When Faith Fails, God Doesn't

If you have your Bibles, I'd ask you, if you will, turn with me this morning to Mark chapter 6,

Mark 6 · chapter mention

Mark chapter 6, verses 45 through 56.

Mark 6:45–56

Mark chapter 6, verses 45 through 56, and the title of my sermon this morning is

Mark 6:45–56

When Faith Fails, God Doesn't.

Back in December of 1995, I graduated from Southern Seminary

and I received my first church calling in Lornburg, North Carolina.

I was asked or called to go to Stewardsville Baptist Church in Lornburg.

And so after Christmas, Michelle and I loaded up a U-Haul

and we drove 12 hours with an ice storm chasing us the whole way

and we arrived in Lornburg, North Carolina with great excitement, great anticipation.

You know, we knew God was going to do great and mighty things.

After eight years of school, that's how long it took me to get through college and seminaries,

eight years, and I was excited to be in my first church and see what God was going to do.

But little did I know, I walked right into the middle of a church fight.

No one warned me, no one told me, but I walked right into the middle of a big church fight

where the church was getting ready to split.

This church ran about 400 and they had called their first minister of music and youth,

a combination position.

And the church was split between the musicians.

They loved him, the minister of music and youth.

They loved him because he had taken their music to a whole new level.

The youth side were against him.

He was doing things differently than they had ever done before.

Instead of going to like centrifuge, he wanted them to go look up lodge.

And so the older youth told the younger youth that if you support him and get behind him,

then you're a traitor to the youth group.

And the parents got behind the youth and planned the trip to the centrifuge against the minister

of youth's wishes.

And so over the next couple of months, I found myself meeting with the deacons

almost every night of the week up till midnight some nights discussing what were we going to do?

How were we going to solve this problem?

How were we going to keep the church from splitting and deal with the minister of music and youth?

And I was a bit disillusioned as to what ministry really was.

Coming out of seminary, having great expectations and great anticipation

and walking right into the middle of that was a little bit disillusioned.

But as I look back, I realized that I learned lessons and things throughout my life

that are during that moment that have served me throughout ministry.

And God was working in that to resolve that situation to where, to my knowledge,

only one individual temporarily left the church.

And God continued to use that church and do some great and mighty things.

Have you ever been in a situation like that?

Not quite being called to a church, but a situation or a circumstance

where because you were being obedient to the Lord and following the Lord,

you found yourself in situations or circumstances that were challenging,

that were difficult, that were hard.

You know, maybe it was a work-related situation.

Maybe it was a health situation you found yourself in.

And you wondered, why is God allowing me to go through this?

Why is God not stepping in and solving this problem immediately

and helping me in this situation?

Why is He allowing me to go through this much longer than I ever anticipated?

Well, the disciples found themselves in a situation very much like this.

And they found themselves in this situation because they had obeyed Jesus

to do exactly what He had told them to do.

So let's look with us, or with me this morning,

at Mark chapter 6, and we're going to read verses 45 through 56.

Mark 6 · chapter mention

Immediately, Jesus made His disciples get into the boat

and go on ahead of Him to Bethsaida while He dismissed the crowd.

After leaving them, He went up on a mountainside to pray.

When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake,

and He was alone on land.

He saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them.

About the fourth watch of the night, He went out to them,

walking on the lake.

He was about to pass by them, but when they saw Him walking on the lake,

they thought He was a ghost, and they cried out

because they all saw Him and were terrified.

Immediately He spoke to them and said,

Take courage, it is I.

Don't be afraid.

Then He climbed into the boat with them,

and the wind died down.

They were completely amazed,

for they had not understood about the loaves.

Their hearts were hardened.

He had just fed the 5,000.

That's what that's referring to.

When they had crossed over,

they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there.

As soon as they got out of the boat,

people recognized Jesus.

They ran throughout the whole region

and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard He was.

And wherever He went,

into villages, towns, or countryside,

they placed the sick in the marketplaces.

They begged Him to let them touch even the edge of His cloak,

and all who touched Him were healed.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Father, we just thank You for Your Word.

