The Man Who Saw The Wind

The man who saw the wind. Matthew, Mark, and John in the

four gospel accounts, restore, rescore the story of Jesus walking on the water.

Remember that story. The three accounts are found in Matthew fourteen, Mark

six, and John six, and for some reason, the Gospel of Luke

does not have the story included. It's not there. In the Gospel of

John chapter six, John chooses to leave the part out about Peter calling out

to Jesus and then walking on the water as Peter moved towards Jesus. In

all three accounts, jesus journey on the water to the troubled boat on the

windy Sea is preceded by the miracle and feeding the five thousand with five loaves

and two fishes. In the story that people were hungry and the iro was

late, and they had no food out there, and there was a real

danger that they might return home and stumble in the night with weariness because they

had no food. Now they're not unlike us. We can stumble in the

night, we can become weary, we can lose our way, and we,

like them, live in a world where we have no food unless we

have Jesus am all right. If we have Christ, we have food,

we have a future, we have sustenance. And Christ told his disciples to

give the people something to eat. In John's account, Andrew noticed a little

boy with five loaves and two fishes, and what is that amongst so many?

And yet they brought the little portions of food to Jesus. And he

turned the five loaves and the two fishes into a feast of plenty. Five

loaves represent the Tara, the five books of Moses, the five books that

represent the Word of God. And thus it is the word of God meal

that they're getting that day. And thus the miracle is the Tara miracle.

Because Jesus prayer toward Heaven takes the bread, the common bread of life that

represents his word, because man shall not live by bread alone, by every

word that proceeds from the mouth of God, and he multiplies it into plenty

of bread to fear the people. I meet, friends, God can do

miraculous things in your life through the word of God. If you are waiting

on a miracle in your life and you're not engaged in the Bible in your

life, there's no miracle coming to your life. Because God works through his

word to save you. It was the word of God that spoke in the

darkness of creation and said, let there be light. It was Christ,

the light of the world, speaking as the mind thought of God became effectual

in the universe. That started the whole thing going. And it is the

word of God in Christ that saves us today. In John six ten,

John records there was much grass in that place. Why because where there is

grass, the shepherd can feed the sheep. And John, he is the

good shepherd. I am the good shepherd. He's the great I am God

who feeds his sheep as the good shepherd. In early Christianity, a fish

represented a believer. It also represented Christ. In fact, the Greek word

Ichthus is an acronym. Every letter represents something about Jesus and relationship to God.

Yea sue the eye, which is the j and our language was Jesus,

y sue, the key, the Christos, the theta thos God,

the upsalon we as son, and the sigma so tear Savior. Christ is

God's son, Savior. He's everything we need in life. And so he's

the big fish where the small fish. Remember. In John one twenty nine,

he says, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of

the world. But at the end of the Gospel of John, he says,

behold, there was a fish and a piece of bread on the fire

when they brought the one hundred and fifty three fish to Jesus. Why because

Christ is the big fish who went to the fire the altar to save us.

He is the bread of life, the one piece of bread on the

altar. And so Christ fed them there in that miracle, and John from

the big fish and the big piece of bread symbolizing himself. But we are

the little fish in life that bear witness to the big fish, who is

Jesus. And so by two by twos we go out, and there were

two fish, representing the witness of two working together. Now, when this

miracle was done, they picked up the pieces of bread. Now Jesus is

an expert at picking up pieces in your life. If you notice that you

fall apart, your life comes down, and Christ can pick up the pieces

of who you are and put you back together again. In the Gospel of

John, Jesus commands his disciples to collect the frabbits fragments so nothing will be

lost. Christ is in the saving business, the finding business, not the

losing business. So everything is collected. Look at John six twelve, And

when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples gather up the left

over fragments, that nothing may be lost. And we have a Bible today,

and take your bibles out and hold in your hand. Would you take

this sweet book out and hold in your hand. This is the most important

book in the our history of the world. You are holding in your hand

Christ, the living and abiding word of God that Peter calls him. In

this book, Christ permeates, he speaks. And see, it's no accident

that we have a Bible. The Bible was given in different places, The

books were written all over the world, and took three hundred years for consecrate

Christians to gather up the pieces and the fragments so the Christian Church would have

a Bible for the last days. It took the struggle of the Middle Ages

to determine what is scripture, and it coalesced in the Bible. You have

in your hand, just in time for the longest time prophecy of the Bible,

the twenty three day is to run out in the year eighteen forty four.

