Luke 8:19-25

When it looks like God doesn’t care, we need to discern that He is always near. The God of the Bible is not found on a shelf, He is found in the very issues of our lives.

Bring that thought under the captivity, put it in the cage where it belongs.
It’s nuts and homes get ruined this way because you don’t bring your thoughts under the captivity.
Some temptation comes on your head, grab and say, Jesus open the cage. Here it comes.
I will not think that thought and find it. I’m dead serious. I’m not kidding.
I’m not kidding. Thoughts, driving thoughts, they’ll drive us crazy, they’ll rip us off.
Another thing are the winds of emotion. They’ll blow us away the winds of emotion in a storm.
Jesus rose up and rebuked the wind in the raging of the water and they ceased and there was a calm, it says it says Silver Sea had ears.
What do I say that? Because this is very unusual.
Did you remember the scene of the weather pattern that how that comes down through Mount Herman onto the lake?
That that normally happens. Jesus didn’t say uh a normal word that would have meant, you know, when just stop Jesus, he personified it.
Jesus used the word uh that is be muzzled, be muzzled.
Now it was the exact, it’s the same exact command that Jesus gave when he told demons to be quiet.
Same word, same Greek word today in a, in a colloquialism of our day, modern day language of our street.
It would be this back off. You don’t tell a storm to back off.
You don’t walk up to a fire hydrant and say back off. It’s a fire hydrant.
It’s that it’s nothing unless you’re talking to something you see Jesus personified it. He said back off. Peace.
Be still and instantly. Not, not quick, not soon. The Greek means instantaneously.
The wind stopped and the wave, the waves were over.
It was calm more on that in a moment.
But Philippians chapter 4: verse six tells us be anxious for nothing. Have we not read?
Who has not read that verse? I mean, you can get a fortune cookie.
I think it’s even in fortune cookies. It’s everywhere. Be anxious for nothing.
Don’t worry, be happy based upon Philippians. four sex, be anxious for nothing.
That means we’re not supposed to worry about anything.
When we worry, we are assuming a responsibility that was not intended to be ours. It’s God’s business.
My kids when they were little did not worry about the mortgage, not they didn’t want by three years old.
Oh my gosh. The mortgage is coming. How are we gonna make the car payment? Dad?
It’s exactly like that for a Christian.
We’re not to be walking around worrying about stuff that God never intended us to worry about and so be anxious for nothing.
That should be the end of it.
But he goes on, he says, but in everything by prayer, supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God.
So I don’t know, but it seems to me unless you have perfect kids.
Perfect husband, perfect wife seems to me you should be praying all the time.
How’s your marriage?
Well, it says, get together and pray and the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding will garrison guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.
Hey, listen, if your marriage is perfect and your kids are perfect and all that and everything is perfect, then do not come to prayer meetings at Calver Chapel.
We got them all over the place all the time.
If your life is so dandy, then just stay home.
But you know what if you want to have God move in your marriage and in your husband or your wife or your kids or in your parents for that matter, get to a prayer meeting and cry out to God unless things are just too great.
And if they’re that great call me, I want to hang out with you.
I mean, I could, I could use a break. It’d be great living in a perfect house.
Perfect world, Winds of emotion will blow us away every time.
Also, this the flood of doubt will bring us to despair.
The flood of doubt will absolutely bring us to despair. Jesus turns to them and says, where’s your faith?
And this is terrifying in a sense. Let me tell you why.
Because what happens between verse 24 and 25 is hair raising.
When he rebuked the wind in the region of the water, it says that it ceased and there was a calm you guys, the comb was so calm that the word here implies that the comb was just as terrifying as the storm.
It was an abnormal calm. It’s like, oh man, we’re gonna die.
And Jesus says it was eerie calm, not human calm.
I want to suggest to you based upon that verse Philippians 46 that the calm that he brings passes all human understanding maybe in your storm when you turn to him and cry out, it comes that fast.
I thank God. He does that. He says, where’s your faith?
Charles Spurgeon says that when we are doubting God, we are putting faith in the devil.