We thank You for Your truth.

And we thank You for the lessons that we can learn

throughout Your Scripture.

And I pray that You just speak to each of our hearts here today

and just speak to us.

And we thank You, Lord, for this.

We praise You always.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Upon reading this passage,

have you ever asked yourself the question,

did Jesus know this storm was about to occur?

You see, the Sea of Galilee was surrounded by hills and mountains.

And from what I've read,

storms could come down off those mountains

and hit the Sea of Galilee,

and they could be the strength of a hurricane.

We don't think of hurricanes in seas,

but the Sea of Galilee is pretty large,

and they could have had a hurricane-force storm go across it.

Well, did Jesus know that this storm was coming?

Well, if you believe in the sovereignty of God

and Jesus being fully man and fully God,

then we have to conclude that, yes,

He knew that storm was coming.

So that leads us to another question.

Why, then, would Jesus send them out onto the Sea of Galilee

if He knew this storm was coming?

Why would He send them out in a little boat,

out onto a sea,

with a hurricane-force storm about to occur?

Well, Mark doesn't really give us any kind of indication here

as to why that happened or why Jesus was eager to do that,

but John does.

John gives us some insight in John chapter 6, verse 15,

John 6:15

and you can see it on the screen.

This is the NIV version.

Jesus, knowing that they intended to come

and make Him king by force,

withdrew again to a mountain by Himself.

You see that?

The crowds did not fully understand at this moment in time

the type of Messiah that Jesus had come to be.

They had a very wrong understanding.

They had, as Jews,

they had a very high messianic expectancy

that God was going to send the Messiah,

but what their thoughts were

is that He was going to come in military might and power

and He was going to conquer the Romans

and give Israel their independence once again.

But you and I know today that that is not the type of Messiah

that Jesus came to be.

But that is the crowd.

And after they saw Him feed the 5,000

and had worked several miracles of healing,

they were about to come and take Jesus

and make Him king by force.

And Jesus knew that the disciples would be safer

in a boat out on the Sea of Galilee

in the midst of the storm where He could care for them.

They were safer in that situation

than they would be in the midst of this crowd

having a very wrong understanding

of who He had come to be.

You have to remember,

the disciples were the same men

who had argued who was the greatest

in the kingdom of God.

And they were very slow to understand.

I don't think they really came to that understanding

until after Jesus had been resurrected

that they really began to understand

and put things together.

Even though Jesus had told them numerous times

throughout His ministry

that He was coming to die,

they still didn't get it.

And so Jesus knew that they were safer

in that boat out in the Sea of Galilee

with a hurricane-force storm coming

than they were in a crowd of people

with the wrong understanding of who He was

and getting ready to come

and take them by force.

Now, what's also interesting in this passage

is that Jesus had spent a lot of time

with the people, long day,

and He was tired.

He was human.

He was tired and He was weary.

It could have been easy for Him

to have slipped away by Himself

and gone to sleep.

But Scripture doesn't tell us that, does it?

What did He do?

He prayed.

He went up into the mountains,

which I got ahead of myself a little bit.

He put the disciples in the boat,

sent them away,

and then dismissed the crowd.

That really shows us

how eager Jesus was

to separate them from one another

because normally,

He would have dismissed the crowd

and then put the disciples in the boat.

But He dismissed the disciples first.

And then once the people had gone,

He went up into the mountain to pray

and He spent all night.

If we read through the Gospels,

we see this frequently

where Jesus spends time alone

with the Father in prayer.

And if Jesus is fully God

and fully man all at once,

and yet the necessity for Him

to spend the entire night in prayer,

that should say something to us today.

That should say something

to the necessity

that we have as children of God

to be devoted

to a very committed prayer life.

Not a quick passing prayer

or not a prayer that just gives God

a laundry list of things

that we want Him to do for us,

but to be devoted

to a powerful prayer life.

By the way,

on Wednesday nights

during prayer meeting,

we're doing a study

by Dr. Greg Frizzell

on how to have

a powerful prayer life.

