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.

can I challenge you today i’ma challenge

myself too in light of all that’s been

going on I want to challenge us to put

our faith over our fears sometimes you

can’t control fear because it just comes

on you and it’s just all up in your

grill I mean it’s just all over you

because the circumstances make you

afraid but my challenge today is to

place faith over your fears when when we

were in school the teacher would give

you a test sometimes it would be a pop

quiz sometimes it would be a major

midterm or final exam the test was

always designed to see whether you had

learned what was taught in preparation

for where you were going next the next

grade level so to go from one grade

level to the next grade level it

involved the test not too many kids that

I knew growing up or adults in and my

graduate education got all excited about

a test but they knew it was part of the

curriculum part of the curriculum for

your life in my life by God is a test

now a good teacher will only test you

over information taught you in other

words they don’t give you tests of an

information you are not supposed to know

but information you’re supposed to know

grasp and be able to recite or utilize

throughout Jesus’s walk with his

disciples he would give them tests and

what he would be testing is their faith

whether they believed what they heard or

whether they were doing what a lot of us

do every Sunday just say Amen without

adopting and incorporating it into our

functional lives

moving it from theory to activity one of

those events is found in mark chapter 4

I love this this event Jesus has been

teaching like crazy and he’s been

teaching about the kingdom of God and he

was just just been laying it on all day

and he was explaining to his own

disciples so that they would understand

this rule of God and understand how they

would live their lives underneath God

and how they would have confidence in

the God that they were to follow on the

next day Jesus says to his followers let

us go to the other side that is the

other side of this eight mile track

across the Sea of Galilee so they all

get in their boats because they hanging

out with Jesus it says as they were

going along verse 37 says there arose a

fierce Gale of wind and waves that were

breaking over the boat so much so that

the boat was already filling up now you

have to understand a lot of these guys

are fishermen so they’re used to being

in the water they used to win and use

the waves they understand how to roll in

this environment but this was different

the Greek word here is the word lilac a

lot lack is a wind storm it’s a storm

the Sea of Galilee sits inside of a

mountain range and so sometimes when the

wind blows up it acts like a funnel and

sucks it down creating a major

disturbance when they left everything

was fine but on their way things got

crazy they were in a lot like we’re in a

lilac Coronas a lilac economic loss is

the lilac people being laid off is a

lilac some stores not getting filled up

as quickly that you need you need supply

that’s a lilac people were in a hospital

in the lilac

while AK is the storm that comes out of

nowhere that disrupts your ordered life

that brings adversity and discouragement

that’s what they’re in but please notice

something they’re in a storm

while they’re also in the will of God

did you hear that being in the will of

God doesn’t mean him it’s not gonna fund

a storm on you people asked why why am I

going through this when I’m serving God

well teachers give tests to good

students and bastards right so they are

in the will of God and in a storm

because both can happen simultaneously

don’t ever let anybody tell you if you

in the will of God it won’t rain

sometimes you haven’t seen rain until

you’re in the will of God so you can be

out of the will of God in the storm but

they are in the will of God and in a

storm the boat is filling up now watch

this it says in verse 38 of Mark for

Jesus himself was in the stern sleeping

on a cushion hello what good is the

Savior who’s gonna sleep on you when you

in a storm have you ever noticed when

you were taking the test how silent the

teacher was you’re in there struggling

with the test and the teacher will tell

you silent please teacher will get quiet

sometimes they even walk out the room

sometimes when you in a storm Jesus will

get quiet on you the telephone line will

seem busy

he’ll seem like a million miles away you

won’t be feeling him Jesus is asleep but

but notice he not just asleep he’s

snoring cuz it tells us he sleep on a

cushion now if you sleep on a cushion

that doesn’t mean you you you you doing

that you’re not not if you put a cushion

as a pillow

he probably had a my pillow you know he

got he got a pill on there if you put a

pillow under you that means you meant to

go to sleep you sleeping on purpose

so Jesus intentionally goes to sleep

when his followers are in trouble

if you’re in the world of God right now

you serving the Lord you obeying God but

she still holds up with this virus you

