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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