet? You will be Isn't that a happy thought? There's a fact that's life Life's like that What do you fall on? What strengthens you When you hear words like that what strengthens you When you're told that your whole life is going to end in seven years That you won't be the man That you used to be or the woman that you used to be in seven years Murray took care of the bill came out sat next to me didn't say a word and I took it to the Lord See the doctor who had recommended that I go to this neuropsychologist had found on my brain on both the left and right front temporal lobes calcification and He had said that that is what is going to have the onset onset of up of dementia So I tell Murray we just have to prepare for all of this I Meet with my children. I explained to them what's going on. I tell them that your dad's probably not going to be if this doesn't If nothing changes Then the father that you know right now isn't the father that you'll have in a few years. I told Murray I said I don't want you taking care of me What I want you to do is put me in a home a Christian care home. I don't want you to have to look at me like that I Want you to remember me? As a strong man It's very painful here. It is I shouldn't even tell you these things forgive me for the emotion Have I been through storms? Yeah, I have Have I had my hands on a wheel ten o'clock two o'clock saying what am I going to do? Yes, I have just this no Many times in many things What have you learned? God will send you into a storm, but he delivers you out of it. I Went we took some time off. I came back the doctor and I met and he says David he says I need to tell you Sometimes we make mistakes. There's nothing wrong with your memory. There's nothing wrong with your brain. I Would I he showed me the x-rays? He showed me the Calcification he showed it to us. I would like to believe that I Have been graciously treated by God to his hand of mercy. I do believe that one way or another One way or another that's a fact. That's a fact That's a fact. Listen if my memory would have gone. I'm good with Jesus any way you look at it I am good with him. Please. Please remember at some of you are not Experienced in life enough yet or perhaps a bit young. You don't understand. Oh pastor. You have no faith. I Understand I understand how you could think that and I don't condemn you But until you've been in that valley until you walk through it until you've heard those words Probably is a good idea to reserve judgment because the Lord Has to bring you through so you can say and he does My God is able my God is able and that's what he does. He brings you to that place He brings you there The Lord sent through and he went through that season that time of night The Lord sent him into a storm in order that he would know that if he was walking through fire He would not be burned the flame would not scorch him because he was constantly watching him in Psalm 121 verses 3 and 4 He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep So as you're going through that he comes to their aid like it says in Psalm 107 28 through 30 They cry out to the Lord in their trouble He brings them out of their distress as he calms the storm so that its waves are still they're glad because they're quiet He guides them to their desired haven. He comes to their aid in his time And he teaches them to have faith in him It says in verse 33 those who were in the boat came and worshipped him saying truly you are the son of God And they worshipped him. They saw him for who he is And that's what happens when you go through those times You clearly see him because all the junk all the debris all the garbage is Cleared out of the way the things that you're occupied with right now that don't matter They're cleared out of the way the small Things that occupy you Sometimes the things that you're concerned about. Oh, they won't eat with me on the job site Oh, my neighbor's throwing his dog stuff into my backyard the things that don't matter. I Have to tell you It's cleared out of the way and the things that do matter Remain right in front of you and you see those things clearly and as a result you are going to worship and yes You will say you are the son of God We have seen what you've done you walked on water and you caused Peter to do so also You saved him when he was sinking you still the wind you still the waves. This is evidence. You are the son of God Storms help to reveal who God really is and they help to reveal what God can do Remember that remember that What I'm giving you today is called meat. I hope that you can digest it That's what it is Because some of you right now are saying oh come on. What a downer man. I mean with Jesus. That's always sailing That's only because you don't read your Bible Because when you read your Bible, you see that these things are common in the spiritual life because that's how God Refines you you've heard the term refiner's fire This is how God refines you so that the things that don't matter are burned away the things that do remain And that's where you get this strong faith. You want to have strong faith? You want to have deep faith? You will go through deep things you want to have pure faith You will be purified through the fire. That's a bottom line and once that happens You will come out of it and you will say God was with me every step of the way Every step I didn't see it when it was happening because the only thing I could see was one step in front of me But now I see he never left me nor did he ever forsake me and now I see the fruit of what happened And I see the testimony that he's given to me and the strength that I have a faith in him because he did not leave me And I can speak to you in that way and I can say that you go through that tunnel Yes, but you come out of it though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me. I can say that and That's what Christian faith is and so they said truly you are the son of God and finally when they They crossed over they came to the land of Gennesaret, which was off to the west of this the place called Capernaum And when the men of that place recognized him They sent out into all that surrounding region brought to him all who are sick begged him That they might only touch the hem of his garment and as many as touched it were made perfectly well They reached out to touch him and we can do that today People continue to come to him They continue to reach out to him and he continued to minister to them and We can do that today. We can reach out to Christ and we can say Lord would you touch my life as I touch you? And finally one thing I'd like to leave you with it's this It is always safer for you to be on the water with Jesus Than in a boat without him Keep that in mind It's safer to be on the water with Jesus Then in a boat without him Peter did something that we sometimes mock. Oh look at little faith. Where were the other apostles? Sitting in the boat, you can do it Peter sideline Christians You can do it. Ah look at he sunk Judas was taking bets and Thomas is saying I doubt if you'll do that Keep that in mind because what I just gave to you is a very important thought It's safer on the water with Jesus Than in a boat without him Never forget that