A Look at Matthew 8:23-27

The passage in Matthew that I chose for this study is the point when Matthew speaks of Jesus calming the storm that had come up and frightened the disciples. Some might argue that this isn’t necessarily a miracle as we perceive them in the Bible, because it didn’t have anything to do with someone getting healed. However, the simple fact that Jesus could calm the waves with his hand and voice certainly qualifies as a miracle in my book.

Matthew 8:23-27 (NIV)
²³ Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him.
²⁴ Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.
²⁵ The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
²⁶ He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
²⁷ The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"

As we look at this passage of Scripture, we see several Emotions expressed from the disciples. The first of these emotions was fear. Some of these men were fishermen, and had most likely been out on the sea when fierce and furious storms barreled across the water toward their ships. They may have seen men get tossed overboard. They may have seen ships broken apart by the buffeting waves that were considerably larger in a storm than normal, or ships sink due to taking on so much water that they could no longer stay afloat. These memories could have been the likely trigger for their fear and trepidation of sailing through a storm.

Some of these men were not fishermen, but were of what we might call a “white collar” profession, if there were such a thing back then. They may never have been on a boat in the midst of a storm, and there is a very likely chance that their fear at that moment was caused by the lack of experience on the sea during times like these. With these things in mind, we can clearly see the possibility of fear to set in during this storm.

There also seems to be an emotion of anger or frustration with them, because even as the storm is raging overhead, Jesus is sound asleep in the bowels of the ship. The storm has awakened everyone else on board the ship, with the exception of Jesus. This angers and frustrates them quite thoroughly, which we see in their tense demand for Jesus to save them from what they felt was certain death by drowning.

The first emotion that the text brings out to me from Jesus is one of calm. Everyone else is running scared and getting all worked up about the storm outside, and yet, Jesus is sleeping peacefully inside the ship. Did Jesus know that the storm was going to come up while they were on the sea? The text doesn’t give us a clear answer, but it seems to me that He might have had a clue, as He was the only one on the ship that was apparently unconcerned with the copious amounts of water coming from the sky.

The next emotion that I see in Jesus is one of anger and frustration with the disciples for their lack of faith. Instead of following His example of being calm, cool, and collected in the midst of the rolling waves, they choose to cower in fear and demand that Jesus do something to fix the situation. Jesus first rebukes the disciples for their lack of faith and fear of the situation, and then He rebukes the wind and waves into submission as well. It would seem that Jesus was angry at the entire situation, and not just the disciples or just the weather.

The disciples express yet another emotion in the process, which is fear combined with trepidation and wonder after Jesus rebukes the wind and waves. They stand there in complete and utter amazement at the fact that nature itself follows the commands of their rabbi, and wonder who He really is. It is this particular expressed emotion that intrigues me the most in this passage, because these men have been walking with Jesus for some time, and have seen Him perform all kinds of miracles. One would think that they’d have a sense of safety and satisfaction when Jesus calms the storm, but in fact, their emotional state is quite the opposite!

We see that, in spite of the lack of faith and abundance of fear that the disciples display in this situation, Jesus still chooses to give Assistance by calming the storm. This is not unlike our own lives, when we come to the Lord in the midst of crisis. We might be completely afraid or scared of the situation, and might feel as though the waves of life are about to come crashing down around us. For many of us, this is the only time we come to Jesus for assistance with the problems of life. Even with our lack of faith and fear, He is faithful and answers our cries with help and assistance.

There is also a Command to obey within this passage of Scripture. Jesus rebukes the wind and waves, and they calm down. Much in the same way, when we are in the midst of trial and tribulation, Jesus commands us to be calm and trust in Him. When we choose to do this in a real and authentic way, then we find that He calms the storm within us, which allows us to see the path to get through the issue we are dealing with. It is important that, when that command to calm comes, we obey it so that He might show us the way that He would have us go to work through whatever situation is causing our storm.