It's one of the best books

that I've studied

on how to develop

your prayer life.

We would love for you

to come out

and be a part of that.

We're going to be meeting

in this room

right beside the Welcome Center

over the next few weeks

because starting this week,

they're going to be doing

some work inside the sanctuary.

We all know the work going on

outside the sanctuary,

but there's going to be

some work also being done

inside the sanctuary.

And so prayer meeting,

we're going to move

into that classroom

right there by the Welcome Center.

It's room 250.

And so we would love for you

to come and to be a part of that

because I'm firmly convinced

the strength of the church

is the strength

of the individual's prayer lives.

A church will be no stronger

than the prayer lives

of its members.

Prayer is a gift

that God has given to us

that we can enter

into His presence

and we can spend time

alone with Him.

We can grow in our walk with Him

and our intimacy with Him

and our relationship with Him.

He speaks to us

and reveals Himself to us

through our prayer lives

as we study His Word

as a part of that.

And so I think prayer

is vitally important

to each individual

and Jesus models that

and shows that to us as well.

Now as we study this text today,

our primary focus

is going to be upon

the disciples

and the storms

they found themselves

in the midst of.

And by studying this experience

that the disciples

found themselves

in the midst of,

I think there are

four truths here

that we can glean from this

and we can hold on to

and serve as assurances

in our own lives

that when we face

the storms of life.

And so we're going to look

at four assurances here

because you know

what they say,

we all are either

coming out of a storm,

we're getting ready

or we're in a storm

or we're getting ready

to go into the storm.

And we all know

that we have faced

challenges, difficulties

and circumstances

in our lives

that are beyond

our abilities to control.

They're beyond

sometimes our understanding.

And sometimes we're there

because we followed Christ

and we question

why is God

allowing me

to experience this?

Why is God

letting this happen

in my life?

Well, one of those

first assurances

that we want to

glean from this

is that He brought us here.

Jesus brought us here.

If we find ourselves

in the midst of a storm today

because we've been

obedient to God,

then we need to know

that He's brought us here

and He'll certainly

care for us.

The storm came about

in the life of the disciples

because they were

in the will of God.

Not like Jonah

who found himself

in a storm

because of disobedience.

And as we study Scripture,

especially for the believer,

we discover there are

essentially two types

of storms

that we will experience

in our lives.

Storms of correction

when God needs

to discipline us

and storms of perfection

when God helps us to grow,

when He helps mature

our faith

or He molds and shapes us.

Jonah was in the storm

because he disobeyed God.

We all know the story.

He was running

in the opposite direction

of where God

had told him to go.

And so God used a storm

to correct him

and to bring him back

into His will.

The disciples were in the storm

because they obeyed Christ.

And Jesus was using

this storm

to develop their faith

and their trust

and their dependence

upon Him.

He had tested them

once before

also in a boat.

You remember?

They were in the boat.

Jesus was tired

from a long day of ministry

and He was asleep

on the stern of the boat.

And the disciples,

who many of them

were fishermen,

they still,

the storm was beyond

their ability to control

and they woke Jesus up

saying,

do you not care

that we're about to perish?

Well, Jesus had tested them

in that moment

when He was in the boat

with them.

But in the passage

that we're looking at today,

Jesus is growing their faith

when He's not with them.

He's wanting them

to understand

it doesn't matter

whether He's in the boat,

physically present with them,

or He's far away

and they can't see Him,

they don't know He's around,

He can care for them.

He can take care of them.

He's well in charge

of their lives.

You see, Jesus knew

that He wasn't going to

always be with them.

After His resurrection,

He was going to ascend

back into heaven.

And these would be the men

who would have to

take the gospel message

to the world.

that they would have

to carry on the work

and the ministry

and the mission

that Jesus began.

And they had to trust Jesus

even when it seemed

that He wasn't there with them.

They had to learn

to trust Him

because they would indeed

face many storms

in their lives

as they acted out

in obedience

to do what Christ

had called them to do.

