Worshiping the Son of God, Part 1 (Matthew 14:22–27) John MacArthur

0:00 look with me at your Bible we have the Great Joy again today of examining another section in the 14th chapter of Matthew and I hope you're noticing that we're moving a little faster uh we're trying to get done before the second coming but we're having a great time in Matthew's gospel and we come at this juncture in our study to verses 22 through 33 one of the familiar beloved one of the very important events in the life of Our Lord in the life of the disciples and in your life and mine as

0:49 well and to understand this marvelous event I want to begin by drawing your attention to Matthew 14:33 that is the key verse in our text then they that were in the boat came and worshiped him saying of a truth Thou Art the Son of God something happened here to convince them of that and what happened was so

1:34 convincing that the next day when the multitude which showed up for another free meal after the feeding the prior day when the multitude all left the disciples stayed and Peter speaking for them said this we believe and are sure that you are the Christ the son of the Living God now you can't make any greater Discovery than that that is the greatest discovery you

2:20 can make that Jesus Christ is the son of the Living God verse 33 is the first time they have ever said that the father said it at the baptism the demons said it on the eastern shore of the sea but the disciples have never said it before and they have seen Miracle upon Miracle upon Miracle healings raising the dead casting out demons they have heard preaching and teaching without equal and and they've been hearing it for 2 years and now they come to this Monumental

3:09 affirmation which means that something very spectacular must have happened to cause such confidence and such shity as indicated by their testimony in verse 33 and the next day in John 669 70 now look at verse 33 and before we see what happened that caused them to be sure let's just examine the thought that they worshiped him they worshiped him that is a very very essential reality in the New Testament it tells us something very

3:55 basic about Jesus Christ it tells us that he is is equal with God in the Old Testament God Alone was to be worshiped when God established the law by which man was to live it began with Thou Art to have no other gods only the true god Jehovah God is to be worshiped that rang loud and clear through the monotheism of Jewish religion one God and one God Alone to be worshiped however in the New Testament again and again and again and again we

4:41 note that Jesus Christ also is to be worshiped the simple conclusion then being that Jesus Christ is equal with God and that is affirmed in the statement that he is the son of God that he is of the same Essence as God if you look at the New Testament you'll see the mark of the worship of Christ planted everywhere looking in the gospels for example we find the wise men worshiping him in in Matthew 2 we find the leper worshiping him in Matthew 8 we find the Gentiles worshiping him in John 12 we find a syrop phenician woman worshiping him in Matthew 15 we find a

5:29 Maniac out of the tombs worshiping him in Mark 5 we find a blind man worshiping him in John 9 we find the disciples worshiping him at his resurrection worshiping him again in the mountain Matthew 28 and worshiping at his Ascension in Luke 24 if we look in the Epistles we find in Hebrews chapter 1 that all the angels of God worship him if we look in Philippians and the letter of Paul we find that God demands that every creature on the earth over the Earth and under the Earth bow the KNE to worship Jesus Christ if we go all the way to the consummation and the revelation we find

6:16 him being worshiped by all those in glory in chapter 4 chapter 5 chapter 11 chapter 19 so that this theme sweeps its way through the gospels the Epistles to the revelation of the New Testament that Jesus Christ is to be worshiped and Paul writing to the Corinthians says in 1 Corinthians 16:22 if that is not done let that man be anathema or let him be a cursed and so Jesus Christ is to be worshiped and that is something reserved for God when John in The Wonder of his Visions in Revelation fell down to worship an angel

7:03 the angel said get up for I am only a creature as you are worship God and he reaffirmed that single worship perspective And yet when Jesus was worshiped never ever did he say get up for I am a creature as you are he accepted it and they worshiped him and they worshiped him in verse 33 because it was clear to them that they had a right to that because he was the son of God and they were sure after the event that occurred in this text now just a few other words of

7:52 introduction this particular account is therefore one of the Great Moments in all Redemptive history because it is a major step in the affirmation of the disciples they are the key to the kingdom in a sense they held the keys and they were the key they are to be the rulers in the Kingdom they were the front line to proclaim the kingdom and it was very important that they had an ever increasing understanding of the king's identity I don't think in this section that their understanding is fully complete I think there are still many questions that they will have resolved

