Because, Lord, thank you for the opportunity to study your word this morning. Open our hearts and our minds to what you have to say, through your word, what you've said to generation after generation of Christians and folks who are seeking your will in their lives and seeking you. We ask you, Lord, to open it up to us in a way that makes you so real in our lives that we can't do anything but follow you. We thank you now for Dr. Mark Strauss as he leads us in this terrific study. We ask a blessing on his efforts this morning and on the efforts of each of us. We thank you for our church, for the church at Ranch Bernardar, who makes all of this possible in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks, Dennis. Good morning. Hope you had a good week. This morning, we're moving on in Luke's gospel. And in this week, we face a storm in Luke's gospel. These Jesus' disciples face a storm and most all of us face light storms, whether they're little storms or sometimes very big storms. I actually had a little storm last night in my life, metaphorically speaking. I was speaking at a college retreat this week and up at Big Bear, a college group and was coming down last night to be here for the Cove and started down from Big Bear and about five, maybe ten miles out of Big Bear. I'm driving along on those mountain roads. I come around a corner and there's what I thought was a chunk of snow in the road. It turned out not to be a chunk of snow. I didn't swear about it away because I thought it was snow and not a rock. Instead, it was a rock about this big and I hammered it and it really jared the car. But then I kept going and didn't seem to be a problem but within about two miles, I went flat and I'm riding on the rims and I'm thinking this windy dark road, I'm going to have to pull over. There's no turnout right there. How am I going to change this tire in the dark and suddenly I came to snow valley, just turned the corner and there was snow valley, the lower snow area in this huge parking lot with bright lights. I pulled into the parking lot and changed the tire in about ten minutes. I was on my way. I was praying all the way in the Lord was faithful to answer that prayer immediately. Little storms, little things, little crises, little little crises this morning electronically. We worked that one out, but of course there's also big storms in our lives, right? Major issues, major traumatic events, probably in my life, one of the greatest storms we as a family faced was in 1989. My wife and I were studying in Aberdeen, Scotland. I was doing my doctoral work and we were on our own and isolated and poor and I was struggling with my studies and in the midst of all of that, a real time of challenge for us, we got a call from home. It was my parents calling from home, told us that my father had terminal cancer and was not expected to live more than a few years. We hung up the phone and I was numb and then later that evening I just broke in the tears. I don't think my wife had ever see me cry until that point and it was just overwhelming. The question that kept coming into my life was why? You ever ask that question of God? Why? My dad was 56 years old at the time, just a young man gets younger every year as I approach that milestone myself and I just said, why would you bring this difficulty into my life and for all of us we have challenges. How do we face the storms that come into our life? As we look at this passage in Luke's Gospel we can learn some powerful lessons on how we can face the storms. The disciples faced a test of their faith. If you have your Bibles, of course, turn to Luke chapter 8 and let's start into this passage Luke chapter 8. The setting is what we call the Sea of Galilee in Luke chapter 8 verse 22, it says, one day Jesus said to his disciples, let us go over to the other side of the lake. So they got into a boat and set out. This is, of course, we've talked about this quite a lot. This is, we call it the Sea of Galilee but it really is more a lake, it's a fairly large lake I suppose by some lake standards, it's 13 miles long, by about 8 miles wide, here's a little trivia. You may not know, the Sea of Galilee is actually the lowest freshwater lake in the world. It's 209 meters below sea level. The lowest lake in the world is the Dead Sea, just south of there which is much even lower than that. Lake, this is the lowest freshwater lake in the world. If you go to Israel and you all have to go to Israel, if you haven't already been, of course you have to take a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee or to swim in the Sea of Galilee. I know someone has a T-shirt that says, I swam or Jesus walked, I thought that was rather clever. But it's sort of like you go to Egypt, you go to the Pyramids, you go to Israel, you got to go out on the Sea of Galilee, go out on the boat, a boat, there's one of those tour boats and they take you out there and we were out there a few years ago and they have a worship service. It's a wonderful, it's just a wonderful, peaceful lake, of course it probably didn't at the boat there and probably looked something like that. Instead, they've discovered a fishing boat from the first century and it looks something like that. It's an incredibly peaceful lake and on the early morning when you're out there in the worship, you just look at this and you think there's no way there could be a storm on this lake. It's just such a nice, peaceful and tranquil situation but the Sea of Galilee has mountains around it and as the cool air from the mountains comes down and the warm air comes up from the sea or from the lake, it can have violent storms on the lake and that's exactly what happens. The next verse, it says, as they sailed, he, that is Jesus fell asleep and a squaw came down on the lake so that the boat was being swamped and they were in great danger. So it looks very deceiving, the calmness because a sudden storm can come down on the lake, waves can come up and boats can be swamped and lost. I mean, read for you the rest of the account and then we'll go on. The disciples went and woke him saying, master, master, we're going to drown. He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters. The storm subsided and all was calm. Where is your faith, he asked his disciples, in fear and amazement, they ask one another. Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water and they obey him. I read this account and I thought, what's has been every time in your life when you have feared for your life when you have faced imminent danger. I was trying to think of times a few years ago, my son and I, I took my son on a mission's trip. We went to Malawi where we ministered to pastors and the group as a whole arrived earlier than we did and they went off on a little tour trip over to Lake Malawi, a massive lake in the African country of Malawi. My son and I didn't get to go to Lake Malawi so later on between two conferences that we were giving. He and I went with a guide, one of the people from the place where we were ministering and went over to Lake Malawi and we had a great time, beautiful setting over there and we went into the water. There was this great big rock out away from the coast and Daniel, my son, he was 11 at the time so we were swimming out there and he was getting tired so he came in and sat with the guide up on the beach. I decided to go off the rock and I saw some people jumping in the water off the rock. So I decided to jump off the rock into the water and because others were doing it so I went and I jumped into the water and it was really fun so I swam around and did it again and then I jumped in the water and I began to work my way around the rock and I realized with the wave coming in I couldn't make my way around the rock and if you have had a situation where at first you go hmm and then you go hmm and then you go I think I'm in trouble and so I'm swimming as hard and I'm not a bad swim I'm swimming as hard and I can't get around this edge and the waves are coming in and the rock is shaped in such a way that I'm trapped in there and I realized the water is fairly loud, I can't yell, they're way up on the beach so they can't hear me and I'm thinking and so they get this vision, I'm in Malawi, I'm about to die and my 11 year old son is up, what is he, you know, and I'm beginning at this point and I felt almost foolish because here I'm so close to shore in one sense and it seems like it would be so easy to swim around the rock I simply can't get around, get around the rock and so I'm beginning to panic and I'm thinking I might drown right here by this and suddenly this German tourist comes around the bend and he's swimming along and and I yelled at him I say I think I'm in trouble I say I need some help and he tells him he says stand up and I said what and he said stand up there's a sand bar right underneath you and I didn't realize because I had never seen it where I saw I go and I you know I put my feet down and right here I touched and I walk around the rock and so one of the more foolish moments in my life because I was I but from my perspective I was very close to death and here are the disciples right the disciples from their perspective I mean we don't know how big this storm was from their perspective they were about to get swamped in this and look at how the account ends what they say when Jesus stands up and rebukes the wind in the way that they say who is this he commands even the winds and the water and they obey him this is the crucial statement and we're going to zero in if you if you look at the takeaways this is the crucial statement in this passage because it's such a key theme in Luke's gospel really the real question in terms of who in terms of Jesus Christ is who is this and again and again in Luke's gospel this theme comes up as people see what Jesus says they see what he does and they raise the great question who is this and as we face life's challenges as we look face life's storms the key question we need to ask is who is Jesus because the answers to that question will give us the faith will give us the ability to face life's challenges I just want to show you this in Luke's gospel we always have time to sort of follow these key themes through Luke's gospel earlier in Luke's gospel Luke chapter five remember the account when when the paralyzed man is let down through the roof and we expect Jesus to heal him at the moment instead instead Jesus says your sins are forgiven and the religious leaders the first thing they say is who is this what they really mean is who does this guy think he is but who is this he even forgives sins he claims to forgive sins they accuse him of blasphemy the disciples ask in this account who is this he commands even the winds and the water and they obey him a little bit later in chapter nine we see King Herod here's about what Jesus is doing he hears about his healing he hears about all of these things that are going on now by this time he has executed John the Baptist he thought he got rid of the biggest risk to his to his rule and here along comes Jesus and this is what he says who then is this and so that question keeps echoing again who is this who is this who is this who is this guy who claim makes such amazing claims who heals the sick who raises the dead and then finally sort of the the initial climax will get to this initial climax in Luke's gospel Jesus says who is this right Jesus turns to his disciples and he says who do the crowds say that I am and that sets up then Peter's great confession you are the Christ you are the Messiah which becomes the the initial climax in the in the self revelation of who Jesus is so that's the question we're going to look at this morning who is this and I think this episode more than almost any other demonstrates the two key characteristics of who Jesus is that are essential for our salvation that are essential for as we face life's challenges so here's the key question in this passage is who is this and what does it matter to me how does the identity of Jesus Christ enable us to face life's greatest challenges all right so let's turn back to the story Jesus is on the lake and a storm begins and the disciples just like me in that water they probably start kind