We have this Bible as a gift from God for the last day.

Why because all the pieces were gathered, and the miracle was also intended for

the people. Christ cares about broken people in this world. He has put

together his word to gather the broken fragments here and there, and to put

him in twelve baskets. Because the Church is the New Israel, and the

plan of God through the Word all that any pieces that are out there can

be gathered into the family of God. Every word of Jesus is precious,

and every person who hears his word and believes him is precious to God.

And the three gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, and look John, they

collected twelve baskets of fragments. Now what's the number twelve famous for you?

Oh? No, what is it famous for? How many tribes of Israel

twelve? How many disciples twelve? How many foundations to the New Jerusalem?

Twelve? And so twelve is the number for God's people. In the Gospel

of John, the people quickly moved to make Jesus a king. They want

him to be over the twelve. They proclaimed that he was the prophet like

Moses that God promised who would come into the world to be their ultimate leader,

like a king. And then they tried to force him to be a

king on the and they try to lead the leader instead of letting the leader

lead them, and that's a big no no if Jesus is king. It's

amazing how people who follow Jesus often try to force Jesus to do things for

them, as if they are the leader in their lives. Friends, and

we try to force Jesus to get what we want. We aren't following Jesus

anymore. We're the king of the universe of ourselves. And so Jesus quickly

dismisses his disciples. He commands them to get in the boat and get out

of here. You go to the other side. And then as he dismisses

the crowd no doubt as they were wanting him to be king, he kindly

sends them away to go back home, take care of their children, and

stop this revolutionary kind of talk. And then, Jesus, what do you

do after that? In the story, he went up into a mountain to

pray because Satan's working that day. People who will not let Christ lead will

do more harm in their life than good. And we think we have all

the answers, and we don't allow Jesus to have the answers. We're in

a heap of trouble. I was reading in Ministry of Healing, not Ministry

of Healing, thoughts of the amount of blessings this week, and Sister White

says, real Christian piety begins when we make a decision in our life to

not compromise with evil in any way. Do you hear me? I mean,

if you want to thank your religious and pious and you have not made

the decision to not compromise with the evil, you're not. And so the

touchstone here is Jesus. He's either king or he's not. Matthew and John

record that Jesus went up into the mountain alone to pray. They drove Jesus

away by treating him this way. The kind, gentle king couldn't stay with

the crowd because of this. He had to pray out the negative influence that

had crept into the crowd, and so he went up to be with his

Father God in the mountain alone to pray, while the arrogant crowd was dispatched

and disciples were sent across the sea. This is the backdrop for the story

that follows of Jesus walking on the water. There is a huge context him

play as we look at what happened that day. This morning, I'll be

focusing mainly on the account provided in the Gospel of Matthew, with some help

here and there to flesh it out. Turn to Matthew fourteen, verse twenty

two in your bibles, and we'll have it on the screen. Then he

made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side

while he dismissed the crowds. And after he dismissed the crowds, he went

up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was

there alone. Christ told them to go ahead of him in the boat.

And yet he had no boat to follow them. So how would he get

to the other side if they were in the boats, And so it looked

like he was sending them on their own. Now, in the context,

that's what they wanted to do. They wanted to set up a kingdom.

They wanted to force his hand, and so they were on their own.

He sent them on their own. How can Jesus follow them without a boat

to get there? The people who had tried to force Jesus to follow their

lead. And now the disciples had the chance to prove how they could fare

without Christ in the boat or leading them. Have you ever been in your

life where Christ was not in the boat? Have you ever been there?

Have you ever been in your life where you were leading and Christ was not

leading? Have you ever been in your life where you're so sure yourself,

so confident in your own skin, that Christ is not lord in your life?