8:37 as time goes on many fears and anxieties and doubts and they will recur in the future but there is nonetheless a major step of affirmation that Jesus is in fact the long awaited King the Christ the Messiah the coming one the prophet the Son of God and so this then becomes a very very important section oft scripture as a corollary to that related to us may I say that it's also an important scripture because it tells all of us about the protective Love Of Christ it is a tremendous insight into God's care for you and for me as his children and basically as Christians we need to know that we get ourselves into difficulties in life we get ourselves into places in life where we exhibit

9:23 little faith we fear that God has abandoned us we wonder whether we can ever get out of it and this is a great text to encourage our hearts that if we are moving in the road of obedience if we are walking in the way of obedience we are in the way where God protects and cares for his own now John the Baptist had asked a very important question he asked this question of Jesus art thou the coming one or do we look for another that was a question on the lips of everybody that was the question on the lips of the disciples that was the question on the lips of the crowds some thought he was Elijah some thought he was Jeremiah some thought he was uh one

10:09 of the prophets everybody was in the process of evaluating who this Jesus was are you the coming one John articulated it for everybody or are we still looking for that one for two years Jesus had been demonstrating that he was that coming one that he was that Prophet that that he was that Messiah that Christ that Son of God that King with the kingdom for two years he had been demonstrating that with great power Mighty works and mighty words and in the last event that we just looked at which ended in verse 21 he had brought great anticipation to

10:57 culmination because he fed about 25 or 30,000 people and that's probably conservative he created food for them all Monumental vast far-reaching sweeping Miracle create food thousands of eyewitnesses to it and as a result of that particular Miracle he reached the crescendo of popularity this was the climax of the popularity of Jesus for two years his Ministry had been on the rise and he had been proclaiming and he had been healing and he had been casting out demons and then in the later part he was joined with the disciples who began also to Proclaim and also to cast out demons and also to heal and the rising excitement

11:44 the fever pitch the the waves became Billows uh irresistible impulses began to seize the multitude as they saw the power and the wisdom of this individual and then when he was able to feed them and create food food out of his own bare hands seemingly unated in any way and they were all eyewitnesses to it and they all tasted it they were convinced and you have at this juncture the Pinnacle of popularity of Jesus and John 6:14-15 says they got together and they were going to make him the king and the disciples must have thought that's it we've done our job we've accomplished it they see that he's the king they're going to make him

12:31 the king and immediately at that juncture when their hopes had reached the highest point when it all looked like it was going to fall in their laps I mean they knew that when the Messiah come he would feed the multitude and he had done it and it was it was in their minds very likely the door kicking open to the kingdom and the people were saying we want him to be the king and at that moment he sent the disciples away he sent the crowd away and he went into a mountain by himself and in their little rowboat as they were pushing their way

13:16 out to sea they must have been unbelievably disillusioned and disappointed trying to figure out how you can spend two years getting to this point and when it's in your grasp send it away but that's exactly what had happened you see Jesus didn't want their shallow commitment he didn't want their minimal devotion the crowd had political ends they had self-indulgent ends all they could think about was free food without labor you see the next morning they showed up for breakfast again that's right Jesus said to them you seek me not because you care about me not because you believe what I say but you want another free meal you see

14:02 life in those days for most people just consisted of trying to get enough to get your next meal and if you could get that free food that's the kind of King you want and the power that he had he could overthrow the herodians he could overthrow the Romans he could give us freedom from bondage he can heal all our diseases cast out all our demons create food for us this is the kingdom but Jesus did not respond in in fact the next morning when he says to them you didn't come after me because you really cared you came because you wanted a free meal let me tell you the only meal you're going to get out of me is you're going to have to eat my flesh and drink my blood you're going to get me on my terms you're going to have to take me all of me as your Lord and Master and savior and you're going to come on my

14:48 terms and they left they didn't want that they were shallow soil they were thorny soil they were in it only for what they could get out of it and when they saw there was was no more to get they were gone when he gave them a lecture on theology they split but the disciples they didn't leave at that point Jesus said to them in John 6 will you also go away are you going to leave me also Peter said to whom shall we go thou and now alone as the words of eternal life and we are and we believe and are sure that you're the Christ the son of the Living God the multitude left they stayed they said we're