By the way,

if you find yourself

in a storm today

because you've disobeyed God

or because you've wandered

from the faith,

there's only one response

that you can make

and that is to confess

your sin to Christ,

ask for forgiveness,

and then repent

and turn back to Him.

And 1 John 1.9 tells us

it doesn't matter

what you've done.

It doesn't matter

how far you've wandered.

It doesn't matter

if you think God's mad at you

because He's not,

that He will forgive us.

That if you confess your sin,

He is faithful and just

and will forgive us our sins

and purify us

from all unrighteousness.

So no matter

how far you've wandered,

no matter how many mistakes

you've made,

Christ is waiting

for you to come back.

Now He may use storms

to get your attention.

He may use circumstances

and situations

because if we're a child of God

and we've wandered from Him

or we're disobedient to Him,

He will discipline us.

The Word of God tells us that

and sometimes it's the beginning

of a still small voice

of the Holy Spirit

speaking to our heart

and if we don't listen,

He turns the heat up

a little bit

and if we still don't listen,

we may find ourselves

in the belly of a fish,

you know,

to try to get us back to Him

because God loves us

and He wants us

in a committed relationship

with Him

and He knows

what is best for our lives

and so He's going to do

what He needs to do

to bring us back to Him.

Now,

if you're sitting here today

and you're not a believer,

you're not a child of God,

I also want you to know

that Jesus loves you.

He loves you

and He's ready

and He's willing

to forgive you of your sin

no matter what you've done,

no matter how far you've gone,

Jesus is ready

and willing to forgive you.

All you need to do

is take that step to Jesus

to ask Him to be

your Lord and Savior,

admit that you're a sinner

and that you need forgiveness

of your sin

and again,

1 John 1, 9 tells us

that He'll be quick

to forgive you,

to cleanse you

and purify you

with the blood

that He shed on Calvary

and adopt you

into the family of God

and later in the service

when we do a time

of invitation,

if you do not know

Jesus Christ

as your Lord and Savior,

I would encourage you

to respond

during the invitation

and just simply

come and pray with me

or have me pray with you

and have you ask

Jesus Christ

to be your Lord and Savior.

The second truth

that we can glean

from this passage

that will be an assurance

that we can hang on to

and hold on to

when we face

the storms of life

is that He is praying

for us.

Now there's many places

in Scripture

such as John 17

and others

where we know

that Jesus is praying

for us

but I want to read

out of Romans 8, 34.

Who then is the one

who condemns?

No one.

Christ Jesus who died

more than that

who was raised to life

is at the right hand

of God

and is also

interceding for us.

Now I want to stop

and just kind of

really pick these two verses

verses 47 and 48

apart here

because I find them

extremely interesting.

When evening came

the boat

was in the middle

of the lake

and He was alone

on land.

Now pay attention here

to what time of day

it was

when Jesus

was alone.

It says He was

in evening.

Now I'm not 100% sure

if that's the same

as our evening

but it would have been

you know

late in the day

probably

before sunset

that Jesus

was alone

and then

look at verse 48

He said

He saw the disciples

straining on the oars.

So about evening time

Jesus is up

in the mountains

alone praying.

the disciples

are probably

miles away

out in the middle

of the Sea of Galilee

it's getting dark

and yet it said

Jesus saw them.

Now that would certainly

be the God side

of Jesus

that He saw them

He knew their situation

He knew their circumstances

and He knew

what they

were up against.

Do you know

Jesus

knows you too

and He sees you?

Do you know

that Jesus

knows you

intimately

and everything

about you?

He knows

the circumstances

the conditions

everything going on

in your life

He knows

the things you fear

that you worry about

you struggle with

the challenges

that you face

He knows

you very intimately

and in detail.

Does that make

a difference

to you

of how you face

situations

and circumstances

of life

that you know

that Jesus

is not

some God

that's off

in a far distance

unconcerned

and unaware

of what you're

going through

but He sees you

and He knows you

and He loves you

and He is praying

and making intercession

for you.

Let me ask you

a question this morning.

If you knew

Jesus Christ

was here

in this room

today

let's say

He was sitting

in that chair

and He was

praying for you

by name

to the Father

how would that

affect you?

