06/30/24 Pastor Cody - Mark 6:45-52

[Music] h I [Music] for [Music] you [Music] w [Music] right now I don't want my [Music] sh [Music] I [Music] you e well good morning First Baptist Church how are y'all this morning oh that sounded pretty exhausted you guys been on the lake too much this weekend or how are yall doing this morning hey it is so good to see you my name is Cody I'm the pastor here if you are new we want to just welcome you to our church if you could do us a huge favor in the car in the chair in front of you there should be a connection card just fill that out drop it in the offering plate as it goes by that'd be huge in us being able to connect with you we want to pray for you and so if you're here and you want us to pray that's the easiest way to communicate those prayer requests we get them every Monday and we take time to pray over those as well we're all about loving God loving each other and loving our community and world and we've got a busy few weeks coming up in the month of July we got Youth Camp that's we are leaving at what time on the 8th 6:45 6:45 in the morning okay so be here brigh eyed and bushy tailed and we're going to have a great time be for the volunteers that'll be there and we're going to have a fantastic time also Vacation Bible School is right around the corner make sure that you are registered and your grandkids are

Registered and I know Thomas he would welcome any additional hands but it looks like you we're we're we're staffed pretty well we already have 116 children registered for that so that's awesome praise the Lord for that amen and so be praying for them if you have not received one of those prayer shells we got these little shells that has people's names and stuff in there please be sure to go over there and grab one and be praying for our different volunteers we will begin decorating on July 14th right after church and so sorry if you can't get into your rooms early also National Night Out is coming up that's a free community event that our church helps sponsor in partnership with the city of camton we will have all the First Responders in our County and even some from our state that will be here where we will just be providing positive connections between First Responders and our community at large we've got nine food truck vendors that'll be here we're looking for cars for a car show we will have six bounce houses we will have face painting we will have live music with the potter's wheel indoors by the way so if it's hot on that August first day then praise the Lord you got air conditioning and so it's going to be taking up the whole campus and so if you want to help make that a reality please be on the lookout for how you can sign up and volunteer we will have a table set up next week as well as information that's on our Facebook page so really looking forward to that also today is fifth Sunday and fifth Sundays are always interesting because you don't know what attendance is going to be like because they happen like once every 13 weeks but one of the things that we do on Fifth Sunday is we take up a benevolence offering so at the conclusion of our service okay if you want to give to the benevolence fund

You'll have that opportunity to do that after our invitation time in our response time what that what those funds go towards is if someone comes in they say I need help with a phone bill or an electric bill or I need as a church member you know someone that's in need we take that out of the benevolence offering so that way we don't have to take it out of our general funds and so that's what it goes towards if you're kind of curious what that does anyways there's a whole bunch of stuff that's happening be sure to grab one of these also don't forget the wolg Walmart registry there's information about that on our Facebook page as well we want to welcome the walgets as they get back from Africa in just a few weeks now at this time why don't you find a friend or a neighbor stand up wait shake their hand say welcome First Baptist [Applause] Church e [Music] need [Music] got [Music] get [Music] here [Music] it's [Music] well good morning First Baptist Church it's a great day to be in the house of the Lord and it's so good to see so many people here today yeah I hope you got a chance to shake hands and say hello to someone that you maybe don't know so well and if you didn't well there's still time before we all head out of here so but at this time it's the time where we like to take a moment and just focus our hearts and our minds on our Lord and Savior so I'd invite you to Bow your heads and close your eyes and ask the Lord to prepare you for

Worship for Lord through many trials and hardships and through many Joys it's easy for us to take our Focus off of you and Lord this morning we pray that you would bring our Focus back to you Lord that you would remind us of who you are and what you've done that you would remind us that we were Sinners but you made a way for us to be reconciled to you Lord this morning I pray that you would help us to throw off the distractions to throw off the good and the bad things that try to take priority in our brains in try to take priority in our lives and instead Lord help us to focus on you and to pour out our praise and our worship for you because you are worthy it's in Jesus name we pray amen we read in the eth chapter of the book of Romans What then shall we say to these things if God is for us who can be against us he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not also with him graciously give us all things I'd invite you to stand and join us as we sing A Mighty Fortress Is Our God a bullwood never [Music] failing a Mighty foress Is Our God of our never failing our hel he am the of mortal is preva for still our anent fall seek to work us his craft and power are great and arm with Cru will ha on Earth is not his equal did we in our own strength fight our strong would be Lo not the right on the man of God's [Music] choing to that may Christ Jesus in his the Lord of host is