of gradually no problem and then the waves start coming over over and suddenly they think they're going to die and so they cry out to Jesus what is Jesus doing at the time he's sleeping okay now think about this with me why is Jesus sleeping okay is this a test you know is this a test is he just he's faking really you know of course he's didn't need to sleep Jesus was God did he just need to sleep of course he need to sleep right sometimes we think you know we so focus on the deity of Christ we forget his true humanity right and so we read stories like this and we go you know Jesus is like this and he's peaking you know he wants to see how the disciples are going to are going to handle this like like my daughter when you know she'd be sleeping and we go Jamie's asleep and you know she's not because you get this little smile on the corner you know Jesus is half smile when you know she's so Jesus doing that is he faking is I don't think so why is Jesus sleeping I heard it earlier he's exhausted right he is exhausted he's tired he's had he's had incredibly incredibly powerful ministry constantly healing constantly teaching everyone pressing forward this this passage first of all teaches us that Jesus sleeps right what does that tell us about Jesus he's human and that's crucial because what we're going to see in this passage is the true humanity of Jesus beside the true deity of Jesus and those two things together that's crucial those two things together are what enable us to face slice greatest challenges the authentic humanity of Jesus and the true deity of Jesus so I'm going to raise a question I like to since you're my seminary students really you know you're at that level by now I like to raise challenging questions sort of I like to poke them with sticks that's kind of what I do I provoke them to try to get because I want them to think about things I think we as evangelical Christians I think most of us would call us that we really stress the deity of Christ and that's a good thing because Jesus is divine he's fully God we believe that the Bible teaches that and our theological opponents in certain religious groups deny that Muslims deny that for example Jehovah's Witnesses deny that that Jesus is truly God and so we spend a lot of our time especially if you're involved in apologetics the defense of the Christian faith we spend a lot of our time defending the deity of Christ but sometimes I think the result is that we deny either implicitly or almost explicitly we deny the humanity of Jesus when we say things like well Jesus couldn't have done that we couldn't have sined of course he couldn't have sinned because he was human he was fully divine or Jesus knew every language in the world so you know he's surely new new Chinese I mean and yet we don't think that Jesus was in his humanity he was fully human with all of the limitations of that humanity so here's my question that I challenge and poke my students with which is more important Jesus deity or his humanity okay now now you're going to say yeah you're going to say that's a trick question and then I just always answer all of my questions or trick questions that's the whole point I want you to think through this this issue yes I see a hand in the back which is more important okay okay okay the second part of this is and why and they're perfect thank you yes I forgot no I forgot to put that part in you this you're exactly that's exactly you know an answer not the only answer we've got lots of good answers I'm sure but that's right in terms of us okay in terms of who Jesus is deity is pretty important I think his I think in terms of our salvation I would I would venture to say his humanity is more important than his deity because if he wasn't fully human he couldn't have died for us right he couldn't have died for us and if he couldn't have died for us we would be lost in our sins so from our perspective even though it's important I think for us to to work hard to defend the deity of Christ I think the humanity is even more important which is why I think when we ignore that side of who Jesus is we we really make a great error in terms of what we're teaching was there another hand did I I didn't want to miss another hand yes there I think so I think Christ was sinless because of his obedience that's a great point I don't think we and again we could debate that very question but I think Jesus was sinless because he lived fully in the power of the Holy Spirit because of his obedience yeah there wasn't another
yes yeah yeah absolutely and that's why it's a trick question because of course you you can't deny either one and and not get the power of Christ of Christ salvation yes that's a great question and you know that's when I'll throw up at you right that's that's one of my trick questions I could God have used another way right or here's a better here's another question or not a better one here's another question related that it could God have just forgiven us okay if God could do anything could he just have forgiven us instead of having Christ die on the cross okay okay okay okay his character I'm not repeating the questions I realize that with the comments his character required justice and I think that's exactly right is God is absolutely just and if he's absolutely just and then he must pay for sin I don't know if I've talked about this before in sometimes I now I repeat myself in certain issues but we had a Islamic apologist not he he was a former Muslim a Christian a former Muslim come to Bethel and he made a very profound statement about Islam as he was discussing one of the reasons he left Islam he said Islam says that Allah is completely just and also completely merciful and he says that's impossible you cannot be merciful and just if you're merciful you're going to forgive sins freely if you're just you're going to always punish correctly in other words you're going to always hold people accountable you cannot a per a God cannot be both perfectly merciful and perfectly just unless that God himself pays takes the punishment and that's that's the key that's the secret and there's where the humanity