Subject: Learning to Place Our Faith in Jesus
Scripture Reference: Matthew 14: 22-33
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INTRODUCTION:
The very 1st prophecy concerning Jesus’ coming to earth as our "REDEEMER & DELIVERER" from Satan and from Sin, is found in Genesis 3:15. Adam and Eve had disobeyed the One Commandment given to them by God. Because of their transgression both of them were punished by God. Adam’s punishment, passed on to all men from that day onward, was that "man would now earn his living by the sweat of his brow." Eve’s punishment, passed on to all women from that day onward, was that "women would bring forth children into this world with pain and with sorrow." However, there was a punishment handed out also to the serpent, Satan. The serpent was to crawl upon its belly for the rest of its days and to Satan was given this punishment found in Genesis 3:15 " a seed would come forth out of the woman, and it would bruise the head of the serpent." This was a prophetic foretelling of the blow to Satan that was brought forth through Jesus’ suffering and death upon the cross of Calvary and also of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead on the third day.
However, from Genesis 3:15 unto the day that Jesus came into our world in the form of humanity, was almost 4000 years. It took 4000 years for Jesus to come from that 1st utterance by the Holy Ghost, yet when He came to earth, His life was only about 33 years. When it came time for Jesus to begin His ministry and establish His church upon earth, His ministry was so very brief, only about 3 & 1/2 years.
So the time that Jesus had to teach His disciples His gospel of His Gospel and to teach them to Believe upon Him and to learn to place their FAITH and their ASSURANCE in Him was so very LIMITED. Every lesson was so very important!
In the verses of Matthew chapter 14, prior to the ones we are using as our text this morning, it gives the account of Jesus feeding the multitudes with the box lunch,given by a young boy. It only consisted of five loaves of bread and two fish. Yet, when it was given to Jesus and He took it and blessed it and annointed it, it was MORE THAN ENOUGH to feed over 5000 men, plus the women and children present. It could very well have been over 10 to 15, 000 people fed that afternoon. This is just PROOF that when we freely GIVE to JESUS what we have, He is able to BLESS IT ABUNDANTLY!
I have had the LORD to BLESS and to STRETCH my substance so many times to proportions unbelievable!
He is the GOD OF MORE THAN ENOUGH! Can I get a witness this morning? Has anyone else here this morning had God to do the same for you?
God Knows How Much We Have to Give
God Also Knows How Much We Are Willing to Surrender and Give unto Him. It’s SAD that many times what we HAVE to GIVE and what we are WILLING TO GIVE are not the same!
When Jesus fed the multitude it was a LESSON not only to the mass of people that had been listening to Jesus teach, it was also a LESSON for His disciples to pay special attention unto. When all the people had been fed that afternoon, Jesus commanded His disciples to gather up the food that was left. When they finished gathering the left overs, there were 12 baskets of bread and fish left. 12 baskets of food left over! Now there is absolutely NO WAY that I can believe this # (12) was by chance or coincidence. Although the scripture does not bear this out, I personally like to believe there was a basket of food for each one of the 12 disciples to take home with them. Each one of His disciples had left all they had to follow Jesus. And when Jesus called them and said, "Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men," there was NO WAY He expected them to starve to death while working for Him. They were obedient to His calling and they could expect the blessings of Jesus to be upon them.
I believe we also can expect the evry same as we follow Him today and we try to do His work.
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NOW THESE 12 DISCIPLES WERE ABOUT TO RECIEVE ONE OF THE GREATEST LESSONS FROM THE LORD. AND IT IS NOTEWORTHY HERE TO SEE THAT SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS JESUS WANTS TO TEACH US CANNOT BE TAUGHT IN A CLASSROOM SITTING BEHIND A DESK.
I CAN THINK OF NO LESSON MORE IMPORTANT THAN --- LEARNING TO TRUST IN JESUS AND BELIEVE UPON HIM, WHEN STORMS OF LIFE ARE RAGING AGAINST US. AND THOSE KIND OF LESSONS CANNOT BE TAUGHT IN THE CALM AND TRANQUIL TIMES OF OUR LIVES.
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AND THIS IS WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO ENTITLE THIS MORNING’S SERMON:
"LEARNING TO PLACE OUR TRUST & OUR CONFIDENCE IN
JESUS."