Name from age to age the same and he must win the [Music] battle and this world with Devils fil should threaten to we will not fear for God will his truth to Triumph through us the Prince of Darkness G we tremble for him his we can endure for he do be true one little word shall fail a mighty [Applause] foress rocking the king of glory forever amen for Endless AES and thr in praises the king of glory forever amen that word of above all Earthly all thanks to them Abid the spirit and the gifts are ours through him who with the let and go this moral life also the body they may kill God's truthed still his kingdom is forever [Music] it's forever and ever Mighty for are of un failing the king of glory forever amen forless in thr in praises the king of glory forever [Music] amen a mighty foress a rock [Music] unfailing the king of glory forever amen for Endless AES and thring praises [Applause] the king of glory forever [Music] [Applause]

[Music] forever Our God Is A Mighty Fortress he is there for us in our time of trouble amen what a great God we serve praise the Lord his Mercy [Music] is stronger than Darkness to every our SS they are many his Mercy is [Music] what love remember NOS we have done all KN the count of their to us see without B our SS they are many his Mercy is praise the [Music] Lord his Mercy iser than Darkness everyone our sins they are ready his Mercy he [Music] is but patience would wait as we conly Ro what father so tender is calling us home he weles the wak the viest of our SS they are many his Mercy is praise the Lord his Mercy is stronger than Darkness through every our SS they are many his see [Music] is what Riches of kindness he lished on us his blood was the P his life was theost we stood be the we could never our s they are many his Mercy is praise the Lord his Mercy is stronger than Darkness to everyone our sins they are his Mercy is praise the Lord his Mercy is strong good and darkness do every our sins May are many his Mercy is

For our sins they are his Mercy [Music] is amen you can be seated let's pray Lord we thank you for our country where we can gather together and worship as we please thank you Lord for loving us so much thank you for going to the cross in our place and Lord we thank you for your mercy being much more than our sin could ever be thank you Lord we ask this in your name Amen in the book of Colossians we read he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have Redemption the Forgiveness of sins this next has been Our Song of the month for this month of June it's Jesus strong and kind and while we've been singing it in here our children in the children's ministry is have also been singing it and next week for Family Worship Sunday we'll get to sing it all together in one voice as the body of Christ from our youngest to our oldest all singing together which I just think is really exciting because that's what that's what we do we have a singing faith because we have been commanded to proclaim the truths of our God together it's a beautiful thing that we do so I invite you to stand again as you're able and join us as we sing Jesus strong and kind Jesus said that if I thirst I should come to him no one else can sisy I should come to him Jesus said if I am weak I should come to him no one else can be my strength I should come to him for the Lord is good and faithful he will keep us day and night we can all always come to Jesus Jesus [Music]

Strong Jesus said that if I fear I should come to him no one else can be my Shi I should come to him for the Lord is good and faithful he will keep us day and night we can always run to Jesus Jesus strong [Music] and Jesus said I am lost he will come to me and he showed me on that cross he will come to me for the Lord is good and faithful he will keep us St and we can always run to Jesus Jesus strong and Jesus strong [Music] and Jesus loves me this know for the B tells [Music] me on to him belong they are weak but he is strong yes Jesus loves me yes Jesus Loves [Music] yes Jesus loves me [Music] the tells me yes Jesus Loves [Music] Me Jesus loves me yes Jesus loves me the tells me the Bible tells me so [Music] what a simple and profound truth that is we can always run to