We've all been there. Jesus took the opportunity to show them that is

a bad idea to go ahead of Jesus and life. Christ would often withdraw

to the wilderness and the mountains to pray alone with his father. That was

the secret place for him where no manner woman could burrow into his relationship with

his eternal Father. You know, I often think religion is doing things and

being around a lot of people and this, and that you realize that real

religion starts in a closet. It starts in the high and lonely place where

you and God meet and prayer is found, where you pour out your heart

to God and God pours out himself for you. Matthew fourteen twenty five.

And the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the

sea. The fourth watch was between three am and six am. That means

Christ was praying all night to the early morning as they were struggling in the

sea. What was he doing? He was praying? The Book of Hebrews

tells us that as our great high priest, that he always lives to make

intercession for us. You know, some people say, well, as anyone

praying for me, And they say that like nobody in the church would pray

for them, and they don't realize that Jesus is praying for them. He

wasn't on that mountain just praying for himself. He was praying for his dear

people that he loved, and he wouldn't leave until he was sure he had

the answer to his prayer. And when he finished that prayer, he had

the power of God to walk on water to reach his people. Friends,

you can't walk on water for God and ministry without praying to God in the

secret place. You can't work miracles in God's plan unless the miracles worked in

you on the mountain. You can't experience supernatural wonders in your life for others

unless you are on the Mountain of God, and the supernatural wonder of who

God is changes you. They left Jesus in the high and holy place,

and they were struggling as the light of day was soon to come. It

was night, and they couldn't make it on their own. And Jesus now

comes to them in the night, when they are all overcome with fear,

weary, and ready to give up, Jesus comes to them. And that

is how Jesus comes to us in the night. The same way, and

the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, they both agreed that the wind was blowing

against the boat. It was blowing contrary to them. It was blowing them

in the wrong direction of their destination. They were trying to go ahead,

and yet the wind was blowing them back, so they couldn't go ahead.

Friend, when Jesus is not in the boat, the wind blows you back.

You hear me. When Jesus is not in the boat, the wind

blows you back to Jesus. To Jesus, is that a good thing or

a bad thing? Friend? If Jesus is behind you because you're trying to

go ahead of him, it may be a good thing that the wind has

blowing you back to Jesus. So don't complain about the wind in your life.

That which is against the direction of your self will God can be in

the wind. It isn't necessarily a bad thing. It may be the Holy

Spirit wind that blows you back in the direction of Jesus. That the storm

in your life maybe God's storm to calm your life. In any case,

the wind was against them, and they labor longed to get ahead and reach

the shore on the other side. Look at verse twenty six in Matthew fourteen.

And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified,

saying it is a ghost, and they cried out for fear. In

Daniel twelve, the men in Lenin, who is Michael in the context,

stands on the waters of the stream with authority to unlock the book of Daniel

the time of the end. Have you noticed? That's how the Book of

Daniel ends. This man in Lenin, who is the preexistent Christ in the

context Michael and Daniel ten standing on the waters, and he says the book

is sealed for the time of the end, and when the church has been

fully shattered in the Middle Ages, he gives you the time period of a

time times and dividum times in verse seven, that's when the words will be

loosed. That's when the power of God will come. That's when I will

intervene, and he raises his hand to heaven and say it's going to happen.

And that promise created the Seventh day Ad in his church. In Dane

twelve, we came into existence on the wings of Bible prophecy by the intervention

of God Almighty in Jesus Christ at the time of the end. The Greek

word for ghost is phantom, so they should have known that this was the

pre existent prince of Heaven. Now the Greek word for ghost is phantom.

Here it can mean a ghost or some kind of supernatural apparition like a pagan

god or a demon. It's not clear in the context. The Disciples have

been influenced by the Pharisees who held unbiblical teachings, influenced by the Greeks and

others in the mystery religions. They had bad theology that they had latched onto,

and that bad theology it affected the way that they could interpret the scriptures.

Now turned to Acts twenty three eight. Here we have a description of

their bad theology. For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, nor angel,

nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledged them all. Now, some people

think the Holy Spirit is what they're talking about, is not. There is

no definite article here. It doesn't say no resurrection. It says no resurrection,

no angel, and no spirit. And the word does not there.