THE SCRIPTURE SAYS THAT "JESUS CONSTRAINED THE DISCIPLES TO GET INTO A SHIP AND TO SAIL OVER UNTO THE OTHER SIDE." Another Version besides the King James says, "HE COMMANDED" the disciples to get into a boat and to sail over unto the other side of the sea.
I would like for us to look at THREE THINGS in this story.
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#1:) JESUS IS ALWAYS WATCHING FOR US:
They began to sail over the Sea of Galilee; it was only about 12 miles over unto the other side. About 1/2 way over there arose a viloent storm, and the winds were boisterous and the waves were raging against the boast.
Because of the way the Sea of Galilee is loacted, viloent storms can occur very quickly. Isn’t that the way it is with our lives?
Picture these 12 Disciples. After the lunch was such a miraclous high for them, their came this wild and terrible storm for them to battle. One minute they are taking a basket of food home with them, rejoicing in how the LORD had provided, and the next minute,they are OBEYING the LORD the best they could and SUDDENLY "BOOM" they are into something fearful and struggling to just stay alive.
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THERE ARE THREE (3) THINGS I’D LIKE FOR US TO TAKE NOTE TO HERE IN THIS STORY:
#1:) "JESUS IS ALWAYS WATCHING US."
They were sailing upon the Sea of Galilee, just the 12 of them. Jesus told them to SAIL unto the other side and He was going to the mountain to be alone and pray.
Now bear in mind here, His disciples were being completely obedient unto what Jesus had commanded them to do. Sometimes people think that IF they ARE doing what Jesus told them to do, then there will be no storms for them to sail through; everything will be mountain experiences. But such thinking is not always true and real.
There are some very important and vital lessons that we need to LEARN ABOUT PUTTING OUR FAITH AND OUR TRUST IN JESUS, THAT SIMPLY CANNOT BE TAUGHT WHEN LIFE IS SAILING ALONG PRETTY GOOD. WE HAVE TO BE ENCOUNTERING SOME STROMY WEATHER, BATTLING THE STORMS AND THE ADVERSITIES OF LIFE, WINDS BLOWING AND WAVES ROCKING AGAINST US WITH ALL OF THEIR FORCE.
THERE ARE MANY TIMES WHEN WE START LOOKING AND FEELING AROUND FOR THE PRESENCE OF GOD, OF JESUS AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. BUT WE CANNOT SEE HIM, WE EVEN CANNOT FEEL HIS PRESENCE.
RECALL JOB IN HIS CRISIS? HE LOOKED ABOUT HIM TO THE LEFT, TO THE RIGHT, BEHIND HIM AND IN FRONT OF HIM, YET HE CRIED OUT, " I cannot perceive God’s Presence. Yet, He knows the way that I am taking!"
ALTHOUGH I CANNOT SEE GOD
I KNOW GOD SEES ME!
GOD KNOWS EXACTLY WHERE WE ARE
AND GOD KNOWS EXACTLY HOW THE STORMS ARE RAGING
AGAINST US. GOD KNOWS EXACTLY HOW WE FACE THE
WRESTLE AGAINST THE WINDS AND THE WAVES.
IF JESUS WATCHES THE LITTLE SPARROWS AND SEES EACH TIMES ONE OF THEM FALLS TO THE GROUND, THEN SURELY GOD IS WATCHING HIS FOLLOWERS IN THEIR STRUGGLES. AND GOD WATCHES AS WE STRUGGLE AND WRESTLE AGAINST THE STORMS ALL ALONE. AND THE STRUGGLES JUST KEEP ON GETTING WORSE AND WORSE AND WE BECOME WEARIER AND WEARIER BATTLING ALL ALONE!
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#02: GOD WALKS TOWARD US:
God is ALWAYS WALKING TOWARD HIS PEOPLE WHO ARE
STRUGGLING AND WRESTLING WITH THEIR NEEDS.
SOME PEOPLE WONDER; "HOW IS IT, THAT JESUS CAN
WALK ON THE WATER?" IT IS SO EASY! YOU SEE, LONG BEFORE JESUS WALKED ON THE WATER, JESUS CREATED THE WATER. GENESIS 1:9 "Let the waters under the firmament be gathered into one place. And God called the water, Sea."
John 1:3 "All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made that was made."
JESUS HAS COMMAND AND AUTHORITY OVER ALL THE THINGS THAT SAIL AGAINST US AND BRINGS US FEAR AND TORMENT. Do you believe that this morning?