Isn’t that a great way to look at it when you’re doubting God, you’re putting faith in the devil.
The Bible says, Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Romans 1017.
It seems that this unbelief was more scary to Jesus than the storm. Where is your faith?
Faith comes by hearing the word of God. That’s true.
And you’re doing that right now as you take in the Bible right here right now.
You are your faith will increase. But faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God.
But listen, as a Christian faith needs to go, faith needs to get up and move out of my life.
It comes by hearing the word of God.
But then listen, the word of God takes root and I gotta go, you and I have gotta go, we gotta live for God.
Faith must be tested before it can be trusted.
I wrote recently in an article and I recounted the story that I had just seen on the military channel where the US Navy was launching a secret ship that we made.
It’s brand new. Well, it was brand new. Top secret.
Everybody’s there, congressmen, senators, the ship building yard, everything.
It’s all under this massive roof in Seattle. And they, they go to lunch the ship, it’s a spy ship.
They go to lunch the ship and the ship goes and everyone’s clapping and the ship goes and goes and goes right under water is gone, is gone.
They went all right. It’s so secret. Maybe it’s a submarine. I don’t know.
But you know what happened? Somebody left the doors open on the ship down below and there it went tested.
Why did I bring that up? Oh, yeah, because faith tested.
They had the faith to bring the, to build the boat, but it had to be tested and it, it obviously failed the test.
But listen to this very quickly.
And, and I know I’m running into some time here but you know what, Matthew Chapter eight records the same event.
But you guys, I had to laugh and if this doesn’t bless you, then that’s OK.
But it made me laugh. Um, in Matthew 8 24, 22. Let me read it to you.
Exactly how it appears. Matthew 8 22. It’s the same event.
But Jesus said to him, he’s speaking to a man there, follow me.
Let the dead bury the dead.
The man had said, I want to follow you Jesus, but I gotta wait around till my dad dies.
Jesus says, listen, let the dead bury the dead man. You gonna follow me. Let’s go.
So the disciples are all there. Jesus says, let the dead bury the dead.
Now when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. He told the guy follow me.
Now the disciples are following him.
And the last words they heard him say was let the dead bury the dead.
So when I think about doubt, how does doubt hear God speak?
So they got into the boat and suddenly there was a great tempest arose in the sea and the boat was about to be covered with the waves.
It’s the same event. Guess what? How does doubt hear the word of God? It it goes like this.
What was the James? What was the last thing you heard him say?
He said to that? Guy, let the dead bury the dead.
That’s what I thought he said.
Now, wait a minute, Andrew, what did you hear him? Say?
I heard him say after that, I heard him say, get in the boat.
We’re going to go across, ok? You heard what? Let, let the dead bury the dead.
What did you hear? We were going over James. How did you understand it?
We’re going to get in the boat, It’s going to go over, we’re going to die.
That’s how doubt works. What, what did he say? What did Jesus say?
We’re going to get in the boat. It’s going to turn over and we’re gonna die.
That’s how we think. Listen, we need to know Him.
Verse 25 tells us that when it looks like God doesn’t care.
The truth is we need to know the Lord who is our God, you guys, he’s on our side.
He’s for us and he’s the God of the Bible. I’m so glad about that.
It says verse 25, they were afraid and marveled now. They’re no longer concerned about the storm. It’s great.
They’re freaking out about the storm. We gonna die. Peace be still.
And then they turn and they looking at Jesus, who’s this?
This being afraid is not afraid of death.
They’re in absolute awe of whom they’re in the presence of.
They should have had that thought before they got on the boat and they’re marveling, their eyes were wide, their jaws hanging open to gawk.
And can you imagine how still and quiet it was?
That had to be so incredibly weird. He’s the God of the Bible.
Jesus shows his divine power over nature and the devil, but they’re to know Him.
He’s the, he’s the God of the Bible.
And the Bible tells us in Philippians chapter three verse 10, listen, Philippians 3 10, 7 to verse 10.
But verse 10 is what I want to look at that.
I may know him said Paul, the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings that I might be conformed to the image of his death.
