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Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.
I asked you a question last week why is
God killing
me and we saw where Paul said God was
killing me so he could show me a
resurrection in 2 Corinthians chapter 1:
8-1 God was killing
him because it’s hard to see a
resurrection unless something is
dying God was killing him God was taking
him through through a deathlike
experience to raise him up the Bible
even says about Jesus for the joy set
before him he endured the
cross the joy that was set before him
was the anticipation of the
Resurrection he could handle Friday
because he knew Sunday was
coming your ability to handle the
Fridays in your life anybody anybody
going through a
Friday that’s when you hanging there you
circumstances are crucifying
you we call it good Friday but it’s bad
Friday is circumstances is just doing
you
in and you want to throw in the towel
because you’re dying you are
dying but he endured it he didn’t come
down from the cross in
anticipation of
Sunday and what I want to give you
through these vignettes I’m sharing with
you is a different anticipation
or as I’ve said before if all you see is
what you see you do not see all that
there is to be
seen if all you see is what you see then
you do not see all that there is to be
seen if you’re just looking at how bad
it is I am not at all suggesting that
you skip that that’s not real if you’re
hurting you’re hurting if you’re sad
you’re sad if you’re depressed you’re
depressed if you you know frustrated
you’re frustrated if you’re angry you’re
angry in fact God has God gives you
permission to tell him how you feel
don’t be going to God all happy
acting when he know you’re
lying you know you you’re FR you’re
you’re
disappointed I want to go back to an old
story you know it well in Mark chapter
4 on that day when evening came he said
to them let us go to the other
side Jesus saying to the disciples
leaving the crowd they took him along
with them in the boat just as he was and
other Boats were with him and there
arose a fierce Gale of wind and the
waves were breaking out over the boat so
much that the boat was already filling
up Jesus himself was in the stern asleep
on the cushion and they woke him and
said to him teacher do you not care that
we are perishing
why are you killing me we’re dying out
here we’re perishing it’s
dying Jesus said let’s go to the other
side guys they get in the
boat and it says a fierce Gale
arose the Greek word there is pronounced
lilac
lilac a lilac is a basically a windstorm
that whips up the Sea of
Galilee out of
nowhere turning a calm situation into a
chaotic
one lilacs or these Fierce Gales would
just show
up uh the Sea of Galilee is kind of in a
basin surrounded by mountains and so
when the when the air kind of got sucked
down into that it would create sort of
like a a tornado kind of effect on the
water and it would just just just create
Havoc
unexpected but
tumultuous life sometimes is like that
out of nowhere your world is
shattered out of nowhere your heart is
broken out of nowhere your hopes are
dashed
and it’s killing
you it’s killing
you now they’re only in the boat because
Jesus said get in the boat that’s the
only reason they in the
boat so they are in the boat doing what
God told them to
do and right smack dab in the middle of
God’s will all hell breaks loose wow
we’re not talking about unbelievers
we’re not talking about pagans we’re not
talking about about
rebellious we’re talking about followers
of the true and living God doing exactly
what they were told to do exactly how
they were told to do it and their
world is now in
chaos so they’ve got a stormy
situation and Jesus is
asleep Jesus is asleep
sleep now I could handle it better if he
was at least
up because then then I would at least
feel like he’s aware of my
situation I feel like he going through
it at least he going through it with
me but he’s
asleep in the stern on a
cushion just to help you about the stern
of of uh fishing fing boats back then
and you can still see it in some of the
foreign boats today in the stern of the
boat would be a little overhang with a
little Cavern underneath it where they
would hold some equipment and you could
crawl up under there with the only
covered part of a fishing boat you kind
of crawl up under there and kind of uh
uh uh squeeze up and and get a little
place to lay
down and it says on a
cushion why does he want you to know
this why doesn’t he just say Jesus was
asleep he doesn’t tell you Jesus was
asleep he says Jesus was asleep in the
stern so he wants you to know where he
was
asleep and then he wants to know he
wants you to know how he was asleep on a
cushion if you’re in the stern this
little
compartment and your head is on a
cushion that’s a pillow that meant you
sleeping on purpose
this is plan
snoozing this is
snoring because that’s what you plan to
do so what I want you to know right now
is that
Jesus didn’t just fall asleep because he
was
tired he fell asleep on purpose you’ll
see that in a
moment these have a number of problems
in this story problem number
one a storm on the
outside but problem number one created
problem number two a storm on the inside
they’re
scared cuz they’re
perishing now you would wonder how Jesus
could sleep through this kind of
storm that made it look like they were
gonna die that means and he’s a
professional fisherman on this boat so
these are not novices or folk who never
been in the water before these are
professional fishermen so they’re used
to this so this had to be a real bad
situation for them to raise the question
do you not care so they got a problem on
the outside a storm they’ve got storm
raging on the inside in other words
their circumstances out there was
creating a mess in
here cuz they’re
terrified but then they got a theologic
iCal
storm you don’t
care because if you
cared one we we shouldn’t be going
through this and if you really cared you
at least be
up you at least be awake you at least be
aware you at least be here with us don’t
you
care and if the truth be told when God
is letting us go through a
lilac it doesn’t feel like he
cares and he shown
enough seems to be
asleep because he seems unaware of what
we’re going through and why he’s letting
us go through it they were going through
it they were
in
deep confusion teacher verse 38 do you
not care that we are perishing we dying
in this thing
this is killing
me verse
39 and he got