In other words, they didn't believe in the spiritual realm, the idea that

ghosts and spirits could exist, And yet the Pharisees believed in this Matthew fourteen

twenty seven. But immediately he spoke to them, saying, take heart,

is I have no fear. When I was in the Marshall Islands, the

kids used to see what they thought were ghosts walking on the reefs, and

they would come to me I taught sixth grade. They say, Pastor Davissa,

we saw the spirits of our ancestors and it scares us deeply. I

said, why don't you try this out? Why don't you just pray in

the name of Jesus and watch them go away? I said, really,

Pastor Davis sah, And they'd always That's how they would say that the martial

leagues. I said, really, because those aren't the spirits of your ancestors.

Those are demons acting that way. So let it go. Be free.

And they did that, and they were freed from this. What they

saw was supernatural that day, but it wasn't a ghost they saw. Jesus

Christ, friends, is not a discourager for people bouncing on a troubled sea

in the middle of the night. Christ is an encourager of the people,

for us and others, so we can encourage people. Three clear statements that

make all the difference in the world when you hear them. They come from

the mouth of Jesus, their life changing statements. Number one, Christ said,

take heart, or it can be translated be of good courage, be

of good courage. And he's saying here is don't be down, don't get

depressed. I have showed up to lift you up. I'm not in the

putting down business. I'm in the getting up business. Take heart. Number

two, he says, it is I. The Greek reads literally I am

ego, I me I am is God language. At the burning bush,

the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham, I mean to Moses the burning

bush, and then God spoke through him because God is the Angel of the

Lord, who is the preexistent Christ. He says, I am the God

of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I have heard, I have seen,

I know, I feel what you're going through. I have come down

to deliver you. Christ said, I'm the good Shepherd. I'm the Way,

the Truth, and the life. I'm the light of the world.

I am, I Am, I am. You read the Gospel John and

the other gospels. He dominates this language. I am is God language at

the burning bush. Ayam means I am Yahweh, God, Almighty and nothing

less, who delivers and saves. I mean, is this idea that Christ

is less than God means that God can't save you. If Christ is the

savior, it takes God to save you. Nothing less than Yahweh. I

Am Jehovah, God who can calm your life and redeem you from any evil,

can save you. And Isaiah forty four sixth, both God the Father

who is the King, and God the Son who is our redeemer are both

the Yahweh I Am God of the Bible. Two of them together, they're

Yahweh, not one. The spirit is also included in later revelation. If

you want Jesus to save you, friend, you don't make Jesus out to

be less than what he is. It needs to be as the I am

redeemer, that it can alone save us from our sins as God. If

you diminish that, you'll lose the benefit of having God on your side.

Look at Isaiah forty four, verse six, And this is an amazing verse.

When I was at the University of Maryland, I studied with a prominent

Jehovah's witness man, very nice man. I'm not going to say his name,

who got his PhD in physics. He was a world renowned physicist.

And he prided himself and taking people in our church and bringing them into his

But his whole thing was Jesus isn't God. Christ is less than God.

And I took him to this verse in verse six and says, thus says

the Lord, the King of Israel. And you see the Lord there in

that verse. How's it spelled in your Bible? And when you ever see

capital l kepitel oh, capital r keppel d, that's Jehovah Yahweh. That's

the name. So the King of Israel is Jehovah Yahweh. Now look at

the next phrase and his redeemer, and look who he is the Lord of

Hosts. Now, how is the Lord of hosts spelled capital L kepl oh,

capital R, capital D. Whenever you see that, that's Jehovah Yahweh.

