Hey there, thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners. I'm Greg Laurie encouraging you, if you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org. All right, well, you can turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 8. Luke chapter 8. My message title is: Who is this man?
Who is this man? I want to talk a little bit. I feel like the text really hits on the theme of just being in awe. Being in awe of Jesus, you know, it's something that all of us. Should have for the Lord what He has done for us, right?
We were just saying there is no one only you, Jesus. We should be in awe of who God is, in awe of who Jesus is. But if we're honest, I think as time goes on, we lose some of that awe. For what Christ has done for us. And I think this gives us the remedy on how to get that back, how to stay in that place of awe.
When was the last time you were awestruck? You know what I mean? You're just like, your mind is blown. You're amazed at something. Wow, that was incredible.
That was so great. Maybe it was seeing a live musician play, and it's just like, wow, they really, you know, I'm always amazed when somebody can pick up an acoustic guitar and just solo fill a room with sound. You know, I've tried to pick up an acoustic guitar before, and it is not that, right? It's very different.
So, seeing someone that does it really well, you know, they've got that X factor. Recently, uh well it was actually a couple of years ago. I went surfing at a spot in St. Clemente called Lower Trestles, and this is a pretty renowned surf spot. There's always a lot of professionals out there, and it's a great wave, one of the best waves in America, but it is just so crowded and so challenging and hard to get waves because there's so many professionals.
Imagine showing up to your local golf course, and it's like, well, there's Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer, and that's my extent of knowing who golfers are. It'd be intimidating, right?
Well, I paddled out at this spot, and today it was the first time that I ever saw Kelly Slater surf in person. I'd seen him surf, you know, from the beach, but seeing him actually in the water. And I tell you what, it was incredible. Kelly, for those of you who don't know, he's an 11-time world champion. The next person that has the largest amount of world titles next to him has three in comparison.
of a big deal. And so I was paddling out and it was a great day, four to six foot, a couple bigger ones on the outside. And I was paddling up the face of this wave and I look and there's this guy just going warp speed twice as fast as anybody else. Just surgical precision, hitting every section, getting the maximum amount of speed.
Now if you're a surfer, you're getting speed to do one of two things, either to do a really big air or a really big turn. And I look and Kelly, it was Kelly Slater, and I'm like, oh my goodness, here he comes. And he does a cutback that felt like two inches from my face. And a cutback is just where you just do a big turn, wrapping on the face of the wave. And he wrapped down, went back up, hit the lip.
He did a full roundhouse cutback. And I was just blown away. He sprayed me so hard, it felt like a fire hose. And honestly, I didn't even care. I felt like I was being baptized.
Honestly, it was like. I was just stoked to be there and to witness that and to see that level of precision and athleticism that close up, that was special. That was special. And I was just awestruck. I was blown away.
Maybe for you, you got to see Shohei Otani throw a no-hitter, right? A no-hitter for the Dodgers and just absolutely crush it. Or maybe you got to see Tom Brady. Maybe you got to watch one of his games or actually go see him play in person and you're like, well, he was playing for the Patriots. I wasn't stoked about that.
But seeing him. In his Accuracy and his intentionality, and just how he was able to make those passes, whatever it might be. Maybe you were just, you know, you were awestruck. You were awestruck. Maybe it was seeing Lance Armstrong, right?
Any cyclists here?
Okay, nobody, no cyclists, that's all right. I think it's weird too. What's up with the outfits? I'm not a cyclist. But you can't deny this guy's athleticism.
Seven-time Tour de France winner. Consecutive, by the way, seven-time consecutive winner, and just how he was able to lead the pack and break away from everybody, he was dominant. Incredible.
Now, a lot of you probably know that he was ultimately stricken of those titles, unfortunately, because he technically broke the rules. He was blood doping, something that he was able to hide for all seven of those titles. And I did some research. It is interesting, though, because. Of the seven Tour de France victories he had, each one had three podium finishers.
Of course, Lance won first place for all seven. But of those 21 positions, podium finishes, there were only 10 unique cyclists, meaning others won multiple second places, multiple third places, and so forth. There was only 10. And eight out of 10 of them also admitted, yeah, it's true. We were all blood doping.
So they were all doing the same thing too.
So I don't know. I feel like it was a level playing field. But anyways, he's a dominant athlete. A dominant athlete, and we can be awestruck when we see that excellence. In person.
It can be mind-blowing. Or maybe if you're not a sports guy, maybe you're in the, you know, in the boardroom. And you have a client on the line, and you're trying to land it, and you know, you're there, and you're talking about some pretty big numbers, you know, partnership between the two companies, and using your company for contract work, or vice versa, and business deal starts falling apart, and you're like, oh my goodness, this is all gonna fall apart right in front of me. And your boss walks in. And the boss comes in and puts everybody at ease.
