When Will We Worship Jesus?

When Will We Worship Jesus?

Matthew 14:22-33

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - June 2, 2013

(Revised from a sermon preached at McClendon Baptist Church May 24, 2009.)

SCRIPTURE:

*Please open your Bibles to Matthew 14 this morning, as we focus on worship. In today's Scripture Peter and the other disciples worshiped the Lord Jesus out on the Sea of Galilee. Would you please stand in honor of God's Word, as we read Matthew 14:22-33.

22. Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.

23. 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.

24. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

25. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.

26. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!'' And they cried out for fear.

27. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.''

28. And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.''

29. So He said, "Come.'' And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

30. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!''

31. And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?''

32. And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

33. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God.''

MESSAGE:

*Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped (Jesus), saying, "Truly You are the Son of God.'' The English word "worship" is found 80 times in the New Testament, and 60 of those 80 times God chose to use the original word He used here in vs. 33. This Greek word is God's favorite New Testament word for worship. And believe it or not, the word picture behind this word is a dog licking his master's hand.

*As a dog-lover, I'm really glad God used this word picture for worship. I can really relate to it because whenever I come home, our dog Freckles is so glad to see me! She jumps up and licks my hand. Sometimes she lays down in submission, just wanting her belly scratched. Whenever I'm home, she almost always wants to be close to me. When I go to another room, she usually goes with me. And when I pick up my keys to leave, she desperately wants to go with me.

*Now you may not care a thing about dogs, but we all need to get this: The way my dog treats me gives us a big clue about what God wants from us in worship. How long then has it been since you really worshiped God? And when will you worship Jesus?

1. First Church: We will worship the Lord when we recognize His divinity.

*Nobody is like Jesus Christ! He truly is the one-of-a-kind, only begotten Son of God! Jesus is everything we are not. John 1:1 tells us that in the beginning Jesus already was. And all things are possible with Jesus, because He is God the Son.

*By this time in the Lord's ministry His disciples had been with Him around 18 months to two years. They had seen many, many demonstrations of the Lord's amazing power. Up to this point in Matthew's Gospel, we find at least 13 reports of miracles, involving thousands of people.

*In Matthew 8:1-3, Jesus healed a leper. There the Scripture says:

1. When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.

2. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.''

3. Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed.'' And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

*Next in Matthew 8, with just a word Jesus healed a Roman soldier's servant who had some kind of paralyzing disease. Jesus also healed Peter's mother-in-law of a fever simply by touching her hand. Then He cast out demons with His word, calmed the wind and the raging sea, and cast out a whole legion of demons from two men.

*In Matthew 9:1-8, Jesus healed another paralyzed man and forgave his sins. Here the Scripture says: