Be Not Afraid

Q: What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

The Bible teaches that God's sovereignty means He is in complete control over all things and that no one can come to Him unless it is given by the Father (John 6:65). God's sovereignty is a fundamental doctrine in the Bible that asserts God's absolute rule over creation and His divine authority in executing His will. In John 6:65, Jesus declares, 'Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto Me except it were given unto him of My Father.' This emphasizes the notion that salvation is not a result of human effort or decision but rather the work of God's grace in the hearts of His chosen people. Understanding God's sovereignty instills in believers a profound sense of security and hope, affirming that their salvation and relationship with God are rooted in His unchanging purpose.

Q: How do we know Jesus is the prophet spoken of in Deuteronomy?

Jesus is identified as the prophet like Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15, fulfilling the role of speaking God's words to His people. In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses prophesied that God would raise up a prophet like himself from among the Israelites. This expectation culminated in the person of Jesus Christ, who performed miracles, taught with authority, and ultimately fulfilled God's will by being both the messenger and the message. When the crowd called Jesus 'that prophet' after witnessing His miracle of feeding the 5,000 (John 6:14), they recognized His divine authority. However, their understanding was incomplete, as many sought to make Him a king for their own desires rather than submitting to Him as the true Lord and Savior.

Q: Why is faith important for Christians?

Faith allows Christians to trust in God's promises and remain steadfast, especially during trials and tribulations. Faith is essential for Christians as it establishes the foundation of their relationship with God. In the face of challenges, believers are called to walk by faith, trusting that God is in control even when circumstances appear bleak. The disciples, despite being commanded to cross the sea, found themselves in darkness and turmoil. Yet, it was during this trial that they learned to depend on Christ's presence. As Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as 'the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,' it serves as a source of hope and encouragement, guiding believers to rely on God’s faithfulness above their circumstances.

Q: How does Jesus show He is in control during trials?

Jesus reassures His disciples during trials by reminding them of His presence, stating, 'It is I; be not afraid' (John 6:20). In the midst of the disciples' trials on the sea, where darkness and turbulence threatened their lives, Jesus approached them, providing comfort with His presence and words. When He stated, 'It is I; be not afraid' (John 6:20), He affirmed His sovereignty and care for His followers. This pivotal moment illustrates that during our darkest times, the presence of Christ brings peace and assurance. Believers are reminded that God sees their struggles and is ever-present as they navigate through life's challenges. Thus, the acknowledgment of Christ's lordship amid difficulties allows faith to flourish even when circumstances are overwhelming.

Q: Why do Christians face trials and tribulations?

Christians face trials to grow in faith and dependence on God, learning to trust His purpose and timing. Trials and tribulations are part of the Christian journey, serving to refine and mature believers in their faith. Scripture emphasizes that our suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope (Romans 5:3-4). In John 6, the disciples faced a storm at sea, yet their obedience to Christ's command led them not away from difficulty but deeper into reliance on Him. Trials prompt believers to acknowledge their need for God and experience His sustaining grace. Consequently, Christians understand that hardships are tools in the hands of a loving God who desires to cultivate a deeper faith within them.

Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the gospel according to John chapter 6. John chapter
6. I'd like to look at verses 14
to 21 this morning, but before we begin, let's ask our Lord's
blessing. Our Father. You have commanded
us to pray without ceasing. Father, never is there a time
when there is not a need to ask your blessing. Lord, knowing
that you do all things well, that you've given us this precious
time to meet together, help us, help us to worship, help us to
hear. Lord, as we strive after hearing
your Word, Oh, would you bless it to our understanding for Christ's
sake. Amen. Our Lord, the Scripture sets
forth, had fed 5,000 men plus the women and the children. He had done that with five loaves
of bread. and two little fish. God loved
two fish. And the Scripture sets forth
in verse 14, it says, In those men, when they had seen the miracle
that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth, that prophet that
should come into the world. Now, that miracle made an impression
on them. But time would reveal exactly
what kind of an impression it made. They saw, the Scripture
says, they saw the miracle. They said, this is that prophet
that should come into the world. Now the Spirit of God gives us
an indication of what truly many that day really thought concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what they said outwardly,
this is what they said, there's that prophet. I'll say something
about that. This is that prophet, not just
a prophet. This is that prophet. should
come into the world. But listen to what the Holy Ghost
teaches us about what they really thought. Verse 15, When Jesus
therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by force
to make Him a king, He departed again into a mountain Himself
alone. When they said that they owned
him to be that prophet, they were speaking of that prophet
in Deuteronomy 18.15 that should be raised up according to Moses
writing under the inspiration of God's Spirit. He said, the
Lord will raise up a prophet like unto myself, one that would
lead and grow up, of whom Moses was a type. But he's going to
raise up a prophet. And these men, they saw the miracle
that he had done. They said, now that's that prophet. That's him right there. But instead
of bowing, owning him to be the Lord, that prophet of God, that
one. Now when they said that prophet,
What they're saying is God Himself is going to send one from Himself
that's going to tell us what God has to say. That's what a
prophet does. A prophet speaks for God. Instead of bowing to Him as they
should as a sinner, crying out for mercy. What they did, the
Scripture says, that the Lord perceived that they would come
and take Him by force to make Him a King for their own profit,
for their own purpose, for what they thought that profit should
do. They obviously thought they could
take five loaves of bread and two fish and feed 5,000 men plus
the women and children. Well, I'm sure that he can take
care of the Romans, too. He can take care of all of our
problems. We found us a king, and we're
going to take him, and we're going to make him be our King. We're going to make Him. Boy,
I'm telling you how many today have that same attitude. What
happened right here was the Spirit of God just revealed exactly
what man, unregenerated by the grace of God, thinks. I'm going
to make Him King. I'm going to make Him. with their thinking, they'll
regard him as a great teacher. That's what Nicodemus said. We
know that thou art a great teacher. You're a great teacher. You come
from God. You're a great man. You've got
to be. Nobody could do what you do if
God wasn't with you. You see, man by nature thinks
that he can take by his own power, and he's going to make the Lord
be what he wants the Lord to be. I'm going to make Him be
my King. I'm going to exercise my power
over Him. I'm going to exercise my free
will. I'm going to do what I want to do with Him. Just keep running
it down, just keep running down the process and eventually you're
going to come right back to man thinks that he has the power
to do with God whatever he wants to do. This very group, now Lord
willing we'll continue through the book of John, going verse
by verse, but this very group is the group, if you want to
know where the The end result is. Here it is. Stay in this
chapter. John 6. Just look over in verse
65. Now, here's the Lord speaking. Same group of people. Here's
what the Lord says. He said unto them, Therefore
said I unto you, that no man can come unto Me except it were
given unto him of My Father. Now, these are the ones that
said, We're going to take him. We're going to make Him to be
our King. We're going to come to Him and
we're going to do with Him whatever we want to do. No man can come
unto Me except it were given unto Him of My Father. From that time, many of His disciples
went back and walked no more with Him. Do you know where the
where the line was when it comes to God's sovereignty and God's
will and God's purpose whenever Almighty God is set forth as
being the Lord. He's the Lord. That's when men
say, whoa, wait a minute now, wait a minute. The Scripture
sets forth in verse 64 of John Sixth, but there are some of
you that believe not, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they
were that believed not and who should betray Him. You know,
this is the issue right here. You want to know where the issue
is. The issue is this. What is Almighty God going to
do with me? Not what man thinks I'm going
to do with God. I'm telling you the greatest
sign of hope for any sinner is when that man or woman is brought
to a point to say this, Lord, save me or I'm going to perish. Lord, help me. Lord, keep me. Lord, save me. Have mercy on
me. When the Lord Jesus Christ perceived
by His omniscience, back in our text for today, that they would
