Radio Broadcast Wednesday 04/05/2023

Classic Christianity – The Book of John P27 (04-05-23)

Focus on JESUS, not the Storm

~ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” ^{Matthew 14:31}

“Now let’s go back again to the book of Matthew, and pick up, the story in Matthew, verse 22, in Matthew 14. Now in Matthew, He says Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. Remember, he had just finished feeding the 5000. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountain side by himself to pray. And when evening came, he was there alone. But the boat was already a considerable distance from land, we now know to to two and a half miles, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. And during the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went out to them walking on the lake. And when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. It’s a ghost, they said, and they cried out with fear. But Jesus immediately said to them, Take courage it is I, don’t be afraid. Now, here’s Oh, rambunctious Peter. And immediately Peter says, Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water. In other words, if you’re walking on water, maybe I can walk on water. And so Jesus said, Come on out. Come on out. And Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. But now, here’s the but, when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him and said, you of little faith, he said, Why did you doubt?”

Join Bob George in this chapter by chapter exposition of the gospel of John. Available for download the complete series on the Book of John. Realize why Christ, Himself, is REAL LIFE and how He personally offers hope in daily living that you may:

Discover an abundant and meaningful life as a Christian.
Overcome fear with His assurance that you have His eternal life.
Experience joy during adversity.
Apply God’s wisdom in decision making, no matter how big or small.
Experience freedom as you walk by faith in His love and acceptance.

Purchase Online at Shop.BobGeorge.net

Announcer 0:12
Welcome to Classic Christianity Radio with Bob George Bob’s clear, timeless teachings on the complete forgiveness and unconditional love of Jesus Christ will transform your life as you learn about God’s amazing grace. Let’s join Bob as he teaches us from God’s Word.

Bob George 0:28
But that’s what God is in is the miracle business. And so we face problems in life, don’t we? And we face we face circumstances in life. And we face trials and tribulation in life, don’t we? And there are some of you sitting here in this room today who are facing trials and tribulation in your life, uncertainties. Mysteries, not in understanding what to do in a circumstance or what not to do in a circumstance, finding yourself some time ainnd a circumstance that you really didn’t want to find yourself in, but you’re in it. And the key to this whole thing is to turn your eyes upon Jesus. Where is your focus on your circumstances? Or is your focus on Jesus? Is your focus on people or is your focus on Jesus?

Now another story that amplifies that is given, beginning in verse 16. When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Copernican. And it was dark. And Jesus had not yet joined them. A strong wind was blowing, sounds like Florida right now. And the waters grew rough. And when they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water. And they were terrified. Now, folks, if you’ve ever been out on the Sea of Galilee, as a few of us have that have been there, and you get out on that lake, and you can be out on that lake when it is as calm as can be. And within a New York minute, you have a storm, that your boat is being blown all over the place. It’s kind of amazing how quickly that can come up. But on top of that, it was dark. And on top of that, they see Jesus walking on water. Now do you have any problem understanding why they were a little terrified? He said to them, it’s I don’t be afraid. And they were willing to take him into a boat and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

Now let’s go back again to the book of Matthew, and pick up, the story in Matthew, verse 22, in Matthew 14. Now in Matthew, He says Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. Remember, he had just finished feeding the 5000. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountain side by himself to pray. And when evening came, he was there alone. But the boat was already a considerable distance from land, we now know to to two and a half miles, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. And during the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went out to them walking on the lake. And when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. It’s a ghost, they said, and they cried out with fear. But Jesus immediately said to them, Take courage it is I, don’t be afraid. Now, here’s Oh, rambunctious Peter. And immediately Peter says, Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water. In other words, if you’re walking on water, maybe I can walk on water. And so Jesus said, Come on out. Come on out. And Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. But now, here’s the but, when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him and said, you of little faith, he said, Why did you doubt?

Now, let’s look at this. Hit back to our focus. Peter and the apostles were rowing in their boat. They were in a storm. They all of a sudden looked up and here was Jesus walking on the water. They had already seen him feed the 5000 with hardly nothing. They had already seen the wedding in Cana, they had already seen him miraculously healing the sick. They certainly were getting a clue that this indeed, as was testified must be the prophet that is talked about in the Old Testament. This must be the one. There could be a deal. I’m not 100% Sure, but about 99.9% sure that this is the one. And then all of a sudden they see him walking on water. Now if that wouldn’t convince you, I don’t know what would. They were terrified. Peter says to him, tell me to come out and meet you. He says, come on down. Now when Peter got out of the boat, who was he looking at? Jesus, he was focused upon Jesus. And while he was focused upon Jesus, he was able to walk on water. Immediately, he got his eyes on what? The waves the circumstances, he began to realize Hold on, I’m, I’m in a storm, I’m going to storm with waves, I’m in a storm that could drown me. And he got his eyes or his focus off of Jesus. And he got them on to the circumstances. And he sunk. Didn’t he? How many of you? Or how many times have I gotten my focus off of Jesus, and on to my circumstances, and sink? It’s ever happened to you? I think we probably all could testify to that. But what he is saying is, when that occurs, what is Jesus do? Does he know us? Remember what he said in John, I know, man, I don’t need the testimony about man concerning man, I know you, I made you. I don’t need Freud’s testimony to come along and say, Well, the reason you did that, because you were potty trained too early, or because you had a mother. This is natural. And because it is natural for us to get our eyes off of him and onto our circumstances. He is always there when that occurs to what, reach down and pick us up, which he did with Jesus, and then say to us, he didn’t say, How come you did that? How come you’re so stupid, he just said, ye of little faith. He said, Don’t you understand that as long as you have your focus on me, you can do anything that I’m telling you to do. Now, again, when Jesus walked on the water, when Jesus fed the 5000, who told him to do that? The Father. Did not Jesus say that I do not do anything unless the Father tells me to do it? And I don’t say anything. So who told him to tell Peter to walk out there? The Father. I don’t say anything less, the Father tells me to say it and how to say it. So Jesus was walking in total dependency upon his Father so that everything you saw him do and say, was a direct reflection of what the Father was telling him to do, and to say, and what he is saying to us is, when I tell you to do something, I will give you what is necessary to do so. I can’t walk on water. But he gave Peter the ability to do so as long as he had his focus on the one who told him to do so. And so Peter got his eyes off of the source Jesus, and got them on to the waves. And he sunk. But as I say, when he did, Jesus immediately reached down and caught him and said, Why did you doubt? Why did you doubt?

Now when they climbed into the boat, they say, the wind died down. And then those were in who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, truly, you are the Son of God. Belief finally was taking place guys was getting out of the realm of theory, and into personal experience. You truly are the Son of God. Now it said, when they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognize Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. In other words out there telling them Jesus has arrived. So immediately, people brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloth. And all who touched him, were healed. So Jesus was drawing a terrific crowd of people, drawing a terrific amount of attention to himself, because of the miraculous miracles that he was doing. Guys, let’s put this in its proper perspective. Why was Jesus doing the miracles that he was doing? First of all, because the Father was telling him to. Are we together on there? Number two, why was the Father telling him to do these miracles? Because the Father knew us and knows us. And knows that in many cases, as he was saying to the Pharisees, if you don’t believe what Moses wrote, how are you going to believe me? He knows how easy it is for us to doubt and how hard it is, for us to have faith in truth. We have no problem at all guys believing lies. Fo we? Isn’t that amazing, we can believe lies so easily, but truth, it’s harder. And God knows that. And so the reason that Jesus was doing these things, was for a purpose. And it was to show people who he was that he is God. Why did he want them to know that He was God? Because God was going to do something for them and for us, in the future, that only God could do. Moses couldn’t do it. Abraham couldn’t do it. None of the prophets could do it. Only God could do where Jesus was headed. Now, guys, that’s what it means. When it’s talking about following Jesus. When you follow Jesus, you have to follow him to where he was going, and follow him to where he went on this side of the cross. That’s why we read the gospels. We’re reading about this man, Jesus. And at the end of all of these books, he’s at the cross. He came to do something for you and B, that we could not do for ourselves. Take away our sins. He was headed toward a cross, where at the cross there He who knew no sin, would literally become sin for us, so that in him we could become the righteousness of God.

Click to Donate to Bob George Ministries

If you’re enjoying the Book of John, check out our website, Shop.BobGeorge.net. There, you’ll find a whole collection of messages from the book of John, as well as other DVDs, CDs and Bible studies available for purchase. That’s Shop.BobGeorge.net. Let’s join Bob. Now as he continues the radio program.