and deity of Jesus Christ come together yes okay well I think we're gonna I'm gonna show you some verses that I think he would have to be yeah yeah there were another hand over here yes you okay right okay right and in the Old Testament God always requires a sacrifice and that points to his justice that very point is he doesn't do just because he wants to or because he needs to he doesn't because he is absolutely just it's a part of his character trait that's a great point yeah okay absolutely sure it wouldn't that there wouldn't have been the value of it yeah that's good one more building okay okay okay there you go okay okay okay okay okay okay okay the question and and yeah okay he wrote the rules and so he limited himself I think is what they'll say okay this is a good question we'll take out this one in another time could he could God have devised another plan okay I'm afraid it's a great question it really is right I'm not gonna I'm not trying to silence the question one more okay I'm sorry Marilyn okay right okay yeah all other religions have have gods but this is the only religion where God becomes a human being truly truly relates to us okay I'm gonna move on so that we don't lose it you guys are too good this is we could have this this fun okay let me show you what the Bible says about Jesus humanity why do I favorite books I probably said this before letters is is Hebrews because Hebrews more than any book in the New Testament stresses the necessity of Jesus humanity here is Hebrews chapter two verse seven for this reason he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every way that is fully human in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and here it is and that he might make a tonement for the sins of the people you see Jesus became human became one of us in order to save us he experienced every weakness that human beings experience every sorrow every pain that we have and because of that he can sympathize with us he knows what we're going through and then ultimately he could make a tonement he could die for our sins remember kids always say the most interesting things and my kids were younger especially we always take time to tuck them in and pray with them in the evening and they say some of the most amazing things at that time of that I don't know what is about children's minds just before bed but my daughter when she was younger she's I was tucking her in and she asked me a really profound question she said dad in heaven will we have skin it's a question none of my students have ever asked me will we have skin and you know we will have a body right it'll be different than this body but in some sense that I have physicality you know you also wouldn't want your organs falling out all over the place so I said yeah I think we'll have sin and then then she moved on to a more profile a skin what I say since these these Freudian flips you know no sin just skin yeah I don't I don't know what our bodies are going to make but Jesus had skin right in his resurrection body so we will as well so totally lost lost on that one the next question she said or the next comment she said daddy she said I wish Jesus was a boy and I thought I wish that's you know that's an interesting interesting comment I wish and I answered with the traditional you know well Jesus loves boys and girls just the same that's right I said you see she had a pretty hard day with her brother that day who happens to be a boy by the way as most brothers are she was just hoping she was just hoping that Jesus would side with her on this one you know the boys against the girls and she was hoping that that and so she really wished that Jesus Jesus was a girl at that point and my answer you know Jesus loves boys and girls just but you know it's more it's deeper than that really isn't it not only does Jesus love boys and girls just the same but Jesus also has experienced in his humanity the fulfillment the totality of human experience I will never understand what it means to be a little girl growing up in America I'll never experience that I'll never know what it means truly to be an African-American growing up in America or an Asian in any place of the world I will never I cannot experience what others have experienced but Jesus in his humanity experienced fully our humanity so he can fully relate to all of us and I think that's the most profound thing I imagine about what the incarnation is is that Jesus Jesus experienced all our pain all our sorrow all our suffering here's Hebrews 415 for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but we have one who has been tempted in every way you see in every way just as we are yet was without sin Jesus experienced every sorrow I've never been betrayed by someone who I truly trusted really betrayed Jesus was betrayed by that I've never been deserted by my closest friends at my time of greatest trial but Jesus was deserted by disciples at his time of greatest trial never been beaten lash spit upon treated with that kind of contempt the Christians have been around the world and Jesus has experienced everything that we will ever experience in our humanity and and that's the power of the incarnation here's our takeaway our first takeaway who is this Jesus and how can he help us through life's challenges life storms our first takeaway is he is the one who cares for our needs Matt Mark's gospel has the same story but it's interesting because in Mark's gospel the disciples here here you can see it's implied they say master master we're going to drown what does that mean don't you care that we're going to drown in Mark it says that explicitly it says teach your don't you care that we drown do you ever ask that question God don't you care don't you see what I'm going through that's that's the question I was asking when my dad suffered and died from cancer God don't you see can't you do anything don't you don't you care that's what that's the question I think we have a tendency to ask when we face slice challenges when when my wife miscarried our first child and then had another miscarriage later on in our marriage when you know