So the King of Israel's God, the Father. He is redeemer,

Lord of Hosts is yahweis, son of God Jesus, who is declared to

be the messenger of his presence in Isaiah sixty three, verse nine, the

Redeemer and John eight fifty eight. Jesus left no doubt for this. He

said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, I'm not

lying. He's saying. Before Abraham was ego Amy, I am the burning

bush language the name of God Almighty given to Moses at Sinai. Friends,

when you need God in your life, don't be offended when God comes to

you in the person of Jesus as the Great. I am solution to every

need you have. Number three, Jesus said, have no fear. The

Greek is an imperative command. Thou shalt not be afraid. Literally, that's

what the Greek should be translated. Because the strong may of prohibition is before

the Greek comparative, Thou shalt not be afraid, have no fear. At

means Jesus did not come into this world terrorize you. Jesus came in this

world to love you, to save you, to help you, Yes to

discipline, you have no fear. At this point Peter enters. The story

is prominent. Peter can't help but enter the scene and bounce around and look

like he's the center of attention Matthew fourteen twenty eight. And Peter answered him,

Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the

water. He said, come. So Peter got out of the boat,

walked on the water, and came to Jesus. Peter's problem is revealed by

the very first word out of his mouth. What is it? You're looking

at the verse? What is it? Actually? Yeah, well it's Lord.

It's the second word lord if if. Now that's a strange combination,

lord if. Now it's a starter point for Peter. At least he recognizes

him as the Lord, but he doesn't have a very strong Lord. It's

the word if. He connects to it. If it is you? He

had just said it was He just said, I am it is if if

if. Peter asked to come, even with an IF on his lips.

Dear heart, if you're a doubter by nature and temperament, if you don't

have all the answers, you wonder how God can do all of this.

But your heart is telling you that Jesus is Lord. There's something to it.

Come anyway, Lord, if is a starting point and Peter is there,

maybe you're afraid to come to Jesus because there are many ifs in your

life and lots of doubts. With the ifs, Jesus has come. Peter,

get out of that boat and start walking on the water to me and

the night, No doubt, Jesus was glowing like a phantom in the night.

The glowing Christ is the answer to our ifs. Verse thirty is the

turning point in the story. Look what it says. But when he saw

the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink. He cried out,

Lord, save me boy, and has ever lost two utters that cry.

The Gospel of Mark is the gospel most scholars believe came from Peter through Mark,

and I agree with that. And yet there's nothing about Peter walking on

the water and the Gospel of Mark. I've asked myself the question, why

would Peter leave it out because it's embarrassing for Peter. Matthew records that Matthew

is the only apostle record the Peter part, and Matthew says that Peter saw

the wind. That is the most reliable reading in the Greek manuscripts, even

today, as we read today, I've looked at the manuscript evidence. There's

some manu scripts will say Peters saw the strong wind, or that he saw

the wind was strong, But the word strong is not in the best manuscript

evidence. He just saw the wind. It's evidence it was a strong wind.

But there's something about the wind without any kind of description here we must

dwell on. In John three, Jesus told Nicodemus that you can't see the

wind of the Holy Spirit, but you can see his effects. The Greek

word here is numa for spirit wind. It is animos for a rapidly moving

wind. Is a violent current of air. You know, even when God

allows evil forces to blow it us doesn't God allow it at times? Yes

or no? So in that sense God holds back the four winds. He

directs them even if evil is in play, because He will not allow anything

to go over your plate, that His sovereignty does not take control of so

work to your best end if you are listening and following Christ in your life.

In the same word is used in all three Gospels animos, so Matthew

is not unique here. Matthew is clear that Peter became afraid when he saw

the wind like a whirlwind. Perhaps coming to Jesus friend is not easy facing

the wind. Peter was afraid of the storm, of the wind that seemed

to stand in the way, that threatened to kill him. He didn't remember

the story of Job, that Job found God in the whirlwind, know that

that God was the storm that showed up to calm his life. He didn't

remember that God took Elijah to Heaven and the whirlwind. He didn't remember that

God showed up at Sinai and the tempest and the storm. No doubt the

whirlwind he won an easy walk towards Jesus. And there is no such thing.