Bob George 13:47
So the Gospels are prepatory. The Gospels are a recordation of this Jesus, who was God in a man suit, who was going to come to this earth, and show us by His very life and actions, what pure righteousness is, and in so doing, show us what unrighteousness is, and that’s us. We have no righteousness in and of ourselves, do we? There is none righteous, no, not one. All have sinned, all have fallen short of the glory of God. All are under the death penalty until we choose life. Once we choose life, there’s now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of Life has set you free from the law of sin and death. And that’s where Jesus was heading. So until he got there, he had a three year message to people. I’m going to show you what righteousness is. And in so doing, you’re going to see your need for me. I’m going to heal. I’m going to show that God has As compassion for people, you’re going to see me feed people so that later on when you understand that I’ve given you everything that you need for life and godliness, that you will believe this to be true, I’m going to do these miracles not so that you’ll be worshipping a miracle worker. Because later on, he says that the only reason you followed me over here is because you saw me feed the 5000, you’re following me to get food, you’re following me to get healed, you’re following me to show me some. So I’ll show you another some kind of a miracle, I didn’t come to do that. I came to die on a cross, and to be raised from the dead in order to save you spiritually. But to prepare you for that event, these events are taking place. It’s what shows us who he is, and shows us what we are and what our need is. And so all of these, that when we sit down and read the Bible, and especially when we’re reading the gospels, we’re reading the object of our focus, we’re reading about Jesus, we’re reading about the one that our eye should be focused upon, at all times. And as I said, the more you focus on something, the bigger they become, and the closer you draw to them. And that’s what the Gospels are for. And as we study through these gospels together, the purpose is to get to know Jesus, always in mind, that these things that Jesus did, are for the purpose of showing us what he came to do. Take away your sins at the cross, and give you life through His resurrection.

Well, in chapter 15, some of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? Why don’t they don’t wash their hands before they eat? Any? Have you ever not wash your hands before you eat? But you see, that was a tradition among the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. Why don’t they wash their hands before they eat while they follow this tradition? And Jesus replied, and why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, Honor your father and mother and anyone who curses his father, a mother was to be put to death. But you say that if a man says to his father and mother, whatever help you might otherwise have received, for me is a gift devoted to God. He’s not, and he is not to honor his father with with it. Thus, you nullify the Word of God for the sake of your tradition, you hypocrites. What he’s saying here is you are giving so so called to the things of God and ignoring the needs of your own parents. So why are you breaking those laws, you’re in there, we’re worried about these guys, not washing their hands. Look what you’re doing. You are taking your money and giving it to what you say the things of God. But you’re letting your mom and dad be in need. So he said your hypocrites, Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. These people honor me with their lips. But their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain, and they’re teaching our but rules taught by men. Now, can you imagine how pleasing that was to the Pharisees? These are the leaders. These are the people that people walk around respecting these are the guys walking around in robes. And you should have high respect for them. And here’s this man saying to them, you’re a hypocrite wasn’t very popular teaching guys. Nor was it very politically correct. What you see today in this day and age, we want everybody to be politically correct. Don’t we? We want everybody to be tolerant? And Jesus said, I want you to be honest. I want you to tell truth, I want you to see truth as or what truth is, and I want you to be honest with people.

Now guys, there’s two ways of approaching honesty with people. It’s kind of like two ways of approaching somebody that needs an operation. One way is if you need an operation is to give them something they’ll deaden the pain and then operate. But if you had to sacrifice one of those two, which would you sacrifice? The painkiller if you had to, if you could only if you had no pain killer, and a person had an appendix that was erupting, you’d have to operate with without the painkiller, but God didn’t leave us with that he said painkiller will help if you’re going to operate. And there are some people who in their desire to be honest Do not have a clue what a painkiller is for. And it just zap right in and it’s and just say it as it is, and not care much as to the feelings of other people. If you can be tactful in your truthfulness, he says that’s fine. But I also have to say there’s some times that a person is so stubborn that you’ve got to hit him between the eyes with the two by four just to get their attention. And sometimes, the tack is not necessary. And you will see that with Jesus, I don’t call that very tactful to say these people, you Isaiah was right when he wrote about you. You honor me with your lips, your hearts far from me, you worship me in vain. In all you follow are rules taught by man. But he said it. And said Jesus called the crowd to him and said, listen and understand what goes into a man’s mouth does not make him unclean. But what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean. And then the disciples came to him and asked, Do you, do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this? Did you know they were offended? And you could say, Yes, I did. He replied, every plant that my Heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them, they’re blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit. Well, we’re going to stop there.