Jesus Jesus loves me and I know it he's told me it's true and so it is [Music] Deliver us from evil Lord we soldier in a broken world evil to warind us this is our home we look to you we look to you sere king of all the Earth we look to you we to you in your strength we will Deliver Us Lord our hearts so great Temptation crouching at the door to turn us from the nrow way we look to you we look to you Christ the Conquering son God we look to you we Look to You Lord complete what you Lord complete what you [Music] [Laughter] Deliver Us from Evil Lord the devil seeking [Music] to with trembling Hearts we hear his Roar but your strong arm will crush his power we look to you we Look to You Lord we re we look to you we Look to You Lord Deliver us we pray we look to you we look to you will come again to R we look to you we look to you all the Earth will bow in Praise Deliver us from evil Lord we soier in a broken World evil hands give rise to war remind us this is not our home we look to you we look to you sere king of all the Earth we look to you we look to you in your strength we will end [Music] end Lord help us to look to you help us to run to you as our Strong Tower as our defense against the darkness Lord remind us that this is not our home remind us to lift our eyes to

Remember remember that you are for us Lord I pray that you would just continually remind us of who you are because Lord we so easily forget it's in Jesus name we pray amen well if you have your Bible and I hope that you do please turn with me to Mark chapter 6 we're going to be in verses 45 through 52 today we're talking about the care of the Lord Jesus that he has for us we're going to see this play out in one primary way today one thing when I say if I have if you have your Bible and I hope that you do I do mean that by the way you know it's always a physical copy of God's word is always going to be more Superior than a phone okay I see my techie friends over there I love you friend I love you man but the thing is that we get we do have distractions when we're looking at our phone you ever seen a notification in the middle of service and you go I've been there too all right but that's one of the purposes behind having a physical copy of God's word is it helps us to be able to Mark it up to navigate it easily not have distractions and things like that and if you don't have your own copy take one from one of the chairs around you that's yours now you get to use it right write in it Mark in it highlight stuff it's yours so today if we are we are looking at Mark 6 verses 45-52 we are looking at Jesus Christ walking on the waters this is another one of his more famous Miracles that he performed we looked at one last week remember that the 12 they are in the boat and let's just be honest the people had certain expectations of what the Messiah was going to be like men like Simon they would have been all for overthrowing Rome right he was a zealot which means that he was all about the politics and it's election year so

This Rings true for many of us in this room amen you know you guys are like yeah let's talk about it Pastor we're not going there okay you know some people they want Rome gone okay like Simon did he would have been a okay with just leading the Revolt leading the church and setting up King Jesus as their new King Jerusalem some of those guys they were fishermen they were just excited to have Jesus around because you know what Jesus could tell them exactly where they need to cast their Nets and you know what they get good Halls all the time they wouldn't even have to work very hard they could just say where do we go Jesus go over there and then they're they're good for the next month they could they could pad their pockets maybe but there was one massive problem with people's desires of Jesus being the Messiah on their terms is that Jesus wasn't interested in that Jesus wasn't willing for that to happen Jesus didn't desire for it to happen so it didn't happen and eventually as we're going going to see the crowds eventually would reject Jesus because he didn't meet their expectations in John chapter 6 this is right after what we're going to read about today this is right after the feeding of the 5,000 and this is the peak of Jesus's popularity and there's thousands of people clamoring for him please Jesus establish your kingdom here please Jesus Deliver Us from these evil and wicked Gentiles please Jesus do what the Old Testament says that you're going to do and reestablish the Throne of David and here is what Jesus said in John chapter 6 when many of disciple of his disciples heard it they said this is a hard saying who can listen to it talking about eating his flesh and drinking his blood but Jesus knowing in himself that the disciples were grumbling about this he said to them do you take offense at

This then what if you were to see the son of man ascending to where he was before it is the spirit who gives life the flesh is no help at all the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life but there are some of you who do not believe for Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe and who it was who would betray him and he said this is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the father after this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him so Jesus said to the twel do you want to go away as well Simon Peter answered Simon Peter answered him Lord to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life and we have believed and we have come to know that you are the Holy One Of God Jesus Jesus answered them did I not Choose You the 12 and yet one of you is devil heavy words what got Peter to that point of believing that Jesus Christ is the Holy One Of God we're going to see that today but despite Christ knowing the people's hearts and what they would do even if he didn't go along with their desires Jesus was much more concerned about the father and his plan and today we're going to learn about this and how we can apply these truths to our lives so if you would stand with me in honor of God's word as we read Mark 6: 45-52 God's word says this immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side to Betha while he dismissed the crowd and after he had taken leave of them he went up on the mountain to pray and when evening came the boat was out on the sea and he was alone on the land and he saw that they were making Headway painfully for the wind was against them

And about the Fourth Watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea he meant to pass by them but when he saw when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost and cried out for they all saw him and were terrified but immediately he spoke to them and said take heart it is I do not be afraid and he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased and they were utterly astounded for they did not understand about the loaves but their hearts were hardened so Lord today we do thank you for this word that we were able to read and I pray that we would rightly divide it and understand it and apply it to our lives we pray that we would be found faithful in the midst of everything that is going on in our world we just pray that Christians above all would be people fil filled with hope and peace and joy that only comes from a right relationship with God in Christ I pray for every person that's in here Lord we want to lift up to you many of the people that we know and that we love we want to pray for Danny Johnson and Vern and we pray for treatments there we want to lift up to you Kathy and her healing from her back we want to lift up to Rita and her healing from her surgery Lord and for the many people that are on our own personal prayer list that we want to see come to know you and grow in their Walk with You Lord I just pray that would happen Lord that they would be radically transformed by the truth of the Gospel and Lord help us to share about that hope thank you that for those of us that are Christians in this room that we have come to know and believe that you are the Son of God and I pray that by the end of this sermon Lord that there might be some people here that come to know that as well we give you this time use my words and help me Lord in Jesus name

Amen y'all can be seated after this passage it takes place immediately after that evening after Jesus had fed the 5,000 people actually it wasn't 5,000 people it was more like 15,000 if we take a look at the Book of Matthew that's what it says it includes the women and the children and or excludes and Jesus what happens is everyone's in this uproar they are ready according to John chapter 6 they are ready to crown him as King march him down to Jerusalem and say this is King Jesus bow the knee and instead of Jesus being all for that he hurriedly made makes the disciples leave the area and why is that it's because of political fervor after the first presidential debate that's what everyone's talking about right we're all looking at the highlights or the low lights depending on which side of the aisle you're on and you feel it everyone's asking what's going to happen with the Democrats everyone's asking what's going to happen with Trump everyone's asking all these who's this VP gonna be Supreme Court has made several massive rulings this week too haven't they you know some things that are going to be crazy and Earth shattering what's going to happen with all those three-letter agencies guess we'll find out and there's a lot of people talking about government and politics and policies people people don't change do they that's comforting but the people wanted a king in Jerusalem and they wanted to usher in a Messianic rule of their own design and apparently Jesus had a hard time getting the 12 to leave the wording here when it says that he made his disciples that is forceful it's an imperative it's a demand not a request if I am your Rabbi you 12 men you will get into this and leave and so he forcefully sends his

Disciples away in order to protect them from the political fervor that's going on around them that word is anago which means to force or to insist in other words the 12 didn't have a choice in the matter they had to go and then Jesus he turns to the crowd and he insists on their departure as well you guys disperse you guys go to your own towns find places to sleep go somewhere warm and safe and they just as unwillingly as the disciples they leave why because it's getting dark the Sun is setting and so this leads to a very practical point for us is that Jesus doesn't allow what's popular in the moment to get in the way of the father's plan he's not interested in an Earthly Kingdom he is looking to establish an eternal Kingdom through the blood that he is going to shed on the cross for the remission of sins so that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved that's the father's plan during Christ's first Advent he is here to prove himself as Savior and yes he is going to be that sacrificial substitutionary atonement for our sins at the beginning of Jesus's Ministry Satan His Last Temptation was to try to get Jesus to Bow Down and Worship Him and then Satan would give him all the kingdoms of the world no cross no rejection just go along and everything will be fine problem is that would circumvent God's plan that wasn't God's plan according to John chapter 6 remember this context in verse 38 for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me that's Jesus's entire purpose and people they wanted Jesus as their King and for us in the 21st century as Christians we'd be really excited if everyone said that we would be tickled to death we would be we would we would Proclaim Revival in this nation