There's no such thing as an easy walk to Jesus. Whoever will be

saved from us to have the vision of Jesus and the wind and keep their

eyes on Jesus. Peter saw the wind. The wind is invisible, but

he saw that it was powerful and contrary to his desire to walk on water

towards Jesus. And we do the same thing in life as Peter. We

see Christ, we're in trouble, and then we focus on the wind,

and no doubt he looked back and saw his buddies in the boat. But

we start walking towards Jesus when he gets hard because of our fear of the

wind. And that's the focus in the Gospel of Matthew. That's when it's

easy to sink when you focus on the wind that's blowing against you, that's

moving you backwards in life, and you're not going in the direction you want

to go, maybe the direction you feel the Lord wants you to go.

What does Jesus do for his disciple who calls out to him at the word

if, and who looks at the wind instead of him, as if you

can see the wind at all, when he is easy to see in the

night, and they choose that which is unseen to focus on. Fear cannot

be quantified, it cannot be seen. But you can see the living Christ

when you open your Bible and when you have a devotional life. It is

concrete, substantial in your life. Peter said, one good thing. After

his big if statement, he cried out, and he said, Lord save

me. Jesus can't save you, friend, unless you want him to,

and so you better get earnest in your prayer. Life. Don't say Lord,

Lord save me. No, if you're really in trouble, try this,

Lord save me earnest in prayer. Jesus can't save you unless you want

him to. Can't save you unless you call upon his name. They wanted

to lead the leader and make the Lord king, and that is why his

disciples left Jesus behind. He got nowhere on a seat with a contrary when

blowing them back to Jesus. As soon as Peter cried out for Jesus to

save him, guess what Jesus did. Jesus saved him Verse thirty one.

Jesus, now here's the key word. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and

caught him, not thirty minutes later, not an hour later, not one

hundred years later, right then, on the spot, he saved him.

Friend. You may be struggling your life and you wonder when God's going to

show up to fix the mess you're in. Right. You may feel that

you have put yourself so far away from God, or maybe you don't feel.

Maybe you think you're doing fine, but you are really a lost soul

without Christ. Friends, it's in our sanity when we pray the prayer in

our need. That's why God allowed the storm to blow him back. When

we say, Lord saved me, that's what he's waiting for. And he

immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying, Oh, man of

little faith, why did you doubt? Why did you reach out to me

with the word if, Oh man of little faith. I am not in

the if business, Peter. I am in the faith business because I am

the Lord of sky and sea and thee. Why did you doubt? Peter?

Me, I'm not a force. I am God Almighty, as the

son of God Verse thirty two. Is immediate and final. And when they

got into the boat, the wind ceased. When friends, when Jesus is

in the boat, no wind you seek and blow you back in life?

Do you hear me? When Jesus is in the boat, the forces are

no longer against you. There for you and John twenty one. John records

that they were glad to take Jesus into the boat. And when he got

into the boat, they were immediately on the other side. Now that's a

miracle. They were out there, they were being blown back to the backside.

When Jesus got in the boat. Somehow that boat moved miles in a

moment, and they were now on the other side. Been fighting all your

life to get where you need to go in life, but Jesus is not

in the boat, you don't get there. They had been fighting all night

against the wind. But when Jesus got into the boat, they were there.

So what made the difference. It's simple but profound. The difference was

that Jesus was in the boat. Friend, don't try to get ahead in

life with your ifs and your strong ideas and your self will so that you

become the leader who leads the leader who is really Jesus. That's not faith,

it's doubt and fear. When we are overbearing with Christ in our relationship,

it's because we don't trust him. Let Jesus in the boat, let

him beam within you, let him show you who he is, Let his

power work for you. Mark records that they were amazed and that their hearts

were hardened with unbelief because they did not receive with faith the lesson of the

loaves and fishes. In the Bible, the Angel told John twice in Revelation

nineteen ten and Revelation twenty two eight nine, that we have no business worshiping

angels if that is all they are. Do you hear me? I mean

the angel. John fell down the worship of the feet of the Angel.

It says it twice in a revelation he said, you must not do that.

I'm a fellow servant of you and your brethren. Now in the Old

Testament, Christ is the Angel the Lord, not an angel. The Lord.