you say God why did why did you bring this suffering into our life it doesn't seem fair but to the answer the question don't you care this this story tells us what does Jesus do he gets up and he saves them so he does care the miracle when Jesus is awakened he got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters the storm subsided and all was calm Jesus gets up and I think this terminology is interesting he rebukes the storm now some people have said if you read back to the gospels he rebukes demons right so this idea of rebuking and some would say well that's sort of painting painting the storm as a demonic force but I don't really think that's the case here I think I think it's it's meant to be a a natural force a part of nature but what is the what does it mean what do you think why does is that language used he's he's simply rebukes he speaks in other words and the storm immediately subsides we've been talking as we gone through Luke's gospel the early chapters of Luke's gospel is Jesus casting out demons and healing the sick and forgiving sins what's the key word that all of these things are demonstrating what's authority right here's this key thing of authority Jesus demonstrated authority over sin in forgiving sins he's demonstrated authority over demons authority over disease now we get to the point where he demonstrates authority over nature itself right and who who can do that right you ever been in a situation I remember I was building this wall once on my side of my house and I desperately and the storm clouds moved in you know and I'm yelling no you know didn't help no matter how much I yelled I couldn't stop that right who controls the weather what do we call natural disasters in our insurance policy they call them acts of God right acts of God because there's a recognition that only God is the one who controls nature contrary to some George Bush did not cause Katrina okay as some have have seemed to have suggested human beings don't determine don't govern nature God alone governs nature and the Bible teaches that so sorry I want to show you some passages from the Psalms that just so relate directly to this passage here's Psalm 65 verses 5 through 7 you answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness oh God our Savior the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the far the seas who form the mountains by your power having armed yourself with strength who still the roaring of the seas the roaring of their waves and the turmoil of the nations who stills the seas God alone does here Psalm 89 9 you rule over the surging sea when its waves mount up you still them here Psalm 107 I love this one because it it almost describes the scene right here this is Psalms written hundreds of years before the coming of Christ others went out on the sea in ships for he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves they reeled and staggered like drunken men they were at their wit's end then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he brought them out of their distress he still the storm to a whisper the waves of the sea were hushed so here's the question from the Old Testament from the Psalms who comes who comes the roaring sea you know God does God alone does so Jesus stands up and he rebukes the wind of the waves and it's silent and his disciples go who is this right this guy's not from around here I don't think so we see not only the true humanity of Jesus but we see the true deity of Jesus in this passage I want you to turn over I wasn't going to do this you have time we have time turn over to Psalm chapter 95 Psalm 95 I love to preach this Psalm because it's a call to worship it's a call to God's people to Israel to worship why do we worship God why do we worship God we worship God for who he is and this song has two great calls to worship and each call to worship then tells us the reason that we should worship God the two great reasons we should worship God let me just read part part of the Psalm to us look at Psalm 95 verse one come let us sing for joy to the Lord let us shout aloud to the rock of our salvation let us come before him with thanksgiving and extoll him with music and song you see what that is that's a call to worship come let us worship God's people are called to worship look at the next verse why are we called to worship for the Lord is the great God the great king above all gods in his hand are the depths of the earth and the mountain peaks belong to him the sea is his for he made it and his hands form the dry land what do we worship God we worship God because he's God right because he's the king of all other so-called gods the Canaanites would say our God is the God of the mountains sorry God owns the mountains you see what it says the depths of the earth the mountain peaks belong to him sorry bail it's not yours it's God's right the Phoenicians would say our God is the God of the sea sorry God owns the sea too you see it right there and in his hands the sea is his it's it's God's he made it his hands form the dry land so we worship God because he is the sovereign Lord of the create of the word the universe the only one who is truly God that's the first call to worship look at the second call to worship verse six come let us bow down and worship let us kneel before the Lord our maker here's the reason for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture the flock under his care you see we talk about two key aspects of God's identity God's transcendence I'm going to throw two theological terms at you what does God's transcendence mean it means he is above all thing he is separate from his creation he is not one of us in that sense he is separate from his creation sometimes we think of the great division of reality is between a natural world and the supernatural world and that's not the biblical distinction of reality it's between God and everything else the creator of all things and everything else so so God is is the sovereign creator of the universe yet he is our God and we are the people of his pasture he cares for us transcendence we talk about as that God is his holy separate