There is an Example here to avoid, and that is the example that the disciples portray during and after the storm. They were fearful, scared, unsure of what to do, unsure of who Jesus actually was, and lacked faith. The world tells us that there is no God. Satan desires for us to believe that lie just a little, so that he might infiltrate our faith and make it counterfeit. He wants us to run scared every time some new and possibly detrimental plot twist rises up within our lives. This is not what God desires for us, and we must be careful to remember that. God desires that we know who Jesus is in our lives, and that we trust in His character of grace, mercy, and faithfulness, so that we will not live in fear.

In order to do this, there needs to be a Confession to God of the fear and lack of faith that plagues us as sinful human beings. We need to acknowledge that there is indeed a sin issue within us that causes us to doubt the character of Jesus, and in turn, whether or not He will be faithful to calm the storms in our lives if we call upon Him. If we don’t confess this, we cannot get to the heart of the matter of our lack of faith, which causes us more distress and heartache in the long run. It is of utmost importance that we choose to face this head on and give our lack of faith to God, so that He might build faith within us.

This brings us to the point of Supplication, or asking God for something that we desire of His nature within ourselves. It is in asking God to heal us and protect us from our natural tendency to be fearful and lack faith that we find the answers to be confident in who Christ is and what He has and will continue to do in our lives. The act of supplication forces us to break down the walls of self and let God in. This can be a very hard thing to do, but once it happens, it gets easier to do it each time. Notice that we don’t do it just once! This is an ongoing process of continually asking God to break down the barriers of fear so that we might gain more of the strength in Christ that we need. The process is different for each of us. It might be a once per week thing for some, and a moment by moment event for others. The frequency with which you go to God in this manner isn’t necessarily the issue, but rather, the actual act of going to God on a regular basis. It is through this process that we can be less like the disciples on the boat, and more like the disciples after the day of Pentacost.

Who Is Man?

I had the honor of preaching this past Sunday on part of The Truth Project. I thought I would share my notes with you! If you wish, you can go to the sermon player on the side bar to listen and read along at the same time.

Who is man? Are we a product of the desire of Almighty God to have love and companionship that chooses freely to abide with Him, or are we just a product of “the stuff in the box”? Do we freely think and choose for ourselves, or do we simply respond to stimuli? Are we made in the image of God, or are we the image of “Goo” that evolved by happenstance over billions of years?

Are we inherently good and then our belief systems create the struggle of good and evil in our lives, or are we inherently sinful and in need of saving?

What does the world say?

Abraham Maslow was a celebrated psychologist and noted as the founder of Humanistic Psychology. He created what is known as the Hierarchy of Needs.

Maslow’s thoughts and now some of the world’s Anthropology

Basic Assumptions

man, by nature, is good

mental health and happiness come through self-actualization...

and getting in touch with one’s real ‘good’ self

social institutions are responsible for man’s evil actions

HOWEVER…

Those who watched the video last week will remember Dr. William Provine, professor of Atheistic Humanism. He stated this:

*no gods or purposive forces

*no life after death

*no ultimate foundation for ethics

*no ultimate meaning in life

*no free will

Clarence Darrow was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Bobby Franks (1924) and defending John T. Scopes in the Scopes Trial (1925), in which he opposed William Jennings Bryan (statesman, noted orator, and three time presidential candidate for the Democratic Party).

“The Purpose of man is like the purpose of the pollywog – to wiggle along as far as he can without dying, or to hang to life until death takes him.”

WOW!!! That’s what got me out of bed this morning! Let’s all wiggle along and try not to die today!

In other words, “A bug, is a pig, is a dog, is a boy.” All creatures are merely a product of evolution, and merely animals that respond to stimuli.

And yet the world worries about evil! If a bug, is a pig, is a dog, is a boy, then why are we so concerned when people are killed? Why do we care enough to have laws that dictate that it is wrong to kill people?

As Dr. Tackett put it, “do you think that the lion out on the African plain ever feels bad about taking down that poor defenseless zebra?” No. Why not? It’s survival of the fittest! If a bug, is a pig, is a dog, is a boy, then when someone kills someone else isn’t that just natural? Why are we so concerned?

Why does evil bother you? Why do you feel bad about evil?