That’s Philippians 37 to 10. Philippians 3 10 is that I may know him.
You guys that word no, in the Greek means sco in the Greek.
It means this, it means to know intimately absolute confidence without any reservations. Listen, it’s also been interpreted.
Are you with me? Listen? It means to feel the lines of the face, to feel the lines of the face.
It’s the word that’s used for people who are blind when someone’s blind.
What do they do if they want to?
If they want to know you, you’ve got to go to them, you got to sit still and they feel your face, they touch your face and in their mind, listen, they are forming a picture image of their touch and they’ve got it.
And a blind person can say you’re beautiful. Wow. Listen, that’s the word that Paul said.
I want to know him, the power of his resurrection and also the fellowship of his sufferings in the midst of this storm.
What is going on here? Jesus takes them on a field trip to take the word of God down into their living active lives.
Because in the midst of it all, what, what was he trying to communicate?
That they would know him to reach out and touch his face.
Paul the apostle on the road to Damascus to go arrest Christians before he was converted, gets knocked off his donkey.
Remember by the appearance of Christ, what happened to his eyes?
Anybody remember he became blind, scales were placed upon his eyes.
He was led by the hand to Ananias’s house and he was disciple and the Lord spoke to him that you’re going to be a great man of God for me and the scales fell off and Paul became a dynamo for God.
I argue this. There is a way to know God that transcends our request.
Oh God, I don’t see you in this. If you just show me your face, I’ll be OK.
Listen, seeing his face face is not believing that’s not going to do it.
There is a scene, there is a way to know God that transcends some physical manifestation, a miracle or observation.
It is this intimate getting along with God in the moment of your blindness and you feel his face.
And you say, Lord, now I know you, I know you God. I don’t understand but I know you.
And you’ve said enough to me that I know that you’re my God and I’m your sinner redeemed by your blood and by your wonderful saving power and you by prayer are touching his face.
When you pray Christian, touch his face, so to speak in his very nature. Oh God, I know you’re loving.
I can sense the smile on your face.
God, when I’m hurting, I know that you care for me and it listen, it’s beyond you.
Take the word of God and you pray.
And Paul says, I want to know Him, touch the lines of his face. We have to have trials.
We’ve got to have difficulties, we’ve got to be blind at times and trust him completely.
And we reach out in the darkness and he’s there.
And if you don’t know this, then I feel sorry for you.
If you’ve never gone through pain or suffering, then you don’t know this.
That’s why Paul says I want to know Him the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings.
Why would Paul ever embrace hardship?
Because he knew on the other side of hardship as a great, great relationship with the Lord.
Very quickly know the Lord. He is your God.
He’s the lord of all the earth lord of all the earth. He they said to one another.
Who can this be for? He commands even the winds and the water to obey him.
And I have tons of scripture that time doesn’t allow me to give you.
But uh he’s the lord of all the earth.
And if he’s the lord of the earth, my friend, he can be your faithful God too.
He can take care of your life. And then finally, even the winds in the water obey him.
And I thought about this, the winds in the water obey him. I wish I obeyed him.
Like the winds in the water. Obey him.
You know what he, he commanded the water and the waves to obey him.
And then I thought to myself, Jesus, I wish that you would command me. Just snap your fingers.
Jesus and make me obedient. I want to be obedient.
I just can’t stand my flesh that goofs me up, just snap your fingers. Jesus and make me obedient.
You know what his answer is to you? And I, no, not gonna do it.
I can command the earth I made in the heavens that I conduct.
But you, it’s all about relationship with you. Yeah, you gotta wanna do.
You want to be near me, Jack. You wanna be with me? I do. Lord.
But I’m sick of this flesh. Yes, I know. Kind of stormy, isn’t it? Yeah. That’s all right.
That’s OK. You’re not in heaven yet. I’m with you. I’m gonna get you through this stuff.
But God, but God, your words enough for me, Jack.
I want you to get in the boat and go over to the other side.
You’re not going to go under. You might feel like it.
You might think it, your emotions will lie to you and cheat you.