come and take Him by force to make Him a king, He departed
again into a mountain Himself alone. Alone. Oh, what a key
word. Just how quickly we would miss
the key right there. The key. He departed. By Himself. By Himself. Here's one thing
I know. Our Lord is faithful. Faithful. He came to do the will
of Him that sent Him and to finish the work. That work of salvation, what
work is it? I came to do the will of Him
that sent me and to finish the work. His work. What work is
that? You know what it is. The Father
had given Him a people that He had chosen, that He everlastingly
loved, that He would not let perish. He wasn't going to let
them perish. He loved them. Love the order
of man would not let them leave this world apart. from being vitally joined in
regeneration with His Son. He came into this world to finish
that work. What must He do? He's going to
have to live for Him. He's going to have to live before
God Almighty as man, as man, as the federal head of His people,
the substitute of His people. He, as their representative,
an almighty God, Watching Him alone. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? He departed,
the Scripture says, alone. Into the mountain alone. They
were going to take Him. Not that way. Not that way. He departed
into the mountain alone. Isn't there comfort in your heart
today that Almighty God dealt with one? on the behalf of all
of His people. That He's not looking at me.
As I've told you so many times before, I'll try to get up in
the morning, early morning, about the best time for me to study.
The best time. And to be able to get up and
try to read. Try to read. And then think to
myself, I better go back and read that again. Try to pray and think, Lord,
I'm so sorry. Lord, if you would, if you counted
iniquity, if you marked iniquity, Lord, you would have put me in
hell just this morning trying to pray. Embarrassed? Aren't you thankful that Almighty
God deals with him alone? He is faithful. Men will own
Him with their lips. He's the prophet. We're going
to make Him our king. But thanks be unto God that Almighty
God deals with the one who's separate from sinners. I need one that God deals with
alone. That Almighty God has said of
Him, This is My beloved Son. in whom I'm well-pleased. Never deviated. He never deviated
in prayer. He never deviated in the reading
of the Scriptures. Remember that time he went into
the temple of the Son of God and they asked him to read. His mind never wavered. He did
only always those things that pleased his Father. Perfect.
Perfect. That's my hope. They thought
they'd make him a king, but as we've heard before, God beat
him to it. Long time. Romans 14, 9, to this end, Christ
both died and rose and revived that he might be the Lord. He's
Lord of the living and the dead. Now, I'll admit, man by nature
Born in Adam has no heart for Christ. I know that. Dead in
sin. He has no heart to bow to Jehovah
as He set forth in the precious Lord Jesus Christ. But one of
these days He will. We're going to make Him King.
We're going to make Him our Lord. I'll tell you this, every tongue
is going to confess that Jesus is Lord. to the glory of God
the Father, some lovingly, some forcefully. But every knee is
going to bow. Every tongue is going to confess.
We're going to make Him king. No, you're not. He's king. He's the Lord. So seeing that
the faithfulness of the Lord's servant, God's servant, seeing
that he's faithful, here's the second thing I know. The Lord,
the Lord, He's the Lord. He's the faithful Lord. He is
going to teach His people that they're going to walk by faith
in this world. We walk by faith. Look at verse
16. And when even was now come, His
disciples went down into the sea. Now, Matthew's account of
this event, Matthew 14, reminds us why they entered the ship. Here's what Matthew's Gospel
says. In straightway, Jesus constrained
His disciples to get into a ship and to go before Him under the
other side while He sent the multitudes away. The multitude
were there. They were going to come and they
were going to make Him a king. And while He was sending them
away, because He was going to depart into a mountain, Along
he told his disciples, he constrained his disciples, I want you to
get into a ship, you go to the other side. That's what happened. Verse 17 says, They entered into
a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum, and it was
now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. His disciples were doing
just exactly what the Lord had instructed them to do. He told
them to get into a boat and go to the other side. He said, well,
he was physically with them. They heard him. God's people
hear his voice today. He's the shepherd. He said, my
sheep hear my voice. I lead them. They follow. We hear the voice of the Master.
Sure you do. When you hear the gospel preached,
remember, these are not my words. I'm just a voice. I'm just a
spokesman. Paul said, we beseech you as
ambassadors of Christ. This is his gospel. Ours by grace
because we love it and we hold to it. We lay claim to it by
the grace of God, but we're not the originators of this. This
is his word. We hear his word. And let me
tell you how, you know, when you hear the word of the Lord,
the Spirit of God bears witness to your heart and it it's life
to you. You say, you know what? That's
right. That's right. That the Lord. If I were to stand
up here and I'd make a statement, it's just so inconsistent. And
I'd say that the Lord's done all he can do. He died on the
cross. He's done all He can do for you.
He can do no more unless you let Him. A believer is going
to say, oh, man, that's not the voice of
the Master. That's inconsistent with this.
I know that's not so. No, when you hear His voice,
you know it's right. It bears witness to your heart.
His Spirit bears witness to our spirit. that we're the sons of
God. It's the lie. You hear lies.