still got your economic concerns and

Jesus seems a far away far away he’s

there but he’s just not moving yet says

he was asleep in the stern on a pillow

and they woke him that concept is there

the shake-and-bake they had their dare

to get him up then said come on man you

can’t be sleeping at a time like this

Jesus and said to him teacher do you not

care that we are perishing that’s what

it feels like when you’re in a test

you’re in his will and you can’t hear

from him don’t you can’t how can you be

quiet at a time like this how can you

sleep when we are scared to death now

there were three storms happening at the

same time there is the external storm

that’s the winds and the waves putting

the water on the boat that was

threatening their physical lives okay

it’s like this virus that threatens our

physical well-being

there was this external storm that was

invading them but then there was an

internal storm because they were very

much afraid they’re going to be told why

are you so afraid so they’re fearful for

their lives now for professional

fishermen of which a number of these men

were to be scared for their lives mean

this is not a regular storm this is

something that can hurt you this is

something that can second that can take

you under so there’s this external storm

then there is this emotional storm but

then there was the worst storm of all a

spiritual storm because they said

teacher do you not care that we are

perishing do you not care that we are

struggling do you not care that we are

hurting do you not care

because sometimes when you’re in a

crisis it feels like God doesn’t care

cuz if he cared like Martha and Mary

said if you would have been here if you

would have been if you hadn’t delayed a

few days we wouldn’t be going through

this we’re going through this come on

Jesus sometimes to tell the truth you

want to throw up a red flag out on God

you football people know what that is

that’s when the coach reaches in his

pocket pulls out a red flag and throws

it on the field because he believes that

the ref has made a mistake ref has made

a bad call and I want to challenge it

sometimes you want to ask God why you

you don’t know why he’s loudest don’t

you care don’t don’t you care what I’m

going through this red flag you this is

a bad call and yet they’re in a storm

Jesus asleep they wake him up and they

got a storm on it on the inside and the

storm in their soul

you don’t care where is God when it

hurts Jesus gets up in verse 39 and

rebuked the wind and said to the sea

hush be still some of your versions say

peace be still

well no way meant if peace has to be

still that means peace must be moving

see we need to understand a little bit

about peace peace has nothing to do with

external circumstances peace has to do

with internal calm regardless of

external circumstances that’s why the

Bible calls it the peace that passes

understanding because you don’t

understand why you would have it

giving given what’s going on around you

this is the time to be in turmoil and

you are calm when everything around you

is collapsing

it’s like Rahab being calm in our house

when the walls of Jericho are falling

down

peace is being able to rest in God even

though everything is rocky around you

he tells peace to hush be still cool out

calm down chill Jesus speaks to nature

and when he says hush be still

immediately the wind died down and it

became perfectly calm see that’s how

when you know it’s God because it’s Calm

you didn’t expect it’s peace that passes

understanding now this leads to Jesus

asking a question why are you afraid

verse 40 says how is it that you have no

faith now that seems like an odd

question we’re in a storm the boats

filling up our very lives are threatened

you’re asleep and you’re gonna ask us

why are we so afraid and how is it we

have no faith and almost it’s like

asking a swimmer why are you wet I mean

the question doesn’t make sense I can

see Peter because he’s the one who liked

the talk saying oh let’s see maybe we’re

a little bit afraid because we’re

getting ready to die I mean come on

Jesus come on I don’t understand the

question so here it is as we face the

crisis that we’re dealing with and the

ones that will come after this when in

you in the will of God and it’s not

working out and Jesus says why are you

afraid

meaning you shouldn’t be and why do you

have it says no faith because their

little faith was gone here’s the test

jesus said before they left let us go to

the other side let me repeat that

jesus said before they left let us go to

the other side

the test was will you believe my word or

will you believe your problem

the test was is what I say more potent

than what you see faith is the evidence

of things not seen

you see the storm that’s real you don’t

deny the virus it’s real you don’t deny

the problem it’s real you don’t deny the

finances but what did I say I said let

us I just say let me I said all y’all

let us go to the other side other side

other side of the side which means we

all gonna make it so I let a storm come