The Lord angel means messenger. And as the Angel the Lord, he

is God Almighty, an angel form. He's God with us before an angel

form, before he became God with us in human form. But we should

never forget that distinction. The first chapter of Hebrews establishes the pre eminence of

Christ, the creator of time space itself. It says he created the eons,

the fabric of time. He is superior to the angels, even though

they are his comrades. Therefore, he is the commander of the angels.

Took the form of an angel, being God Almighty from all eternity so that

he can reach us in the form of a creature. But he is not

a created being. The Angel hold John twice to worship God instead of him.

So, based on the Angel in relation twelve, you can only worship

God yes or no. Come on, I'm quizzing you, yes or no.

And the rabbis knew this. When people tried to show honor like that

to Jesus, they said, you're blaspheming forgiving sins is in that category.

You can only worship God, the angel seismic relation. Now, if Jesus

is a created being and only an angel, verse thirty three is idolatry and

evil off the charts, and Jesus is guilty of it. Look at verse

thirty three. But if Jesus is eternal God, the Great I Am,

God of the burning Bush, then verse thirty three is a beautiful thing.

It is right. John tells us in first John one two that Jesus is

the eternal life. You can look it up. That was with the Father

from all eternity, the eternal life that was with the Father. He identifies

as Jesus, and he was revealed to us. Now, you're not eternal

life. If your life begins at some distant point in the past, your

eternal life. If you have life unborrowed, and that is not from any

if life is intrinsic within you, unborrowed and underived. Life is in Jesus.

The Tsarre of Ages rightly says that, and so he John calls him

the word of life that was always with God in the ancient past, before

the dawn of time in Hebrews, before there was a was in Hebrews,

won there was Jesus because he created the eons of time. And Paul says,

the eternal spirit that is won. Some people think there's two spirits,

the spirit of Jesus and the spirit of the Father. And yet the Paul

says in First Corinthians twelve and Phesians that there is one spirit. So you

can't do that to the Holy Spirit. You can't divide him up and attach

him. One means he's a person. And it says that when Christ died

on the cross, he offered himself through the eternal spirit, just like Christ

is the eternal life that was always with the Father. The eternal spirit was

always with Christ. And at the cross a fracture occurred. The God had

was wounded beyond belief. It's not a human tragedy only, it's a divine

tragedy that saves us. So if you're going to worship Jesus is the son

of God, friend, Jesus has to be the great. I am Son

of God, or what happens in verse thirty three is blasphemy. Let's look

at verse thirty three and those in the boat, what does it say worshiped

him saying truly, thou art the Son of God. Now the angel says,

you can't do that unless you're God. Christ is God, not a

son of God like the Jehovah's witnesses say. And they won't even let you

pray to Jesus. How can you worship Christ if you can't pray to him,

can't pray in his name? I mean, they're they're denying the teaching

of the New Testament that in Christ name we pray because there's one way to

the Father. The Father is in me, and I am in the Father.

Jesus says, not a son of God like the Jehovah's witness to say,

but the son of God, who is God Almighty. I am the

son of God. You can worship me. I don't know about you.

There's been times in my life when I had a small and inadequate view of

Jesus, And in my brokenness, when I came to the foot of the

cross, I discovered when Jesus forgave me, when Jesus healed me, that

Jesus has not aid an influence in my life. He's not a philosopher king

with good ideas. He's God Almighty, who hung on that cross for me,

and he is the God forsaken God. At Calvary, he said,

my God, my God, why view forsaken me? And the tragedy of

the cross something I can never understand. I know that God the Father and

God the Son got it done for me, as Christ was offered through the

eternal Spirit. The tragedy of what happened there can never be understood. But

you know one thing I understand. It takes God to save me. Paul

says, God was in Christ, not counting their sins against them, but

given us the ministry of reconciliation verse thirty four. And when they had crossed

over, they came to the land of Gannest. Gannesra was on the western

shore of the Sea of Galilee. Between Capernaum and Magdala. It was a

beautiful place and was considered the garden of Palestine, like Eden. And yet

it was full of people, just like the land of the gatherings on the

other side where Jesus had encountered the two demoniacs, the western side dipping in

where the place of the tombs where and unbelievers lived. In verses thirty five

thirty six, we find that this favorite part of Palestine was in just as

much trouble as the other side that looked like it was in trouble, and

more trouble verse thirty five. And when the men of that place recognized him,

that's Jesus. They sent round to all that region and brought to him

all that were sick, and they besought him that they might only touch the

fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made. Well.