The Scripture says that the Lord told them to get into a boat
and to go to the other side, and they did, and it was now
dark. And the Scripture says, and Jesus
was not yet come to them. They were in a place just like
we are. There's danger. We're in this world. The Scripture
says in John 17, we're in this world, but we're not of it. We
know that there's dangers, there's trials and tribulations. It was
dark. I got to thinking about that.
It was dark. And the Scripture is setting
forth that it was dark. It wasn't like being out on a
ship, a nice ship. Nowadays with generators and
lights, you know, where you can see, it's dark. They're out there
on this sea and the Scripture sets forth, it's dark and now
the Lord does not come to them. Had He forgotten them? Did He
send them out there in the midst of a Surely he knew. Oh, yeah, he knew. He knew. Wherever beheld by him,
he sees. He said, I'm not going to leave
you. I'm not going to forsake you. We know that. Boy, I'm telling
you, it's times like these that's going to be shown to be precious
times. It's when it's dark and you don't
know what's going on. And I'm telling you, there's
time for every one of us. You know something about this.
Trials and tribulations and that just being dark right there,
it just means this. I don't know. I don't see. I don't see what's happening
right now. I know the One that does see. The Lord was not come
to them. He had just not made Himself
evident to them. He saw them. Scripture sets forth, He's not
going to leave us. He's not going to forsake us.
That's all the hope that we've got. Hebrews 12, 11 says, No
chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Isn't that so? No chastening, no trial, no tribulation. This hurts. It hurts. Doesn't it now? It hurts, doesn't it? Doesn't
it, Charlie? Okay. It hurts, doesn't it? No
chastening for the moment. But we know this. We know this. The Scripture sets forth, nevertheless,
outward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them
which are exercised thereby. We know this. We know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, who are
the called according to His purpose. We know that. Why do we go through
what we go through? He's going to teach His people.
You will walk by faith. You will. Walk by faith. Job said in Job
30, 26, when I looked for good, then evil came unto me. And when
I waited for light, there was darkness. Are we going to go
through trials and tribulations? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. All that
will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. If you
be without chastisement, you're none of His. As I said before,
let me tell you where the very heart of chastisement is. It's in the heart of a believer
when they're brought to a place where you're going to have to
trust God. You're going to have to trust Him. There's no way
out. No way out. When you can't pick up the telephone,
make a call. Make it right. You can't talk to your best friend. Get it done. Can you help me
out here? Almighty God knows how to draw his own to himself.
It's dark. They're out there. The psalmist
records in Psalm 112, for unto the upright there arises light
in the darkness. He is gracious, full of compassion
and righteousness. It's the Lord. that does all
these things. You didn't happen to fall into
it just because of, you know, misfortunes. Here's what the
Scripture says, Isaiah 45, 7, I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things. A man said, well, the devil.
The devil's one sinner. No. not according to God's Word. The Lord is doing, trying to
do us good. The Lord would never, never, never do anything bad
for His people. I form the light, create darkness. I make peace, create evil. I,
the Lord, do all these things. The Lord was not come to And
the Scripture says in verse 18, And the sea arose by reason of
a great wind that blew. Oh, no. Not only is it dark,
the waves are kicking up. This is getting worse. I just
thought it was bad just because it was dark. And now this news? It's dark. The sea is turbulent. But, oh, how our faith is tried
when it appears to be most hopeless. What are we going to do? He is going to draw His people
to cast themselves upon Him. Safest place? Oh, Lord, teach us that our time
is not Your time. Our ways are not your ways. When
we cry unto the Lord, you remember, He always hears His people. Psalm 3, 4, I cried unto the
Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hills. See, Lord, muse on that. He that everlastingly loves his
own He that gave his only begotten Son, he that forsook him, that
they might have life and righteousness, he that looked to the shepherd,
the surety, he that poured out his indescribable wrath upon
him made sin for us. who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him, you think He won't
hear? When He prompts you to call,
you think He won't hear? That comforting. I cried unto the Lord, and He
heard me. He's got an ear. He's got an
ear for me. Isn't that amazing? The Lord that you would hear.
There's always a perfect reason for His timing. Isaiah 30, 18,
Therefore will the Lord wait. Therefore will the Lord wait.
What? In revealing His deliverance.
Why? That He may be gracious unto
you. Therefore will He be exalted. that He may have mercy upon you,
for the Lord is not a God of judgment. Blessed are all they
that wait for Him." Wait for Him. Lord, I know. I know You do all things right,
all things well. Lord, these times are tough,
but I know this is for my good. I know it is. And all the while,
I know it's grievous for the moment. It hurts. One might ask, Bill, couldn't
He be gracious without waiting? Well, look how evident His mercy
is and how much we truly see His hand of deliverance after
we've been made to wait. Lord, it's been good. It's good
that I've been afflicted. Lord, that You'd bring me to