in to see whether the amens you said on

Sunday you’re believing in your storm on

Monday or whether you just talking a

good game cuz you’re not it’s not

raining yet God wants to appeal what’s

his people to appeal to his word in the

midst of their storm because the storms

of life are tests and tests are always

designed to show us the level of our

faith and to develop us to the next

level of spiritual maturity God wants to

grow us through a storm are you growing

in this quarantine or are you controlled

by your fear or have you decided then

I’m gonna go with God’s Word and I’m

gonna let that Trump my fear my faith

will trump my fear this is a time to

have biblical faith that’s not a feeling

you’ve heard me say before faith is

acting like God is telling the truth hey

hey guys

God said we’re gonna make it to the

other side so he’s a little pill he’s

got he’s got on my pillow let me get my

my pillow y’all get y’all my pillow he

sleep let’s all sleep cuz he said we’re

gonna make through the other side since

he’s not worried and he’s with us then

we know where he is either he’s on the

boat he’s sleeping and he told us we’re

gonna make it to the other side so

either he’s lying or he’s trustworthy

see a lot of Christians ever decided

whether Jesus is trustworthy or not

whether his word is true whether his

word is real whether what he says has

has meat to it it’s time for faith to

Trump care you can’t always stop fear

from coming but you can keep it from

living in you he says why do you have no

faith no but I don’t understand this

guys I’ve been doing all this teaching

all these parables about my authority

all these parables about the Word of God

I’ve been showing you my power and you

still don’t get it yes I let the storm

come on purpose because I want to see

where you are and I want you to see

where you are cuz I already know where

you are I want you to see you I want you

to see whether those amens hallelujah

praise the Lord isn’t God good all that

all that good Sunday talk I want to see

if it got any meat on it and the way

we’re gonna do it is we’re gonna give

you a test right now you passing the

test God gives you the test he brings

into your life or when the test comes do

you throw away your faith because you

didn’t have a faith in the first place

you just had the right Christian

vocabulary you would learn to speak

Christianese because you know Christians

have their own vocabulary you know we

can we can talk a good game god is good

all the time all the time god is good

you know we got we got it going on when

it comes to the right sayings but what

happens when it’s raining thunderstorms

well it says in verse 41 then then they

became very much afraid hmm let’s pause

there for a moment

Jesus says why are you afraid what were

they afraid of the storm their

circumstances had them panicking but

when they saw Jesus do his thing they

were very much afraid what’s the point

God wants you to fear him more than you

feel what’s wrong he wants

fear him more than you feel your

circumstances he wants your fear of him

and his power to be greater than your

fear of your problem no no you can’t

deny your problem you don’t act like the

virus isn’t there the finances aren’t

shaking the money’s not funny you know

you know act like pain isn’t real that

you’re not hurting physically because

then you would be lying but he doesn’t

want you to limit it to that he wants

you to fear him that’s why there’s so

much in the Bible about the fear of God

they said when they saw him work they

said they were very much afraid and they

started talking to one another and

here’s what they said who then is this

that even the wind and the sea obey Him

you say they didn’t know who they were

dealing with hey this this this this

shock the socks off who is this do you

know who Jesus is do you know who you

dealing with let’s talk about who Jesus

is for a moment he was born of a virgin

because it was born of a virgin there

was a human part of his birth and a

divine part of his birth because Mary’s

egg was fertilized the scripture says by

the Holy Spirit so Jesus is the most

unique person that’s ever lived because

he’s one person with two natures he has

a human nature he has a divine nature

that’s why I can be called one time the

Son of God and the next time the son of

man because he’s fully human and he’s

fully divine without any mixture of sin

we call this in theology the hypostatic

Union it’s the fine force in Philippians

chapter 2 when deity all that he has

ever been throughout eternity was poured

into a container called humanity so that

he could reveal God to us and come here

as the sinless Savior to die on the

cross and rise again from the dead

so he’s both at the same time so what

can he do well right here you see it he

can go to sleep because humans get

sleepy but then he can come and put

nature to sleep because he’s also divine

he can be born of a virgin and at the

same time the Bible says he created the

mother

they gave him birth because he created

all things the animals that were in the