15:35 sure how'd they get so sure because of what happened in this passage he refused the kingdom the people offered it he really did he refused it his kingdom was not of this what this world John 18:36 his kingdom was not the kind of Kingdom men wanted the fact of the matter is his kingdom was was in a little frail boat in the middle of a storm in a sea that's where that's where the seeds of his kingdom were and it wasn't the kind of Kingdom that men thought when he sent the crowd away and dealt with that little group of disciples in a boat he was building his kingdom his way for they would become the rulers of

16:23 the kingdom and so we see him revealing himself to them the whole import of this passage then is to bring the disciples to the place where they really understand you see they went away disillusioned from that Shore and no doubt we're asking the question is he a king is this really the king and they needed a Regal Royal display is he the Messiah is he the Lord is he the one we thought and they needed evidence and boy do they get it look at verse 22 and straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a boat and go before him to the other side while he sent the multitudes

17:09 away and when he had sent the multitudes away he went up into a mountain privately to pray and when the evening was come he was there alone but the boat was now in the midst of the sea tossed with waves for the wind was contrary and in the Fourth Watch of the night Jesus went unto them walking on the sea and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were troubled saying it is a fantasm and they screamed out for fear but immediately Jesus spoke unto them saying be of good cheer it is I stop fearing and Peter answered him and said

17:56 Lord if it be thou bid me come unto thee on the water and he said come and when Peter was come down out of the boat he walked on the water to go to Jesus but when he saw the wind he was afraid and began to sink he cried saying Lord save me and immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him oh thou of little faith why did thou doubt and when they were coming to the boat the wind stopped then they that were in the boat came and worshiped him saying of a truth Thou Art the Son of

18:42 God oh what a great story what a great account what a great record and what a great verification of Christ now I want you to notice five aspects of the divine nature manifest in this event and we'll just look at the first three today because they're worth developing next time we'll finish they worshiped him first of all because they knew he was the son of God on the basis of divine Authority on the basis of divine Authority and it's really just kind of

19:29 implied there but in verse 22 it tells us that he constrained the disciples to get into a boat and go before him to the other side and he sent the multitude away this is indicative of the fact that Jesus controlled everything he controlled those who were his own and those who were not he controlled the disciples who did not want to leave him who did not want to leave the moment and the excitement and the the great thrust of that effort to make him King they were captivated by the whole thing but he controlled them the mob was going to kidnap him and force him to be a king he controlled them too as well as the wind and the wave and the SE and their thinking and their faith and everything else that he controlled Jesus had Authority he had authority over

20:16 everybody and everything and it comes through to us clearly in this story as well as in others but if you look for example at the gospel record and you see carefully again and again the authority of Jesus Christ manifest You can conclude only that Jesus had Authority like no other for example in John five he said that he had authority to judge all men and that Authority was given to him by the father so he had authority over Time and Eternity over life and death over Destiny in Mark 1:27 the people asked with what Authority does he command even the

21:02 unclean spirits and they obey him not only did he have authority over life and death and over Time and Eternity over Heaven hell and Destiny but he has authority over the supernatural world over fallen angels He at his time of crucifixion said that if he had so chosen he could have called a legion of Holy Angels to his Aid he not only has authority over the Fallen Angels he has authority over the Holy Angels in Matthew 7:29 the people who listened to The Sermon on the Mount said he taught as one having Authority he had authority over the minds of

21:48 men and when the Jews in Mark 11 came to him and they challenged him and they said by what Authority do you do these things Mark 11:27 he said you answer a question for me and maybe I'll answer a question for you was John the Baptist of God or wasn't he and it says they thought among themselves if we say he was of God then he's going to say why don't you believe him then and if we say he was not of God the people will trample us because they all believe he was a prophet so they said to Jesus we cannot tell and Jesus said to them and neither