imminence though is the other word and that means God has become one of us he relates to us he cares for us the Lord is my shepherd ultimately care so this song just teach that here's the song that celebrates what this story celebrates that how can we know that that we can face every every one of life's storms because Jesus is fully divine Lord of all of creation he can speak and still the storm but he's also fully human he cares intimately enough to come and to suffer and die for us here's our next take or I'm sorry no the result the disciples Jesus first of all let's go back to Luke Jesus first of all rebukes the storm and then he rebukes the disciples for their lack of faith he says in verse 25 where is your faith and here what we see is that Jesus challenges the disciples to even greater faith here's another principle we learn here's our next takeaway right here who is this Jesus he's the one who challenged us to trust him even more deeply challenges us to even greater faith there's a great biblical principle here it occurs all through scripture I'm going to show you a few verses here and that is that the testing of our faith makes us stronger the testing of our faith produces maturity Christian maturity why does God allow these difficulties in our lives why does God allow these challenges he allows them to make us stronger read a great illustration of this and Max Lucada has a book called The Eye of the Storm and in this book he talks about the cosmonauts the Russian cosmonauts were breaking all kinds of records in space early on in length of time in space in 1982 they spent 211 days orbiting the earth but when they got back their bodies because they hadn't had any kind of physical exertion they were suffering from dizziness high pulse heart palpitations all kinds of problems they couldn't walk they said for about a week after they got back from these long periods in space so the Russians are trying to devise a way to resolve this and they develop what they call the penguin suit I looked us up on Google so it's true this is not just one of the stories and this penguin suit I had elastic bands all through them so every motion that they would make was a motion of exertion it would their body would have to press press again so I looked it up there it is right see it does exist that's the penguin suit worn by Soviet cosmonauts in December 1987 wearing the penguin suit they broke another record 326 days in space they got back to earth and there were no physical problems at all so what's the basic principle that Lucato is saying hey challenges trials make us stronger we need something to push against that's what tests our faith that's what makes us stronger a couch potato will never run a marathon right spiritual couch potatoes will never run spiritual marathon it's only when we have challenges to our faith when God tests us that we will grow stronger so here's a question for you a question of application that will take a moment and I'll ask for some response here how does this work in what ways do trials make a stronger Jesus obviously allowed this storm in the disciples life for a reason to challenge them faith their faith to make them stronger so they could face future challenges how does how to challenge is make us stronger what are some ways they do okay suffering builds endurance if you suffer in one sense the next time the challenge and comes along you're going to be stronger for it yes in the back say that again gives you wisdom okay wisdom because now you faced one challenge the next time a similar challenge comes along you've worked out a way to respond more educated very good yeah one over here and then we'll come yes more dependence on God learn to trust him more when there's nothing you can do to save yourself or to help yourself you say God I need you and he helps us and suddenly what does that do it strengthens our dependence probably in there okay okay exposes areas where you need to grow where you need to strengthen yes there's two there's a hand back here first she answered okay okay here's in this context certainly he's trying to grow their faith because they're going to need it as they face greater challenges I saw a few more hands yes okay that question came before the passage was even thought yeah what is Jesus expecting you know I mean Jesus helped us that's pretty good faith right turning to him to help and I think my answer was not a very good one probably my answer was that you've got to let the story tell in other words this is the the manner which the story is told it's calling the disciples to greater faith it's calling us to greater faith somehow the story is telling us that disciples were not expecting or trusting Jesus to save them they were not thinking in that in that way so I think you're right as with this these stories are told very concisely and almost you know two concisely in some ways and we say wait a minute what what else could they have have done but cried out but obviously they were crying out without faith that Jesus could save them yes yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah but do they not wake him up I guess is part of the question and I think I think probably what the answer from the storytelling perspective as they sort of should have said Jesus we need you save us from this and then that would have been that would have been the faith so evidently we're supposed to understand it is they're really not getting that they're not expecting him to have the power but yeah I love that you're asking those questions see because you're reading these stories and you're thinking about them and and how does this passage what does it teach us how does it apply yes I'm this the side of the room I ignore too often yeah yeah oh that's excellent that's excellent no one has mentioned that your suffering develops compassion for others boy that is so true isn't it when you have gone through about with cancer or have you suffered in some in some way the compassion you feel for others that's why so many people who who are breast cancer survivors or survivors of others start foundations because they want to help