Why do they want to touch the friends of his garment? After all

of this? Why is that the focus of how the story ends. The

Greek word for frings is craspadon. It's literally tassel in numbers fifteen thirty eight

thirty nine. You can look it up at home. Numbers fifteen fifteen thirty

eight thirty nine. Every Jew had four tassels that were placed on their garments.

They were made of blue, and the reason given, and so they

would remember to keep all of the commandments of God. The blue tassels represented

the ten Commandments, and that just twenty four when God gave the law at

Mount Sinai. He called the seventy elders in the mountain, and he says,

come up to me in the mountain, and the scripture, he's standing

on a blue sapphire stone, as pure as the heavens tahor in Hebrew pure.

And from that blue sapphire stone he gave the ten commandments. He says,

come up to me. I'll give you tables up in the Hebrew the

stone. Now, I mean, you guys, look up in the seat

here. What's the color of this beautiful sanctuary. You know why we made

it blue. I'll tell you the story. They weren't supposed to have these

things that we have. I'm letting it out after all these years, I've

a right to let you know what happened. These things here were not to

be this low, there to be higher up, and somehow the engineers didn't

get it right. I remember coming in here and they're going to paint this

black. And I said, my goodness, you guys have messed up.

And they said, what do you mean we've messed up? I said,

well, you said you were going to do it. So instead of arguing

and what wasn't gonna work long because the engineering had been approved by the county,

I pulled the architect in. I says, we got to do something.

And the more we read this verse about the throne of God being blue,

I said, why not make this place blue up there to represent the

eternal throne of God from which the Ten Commandments was given and the Bible that's

the same throne that was struck with the rock with the rod. God was

standing on that blue stone throne in Exus seventeen when Moses hit the rock,

and that rock followed them, Paul says, in the desert, and they

sang to the rock in numbers twenty one, and water came out of the

rock. Because Paul says, that rock that followed them they gave them water

was Christ the Rock of Ages. He took the form of the eternal blue

sapphire Rock of Ages to inspire the song and stuff that flowed after now,

they knew that in ancient Judaism. I know because I've read the ancient Targets,

the Aramaic translations the Hebrew Bible. They understood this, but they didn't

see Jesus. They knew that the blue tassel pointed to god throne, the

law of God, Friend, the eternal throne of God is blue like the

blue tassel. These people recognize that Jesus is the eternal son of God,

who is God, who shares the authority of God's throne, and so they

wanted to grab his blue tassel. Jesus is a king without their help,

no one can make him a king. He doesn't need us to prop him

up. He doesn't need our good ideas. We need him. And you

can't lead the leader in your life, but you can come to him and

be healed by the King who opens up the throne of God. So you

can feel the river of life that flows from his wounded side. The rock

of age is cleft from me, true blue loyal, the scepter of righteousness

Christ, our King. They knew that all authority, all the authority of

God Almighty, was in Jesus, who was ever eager in his humility and

kindness, and yet his awesome power to heal and to save anyone who calls

on his name. Dear heart, Jesus hasn't changed one bit since then.

He is still Lord Jehovah Yahweh of Hosts. He comes about to us when

we were on the sea, and he hears our cry like he did.

There's the Book of Hebrew says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and

forever. And so I will simply end by saying this. Come to him,

Come to him, cry out to him, Lord save me. Let

him lead, not you, and watch yourself get where you need to be

in a moment of time. God, bless you and Jesus, our King.

They're heavenly Father. Thank that Jesus wants to be in the boat.

Thank you that he wants to save our kids and us, and we don't

know how that he does. And thank you that he does it instantly when

we say, Lord save me, it's that fast. And Lord save everyone

here. They don't need to call out in the middle of the church today.

May they call out to You inside their mind and heart. On the

way home. May they find the secret place and bring all their ifs to

you and find that you are the bread of life in Jesus name, Amen,