22:33 am I going to tell you by what Authority I do these things which being translated means it's none of your business you're not interested in My Kingdom its privy secrets are not yours he had Authority and they all knew it he transmitted that Authority Luke 9:1 says to his disciples and they went out in his authority we see it don't you don't we with uh Peter and John in the temple when they healed the man who was begging there Silver and Gold Have I None but such as I have I give unto you by the name of Jesus of Nazareth rise up and walk and there he exercised that

23:19 Authority granted to him by Christ the sum of it all comes in Matthew 28:18 where Jesus says all authority is given unto me in heaven heaven and in Earth he had Authority what is Authority well if I were defining Authority I think I would Define it as ruling Sovereign control he was in control of everything he called all the shots he made all the decisions about everything he commanded Angels holy and Fallen he ca commanded men redeemed and unredeemed he commanded them in time he commands them in eternity He commands them in hell he commands them in heaven he determines their Destiny he controls nature he creates whenever he will

24:06 create he stops the storm whenever he will stop the storm he causes the wind and causes the wind to cease he can walk on water he has Authority now that becomes clear to us in this passage back to verse 22 it says that immediately after they had wanted to make king after he'd fed them he constrained the disciples to get into a boat and go ahead of him to the other side now he sends the disciples away first they were no doubt delighted with the desire of the crowd they surely wanted the kingdom to come I mean they've been waiting a long time for this and they were ready to get their rank you know to get their robes and sit up there as the hot shots in the Kingdom

24:51 they had all of this anticipation they had suffered for two years in their wanderings and traveling and so forth uh the an an agonism and hostility of the political and religious leaders and now when they saw the crowd reach this fever pitch they could see it coming they could see the kingdom beginning to open and they were really excited and the Lord knew this was difficult for them so he just sent them away remove the Temptation fully aware of their weakness their susceptibility to the political plans of the crowd to the confusion that they must already have had and certainly Judas if no other would have fostered this within their midst he said you you go to the other side now they were on the North East Shore of the Sea of Galilee they needed to go across the Northern end to capernium uh Mark tells us they were headed to Betha John says they were

25:37 headed to capernium they were both side by side Betha being a sub suburb of capernium so it just means in that general direction a very short trip across one little corner of the Sea of Galilee something they were familiar with and had done many many times the Lord sent them away but they didn't want to go and that's why the Bible says he constrained them I'm sure they put up a fight certainly because they didn't want to leave the action of the moment secondly they didn't want to leave the Lord and thirdly they probably saw the storm starting they didn't want to go but you see he sent them anyway and that's how it is when you're in authority and I love the fact that they went anyway and what's amazing is it says later on when they hit the storm that the wind was contrary to them and I guess any normal

26:24 person would just say okay let's not fight it we'll turn around it'll blow us back to the other Shore but not when the Lord said Point your bow to capernium they pointed their bow to capernium and they fought it all the way even though they weren't making any Headway they continued in the path of obedience to the authority of Christ Sovereign Authority and then even the wild-eyed mob couldn't resist his authority he said in verse 22 that after he had sent them away he would send the multitude away and verse 23 says when he had sent the multitude away he went into a mountain to pray privately so he sent the whole crowd away they were going to kidnap him they were at a fever pitch and he had total control over them total Authority he sent them all way you say where' they go well they

27:10 they went all over the place and went to sleep thousands of them sleeping all over the hillsides and wherever they could sleep in the area of B to Julia and that Hillside where he had fed them dinner he just sent them away and they went to sleep how do we know they went to sleep because they woke up the next morning and when they woke up the next morning they were all in the same vicinity according to John 6 and they said it's breakfast time where's Jesus and he wasn't there they knew a good thing when they saw it and that's when he gave them a lecture about the only meal they were going to get was his flesh and his blood and they said forget it and from then on the popularity of Jesus started down oh he taught a little in the synagogue he did some

27:56 healing but eventually began to move away and move away and his popularity declined and he spent more and more time with the disciples and less and less time with the crowds this is that very Peak from which things begin to descend to his crucifixion he sent them away he shot their dreams to Pieces because he would not be made a political leader on their terms and he verse 23 when went into a mountain privately to pray when the evening was come he was there alone the hope of any rest and quiet was gone the hope of any debriefing with the disciples was gone the miracle of that