He says the right thing at the right time, you know, with the right people in the right tone, and he saves the whole thing. And you're like, well, that's why he's the boss, right? That's the man right there. He made it happen. He was able to put the customer at ease.
And you're just in, ah, wow, that is leadership right there. I experienced this a few years back. My dad and I received a phone call. From a friend, a kind of phone call that you hope to never hear, and our friend told us that his son, he was running a marathon, he was 22 years old, young man in the prime of life, a picture of physical fitness. He suffered a heart attack while he was running, and ultimately he died.
He was devastated. And he said he was on his way to the hospital to go meet the family that was there. And so my dad were close by, my dad and I. And so we met there and got there. I beat my dad by a few minutes.
And it was overwhelming. It was overwhelming. There were about 70 people there spilling outside of the room. There was a huge family reunion that happened to be going on simultaneously, and they were all in town. And so they're all there.
And I made my way up to the father, to the mom, and to the siblings, and just told them how sorry I was. And it's just one of those moments where there's just no oxygen in the room, and it is just a hard thing. And my dad showed up a couple minutes after I did. And he immediately did the same, walked up to the family. You know, gave him his condolences, offered scripture, and then he asked if he could address everybody in the room.
And I tell you, this room, they were despondent. They were heartbroken. They were really without hope. How could this happen? Our beloved son, grandson, brother, friend, cousin.
How could this happen? And my dad He addressed everyone, he introduced himself. And he began to talk about How this young man had put his faith in Jesus Christ because his family told us that. And they had also told us that he had began reading his Bible just a few months earlier and really been digging deep into it.
So, my dad shared how he had put his faith in Christ and how he had been reading his Bible. And he began to talk about the hope of heaven. And how this young man, as he stood next to his lifeless body, In the emergency room, he began to talk about how this young man was more alive than he had ever been. And everybody in that room has the hope to see him again someday. And he talked about my brother Christopher.
He talked about how he went to be with the Lord unexpectedly. He talked about the things that helped our family. And he talked about the hope of heaven. And then he led everyone in prayer. And I tell you what, it was as though Jesus walked into the room.
That's what the temperature felt like. It changed the dynamic completely. Yes, people were still crying. Yes, people were still heartbroken, but now they had hope. They had something that they could hold on to.
It's like Jesus entered that room, and I was awestruck of the Lord and his power to go and bring hope into a hopeless situation, but also of my dad and his boldness and his strength to offer and really comfort with the comfort that he had been comforted with, that scripture talks about. It was a total shift in movement, it was a spiritual leadership moment. Heavenly perspective was brought in and you could feel it change.
Now, I know for all of us We have had those moments. When we are in awe of Jesus. We're just blown away at the forgiveness. That He offers to us. It is forgiveness.
At his blessings, at his wisdom as we read the scripture, at his redirections. Have you ever had it where you're like, Lord, this is what I want, this is who I want to marry, this is the job that I want to pursue, this is the house I want to buy, and for whatever reason, there's a redirection. And we don't always love it in the moment, do we? We know exactly what we want, how we want it, when we want it. But that's rarely how God operates.
And sometimes He redirects those things. And isn't it always better what He gives us? Isn't it always better, his redirections? I'm so thankful. What is that song?
Thank God for unanswered prayers. Thank you, Lord, that you didn't give me that girl that I was praying for in sixth grade, right? I saw her recently. No, I'm just kidding. Yeah.
But I'm thankful for God's timing. I'm thankful for God's plan. I'm thankful for His provision. His plan is always better. But if we're honest, that awe doesn't always last, does it?
That awe that we have for God. It doesn't always last. Maybe, again, when you first started off in your faith, it felt electric. It felt like Jesus was close and real and powerful, right? But then something along the way Things started to fade.
Before, you read the Bible with hunger, you prayed with expectation, and Jesus. was again very personal. But somewhere along the line, it became routine. It became a box to check. It was no longer something you came to with hunger and expectation, and instead was just routine, right?
Well the fact is that wonder starts to fade over time and that is just being human. You still believe, but the wonder is gone. Listen, that's true in really everything in our lives as humans, in marriage. in friendship, really in anything. But the problem is not that the feelings change.
The problem is when we stop fighting to keep the fire lit. When we stop fighting to keep the fire lit. Yes, the feelings can change, but when we stop fighting to keep the fire lit for Jesus, this is when spiritual drift begins to take place, and this is where we can find ourselves in danger. And so, how do we regain a healthy sense of awe? How do we maintain a relationship with Jesus that lasts a lifetime?
Well, I think that Jesus offers us this insight. Luke offers us this insight in Luke chapter 8 as we read about Jesus continuing his sermon on the plain. We learned last week my dad gave us the parable of the soils. You remember that? Jesus is continuing his sermon and then some subsequent events that kind of give us a great framework on how to sustain awe, how to have a relationship with Jesus that lasts a lifetime.
So let's read together in Luke chapter 8, starting in verse 16. I'm reading from the New King James Version. Jesus says this. No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel, or puts it under a bed. but sets it on a lamp stand.
that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed. Nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Therefore, take heed how you hear. You might want to underline that phrase.
Take heed how you hear. For whoever who ha for whoever has To him more will be given, and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him. Let's pause there. That brings us to point number one: the secret to sustained awe. The secret to sustained awe.
This is just an incredible insight offered to us today by Jesus Himself. It's as though Jesus is saying, hey, look. Nobody buys a flashlight. and then puts it under their jacket and then says, hey, the flashlight isn't working. Like, what's wrong with this flashlight?
It's dim. I'm getting it, you know, I'm going to return it back to where I bought it from. It's not working. No, nobody does that. Recently, I bought one of those flashlights off of straight from China, actually.
It was straight from China. Have you ever heard of Alibaba? I bought it straight from Alibaba. It took like six weeks to get here. And it's so bright, it's like a 4,000-lumen flashlight.
It's so bright that honestly, it should be registered as some kind of weapon. It's ridiculous, but I was using it, and sure enough, it can light up an entire city block. It's crazy. And I was walking around with it, and somehow it got turned back on in my pocket. And I knew it got turned back on in my pocket because it immediately began to burn a hole through my pants and burn my leg, too, along with it.
So quickly I pulled it out, but. It was obvious that it was on because it was burning me. There wasn't a problem with the flashlight because it wasn't lighting the things up around me. It was in my pocket. It actually did light my pants up, though, to a degree.
It was crazy. But that's not a good use for a flashlight. It's like if you went camping and you bought a lantern, right, and you want to light up your little campsite area, and then you go and you take your sleeping bag and you hang it over the lantern. And then you say, there's something wrong with this lantern. It's not lighting everything up.
No, there's not anything wrong with the lantern. There's something wrong with you, okay? You need to make sure that it's unobstructed, that there's nothing hanging over it, right? This is what Jesus is saying. Nobody takes a light.
Nobody takes a lamp. and puts a vessel over it. No, they put it on a lampstand for everybody to see so that those who are in the darkness can come into the light. This is the secret to sustained awe. Here's the spiritual principle.
The way you keep your awe alive is by actively receiving. and actively sharing The light that you've been given. You want to receive the light, which is a relationship with God, His teaching, His truth, His miracles in your life, and you share that with other people, right? You want to have a good inlet and a good outlet. Right?
You want to make sure you do those things. Think about it. When were the times you felt most alive in your life, most alive in your faith? Usually, it's because you were telling others about Jesus. You were talking about what He had done for you when you're sharing your story, when you're giving away what God has given to you.
But what happened?
Somewhere along the line, the moment you covered the light, you started keeping it private, your faith turned into a Sunday habit, your awe starts to fade, and spiritual drift. Yeah. John MacArthur, a Bible commentator and pastor who's now with the Lord, said, genuine disciples do not hide the truth of the gospel. Instead, they listen to the revelation of God's word and then proclaim it to others. Our relationship with God is not just for us.
It's not just for us. We are called to share it with the people that we love. We are called to demonstrate it to others. We are called to live it out. It's not enough to just have it live inside of your head.
It's not enough to just feel it on Sunday morning. You need to live it out. It needs to change you and transform you. And ultimately, you need to lead others into this light. This is the secret to sustained awe.
Now there's a lot of lights, if you will, that we can reflect, that we can shine for. I think a lot of them, all of them, are not worth anything in comparison to shining for Jesus, right? Maybe you shine for a sports team. You let your lights shine for a sports team. That's right.
A lot of you do. That's your main thing. I'm not saying you can't love sports. I mean, I was just talking about athletes and people that I'm amazed by, but ultimately, the light we need to shine for the most is Jesus, not a sports team, not a politician, not a stock in the stock market, not a race car driver, not even your moral superiority. Oh man, yeah, I'm doing pretty good.
I don't know if you've noticed, but like, I kind of. I'm dialed at church. Like I serve all the time, and you know, I check all these boxes. I'm in a small group, I lead a small group, I've got this badge, I've got this little star, I've got this special thing. You walk around as though you're like one of those North Korean generals that have like the entire placard on their jacket covered with medals and all kinds of things.