If you knew

Jesus knew

your situation

the challenges

you're up against

the storms

that you're facing

maybe your fears

your worries

your struggles

and you knew

He was sitting

here

let's say

He came

to the altar

and He kneeled

down at the altar

and He was

praying for you

by name

would that

change the way

you face

those struggles

of life

that you're up

against?

Would that

give you hope?

Would that

give you

encouragement?

Would that

give you strength

to keep going

on and facing

the things

that you're

up against?

Well

Jesus is not

only here

in this place

with us

today

but Romans

tells us

He's seated

at the right

hand of the

Father

and He's

interceding

for you

He's praying

for you

by name

He sees you

He knows you

and He knows

the circumstances

He knows

the challenges

He knows

everything about

you

He knows

your doubts

your struggles

with faith

He knows

all about it

and He's

making intercession

for you

praying for you

by name

I hope that

would make a

difference

in your life

and the way

you face

those storms

of life

but also

I hope it

would challenge

us to

have a deeper

love for Christ

to know

that He's not

some distant

God

but He's a

God that

intimately

loves us

now the third

thing we want

to gain from

this passage

today

too is that

He will come

to us

He will come

to us

in verse 48

we see the phrase

He was about

to pass them

by

now that doesn't

mean that

Jesus decided

to walk across

the Sea of Galilee

and go on ahead

and He was like

y'all just get there

the best way

you know how

that's not what

that meant

that same phrase

is used in the

Old Testament

when God

revealed Himself

to Moses

remember He

hit him in the

cleft of a rock

and He walked

God passed by

and He revealed

Himself to Moses

so the same

phrase

same expression

tells us

that Jesus

walking by

should have been

a revelation

to the disciples

that He was

there with them

He was in

their presence

He was there

and it should

have given

them hope

it should have

given them

courage

and strength

to know

that once before

Jesus has already

calmed the storm

when He was in

the boat with us

and we know

that He cares

about us

and He can

calm this storm

with a spoken word

and He's not

going to allow

anything

to take place

or happen

in our life

that's out

of His will

have you ever

felt like

where is God

why doesn't He

answer my prayers

why doesn't He

respond

to me

you know

why is He

allowing

this

to happen

you know

even in the Psalms

King David

had those feelings

he felt like

God was distant

and not responding

to Him

and wondered

where He was

but ultimately

David knew

that you couldn't

trust your feelings

you can't trust

how we feel

but rather

the Word of God

tells us

that God says

I will never

leave you

nor forsake you

David knew

that God

was with him

despite

how he felt

sometimes

God allows us

to go through

these circumstances

and these situations

to grow us

and to help us

to develop

a trust

and a faith

in Him

even when we

think

He's

not there

and I also

want to point out

here

something else

when I talked

about evening

it said

Jesus didn't

go to them

until the fourth

watch

some of you

Bible scholars

what's the fourth

watch

that's between

three and six

o'clock in the

morning

between three

and six o'clock

in the morning

so Jesus saw

them

in the evening

struggling

against the waves

and the wind

and the storm

a storm

hurricane force

that was beyond

these rugged

fishermen

to handle

and control

and yet

He waited

until the fourth

watch

wonder why

He did that

why did Jesus

not rush

out there

immediately

and rescue

them

why didn't

Jesus speak

a word

to calm

the storm

my wife told

me I should

leave it

there and go

to find out

the rest

of the story

you have to

come back

next week

but I don't

know that I'm

going to be

preaching next

week so I'll

have to go

on and tell

you

sometimes God

uses situation

and circumstances

to teach us

life lessons

and I believe

that Jesus

allowed those

fishermen

these disciples

to get to

the end

of themselves

to reach

that point

where they

had no hope

they could

not save

themselves

they could

not

overpower

the wind

and the

waves

and get

that boat

to shore

where they

were safe

and he

allowed them

to get to

that point

where they

realized

their only

hope

was Jesus

Christ

you know

he took