HE WALKS TOWARD US AND BRINGS US DELIVERANCE IN WAYS WE WOULD NEVER THINK POSSIBLE. I APPRECIATE THIS ABOUT OUR LORD, HE IS NEVER WITHOUT A WAY TO DELIVER US. WE MAY CANNOT SEE A WAY POSSIBLE, BUT JESUS IS A WAY MAKER WHEN NO WAY LOOKS POSSIBLE!
JESUS BROKE OUT OF A SEALED TOMB WHEN IT LOOKED LIKE NO WAY WAS POSSIBLE, BUT GUESS WHAT, GOD CREATED A WAY.
JESUS LOOKED AT HIS FEARFUL, SCARED AND TORMENTED DISCIPLES AS HE WALKED ON THE WATER TOWARD THEM, "IT IS I, BE OF GOOD COURAGE, BE NOT AFRAID."
DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES, FROM THE BEGINNING OF GENESIS THROUGHOUT THE BOOK OF REVELATION, THE BIBLE TELLS US TO BE OF "GOOD CHEER", AND TO "NOT PLACE OUR TRUST IN HIM" A TOTAL OF 365 TIMES, NOT COUNTING 366 TIMES FOR LEAP YEAR’S EXTRA DAY.
THAT MEANS THERE EVERY DAY OF OUR LIVES, REGARDLESS OF WHAT STORMS WE SAIL AGAINST, JESUS NEVER WANTS US TO BE FEARFUL, BUT TO PLACE ALL OF OUR TRUST AND CONFIDENCE AND HOPE AND ASSURANCE IN HIM.
"LET NOT YOUR HEAT BE TROUBLED, YE BELIEVE IN GOD, BELIEVE ALSO IN ME.
"COME UNTO ME,ALL YE THAT LABOR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST, TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU AND LEARN OF MEEK, FOR I AM MEEK AND LOWLY IN HEART AND YE SHALL FINS REST UNTO YOUR SOULS."
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#03: 1ST JESUS WATCHES
2ND JESUS WALKS TOWARD US
& 3RD, JESUS WORKS FOR US
JESUS WALKED ON THE WATER TOWARD THEM AND THE DISCIPLES THOUGHT HE WAS A SPIRIT, A GHOST. BROTHER PETER CRIED OUT, "LORD, IF IT IS YOU, BID ME TO COME UNTO YOU." IN OTHER WORDS, "LORD, IF YOU CAME TO US, WHY NOT ALLOW ME TO COME UNTO YOU?"
AND IN THE VERY MIDST OF THE STORM,
THE WINDS BLOWING AND THE WAVES ROCKING
PETER STEPS OUT OF THE BAOST AND WALKS ON THE
WATER TOWARD JESUS. HE HAD HIS EYES ON JESUS.
BELOVED, THAT IS THE KEY TO OUR DELIVERANCE AND OUR VICTORY. NO MATTER WHERE WE ARE AND NO MATTER WHAT WE ARE BATTLING AGAINST, IF WE KEEP OUR EYES CONSTANTLY FIXED UPON JESUS, WE HAVE VICTORY AND ASSURANCE.
SONG: THE GOD ON THE MOUNTAIN;
LIFE IS EASY, WHEN YOU’RE UP ON THE MOUNTAIN
AND YOU’VE GOT PEACE OF MIND, LIKE YOU’VE NEVER
KNOWN
BUT IT’S DOWN IN THE VALLEY, OF TRIALS AND
TEMPTATIONS
OH, THAT’S WHEN FAITH IS, REALLY PUT TO THE TEST
FOR THE GOD OF THE MOUNTAINM, IS STILL GOD IN THE
VALLEY
WHEN THINGS GO WORNG, HE’LL MAKE THEM RIGHT
FOR THE GOD OF THE GOOD TIMES, IS STILL GOD IN
THE BAD TIMES.
AND THE GOD OF THE DAY, IS STILL GOD IN THE NIGHT.
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CONCLUSION:
MAY WE ALWAYS REMEMBER THESE THREE (3) THINGS
ABOUT OUR GOD:
1:) GOD IS OMNIPRESENT -- HE IS ALL PLACES
2:) GOD IS OMNISCIENT ----HE IS ALL KNOWING
3:) GOD IS OMNIPOTENT ----HE IS ALL POWERFUL.