Yeah, well, way to toot your own horn. No, the light you need to shine for is Jesus, right? Not your moral superiority, not your follower count for Jesus. And notice In our text, Jesus says, Therefore, take heed how you hear. He's saying, Take care how you hear.
Take care how you hear. Pay attention to how you hear my teachings, Jesus says. Not just what you hear, that's important, but also. How you here? Are you receiving the Word of God with an appetite?
Are you coming to church with hunger? Are you showing up to church prepared, right? Let me talk for a minute about how we should come to church. Maybe if you come to the 10 a.m. or the 8 a.m.
or the 12 p.m., If you come to church unprepared, right, you wake up, and the first thing you do is you scroll on social media for two hours, and then you watch TV for a while, and really what you're doing is you're satisfying your spiritual hunger with junk food, right? You're no longer going to have the same hunger for God as you would have if you hadn't come more prepared. Think about how you wake up in the morning. When you wake up and you're going to go and do devotions, a lot of times the first thing we need to do is just go straight to the Bible. Don't go to your email, don't go to your missed calls or your text messages or social media or online shopping.
Those things are just distractions, right? In the same way, when we show up to church on Sunday morning, we need to come prepared.
Now, listen. I have taken notes many different ways, but I will just talk personally for a moment. When I take notes on my phone, I am not able to listen in the same way as when I bring a pen and paper, the old school way, baby. Pen and paper. And you know what?
I go on my phone and I'm taking notes, and it's great, but then I'm like, I wonder if that Amazon package got delivered. Swipe over to that app. Oh, I wonder what so-and-so is doing. Boom, I'm over to social media. And then it's like, Five minutes later, I'm like, what's the pastor talking about?
And that's what my dad's preaching, right? It's like, uh-oh, sorry, dad. He asked me, what do you think of the message? There's a deal on socks on Amazon. Like, that's not good.
We need to come prepared. We need to come prepared, and I would encourage you: if your phone is a source of distraction, which come on, that should be everybody here. We all need to admit it. I would encourage you, pull out a pen and paper, bring a physical Bible into church, pull your pen and paper, take good notes, because you know what? The way you listen, it affects really every part of your life.
If you listen with intention rather than passive listening, that's a big difference.
So, when you come to church, are you listening actively? Are you showing up to church with the right appetite? Or is it just running off water like a duck's back? Right? Sooner or later, life is going to test how to do it.
How you listened. It's gonna test how you listen. Because hearing the word isn't just about sitting in a crowd and listening to a sermon. You can hear the word every Sunday morning. You can nod along, you can agree with it.
But Jesus again says the real issue is how you hear it. Take heed how you hear. Does it actually take root in your life? Does it shape the way you live? And to illustrate this, Luke brings in this perfect example that we read in verse 19.
Let's continue reading together. Then Jesus' mother and brothers came to him. But they couldn't approach him because of the large crowd. And so somebody told Jesus. That, hey, your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they want to see you.
But Jesus answered and said to them, My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it. Friends, this is the secret to sustained awe right here. Do you want to have intimacy with Christ? Do you want to stay in this place of awe? Good news.
You don't have to have lived in the first century with Jesus or be even a related half-brother of Jesus to know him and to have a relationship with him. He tells us right here in verse 21: My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. Jesus is saying Just do it, right? I think that Nike's going to owe Jesus some royalties on that. He coined it even before they did.
Just do it. Hear the word of God and do it. This is what separates the follower from the passive listener. Obedience. Letting your light shine, sharing your faith with others, talking about your faith and what God has done for you, helping others as they grow in their faith.
These are the keys to sustained awe and a lifelong relationship with Jesus. But let's be honest. What happens when life gets hard? It's one thing to Hear the word of God and obey the word of God when things are going good, the sun is shining, your finances are doing okay, your health is strong, your marriage is doing well. It's easy to obey and to follow the Lord in those seasons, but what happens?
When the wind starts howling, and the waves start crashing. What do we do then?
Well, let's continue reading now in verse 22.
Now it happened on a certain day. That Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and he said to them, Let's cross over to the other side of the lake. and they launched out. But as they sailed, Jesus fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on that lake, and they were filling with water, and they were in jeopardy.
And they came to Jesus and welcomed him saying, Master, Master, we are perishing. And then Jesus arose. and he rebuked the wind and the raging of the s of the water. And the elements ceased and And there was a calm. But Jesus said to them, Where is your faith?
And they were afraid and marveled, saying to one another, Who can this be? Or as the New Living Translation renders it, who is this man? For he commands even the winds and water, and they obey him. I love that. That brings us to point number two: storms that reset.