28:41 day had only added to the excitement only augmented the pressure and the danger from those who would want to destroy him only added pressure to the popularity that would have wanted to make him an illegitimate King and I believe beloved that that was a temptation of Christ very much like the third aspect of Satan's Temptation in Matthew 4 when Satan showed him the kingdoms of the world and said to him I'll give you the kingdoms of the world if you'll bow down to me I think you have a very similar situation I think this comes as a Temptation what do Christ wanted but to be king and here he can bypass the cross the people are willing to push him into Jerusalem sweeping down in the Passover season and what a time when they're all going to be there at the Passover to raise up the Messiah with his power he knocks off the

29:26 herods he knocks off the Romans brings them Freedom provides the kingdom elements I believe this came to him as a Temptation along the line of that Temptation which came when Satan had him out in the devastation but he gained the Victory and I think he tasted the sweetness of the fruit of that victory in the fellowship and communion with the father that he enjoyed in that mountain in prayer it was a familiar place to be in the presence of the father he went there very often at night to find rest for his soul to find that great Fellowship for which he longed as he expresses the longing in John 17 he says how much do I want to be restored to that which we knew before the Incarnation that sweet communion with the father notice it says in verse 23 that it was evening this

30:13 would be by Jewish definition the second evening the first evening was from 3 to 6 the second evening was from 6 to 9 from 3 to 6 the first evening he had fed them from 6 to 9 we're in the second evening and it's coming toward Darkness and as it grows dark he is alone in the mountain and he's there praying and I always remember that if he needed to pray how do I need to pray and you ask yourself for whom does he pray and all you need for an answer is John 17 where after having prayed in his own behalf and after having exalted the father in his prayer he then spent most of the time praying for his own and I see him there interceding for his own praying for his disciples

30:58 praying that they will overcome with Victory the same Temptation he had just overcome not to follow the mood of the mob not to follow the shallow [Applause] popularity I believe he prayed for them in Luke 22:31 he said to Peter Satan's desired to have you Peter but I have prayed for you that your faith fail not isn't that a comfort thing that's the high Priestly work of Christ and right now this moment at the Throne of the father he prays for you and for me what a great confidence and he prays with the

31:44 authority of God so we see the authority of Christ here we see his authority As He commands the multitude his authority As He commands the disciples his authority as he calls upon the father's protecting care for his own no wonder they worshiped when they understood his authority so should we secondly we see here revealed his Divine knowledge his Divine knowledge and I love this verse 24 but the boat meanwhile we leave the mountain and we go back to the Sea the Lake of ganess the lake of Galilee the Sea of Galilee the boat is in the midst of the sea John's gospel says 25 to3 stadia or furlongs out into the sea which is about

32:31 an eighth of a mile puts them out somewhere between 3 and four miles into the sea now the trip from where they were on the shore at Betha Julia across to capernium and Betha West couldn't have been more than 4 and a half miles three and 1/ half 4 and 1/2 somewhere in that area we don't know exactly because we don't know exactly what spot they were in but a 3 or four mile trip at the most 4 and 1 half miles but instead of going along that little cut on the North Shore they find find themselves 3 or 4 miles out into the middle and it's only seven or8 miles across so they're pretty well in the middle and they're being tossed with the waves and the wind is contrary now you have to just sort of love these guys because they're doing their best to be obedient aren't they

33:18 they're pushing that bow in the right direction confused disillusioned disappointed upset questioning but they keep the bow pointed to the West now they left after the meal was served in the first evening they're trying to navigate four miles instead they're in the middle of the lake afraid they're going to drown Mark adds that they were distressed in their rowing the word by the way here you notice in verse 24 tossed it's the word translated in Matthew ate tormented it means to to test by torture they were being

34:05 tortured for their lives John tells us that Not only was the wind contrary but John 618 says it was a fierce wind a fierce wind and so they're being tormented it's a bad night they're trying to be obedient but they're not having much success it's dark it's gloomy the storm is violent the water is angry and worst of all know Jesus now the last time they got in a storm like this Jesus was in the back of the boat and all they had to do was wake him up and have him stop the storm and he did that but he isn't there and to make it even worse he can't get there because they took the only boat John tells us that in John 6 that the next morning when the multitude got up they saw there was no other