Wouldn't that have been the most unifying and wonderful thing that in the vast majority of people's eyes at that time and yet that's not what moves the Heart of Jesus Jesus is concerned primarily about what the father's will is and so he presents himself as Savior yes he is King yet his kingdom is also not of this world Jesus was focused on their spiritual needs and so Jesus he sent everyone away and he himself withdrew to pray Jesus he was a man of prayer and three times do we see him withdrawing Into the Wilderness to pray the first time is when he was selecting the 12 another time is when he's in the Garden of Gethsemane both of those are times when he's before the father and then we see him here withdrawing onto the mountain to pray everyone misunderstood Jesus's purpose and mission for over a year Jesus had been ministering at this time and yet for all intents and purposes it's like little progress had been made when dealing with the hearts of people sure there's massive crowds but many of them are about to leave and it could have been this time in prayer where Christ he reaffirms his calling from the father to be the sacrificial lamb George Adam Smith he was a an Old Testament scholar who once climbed the WIS horn this is called a white cap Mountain this is in the Swiss Alps and that is a let me get this number I think 14780 feet of elevation it's a big Mount beautiful there and he went on the sheltered side on the back end to go and Ascend the summit and as he's getting closer and closer there's this there's just this blustery wind that's just coming at him and close to Knocking him off but he was he was just a few feet away from the summit and so in his

Excitement he ascends very quickly and he's standing on top it then this gust of wind comes and it blows him and he almost falls off the summit of the mountain but his guide grabs him and pulls him down on his knees and he says on your knees the safest place to be the only safe place for you to be is on your knees and for the Christian that it holds true for us as well when we are interceding before the father and we are coming to him and asking for his Blessing his direction we're repenting and things like that we approach him in an air of humility and even though Jesus was one with the father he still continued in a constant state of prayer when a crisis would crop up just like this one he withdrew to be with the Lord but did you know that's the position also of Christ right now this isn't just an example this is what he lives to do let's look at what Scripture says in 1 Timothy Chapter 2 verse5 it says for there is one God and there is one mediator between God and Men the man Christ Jesus what does that mean it means that he is mediating between the father and us right now Jesus he was looking from the mountain and he saw those Apostles pushing hard Against the Wind they were fruitlessly rowing for hours and hours they were in the middle of the windy sea and what is the Lord doing he is praying before the father let's go to Romans chapter 8:34 it says Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that who was raised who is at the right hand of God who indeed is interceding for us that means that the Lord is Before the Throne of the father right now interceding for you and I and what great peace there is for the believer to know that there is an advocate Before the Throne of Glory who is interceding for you and I right now oftentimes we're

Prayerless oftentimes we're hopeless often times we're we're hard-headed or hard-hearted but we have an advocate before the father who is interceding for us amen if we look here in Hebrews 7: 23- 2 it says the former priests were many in number because they were prevented by Death from continuing in office but he talking about Jesus holds his priest prood permanently because he continues forever consequently he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them and he is doing that for us right now and so just as Jesus saw those Apostles struggling across the lake and we should probably take a moment and ask a question how remember it's what Fourth Watch of night it's pretty dark especially in the ancient world how did Jesus see them when he's up on a mountain and they're miles away on a lake this is a demonstration possibly of his omniscience or even his Supernatural sight either way it says that he saw the boat for a long way he saw the disciples struggling he saw the boat being beaten by the waves according to the Book of Matthew this was not a storm like what we saw in chapter 4 okay it's not raining it's not these gigantic Gales okay it's strong headwinds and the disciples are struggling for hours and hours and hours this is a long slow trudging stagnant progress you ever feel like that in your walk with the Lord sometimes where everything is just at a standstill the this picture of Christ praying on the mount is exactly what Christ does for us in heaven right now he makes intercession for us he sees us he mediates for us he understands where we're at and he is full of compassion for us and he loves us which leads us to this point as well is that

Jesus he intercedes for us in prayer before the father for our needs as he watches us Jesus he's praying before the father we don't know exactly what he was praying for but we do know that he was praying with his face toward the father but with his eyes toward the disciples he sees us he cares for us he knows what our needs are he sees our struggles he sees our hardships our pain and that in verse 48 it says they were making Headway painfully in the Greek that's most often translated that word painfully as torment you got any anyone that likes to run in here anybody like to run okay yeah there's very few of you guys and you know why it's because it's torment right I used to I used to play a lot of soccer in high school and college and it's much easier running after a ball than just running you know what I'm talking about right it's a it's a lot easier there's a goal in mind a trick that I learned is that if you're just running long distances if you keep a goal in mind that's achievable that's a little closer than just running three four miles or something like that but you know you know every every 300 yards you're like okay I'm going to going to run there going to run there and you get there oh okay I did that find another goal you get there you get there either way it helps with the torment but you know what these guys they didn't have any other goal but to get across the lake and it was torment but remember who sent them into the lake who told them to cross the lake who forced them to go it was Jesus and as a follower of Christ you might feel stuck you might feel like you're in a spiritual rut or struggling against the headwinds of life it can be extremely painful will you be like the disciples who struggled Against the Wind or will you go with the