out every

human prop

out

from under

them

to where

they had

to depend

on Christ

has Jesus

ever done

that to us

he ever

done it

to you

he allowed

you to

stay

in a

situation

and a

circumstance

longer than

you ever

thought

because what's

our response

how do we

handle

situations

in life

don't we

try to

handle it

on our

own

men

we're really

bad at

that

we try

to

we can

handle

these

situations

on our

own

or

in America

we've got

a lot

of props

don't we

whether it

be our

medical system

or insurance

or you

know

one thing

or another

credit cards

we've got

all these

props

propping

us up

where we

try to

handle

situations

and circumstances

in our

lives

and the

last

place we

turn

is Jesus

and so

sometimes

Jesus

puts us

in circumstances

where we

can't handle

all of our

man-made

props

are ineffective

and our

only hope

is Jesus

Christ

and he

leaves us

in that

situation

and that

circumstance

until we

come to

that conclusion

and we

turn to

him

completely

solely

relying

on him

to

step

into

that

situation

and if

he

leaves

us

there

for a

little

while

longer

it's

okay

because

we

trust

him

we

know

that

he

is

working

there

he's

caring

for us

he's

taking

care

of us

and he's

teaching

us

lessons

that we

need

to know

to grow

in our

walk

and our

faith

with him

which

brings

us

to

our

last

point

he

will

help

us

to

grow

you

know

I

believe

that this

was the

whole

purpose

of Jesus

and the

false

understanding

of who

he was

but it

was also

sending him

out or

sending the

disciples out

onto the

sea to

help them

to grow

in their

faith

and their

trust

in him

because as I

said earlier

shortly

Jesus was

going to be

gone

and these

men were

going to

have to

trust

Jesus was

with them

even though

he wasn't

physically

in their

presence

and there

may be

times when

they didn't

feel him

or they

didn't

sense

his

presence

but they

had to

trust

that he

saw

them

he knew

their

situation

he knew

their

circumstances

and he

would care

for them

and he

was helping

their

faith

to grow

deeper

and stronger

in the

midst

of all

of that

you know

it's not

easy to

face storms

of life

is it

and we

would never

want to

face many

of the

storms

we've

already

faced

in life

but how

many of

you have

faced

storms

in your

life

that when

you look

back

you realize

I was never

closer to

God

than when I

was in the

midst of that

storm

and there

are so many

lessons that I

learned

that helped me

grow in my

faith

and my walk

with the

Lord that I

never would

have learned

any other

way

now if given

a choice

we'd never

walk through

that again

we'd never

want to

but God

loves us

so much

and his

ultimate

purpose

is to

mold and

shape us

as Christians

is to

mold and

shape us

into the

image of

Christ

and he's

willing to

put us

through some

storms of

life

he's willing

to hold our

feet to the

fire if that's

what it takes

to help us

turn loose

of control

and give

our lives

fully and

freely to

him and

trust him

to shape

us and

mold us

and help

us to be

the men

and women

of faith

that he

wants us

to be

let me ask

you this

morning

do you

really trust

God with

your life

do you

trust him

in all

situations

and all

circumstances

of life

even when

it's

challenging

even when

it's

difficult

even when

it's

painful

even when

you don't

understand

what in

the world

is going

on

even when

you don't

sense

his presence

with you

do you

trust him

do you

trust him

enough

to just

say Lord

take my

life and

use me

as you

will

and may

your name

be glorified

in the

midst of

this

do you

trust God

enough

even if

his will

is for

you to

die

are you

willing to

say Lord

my life

is yours

use me

to bring

glory

and honor

to your

name

well I'm

going to

ask the

musicians to

come and

lead us in a

time of

invitation

and if the

Lord is

speaking to

you in

any way

this morning

I would

encourage you

to respond

I'd love

to pray

for you

pray with

you

and if

you do

not know

Jesus Christ

as your

Lord and

Savior

let me

encourage you

not to go

another day

without asking

Christ

you can do it

right there in

your seat

you can come

speak to me

or you can

speak to

another

believer

that you

trust

but don't

go another

day without

Christ being

your Lord

of your

life

you