34:51 boat so they took the only boat and so they have no Jesus and they know Jesus isn't going to come because they way to get there but all the while there in the middle of the sea going through all this trauma he's up on the hill he's praying for them and it's a marvelous picture of the high Priestly intercessory work of Christ isn't it while his own are down being buffeted and battered and tormented and tortured and tossed by the storm he quietly cly is in the father's presence on their behalf and they don't know it but they're secure they're secure five or six hours they've been at it trying to go four miles with no

35:37 success but isn't it comforting to know that he knows he knows verse 25 in the Fourth Watch of the night Jesus went unto them walking on the sea well I like that no hoopla right it just says he went walking on the sea just like you just took a walk on the sea it's so matter of fact that it's almost overpowering but for him it was not any big deal it was he who made the sea could walk on the sea if he

36:25 chose and so he came walking on the sea he knew where to walk by the way he knew right where they were oh yeah exactly where they were well it didn't matter that he couldn't see them you see that's his Divine knowledge he knows everything darkness is no barrier you remember what I just read you in the beginning of the service in Psalm 139 the night and the day are the same to thee when you say the darkness hides me the darkness shall be as the light darkness is no burial distance is no barrier to the knowledge of the Son of God he knows where we are he knows our distress he knows our circumstance and he knows how to get to

37:14 us now the Fourth Watch of the night at night when you were a sailor somebody kept watch always and they divided the watch into four parts four shifts one man for each watch the first watch was 6:00 to9 in the evening the second watch was 9 to2 the Third Watch was 12:3 and the Fourth Watch was 3 to 6 the morning watch they've been at this all night now and they're in great anxiety and fear but he waits a long time until he comes that's all part of the lesson see do you realize that if you never have a storm you never know that he can handle a storm you you never really understand the power of God in your behalf until

38:01 you are strung out to the extremity that's part of it why do you think our Lord didn't go to Martha and Mary until Lazarus was so dead he stunk because it was in the impossibility of that extremity that they would see his power I mean he could have just turned around on the top of the mountain and hushed the he could have made sure the storm never started but he ran them out to their extremity so that they would learn that in that extremity he was there and he knew and he understood he does know he knows everything he knows you're down sitting and you're Uprising as I

38:48 WR he knows everything there is to know about you he knows where you are he knows what your needs are he's known you from your womb if you ascend into heaven he's there if you make your bed and sheld he's there if you take the wings of the morning and if you dwell in the uttermost part of the sea there shall his hand lead you and his right hand will hold you up doesn't matter where you are he knows he knows because he knows everything clear back in Exodus there's a wonderful word in the third chapter of exodus in the seventh verse and the Lord said I have surely seen the afflictions of my people who are in Egypt and I have heard their Cry by reason of their task Masters for I know their sorrows and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians he said I

39:35 know I know where they are and I know what they're enduring and I know how difficult it is and I'm going to come and deliver them listen to this Genesis 22 Abraham he's got Isaac on the altar Isaac in whom all of his hope resides is lying on the altar Abraham lifts his knife in the air to plunge it into the heart of Isaac to kill him and at that moment he starts to plunge that knife and the angel of the Lord says Abraham Abraham and he said here I am and he said lay not thine hand on thy lad neither do thou anything unto him

40:21 for now I know thou fearest God seeing thou Hast not withheld thy son thine only son from me the angel says Abraham the test is over you passed hold it have you ever thought what happened if God was just a couple of minutes late well I I usually get them but I miss that one no see he knows he knows the extremity he knows where you are he knows what the storm's like he understands your boat and when it's time and you're out to the end of the extremity you'll be there and then the next time you're

41:06 going to know that right that's how he teaches and that's what he was teaching them he not only came in the storm I love this he came on the Storm he uses the very trial as his foot path the howling wind the crashing waves they don't ffect him in fact as he's walking on the water I can just see the water just sort of flattening out and becoming Placid I don't even think he got wet and it says he came toward them when it says Jesus went unto them he came toward them why because they had needs and they were at the end of their rope but they