Your thoughts may drive you so far off course. Don’t go there. Do my word.
Keep the rudder on the compass. You’ll be fine. Go against everything you feel in life.
Stick to the chorus and they made it to the other side.
I told you this before.
I, I’m sorry if I’m repeating this, he’s the savior of our soul and Jesus though, he knows everything about us.
He’s removed. Listen, listen, he’s removed from being swayed by our feelings and emotions.
It is my prayer that your theology is not an emotional based theology.
If it is, you are really messed up bad because your feelings dictate the decisions you make regarding your life and you’ll crash.
Who is this? That even the wind and the waves you can close your Bible.
We’re all done. Um Our feelings and our thoughts can kill us In 1981.
In 1981. I was learning how to fly an airplane out of John Wayne Airport.
I was with my instructor and it was the first night flight. You have to take night flights.
And here on the West coast, it’s a great place to learn because we have so many great challenges that the traffic for one thing, the radio, the ocean, the weather smog and fog, it’s great.
Now, watch this on a moon, moon last night.
No moon, we took off and flew straight up between Newport and Catalina pitch black.
And my instructor said, ok, I want you to turn left to this heading, turn right to this heading.
I want you to go up, level off, go down, level off and you go through these things, ok?
But the windshield is completely black. You can’t see stars and you can’t see the water. It’s all black.
And let me tell you something when you’re doing that after a while, especially when you go from one turn to the next turn, your body literally begins to scream from the inside out.
Pull up, pull up, you’re going down, we’re gonna crash, you’re going down.
Can’t you feel you’re going down and let me tell you something.
You, if you could bet on it, you would bet I’m going down by the way.
This is how J F K died. Junior.
He did, he took his eyes off his instruments and he went with what he felt and he rolled the plane over and went straight in you guys.
When you’re flying like that, when it’s pitch black, you got to stick to the instruments, they’ll never lie to you.
Your body will be screaming and you’re flying that plane and you’re going through your work and you’re just going against everything that’s screaming.
Leave your husband, dump your wife, throw your kid away, bite your dog, keep your eye on God and you’ll make it father.
We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth.
Lord, every one of us would confess today that when we have gotten sideways in life, it’s because we did it our way, took our eyes off of you.
Lord, when it looks like you don’t care and it looks like you’re nowhere near us.
We can all confess after we come out of the storm that you were right there the whole time, Lord in this life as we walk with you, may we believe that you are just as near to us as the day we give our heart to your son Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to the moment we enter into your presence in heaven above.
That’s, that’s, that’s a hard one to take. That’s real though.
For you said that you dwell in us, you’re amazing.
And father, I pray this morning that if anyone does not know this wonderful relationship with you, not TV, Christianity, not storybook, Christianity, not hot tub, Christianity, the real deal, Jesus Christ day in day out forevermore to walk with God, the author and finisher of our faith, the bishop of our souls, Lord.
If no one needs to hear this, then thank you.
But if there’s one person that needs to say yes to your son Jesus to have their sins forgiven and their lives made a new to begin.
Now, their life by getting in the boat, may they decide to do that?
Now, father, we ask that they would make that decision to say yes.
And while heads are bowed and eyes are closed, right where you’re at right now, my friend, you can say yes, Jesus knows your heart.
He knows your mind. He knows what you’ve done and He wants you anyway. Isn’t that great?
And we want to invite you into the kingdom of God too.
So right where you’re at, say to Him in your heart, let it fall from your lips.
If you want, say something like this dear Lord, Jesus, forgive me now and I want to get into your boat.
Lord, I don’t want to sink, forgive me. Put your spirit in my life.
God, I want to live for you. I wanna know you calm the storm of my life.
And if you’re saying yes to Jesus right now about that, then listen, grab me or grab any one of the pastors today and tell us I made that decision for Jesus today, you’ll never regret it.
But if today you’re saying no to Him, it’s my loving prayer to you.
I hope you don’t rest day or night until you give up and yield.
Don’t refuse such love in Jesus name. We pray and all God’s people said, amen.