others so so we learn we learn about compassion good here are just a couple of verses to demonstrate this James chapter one is a great passage for this consider a pure joy my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance but perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything so there we have what the the trials for testing of your faith produces perseverance produce perseverance produces Christian maturity first Peter chapter one first Peter by the way is probably the letter in the New Testament that most deals with suffering and persecution of Christians the people that Peter is writing to are severely persecuted and suffering and every section in the in the letter addresses that issue these trials or testings have come so that your faith of greater worth and gold which parishes even though we're fine by fire may be proved genuine and may result in praise glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed there's the ultimate reason the testing of our faith shows that the faith is authentic that God is real as God brings us through those situations I was used to be on the board of the IBS the International Bible Society which both publishes the new international version but also does Bible translation all around the world and during my time with them this was just a few years ago in fact I just read this brought was brought to mind because I noticed this was the two-year anniversary of the martyrdom of Rami Ayah let me just read you the news story about this he was in Gaza in in Palestine a manager of Gaza's only Christian bookstore this found dead of multiple stab and gunshot wounds October 7th he was 26 years old he was kidnapped at 4.30 p.m. Saturday as he closed the teacher's bookshop which operated operated by the Palestinian Bible Society which was a wing of the International Bible Society the only Christian bookstore in Gaza no one has claimed responsibility the interior ministry of Hamas the ruling power in Gaza issued a statement condemning the murder on Friday October 5th I got noticed a car lacking license plates following him according to the Palestinian Bible Society press release on Saturday at 6 p.m. Iod phoned his wife that he had been kidnapped by a group of people right after he had closed the bookstore Iod told his wife that he would return late that evening they odd placed a second call with a similar message to someone else at that time a Bible Society official reported the incident to the police in Gaza City at 6.25 on October 7th his body was found there the bookshop signs of bullet and knife stabs could be clearly seen on his body Iod leaves behind two young children his pregnant wife Pauline Iod helped lead Gaza's Baptist churches a wana club and directed the churches summer school summer children's camp goes on to say he had been receiving some death threats and so forth and I read that and I thought you know there's there's one question where you say why God why did you bring this incredible here's here's a woman left with children without a husband a loss of a powerful witness in Gaza but as you read further you see what this has done to those few remaining Christians in the Gaza strip and how it's strengthened their faith and how this story has gone out and it is has powerfully affected the proclamation the gospel around the world and you know you you read these stories as we always read whenever we hear of a of a Christian martyrdom like this and and the first you say is why God and then in time you look back and you see that ultimately God's name is glorified even through circumstances like this here's one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible second Corinthians chapter 4 or 17 see us Lewis has a book and he caused the book the weight of glory the weight of glory and it is drawn from this passage he says for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all an eternal weight of glory notice what Paul here's the Apostle Paul think with me about the Apostle Paul here's a guy that knew what suffering was you know he'd go into a town preach the gospel get beat up or stone or last and then move on and do it again and this was his life a life of almost constant suffering and persecution and look at what he calls them light and momentary light and momentary it's like just you know just a flesh wound nothing you know nothing nothing significant Paul wait a minute Paul think about your life it's not light it's not momentary it's constant it's severe but he says are all compared to eternity compared to the eternal weight of glory our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us you see this life Paul says is just a testing ground a shaping field where we are we are being shaped for eternity as we learn what it means to trust in God to depend on him and there's the response and we'll close with this the response is the awe of the disciples and that question who who is this and who is this here's our final takeaway he is the sovereign lord of all of life's circumstances so that whatever whatever we're going through whatever challenges we face sure everyone in this room has certain challenges right now whether they're physical issues in your life or physical issues in the life of someone close to you whether they're financial challenges that you're facing whether it's relationship issues kids that maybe are not following the Lord or grandkids that aren't following the Lord or parents that aren't following the Lord all of us facing life's challenges and great powerful powerful passage to remind us that Jesus knows and cares because he's one of us because he became one of us and he's able to give us the power to persevere because he is ultimately the sovereign lord of the universe and that whatever happens in this life is just a shaping ground for life in eternity so great one great passage to teach us about who Jesus is and why we can trust him any other any questions we raise some great questions and we can get into some of that yes yes right right right so the peace that yeah God gives us that yeah that's another passage that's the one path that one of the past like jinnah