41:52 were in the extremity he couldn't see them from the mountain he couldn't see them on the dark stormy night but he knew exactly where they were exactly you can't hide from him in Proverbs there's a wonderful word I think an encouraging word about that in the 15th chapter verse three the eyes of the Lord are in every place and there is a word about that in Hebrews chap 4 and: 13 neither is there any creature not manifest in his sight all things are naked and open under the eyes of him with whom we have to do seeing then that we have a great high priest isn't that

42:37 good we have a high priest who knows every single thing about us oh what a comforting thought so comforting he says to the disciples now you don't need to fear anything I even know Matthew 10 verse 30 the number of hairs on your head that means he's got to keep counting every day that changes he said and I know when a sparrow Falls and the Greek word means to hop he doesn't know just when they die he knows every time one hops Jesus knew because he was God in Matthew 6:32 he said your father knows you have need of

43:26 all these these things God knows you're never out of his knowledge never away from his omniscience it says in Matthew 66 this is a good word the father who sees in secret remember that the father who sees in secret you remember Jesus introduction to Nathaniel oh Nathaniel oh yes I saw you before I saw you when you were over sitting under that tree you did and John 2 oh no one needs to tell him what's in the heart of man he knows what's in the heart of man Revelation

44:12 tells us he has eyes that are piercing he sees everything and the disciples learned that he knew right where they were he didn't go roaming around the sea saying hey guys where are you right to them that brings us to a third revelation of his divine nature and I'll call that Divine protection you could call it Divine care we've seen his omniscience we've seen his authority now his care protection and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were

44:58 troubled that's putting it mildly saying it is a fantasm Greek word for Phantom Apparition ghost whatever and they screamed out for fear by the way Mark adds that they all saw him this isn't one guy who thought he saw UFO go by they all saw him there wasn't any deception here all of them saw him and all of them stared at him and it was all very clear and you have to make that point because are those liberals who want to tell us that they just thought they saw him they saw him they didn't know what it was but they knew they saw him whoever he was in John 6:19 John says he came near

45:43 their boat and of course they at that point are Terror stricken I mean it's bad enough to be in the situation they were in in the middle of the Storm still perhaps the dark before the Dawn you're panicked you're weary you've been terribly disillusioned and disappointed there's a sense of hopelessness not only in your present circumstance but in the extended circumstance of what your life means and then to add to that all of a sudden someone comes walking on the water and you just really can't handle it you just can't handle it and some liberal commentators said that

46:31 Jesus was just walking along the shore that's all by the water and that's why John said they were three and four miles out in the middle he was walking on the water and if you look at verse 26 it says they were troubled the noun form of that verb is tra and I remembered an old word that I heard in the psychology class one time called ataraxia so I looked it up in the dictionary and sure enough it was a word that did legitimately remember and Ataxia means to be free from anxiety to be free from emotional disturbance to be free from trouble uh to have Tranquility that's a txia traxia means trouble it means upheaval it means uh to shake up to agitate to trouble a figurative

47:16 figurative use means to to upset to throw into a state of panic or alarm and that's exactly the word here they were in a state of panic they were horrified having seen this fantasm this Apparition or whatever now Mark Who records this adds another interesting note he says that he would have appeared to have passed by their boat I mean just walking along like it was a normal deal on the water and then to just go by the boat like you're just going down the road waving it folks and it appeared as though he would have passed by and you have to ask yourself why would

48:01 he do that why would he appear to be just passing by and it reminded me of Luke 24:28 where Jesus had walked down the road to EMAs and you remember it appeared as though he would have continued and just gone on and they said no no no no uh stay come with us and then he revealed himself to them you see the Lord will always be there but wants to elicit from the heart of the one in need the cry right he responds to the cry he always stops for the ones who call and they screamed it is a

48:48 fantasm and they were in a state of panic they were crying out all right and so he stopped and Mark says he talked with them and Matthew here says what he said verse 27 immediately he spoke to them saying and they would recognize his voice be of good cheer it is I stop fearing isn't that good stop fearing I'm here take heart be of good cheer is a kind of an English colloquialism means to take courage take Heart Don't Be