Wind why should you be like the disciples well it's because of what the word of God says when the word of God is very clear about something we should be willing to be obey o obedient and follow what his word says and this event it's actually a beautiful and accurate portrayal of discipleship because discipleship it doesn't just go in fits and starts it's not discipleship it doesn't work like that it's just constantly growing in our relationship with the Lord obeying continuing to go and it's not done in our own power those guys they were struggling for hours upwards of eight hours they're rowing a boat if you've ever rode a boat you know that's hard work that's tough how far could the disciples make it in their own strength well out into the middle and that's about as far as they could go it takes the power of God to walk the path of discipleship he told them to go and they went and it's through their obedience that they find themselves frustrated and tormented because God's plan was to cause the strong winds to blow against their progress and imagine what disobedience would have gotten them what would Disobedience have gotten them would have gotten them onto the shore maybe a little faster maybe they wouldn't have crossed the lake but they could have gotten to the lake they maybe could have had a nice shelter to sleep in they probably would have been dry we should be wary of taking the path of least resistance but not only that it seems to the disciples that Jesus is also distant they're alone they're struggling Against the Wind they're rowing they're exhausting ing themselves with all of their efforts but yet they continue on and this is a marathon for them it's just like discipleship obedience LED Martin Luther to being persecuted and

Declared a her heretic sparking the Protestant Reformation obedience LED Dietrich Bon hoofer to be politically persecuted and killed by Nazi Germany obedience LED Fatima and Goku to share the Gospel with her Village to be beaten and to return again after recovering from her wounds only to be killed when we are concerned with pleasing the Lord guess what happens is that we become more vulnerable to trials that people that aren't trying to walk with the Lord won't ever experience and we may think that God doesn't see our trials and our tears we may feel as though God is somehow indifferent or that Jesus is more preoccupied with someone else's problems but this passage blows that philosophy out of the water that Christian if you were stuck and you were facing the headwinds that you should know that there is great comfort in Christ because he is omnicient because he cares deeply about you and that he will come to us in verse 48 it says about the Fourth Watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea now the disciples they had cast off before Sundown and here it is Fourth Watch of the night in the Roman World there were four watches in the Jewish World there were three watches and this Fourth Watch remember that John Mark he is writing to the Romans to make it make sense for them this is sometime between the hours of 3:00 a. And 5: a. And the Bible it says that he meant to pass by them okay and so what does this mean does this mean that Jesus didn't do what he had intended no it's not like he was caught red-handed okay trying to sneak across the lake or anything like that this is what's called a theophany a theophany is a u demonstration a revealing of God's character it's a fancy word to mean an appearance of God Almighty and so this is the glory of God Almighty demonstrating itself through the humanity of Jesus and this is a

Beautiful display of the power that was revealed to the disciples in the midst of all their torment it was in that pain it was in that Agony of pushing against the wind for eight hour hours that they looked up and they saw the glory of God passing by and Christian you might be in those seasons of The Dark Nights you might be battling health issues you might be dealing with wandering children you might just feel spiritually stuck you might be dealing with all of those different things but take heart because it's in those dark nights that Christ most truly reveals himself to us as sufficient and Powerful for us and so what does it mean that he was about to pass by remember the context we were talking about the Jewish people and the Jewish culture and when they see this and when we think about this term passed by it's not foreign it's revelatory in the book of Exodus chapter 33 we see this phrase pop up directly especially in the Greek Septuagint and he said I will make all my goodness pass before you that's a same phrase in Mark okay it's just simply pass by in the Greek and we'll Proclaim before you my name the Lord and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will show Mercy on whom I will show Mercy but he said you cannot see my face for man shall not see me and live and the Lord said behold there is a place by me where you shall stand on the Rock and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleff of The Rock and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by then I will take away my hand and you shall see my back but my face shall not be seen this is a revelation of God's character and he is teaching something by passing by and what is that what did he revealed he revealed his name he revealed his grace he revealed his Holiness to Moses and it was recorded for our benefit we see it again in First Kings 19: 11-13 and he said go