put down that follows almost exactly that order that James does that that trials produce perseverance produce Christian maturity it's Romans chapter 5 great thank you yeah that's Romans 5 yeah it's Romans 5 3 not only so but we also glory in our suffering because we know that suffering produces perseverance perseverance character character hope and just a great great sequence yeah thank you for that yeah yes yeah yeah the question is we think of rebuke more as a moral thing you rebuke someone because of some moral failure and the word doesn't it's a rebuke means in this context it means a strong command and it's a statement of authority if you can rebuke someone you are in a position where you're able to to call them out if you will yeah that's a great question yeah okay that's a great statement is it is it a rhetorical question do they really realize they're the presence of God I don't know because you keep reading and they keep failing I mean they you know if they really realize maybe you can realize something with your head and not and not truly with your heart but I do think they are you know yeah yeah okay but then think think think about it if if I said I'm God by the way did you know that you know you'd go yeah right you know I mean it's easy for us looking back to say the disciples knew that God was in their presence but it's Jesus you know it's the rabbi it's a teacher that they're following to say that he's God that's a I think that came to them gradually probably post-resurrection the full understanding of Jesus data I don't think you know you don't just say some human being is God so I think they're going who is this he's acting with the authority of God who is this who could possibly act with God's authority so I think it is more than rhetorical though I understand I understand what you're saying yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah fear yeah yeah he scared me to death I mean think about you know I think we we don't we've heard these stories so much we don't really think about you know if it started the rain outside and one of you walked out and said stop and it stopped we go you know I don't think you know who who is that you know I think I hasn't visited our group before has it you know I think that's just a just you know all inspired shocking and unbelievable okay yes
phrase okay great great I have to repeat the story briefly it um for the tape and and that is that you were circling you were coming into to San Diego and that there was the storm was going on and you couldn't land and you were praying and suddenly that that captain came on and announced that the clouds had cleared now let me ask you a question after after right when he announced that how was your faith way stronger there's a great illustration of this this passage absolutely right the testing of our faith there was a test of your faith right there God my kids you know we can't go through this anymore please do something so he does wow God answers prayer why are we so shocked you know when God answers prayer yeah great thank you for that Maryland mm-hmm yeah yeah sure and that yeah oh go on finish your yes yeah yeah and I think that Jesus is called a prophet more interestingly in Luke's gospel than any other place but when people see someone acting with the authority of God the first thing they would think is just that is just prophet so I think probably when they're going who is this it's going to be a prophet that's we see that actually occurring several times in the gospels and then so I think it's a gradual recognition he's more than a prophet in fact that's a we'll get to that that's essential theme in Luke 24 when we finally get to the resurrection in Luke 24 the disciples on the road to Emmaus say he was a great prophet but what we thought he was going to be more you know and then it unfolds that he was in fact much more yeah one more we'll take one more in the back that's a that's a great point I think yeah and I and I think you know you hear too many stories where yes my prayer was anxious repair answer and what about I pray for my dad yeah I agree and that's a great qualification the qualifications that God doesn't always heal and the second qualification which is equally important is that we live in a fallen world and none of us are going to live for eternity in these bodies all all of us live in fallen bodies and unless Christ returns we're going to die of illness so every thing every answered prayer is a temporary reprieve if you will it's eternity we hope for and that is why that verse from Corinthians where Paul says all of these sufferings are creating an eternal weight of glory something that far surpasses them all our hope is not ultimately in physical salvation our hope is any eternal salvation so that's a that's a great qualification and so when you have a parent who suffers from Alzheimer you don't you don't you don't say if he doesn't get better I've lost my faith you say I just can't wait for the reunion you know when we when we come back together yeah that's a that's a great qualification time do we have time for a couple more yeah I guess we do
sure yeah oh that's good yeah yeah sometimes he heals us miraculously sometimes he through process the grace to handle the suffering as we go through and sometimes on the other side of eternity I had to repeat that that was so good yeah okay let's close our time in prayer let's pray father we thank you for this passage and what it teaches us about your sovereignty the deity of your son but also the true humanity they became one of us he suffered for us he suffered like us and then ultimately he suffered for us that we could have a relationship with you that would last fraternity or I pray that our suffering would enable us to sympathize more with others who are suffering and build greater and stronger faith and trust in you so whatever individuals here are going through I pray that Lord you would teach them give them faith to handle it Lord and then strengthen their faith through it in Jesus name we pray I'll stick around for more questions if you have anything that you didn't we didn't cover