up and rebuked the
wind and said to the
Sea
[Music]
hush be
still so Jesus is
talking to the circumstances
it says he rebuked the wind he told the
wind what to do and he told the sea
quiet
up so he not talking to people now he’s
talking to
situations not talking to living objects
in that
sense he’s telling circumstances to
change wind stop blowing and see stop
bouncing and he said to them why are you
afraid how is it you have no
faith about 125
times we’re told in the New
Testament about lack of faith or to take
courage or why do you have so little
faith or phrases like that about 125
times
but at face value it seemed like an
unfair
question cuz they just told you why they
were
scared hello Jesus we’re
[Music]
dying so we’re a little
scared we’re dying
here that question would be like asking
somebody who just got out of a swimming
pool why are you
wet I mean it’s on face
value yet Jesus poses the
question as though they should not have
been
afraid when it seems an unfair
question given the
circumstances dying I’m dying why should
I not be
afraid he goes on to say
how is it that you have no
faith so the increase of the fear was
tied to the decrease of the faith in
other
words faith and fear can’t occupy the
same space at the same
time fear is a
[Music]
reflection fear in misuse of the word
fear the the illegitimate use of
fear of the fact that faith has has been
interrupted faith has been eclipsed
faith has
decreased sometimes he talks about
little faith here he says you have no
faith implication is you should have
faith the question is why should they
have had Faith why especially giving the
circumstances they’re dying if if you
read if you read things that happened
prior to this this is this is found in
Mark 4 it’s also found in Matthew 8 this
story you will find they have seen Jesus
at
work see they have seen what he can
do for
others they have seen his miraculous
hand they have seen the testimony of his
word they have seen him heal they have
seen him
they they know that this Jesus is not
ordinary is he’s
extraordinary but just like
us it’s easy to forget what D Jesus did
yesterday when I’m in a lilac
today it’s easy to forget you know when
I was going through
ABC a month ago God came out of nowhere
and and took care of that
thing but that’s back
then I’m in a mess right
now I got a lilac I got a I got a
tumultuous situation on my
hands but there’s another
reason why he condemns Their
Fear and that reason is back in verse
35 on that
day when evening came
he said to them let us go to the other
side translation gentlemen get in the
boat guess where we’re
going all the way over to the other
side guess what their circumstances did
their circumstances caused them to
forget what he
said he said we going to make it to the
other
side he told them before they hit the
circumstance they going to make it he
told them that but in the middle of the
circumstance it looked like it
contradicted what he said because they
not g to make it they said we’re
perishing so watch this now so the
circumstance overrode the
word you with me what they could
see overrode the Fulfillment of a word
they could not see they we couldn’t see
the other the side cuz the circumstance
said we’re not going to get there
circumstance said we’re not going to
make it circumstance said we’re going to
drown right out here in the middle of
nowhere we GNA
die what will always breed
fear when you’re
dying perishing in the circumstance
you’re in is forgetting what God said he
was going to do because the
circumstances and the waves are so big
and so
looming you say wow
wow this is not this is
not I ain’t gonna make
it I’m not g to make
it why are you so afraid they probably
amen discernment they probably said oh
other side other side yeah we going to
make it the other side amen hallelujah
praise the Lord praise God for the other
side other side Hallelujah for the other
side other side other side other side
[Applause]
they had to go they just they cuz there
was no
lilac when there is no lilac then God’s
word sweet rich full complete
inherent without error but in the middle
when there’s a
lilac and you can’t remember that word
cuz the circumstances are looming too
[Applause]
large another cue they should have
gotten was from the posture of Jesus he
sleep he is sound
asleep he is calm in the middle of the
storm but he is calm in the same storm
that’s shaking you up well he wasn’t in
a different place he was in the same
storm and went to sleep on
purpose you see what they should have
said in our more spiritual moments you
know when we just really got it going on
with
God now Jesus said we G to make
it and he said we gonna make it all the
way
over and he must have made it cuz he
sleep on a pillar in the stern which
mean he sleep on
purpose so maybe we all need to lay down
right the Biblical word for that is
resting in the midst of the
storm can now watch this watch
this I love I love verse
41 then they became very much
afraid and
said who then is
this some verin says what manner of man
is
this that even the wind and the Sea
obeying they said we are very much
afraid now a few minutes ago they were
afraid their circumstances was dictating
their
emotion now they are very afraid a few
minutes ago they were afraid of their
circumstances but when Jesus Christ
showed who he
was they became of the one they should
have been afraid of all the time see
they were fearing the wrong thing they
had so much focus on their circumstances
that their circumstances overruled God
yes sir that’s being afraid of the wrong
thing now they saying what manner of man
is
this that the circumstances respond to
him
see what we do is we respond to the
circumstances and then they control our
emotions when what they said was now
we’re going to respond to him cuz he
controls the
circumstances so why is God killing me
why is he putting me in this perishing
situation so that you’ll learn to fear
him more than the thing you’re fearing
right
now so that you’ll learn to fear fear
him more than the thing you’re fearing
right now so what is that thing that’s
causing you to lose your grip causing
you to lose your hope causing you to
lose your joy and you think there is no
solution to this I’m stuck I’m I’m no
way out I am
dying and God is
sleeping on
purpose because he wants to let you
see
that he’s true to his word even when the
circumstan is contradicted and when he’s
ready to speak to the
circumstances they will
[Applause]
[Music]
obey