Isn’t EVIL, as described, simply the natural outworking of the evolutionary process?

It bothers us BECAUSE THERE’S SOMETHING BIGGER WITHIN US THAT SCREAMS THAT IT IS WRONG!!!

The big problem here is that, as we can see from these peeks into the World’s thoughts on man that even they can’t agree as to what man is!

Can you see now why it is so important for us to know the truth? We MUST know who we are so that we can better understand why we believe what we believe. That knowledge can only come from gazing upon the face of God.

We know a bit of what the world says who man is, but what does the Bible say?

What Is True – We Are God’s Workmanship!!!

Genesis 1:27 - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Ephesians 2:10 – For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Psalm 139:13-16 - For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

We have been created in the image of God! Imageo Deo! However, sin entered the world when God’s creation turned to it’s own desires.

Romans 5:12-14 - Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

Genesis 6:5 - The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.

Description & Names of the Old Man

evil dead blind deaf lost rebellious

without hope haters of God desperately wicked children of the devil

Humanity was in need of a Savior!!!

John 3:16 ALL TOGETHER

Revelation 5:9 - And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

God sent Jesus to redeem us and give us a way to get back to how it was between Himself and Man in the Garden before the fall. The problem is we still have that “Old Man” within us, seeking to follow the natural desires of self instead of the supernatural desires of God.

Romans 7:21-23 - So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

We know that What Is True is that we are God’s workmanship. We also know that, even as His workmanship we were lost to sin and had to be redeemed. So how do we continue on the road toward an authentic relationship with our Creator?

What To Do – Choose God’s Grace

Ephesians 2:8-9 – For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.

Romans 3:23-24 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Titus 3:4-7 - But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

When we choose God’s grace, we accept that we are fallen and in need of a Savior! We allow God to take us to the next step of completing His plan to reconcile us to Him. It is in choosing God’s grace that we have a leg to stand on when it comes to putting off the Old Man and his natural desires, and taking on the New Man in Christ.

Descriptions & Names of the New Man:

Redeemed Saints Priests Called out ones People of God A holy nation

children of God Sons of God Beloved Wear white robes Born from above

Aren’t those the descriptions we want to bear? I certainly do!

We are God’s Workmanship. He created us to have a lasting communion and companionship with Him, not only in this mortal life, but in the life to come.

In order to have that relationship, we need to choose God’s grace each day so that we might put off the characteristics of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and take on the characteristics of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Reputation Can Be Everything

I was watching a brand new show on the Discovery Channel last night called "Swords - Life On The Line". It's kinda like Deadliest Catch, but instead of crab fishing in the Bering Sea these folks are fishing for swordfish off the Outer Banks.

In this particular episode there was a captain that hadn't been out during the season in ten years, but her legend was such that she easily filled out her crew and got to work on the fishing grounds. Other boats were giving her a wide berth and allowing her to fish the places that she used to, all because of who she was.

However, there was also a younger captain from the south who had come up to fish the Banks with his crew. He was a very aggressive bully of a captain down where he was from, and the other captains on the Banks had heard of his actions back home. They were not willing to give up some of their fishing area, and were very wary of giving him information and sharing any supplies.

Isn't it interesting? Two captains doing the same thing, and yet with completely different reputations and responses from other people.

Now, the southern captain was very respectful of other boats' fishing areas and did was very cordial and respectful when speaking to them. All to no avail, however, as the other captains simply could not believe that his niceties were genuine due to what they already knew about him. Is it fair? Not necessarily, but it is human nature to distrust what seems to be out of the ordinary.

Remember Saul? Acts 8 introduces him to us as a man on the hunt for people who follow "The Way", otherwise known as Christ-followers. In Acts 9, he is running wild from town to town in search of people that he might arrest and bring back to Jerusalem for imprisonment or death for their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ until he literally has a "come to Jesus meeting" and changes his ways.

What do you think his reputation was like? I can't imagine that he was very popular with the Jews or Gentiles that believed in Christ.