49:34 Afraid stop fearing you see God is the protector of his people oh what a great truth the storm never gets so extreme that he doesn't know where we are that he can't walk on the water he'll protect his own never comes too late and you see this is the lesson for the 12 and this is the lesson for us there's no reason for fear in your life as a Christian or mine either none at all there's no reason for anxiety and upset no matter how severe the storm how hopeless it looks he just comes along and so matter of factly says cheer up I'm here he doesn't give him some great

50:21 speech he doesn't give him some great theological description he doesn't explain to him how you can walk on water this is not to to teach the disciples they can walk on water none of them ever did after this incident nobody ever walked on water that I read in the Bible and people today who claim to be able to do Miracles don't do well at this one this is not to teach people how to walk on water this is to teach people who can't walk on water that God can you see that's what it's to teach it's to teach that in the extremity you don't need to fear because he's

51:08 there and he'll respond to your need in closing at this portion and we didn't get to some of the well we didn't get to Peter and you got to know about how he did it and how he sank but in closing acts 27 Paul was on a ship in the sea and the ship was being tossed by a storm and the crew had jettison the cargo and they were just throwing out everything ship that they didn't really need to keep the ship afloat they threw the tackle out the stuff they control the sails with they they just junked everything to keep that ship afloat and they're all fearing for their lives and they're sure they're going to be grounded into the Rocks destroyed and an angel comes to Paul in the middle of the night Paul's perfectly at peace he just keeps reminding them they shouldn't have left the last

51:54 port easy for you to say right and this Angel comes to him and says Paul I have a word from God everybody on the ship's okay everybody's going to be safe would you please make that announcement so the next morning Paul says I have an announcement we'll all be safe for an angel of God whose I am and whom I serve came to me in the night and said God's going to preserve all of us he said we'll lose the ship but we'll all be saved therefore be of good cheer very hard to do because Paul was a

52:43 human but easier to do when you see Jesus walking on the water saying don't worry about this storm I'm here and then Peter wanted to test and make sure and we'll see that next time let's bow in [Music] prayer just using this as an illustration life is stormy we know that it's painful there are hurts wounds some of us suffer more than others all

53:29 of us suffer to some degree and the great confidence of this passage is that you're never away from the authority the knowledge the protective care of the Savior never the storm is never so severe the night is never so black the boat is never so frail the that he is not there that's our confidence and that's what he wanted to teach them there were going to be a lot of storms in their lives a lot of frail ships in their lives and the lives of those who would follow in their path and they needed to know that God walks on water that he comes to us in the storm

54:17 yay makes the storm his very path we need to know that because that takes away our fear you see what's to fear he is either in the mountain interceding with us with the father on behalf of us or he is on the sea walking to us either way we're secure we're secure in his prayers we're secure in his power his protection oh that's a great confidence these disciples saw Divine Authority they saw divine power expressed as he controlled people

55:02 Destiny elements they saw Divine knowledge they knew he knew where they were they saw Divine care and protection and they said of a truth this is the Son of God and they worshiped him that's the right response he didn't want him to think of him as a political leader but as the god of the universe who controlled everything and they saw it I hope you do also he is the same Christ he still has Authority knowledge protecting Care on behalf of his

55:52 own if you've never invited Jesus Christ to be your savior you don't have that promise of his care but you can if you'll open your heart to him today if you're a Christian you have no cause for fear only Faith he is there and he is able father thank you for showing us again the sufficiency of Jesus Christ thank you that we with these dear disciples with all of our weakness with all of our desire to see the show to see the the kingdom in all of its Glory with all of our hunger to see

56:37 the miraculous to see the Wonder help us to learn that we really see more about you in the storm in the extremity in the place where we have no resource because there you come to lift us up so father we pray that we might trust you in the hardest times and learning trust you more next time and give you glory and worship you as the Son of God bring to the prayer room those you

57:22 desire to come gather us again tonight with great anticipation for the privilege of studying your precious word fellowshipping with your spirit and your people we give you ourselves in this day to accomplish your purpose in Christ's name amen you've been listening to John MacArthur Bible teacher with grace to you for free access to all of John's lessons and a listing of study Bibles and books available for sale visit Grace to website ite at gty.org John MacArthur and grace to you reserve all copyright protection under applicable law our copyright policy is available at gty.org

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