Out and stand on the mount before the Lord and behold the Lord passed by and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces The Rock The Rocks before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind and after the wind an earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake of fire but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire the sound of a low whisper and when Elijah heard it he wrapped his face in his cloak and he went out and he stood at the entrance of the cave and behold there came a voice to him and said what are you doing here Elijah what was God revealing there he was revealing his love was revealing his power revealing his concern and the gentleness of God Almighty but arguably one of the most important passages to remember is found in Job chapter 9 verse verses 2 through 11 says then job answered and said truly I know that it is so but how can a man be in the right before God if one wished to contend with him one could answer him once a thou in a thousand times one could not answer him once in a thousand times he is wise in heart and mighty in strength who has hardened himself against him and succeeded he who removes mountains and they know it not when he overturns them in his anger who shakes the Earth out of its place and its pillars tremble who commands the sun and it does not rise who seals up the stars who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea that's a key part right there who made the bear and Orion and the pleades and the chambers of the South who does great things Beyond searching out and marvelous things Beyond number behold he passes by me that same exact phrase that the translators used in the Greek and I see him not he moves on but I do not

Perceive him this is God alone who walks on the waves the one who passes by and Reveals His glory to Those whom he will that word Treads the waves in the Septuagint is the exact same phrase that we find here about Jesus walking on the water amen only God can do these amazing and wonderful things and this just proves how far remove God is from Humanity in his divinity and yet in Jesus Christ he comes down to us this wonderful God condescends to our level he takes on a human nature and a human form he makes himself like us the one who does all these things that makes the Earth tremble and the mountains Rend apart and he counts all the stars in the sky he puts them there and he does all of these things his wisdom is greater than the collective wisdom of all humans for all history multiplied to the nth degree and he walks on the waters and so Jesus he passes by walking on the waters and he is revealing this mystery of who he is he is Jesus Christ the son of God and he is showing his divinity for the purpose of being seen so that his disciples would understand who he is we read at the end of the passage is that they didn't understand about the loaves but their hearts were hardened why because they didn't understand and so what this is doing is it's softening the disciples Hearts so that way they would understand that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and we might look at verse 49 and say that they thought that was a ghost that word as ghost there is as fantasmo it's literally fantasm ghost you can't get around it Phantom okay and that's just what they thought in Matthew's Gospel at this point we see that Peter he walks out on the water here and you might go well why isn't that included here in Mark well remember that Mark he's he's talking to Peter at this point he's transcribing this

Testimony from Peter himself for the Romans and instead of him bringing attention to himself he just doesn't bring it up this is just a sign of humility from Peter to not take away the glory of Jesus Christ in this situation but this wasn't just something that Peter saw this is what the Bible says that they all saw him and they were terrified and Jesus he speaks to them immediately and he says take heart it is I do not be afraid remember that God Alone can walk on the water and Jesus is walking where only God can walk in the Book of John there are seven statements and each time that Jesus would use an am statement it would make someone irritated okay I mean it might have been a crowd that got angry at Jesus it may have been a person either way people were always irritated when he would say ego which is I am in the Greek this is what Jesus said for the Jews who tried to kill him on several occasions before Abraham was I am and they take up the stones to kill him because he is revealing himself as God Almighty the Bible says that he got in the boat with them in that phrase here in Mark chapter 50 he says take heart egoy take heart I am he is telling them I am the God who walks on the waves put aside that hard-heartedness and believe what I've done God is in their midst in this name it points to the self-revelation that Jesus he gives us courage and he instructs us to not be afraid and he gets into the boat with them and the wind it ceases and they were utterly astounded because they didn't understand about the loaves their hearts were hardened but what about now what about now seeing Jesus walk on the waves well they're realizing that Jesus