Once his experience there on the road to Damascus happened and Ananias was used by God to restore his sight, Saul had become a fully changed man. No longer interested in persecuting Christ-followers for their faith, he began to preach and proclaim the story of Christ to anyone who would listen. The problem here was that he had spent so much time building the reputation of a persecutor of Christians, there were not very many who were interested in what he was saying as much as they were interested in finding a way to dispatch him to the happy hunting grounds!

Several times his life was in danger and those who did believe him had to sneak him out of those potentially fatal situations. Even the disciples where wary of meeting with him for fear of being arrested! Saul's reputation was going to take a very long time to reverse itself.

The same thing happens in our lives today. Our reputations precede us wherever we go, and they can either smoothly pave or roughly tear up the road to where we are going. When we become followers of Christ, there are parts of our reputation that we have to overcome in order to be accepted as such.

Let me make this clear: You DO NOT NEED TO FIX THEM TO COME TO CHRIST!!! He accepts us as we are, and we don't have to "clean up" in order to become a follower. However, once we become a follower we are to accept the terms of that relationship, which means we have to do what it takes to live a Biblically sound life.

This is where it gets even more tricky when it comes to our reputation. In many cases, we accept Christ into our lives but it simply becomes "fire insurance" because our lives continue to reflect the world instead of the cross. Our reputation, instead of being one of a nice person who lives a worldly lifestyle, becomes that of a hypocrite because we speak one thing and do another thing which completely contradicts what we said.

To live a life of worship that is completely authentic takes more than lip service. Take a look at what James has to say about this:

James 2:14-26 - What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for wha the did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in the different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

So now comes the tough question: What does your reputation look like? Do people believe that you live a life that worships the Almighty all day, every day, and in every way? If not, it may be time to have a Damascus Road experience yourself.

The Stoning of Stephen

I've been stewing on Acts 7 for a while now. At first glance, it's a fairly unassuming chapter due to most of it being dedicated to Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin. However, if you look a little deeper, you see some things that may catch your heart a bit.

Now, remember back in Chapter 6 that Stephen had been falsley accused of speaking against the Law and the Temple. Verse 15 said that everyone in the room saw that Stephen's face was like the face of an angel. My best guess is that in that very moment, the Holy Spirit was filling Stephen with the strength he would need to answer the question that followed.

Acts 7:1 - Then the high priest asked him, "Are these charges true?"

An interesting side note here is that the high priest asking the question (according to most scholars and theologians) was Caiaphas, who was the very priest that set the wheels in motion for Jesus to be betrayed and ultimately killed. How ironic that he also presides over the making of the first Christian martyr?!

At this moment, Stephen could have done what you see much of on television these days. He could have gone the tried and true "no these accusations are purely false and I will prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that they are" route, but instead, God had a different plan for him. God had Stephen give the Sanhedrin a history lesson.

Reading through Verses 2-50, you will find a cliff notes version of the happenings between God and His chosen people from the time of Abraham all the way up to Solomon. One would think that this was to remind them of the amazing things God had done for them, but if you read it carefully you notice the common theme: Rejection of God's teachings and persecution of anyone who would bring them back to the forefront. This culminates with Stephen basically going postal on the Sanhedrin in Verses 51-53:

Acts 7:51-53 - "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers; You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet that your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And how you have betrayed and murdered him - you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it."

Those words cost Stephen his life at the hands of the Sanhedrin. They stoned him to death for his beliefs. They stoned him to death for being an activist for his faith. They stoned him to death for stepping on their time honored laws, traditions, doctrines, and theologies. They stoned him to death for making them look bad in public. This event began the persecution of the church that spread and scattered it througout Judea and Samaria.

Now, while we don't see people physically stoned by others for their words and deeds in the church today, we see something very similar going on spiritually, emotionally, and mentally which is almost worse in some ways.

We have become too comfortable with our surroundings, trappings, traditions, methodologies, doctrines, practices, etc... This issue is not just with one certain age group either! It comes from people of ALL ages who don't want to compromise what they want in order to possibly do kingdom work. When someone comes along and challenges our positions on things that we are comfortable with, we lash out at them verbally to their face, and behind their back. We passive-aggressively undermine their position by gossipping about them and turning small things into giant issues. We choose to say "We've NEVER done it that way before", or "We've ALWAYS done it that way" in the hopes that whatever it is will be left alone. The sad part? This is NOT what God sent Jesus here to die for.