stall when Jesus was born was created by

the Jesus the baby that was born in the

same stall fact the wood that made the

manger come from a tree that he made

because he created all creation that he

had to utilize as a baby he could get

thirsty as a man but because he’s the

son of the Living God he can walk on the

water he can get hungry because it’s a

man but he can take sardines and

crackers from a little boy and turn it

into a moby-dick sandwich and feed 5000

men not counting women and children he’s

a man so he can die

oh but as a living son of God he can get

up out the grave you see you need to

know who you dealing with he’s the man

Jesus who’s the eternal son of God what

manner of man is there who are we

dealing with say we’ve dumbed down Jesus

we’ve made him nice and soft and

sometimes even weak we don’t know he’s

the glorified son of God and He is the

means to get to the Father that’s why we

end our president Jesus name what was

what we’re saying is we need you to

authorize this request we need you to

stand behind what we’re asking the big

Mahathir the Heavenly Father what we’re

asking him to do because the beautiful

thing about Jesus is because he’s man he

can touch us because he’s God he can

touch to touch the Father so he can hook

the two up what manner of man is this

you need to know who you’re dealing with

when you’re dealing with Jesus and let

me tell you something about God’s

testing he believes in retesting when

you fail he will retest you

as many times as you fail so you keep

failing you and keep getting retest in

that same general vicinity until you

learn the lesson so why don’t we start

passing some tests so we can move on now

I know in the next grade you won’t get a

new test but that means you’ll have new

information to take the next test

because the only tests you offer

information he’s given you so it’s time

now for us to pass some tests not just

take tests so that we can now go to the

next spiritual level well you and I

learn who Jesus is when you and I

learned how awesome he is when you and I

learned how great he is you see he knows

when we when we knows when we’re playing

a game it’s like you can cook meat and

it looked done on the outside but you

stick that fork in there and you realize

it’s not done it had the appearance of

being done but inside it wasn’t cooked

so what do you do you put it back in the

oven again until you get it just right

God wants to get us just right and he’s

not satisfied with how we look on the

outside because we look Christian we

look spiritual we look full of faith we

look like we’re growing we look like

we’re depending we look like we’re

prayerful we look like we’re victorious

because we’ve got all the right things

hang out with the right people go to the

right church and we look like we looked

the part but when he sticks the fork in

we’re not done because we’re not passing

the test God’s gonna test you and he’s

gonna retest you and he wants you to

pass so he can take you to the next

spiritual level of development

Coronas is one of those tests as you

said home why you passing the test or

are you living in fear Jesus may be

silent but when he’s silent he’s not

still a little boy was on a plane and

the plane was in massive turbulence

he was sitting next to an elderly lady

who was terrified she was scared to

death

trembling the boy was playing with a toy

she said boy how can you be so calm when

we’re in this much trouble he says well

Reed’s not gonna be calm as my daddy is

the pilot see when you know who’s at the

controls doesn’t mean you won’t be in

turbulence

but you knows in control to get you from

where you are to the other side of where

it wants you to come

one of the great offers of our Savior

Jesus Christ is life plus abundant life

that means a fulfilled life so many

people are existing because they don’t

possess the life of God if you don’t

know that you possess the life of God

let’s get that fixed right now Jesus

Christ is offering you his life the

Bible says he that hath the son had life

so if you want life not existence the

forgiveness of sins the the guarantee of

heaven and having Jesus Christ involved

with your life on earth all of that is

in this package called life and he’s

offering it to you for free well not a

lot is for free today but this is life

for free how do you get it you simply go

to Jesus Christ and trust him alone for

it you don’t work for it you don’t earn

it you don’t you don’t go to church for

they can’t none of that can give you

life only the person of Christ can give

you life

so I’m gonna pray a prayer you pray it

after me you just have to mean it for

yourself well Jesus I know I’m a sinner

I know I can’t save myself but you’ve

offered me the free gift of eternal life

in exchange from my sin so I place my

sin next to your cross believing you

died as my substitute and I received now

the eternal life that you say you would

give me for free if I came to you for it

so I received that now and thank you for

my new salvation in Jesus name Amen god

bless

you

you