a place to where I would absolutely see Lord, without you, I'm nothing. He's faithful. He's going to
teach his people to walk by faith, and he's going to reward in closing
that which he's proven to be real. Let's look at these last
three verses, and we'll stop for this first one. Verse 19,
So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs,
they see Jesus walking on the sea and drawing nine to the ship,
and they were afraid. But he said unto them, It is
I, be not afraid. Then they willingly received
him into the ship, and immediately the ship was at the land wherever
they went." It was dark. The sea was raging because of
a great wind that blew. But here was the thing. The Lord
told us to get in this boat. The Lord told us to get in this
boat. This was not something we decided to do. He told us
to go to the other side. And it was dark, and the wind
was blowing and raging, and they kept doing what He told them
to do. Here we are today. We've come
today to do one thing. We've come to worship the Lord.
Now, how has He ordained that we worship Him Well, we've assembled
ourselves together. He said, I'll send you pastors
out to my heart. Yeah, but we're going through
some tough times. We've had some trials and tribulations. But that doesn't eliminate the
need of sitting and hearing His Word. That's where He's going
to teach us. Yeah, but I could be doing something
Not at the expense of doing what He said to do. Not forsaking
the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some
is. This is the safest place that you can be. This is eternal. This is what is not going to
pass away. Everything else is gone. It's
over. Heaven and earth are going to
pass away. Not this. Not this. Where would you rather
be? Marvin, tell me one thing. Tell
me what God has to say. That's all I want to hear. Tell
me what the Lord, wherever He's placed us, whatever He's commissioned
us to do, be faithful. Be faithful in that. Keep rowing. Keep rowing. He's ever mindful
of our situation because He's ordered it. Mark's account of
this right here. Listen to this, how precious.
Mark 6.48. And he saw them toiling, fatigued, fatigued. He saw them
toiling in the rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them.
Isn't that wonderful? Isn't it wonderful to know? He
sees. He knows where I am. He sees
me toiling, following after Him. I'm telling
you, I watch people on television, it just seems as though that
if the walk of a believer was what men, you know, that sit
around in golden chairs and golden pianos health and wealth and
prosperity and everything like that. Boy, I'm telling you, what
I read in the Scriptures is contradictory to what man says the victorious
life is. Man, I see and watch believers
that struggle. They're hurting. They're hurting.
And the Lord's teaching them, this is not your home. This is
not. You're just you're just a pilgrim
here. You're just in the tabernacle. One of the apostles says if this
tabernacle, you know, if this tent is temporary. It's not our
home. He saw him toiling in the dark
and the sea was rough, rowing, they kept going, you know, and
the scripture says they saw him and they were afraid. Now this morning. When you're
in the midst of trials and tribulation. We know. We know. We're frail
creatures. They saw Him. The Scripture says
they saw the Lord Jesus walking on the sea and drawing nigh unto
the ship, and they were afraid. But He was the only hope they
had. Amidst trials, we're frail creatures. Afraid. how often our fears have been
realized. You know why? There's an old
man in us that does not expect to be delivered. I know I can read where he helped
other people, but this is tougher than anybody's ever gone through.
Oh, no, it isn't. No, it isn't. There's not one thing that's
happened to you that's not common to all men. We're frail creatures. And the Scriptures is not lax
in revealing what we are by nature. They were afraid. And they saw
Him. They looked at Him. They saw
Him coming. Take heart. Faithfulness from
the hand of Him that is faithful. He said, verse 20, it is I. Be not afraid. You know, when
the Lord reveals that to my heart, that will settle my heart. Don't
be afraid. Don't be afraid. I think, Lord,
help me. Lord, help me. I believe. Help my unbelief. Don't be afraid. It is I, how thankful that we
ought to be that He does not deal with us according to our
iniquities, but He deals with us with grace and mercy. But
I love this last verse, Then they willingly received Him into
the ship, and immediately the ship was at the land where they
went. He got into the boat. They were
in a tough spot. They saw him afraid. He said, Don't be afraid. It's
I. They received him into the ship,
and the Scripture says that the ship was immediately at the other
side. He got in the boat. The struggle was over. It was over. If you're here, Lord, if you're
here, Lord, if you reveal to my heart that you're with me,
Lord, all things are well. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart for the glory of our blessed Savior and the good
and the comfort and the settling of his people. Amen.

Be Not Afraid

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

How do we know Jesus is the prophet spoken of in Deuteronomy?

Why is faith important for Christians?

How does Jesus show He is in control during trials?

Why do Christians face trials and tribulations?

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About Marvin Stalnaker

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Be Not Afraid

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

How do we know Jesus is the prophet spoken of in Deuteronomy?

Why is faith important for Christians?

How does Jesus show He is in control during trials?

Why do Christians face trials and tribulations?

Sermon Transcript

About Marvin Stalnaker

Comments

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