You see, guys, just because you’re religious appearing doesn’t mean that you know, Jesus. Just because you’ve learned vernacular doesn’t mean even that, you know, Jesus. There are a lot of religious people who put on Jesus face that do not know Jesus from a lamppost. And we have to understand the truth of this. And Jesus called it just as it is. He said, They’re blind guides. And if a blind man needs a blind man, they’re both going to fall into a pit. And he’s saying to us that do not accept everything that you see at face value, everything that glitters is not gold. And how many times have we run into people and have been in interaction with people who have given lip service to the fact that oh, they’re Christians? And you say, when did you accept Jesus? Well I was born one. Our I’ve always believed in Jesus. Well, you see, there could be truth in the fact that you’ve always believed, as far as you could remember, in the person of Jesus, I would certainly be in that category. Bob, you certainly be in that category. You went to church, your parents took you to church, and you heard about Jesus and you believed in him. Does that make you saved? No, no, I believe he existed. I believe Abraham Lincoln existed. I believe George Washington existed, I believe in all those guys existed. But I didn’t know them. I believe they existed, but I didn’t know them. Obviously, with television, we know a lot of people that exists that we don’t know. We’ve never met them, but we know about them. Don’t we? I know about President Clinton. I’ve never met him. I know about President Bush. I’ve never met him. I know about John Kerry. I’m not mentioned anything about that. No, I’m sure I don’t know him. I’ve never met him. I’ve never met these people. I know about them. I see him. I know what they look like, but I do not. I’ve never met them.

And folks, the same thing is true when you get into the things of Jesus, you can know about Jesus. But have you ever met him? And there’s the issue. Have you ever come into a personal, vital, pulsating relationship with Jesus? And you say, Well, how do you do that? Well, it’s very simple. Jesus said, Behold, I stand at the door of your heart and knock. He said, I’m standing there. And if anyone will hear my voice and open the door, I’ll come into it. And so if you were inside your house, and you heard somebody knocking at the door, and you said, who isn’t? It says, Jesus. Would you open the door and let him in? Or would you say come back another day? Or what are you doing here? I don’t have anything to do with you. I like Moses. But if a person is open, and they’re really to realize the fact that Jesus is alive, that’s the meaning of his resurrection is he’s alive. We live in two realms guys, the physical realm and the spiritual realm and Jesus Christ is God. God is Spirit. That’s a spiritual realm. That’s that realm that we see is missing. When you look at a body, that’s just a tent that is dead. Where are you? Where’s the real you? I said to the people yesterday, we see Wayne’s body, but where is Wayne? That’s an issue. I know where his body is, but where is he? And that’s the spiritual realm. And Jesus is alive. And it says, I’m standing at the door of your heart knocking. And he said, if you hear my voice, believe in me, and open the door, I’ll come into you. That’s a promise. I didn’t understand that till I was 36 years of age. And I don’t think I 100% understood it on the day that I was even saved. But I took that at face value, not face value, Faith value. And when I heard the message as to what this Jesus came to do for me, that He died on the cross to take away my sins, and was raised from the dead, to give me life, because the wages of sin is death, and the gift of God is life. By faith, I was able to say, Lord, if this is true, and you took away my sins of the cross, thank you for that. And if it is true that I am dead, and you came to give me life, then I want life. By faith, open the door and let Jesus in. And it’s not a revolving door. It’s not one of those that you see at the furniture store that you go in and out. He closes the door behind me and says, I’m here now to abide with you forever. He is always there guys standing at the door of our hearts. Our decision is am I gonna let him in? Or keep him outside?

Thank you so much for tuning in to Classic Christianity, with Bob George. We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s program. We truly hope that today’s message has inspired you to walk a life of faith in the Lord, find more information online at shop.BobGeorge.net. There you’ll also find available CDs, DVDs, and bible studies available for purchase. It’s through your help that we are able to spread the good word of Jesus Christ. Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another and praise the Lord. Amen.