A life of Worship is not a life based on the trappings of traditional or modern practices. It is not a life based on the age of a person or their personal doctrines and agendas. It is a life that is totally surrendered to Him all day, every day, in every way. It is a life that reflects the love of Jesus to others just as the moon reflects the sun. It is a life that causes change just by simply being ready to serve God in whatever way He calls us to each and every time.

Instead of organizing petitions to save the Communion table or the carpet, we should be organizing food and clothing drives to help those less fortunate than ourselves.

Instead of complaining to others about musical style, we should be open to the idea that what is being played and sung may bring others to Christ much in the same way that our favorite musical style did for us.

God calls us to have an authentic worship relationship with Him in order that He might use us to bring someone else into that same relationship.

We are to lovingly rebuke, forgive, and educate instead of harshly rejecting, persecuting, and driving away.

We can only do these things if we choose to surrender ourselves completely to the purpose and plan that God has for us as followers of the teachings of Jesus.

Proclaim Christ, Teach of Christ, Serve Christ. Love God, Love People. Live True. Whatever you want to call it, it's a life of Worship!

Gossip, Lies, Deceit, and the Power of Faith

Acts 6:8-14 - Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called) - Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen, but they coul dnot stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, "We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God." So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who testified "This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us."

Stephen's story in Acts is a short one, but it brings out very vivid examples of what happens when we choose to follow Christ and allow Him to make us into men and women full of God's grace and power. Satan doesn't want this. In fact, he craves the exact opposite for us. Instead of being men and women full of God's grace and power, he would rather we be men and women full of lies, deceit, and selfish ambition.

When we make the decision to live a life that worships our Lord all day, every day, and in every way, it puts a target on our backs. We might as well call up Hell and declare open season on ourselves! It is NOT EASY, NOT SMOOTH, and NOT ENJOYABLE all the time. It is merely the beginning of a journey to build us into those men and women full of God's grace and power.

Oswald Chambers wrote in My Utmost For His Highest that God beats and pounds us into shape by fire and water, so that we might take a form that more closely resembles His image rather than our own. I can certainly relate to this, can you? His desire is to make us into people that have credibility that is more than skin deep. He desires for us to be in relationship with Him all the way to the core of our being. Stephen seemed to embody this to the point of being able to perform miracles and healings in addition to preaching the Word of Christ.

However, as we all know, one of the quickest and easiest ways to undermine someone's credibility is by destroying their reputation. We see this in Stephen's case. People with different viewpoints and opinions disagree with his teachings, so they seek to discredit him in whatever way possible.

Politicians and their staffers are masters at this. Mudslinging anyone? The Democrats and Republicans differ greatly on issues, so they continually try to discredit each other. Other faiths (and those with no faith at all) don't agree with the stances that followers of Christ take, so they do whatever they can to discredit us.

NOTE: We do a pretty good job of discrediting ourselves with our actions vs our words! The old adage that actions speak louder than words is SOOOO applicable to this!

A life of worship has to "walk the talk" at all times. We are called to a higher purpose, which means we have to put away the childish antics and the constant whining to have it our way. We are called to SERVE, and NOT TO BE SERVED. Stephen served Christ with all he had, and those who did not agree with his view sought to discredit him in front of the world. Now, this is where I really get excited about how authentic Stephen's relationship with and zeal for Christ actually was.

Acts 6:15 - All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Even in the midst of the false accusations and fake witnesses, Stephen was so in tune with God that his face never changed expression! He maintained a face of truth, dignity, and it shown like an angel in the room. He knew what was real and what was not, regardless of the falsehoods being spewed. It didn't matter what man said about him for his faith was not in man.

We'll talk more about Stephen in Chapter 7 when something that is so unthinkable to us here in America happens to him for his faith in Jesus.