Isn't just the Messiah in the parallel passage in Matthew chapter 14 right after this it says and when he got into the boat the wind ceased and those in the boat work worshiped him saying truly you are the Son of God because Jesus intercedes for us from on high before the throne of grace because he sees us in our trials and our afflictions even when we are facing the headwinds that fight against our progress in Christ it's in those dark nights it's in those long tired times of discipleship that Jesus most clearly demonstrates his character and he brings us greater understanding of who he is and he declares I am God Almighty the Savior and Lord of all that would come to him and if you think that you can't come to him then I got some good news for you is that he comes to you just as you are no one will be saved simply by seeing Miracles the Five Loaves and the two fish prove that the countless Miracles that he had performed at up until that point people people they need to see the goodness and the glory of Jesus Christ as fully man and fully God they need to see Jesus clearly revealed as the compassionate God man the disciples they get down as a result of this Revelation and they worship God the crowds they may have been excited to see Jesus but it's the disciples that worshiped and they see him finally a little bit more clearly than they ever had my prayer is that you see Jesus clearly perhaps you're in the dark night of endurance maybe you're just going along in the direction that the Lord has put you be encouraged Jesus he comes to us and he strengthens us the Scriptures say in John 6:21 then they were glad to take him into the boat and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going from the middle of the lake immediately to the coast

That's just like a subtitle right but that's another miracle from God we may struggle in our own strength but in Christ we get where he wants us to go in his timing and my prayer for you is that your heart wouldn't be hard but that you would seek the Lord in his power and His glory as the disciples did on that dark night head heartand head God wants you to know that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man he perfect in every way from the divine nature to the perfect sinless human heart God wants you to believe that Christ has all power to work in our lives to help us gain a greater understanding of who he is okay our hearts my prayer is that your heart may not be darkened or slow to believe especially when we see Jesus Christ at work he wants you to know that he has all power and so we look to Christ The Sovereign king of all the Earth hand God wants you to continue in this power to be of good courage to not be afraid and to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and if you've never known Jesus as Savior and Lord today can be that day where you get to know him you say you know what I'm done fighting against Jesus I know that I need Jesus and I want him today and if that's you can talk to someone that brought you can talk to me don't leave this place without knowing that you know that you know Jesus as your Savior let's all stand let's pray together and then we'll respond in worship so God we do thank you for this time I pray that we would more clearly understand who you are and what you've done for us thank you for this a glimpse into you revealing more and more of yourself to the disciples and we pray that you would reveal more and more of yourself to us as well we depend on you we trust you and when we are going in our own strength God help us to cry out to you in our

Need and in our desperation Lord that we might see you clearly work in our lives we submit ourselves to you God and if there's anyone here that they need to they need to be saved I pray that they would just come and talk and after the song during song whenever Lord whenever they need to talk to a friend or a neighbor Lord I just pray that's what would happen right now we love you we submit ourselves to you in Jesus name amen Deliver us from evil Lord we so Jour in a broken World though evil hands G give rise to war remind us this is not our [Music] home we look to you we look to you Sovereign king of all the Earth we look to you we look to you in your strength we will endure in your strength we will endure Deliver us from evil Lord our hearts so quickly run astray Temptation crouching at the door to turn us from the narrow way we look to you we look to you Christ the Conquering Son of God we look to you we look to you Lord complete what you've begun Lord complete what you deliv us from evil Lord the devil seeking to [Music] with trembling Hearts we hear his [Music] Roar but your strong arm will crush his power we look to you we look to you come and end his Earthly rain we look to you we Look to You Lord Deliver us we pray we look to you we look to you will come again to rain we look to you we look to you all the Earth will bow in Praise prise so Lord we do thank you for this time that we have together we just pray that your spirit would fall on us fresh and

New thank you for your work that you're doing and help us to gain a greater understanding of who you are be with us as we go now as your ambassadors to a world that needs to desperately see the hope of Christ within us and I just pray that we'd be great Representatives bless us this week until we all return again Lord If It Be Your Will we pray that you would return quickly and we just look forward to that time when you do establish Your Kingdom Here help us Lord in Jesus name amen we do have our benevolence offering so don't forget that otherwise go in peace I love you Church e r yeah can't to see you again e this sat I [Music] Rel