Storms that reset. You want to have the secret to sustained awe. We heard it in the last point. But sometimes when we can't get it, there's a storm that comes into our life that resets us, that resets us.
Now, if you've been here at Harvest for the last few years, you've probably heard my dad share there's three different types of storms that believers encounter. Do you know what they are? If you know them, shout it out. Shout it at the screen, even if you know them. The first one is perfecting.
They all start, well, there's two P's and one C.
So perfecting, do you guys know the next one? Correcting, that's another one, correcting, and then the next one rhymes with it.
Okay, that's all right. Perfecting. protecting and correcting. Perfecting, protecting, and correcting. These are the types of storms that we face.
Sometimes God allows a storm. To perfect us, to cause us to depend on Him more, to recognize our need for Him. Other times, He sends a storm to protect us. Yes, He allows us to go through a trial to protect us from doing something that maybe would have hurt us if we were in a healthier place or not consumed by the storm. God allows that to happen.
And then, thirdly, there's correcting storms. Correcting storms are the types of storms that have effects in our life that cause us to recognize the error of our ways.
Sometimes they're self-inflicted correcting storms, right? And sometimes it's all three at the same time, and those are not fun. I think that's what the disciples were going through right here: a combination of all three.
Now, I mentioned in our last point, Jesus told the crowd: take heed how you hear. In other words, the way you receive the word of God will eventually show up in the way you live. And nothing reveals how you've been hearing than a storm, right? Are you able to apply the things that you hear on Sunday morning? Are you able to recall those things and live them out?
In the case of the disciples, They failed the test. They failed the test. These were seasoned veteran fishermen who knew this body of water, the Sea of Galilee, like the back of their hand. They knew that it was 33 miles in circumference. They knew the exact size.
They knew every little nook and cranny. These guys grew up fishing the Sea of Galilee. They had seen storms. They had seen waves. They had probably seen capsized boats.
They probably knew people that died on the Sea of Galilee. And they knew this was a storm to end all storms. This was absolutely crazy, and they were terrified. Jesus told the disciples, Let's cross over to the other side. And what does he do?
He immediately falls asleep.
Now, this speaks to the theology of who Jesus was, his character. He was fully God and fully man. And we see here that Jesus needed rest. He was tired. He was teaching.
He was healing. He was ministering. And so he fell asleep in the boat. Shortly after, the storm starts. The wind starts blowing, the waves start crashing, water's getting into the boat, it's intense.
Again, these seasoned watermen, these fishermen, they were terrified. They were terrified. And so what did they do? They woke Jesus up.
Now they didn't say to Jesus, Lord. The waves and the storm is overtaking the boat. What do you want us to do? No, they didn't say that. They didn't even say, Lord, help us.
They said, Master, do you not care that we are perishing? That's interesting. Do you not care that we are interesting? Listen, we can feel like that sometimes. We can feel like we're perishing.
A storm comes, a financial storm, a medical storm, an issue in your family, a conflict, a storm in that way, and it can feel as though God does not care. He is not aware and you feel like you're perishing. You feel like it's all going to hell, honestly, and your whole world comes crashing down. God, do you not care? Do you not care what's going on?
Are you not aware of what I do for you? Are you not aware that I go to church on Sunday and I read my Bible, and you're going to allow this to happen to me seriously? The disciples had been with Jesus too. They had spent pretty much, you know, the last year with Jesus, walking with him, hearing him teach, helping, you know, prepare him and get everything ready for him as he was going to go and teach large crowds. They heard the parables.
They heard this exhortation to obey. They heard what he said about his mother and his brothers, right? Those who are my mother and brothers are those who obey the word of God, hear the word of God, and do it. And they started following Jesus on the heels of his teaching. and a terrible storm appears out of nowhere.
I think we can assume that this storm was prepared by God to teach the disciples a lesson. They had heard the exhortation, here is an opportunity to live it out. It wasn't enough for them to hear his teaching or to witness it firsthand. They needed to exercise it. They needed to live it out.
And so during the storm, what happened? Their faith disappeared. Their faith disappeared. While they were facing that storm, those waves were crashing, they were terrified and their faith disappeared. How do we know that?
Jesus asks them the question: where is your faith? Saying, where did it go? Where did it go? You guys were affirming me when I was preaching on the... You know, the sermon on the plane there.
You were affirming me, you were listening. But then here's the opportunity, and you forgot it. You lost it. Where did it go? He didn't say, why don't you have more faith or why don't you have faith?
He's saying, where did it go? Yeah. I don't know how many of you have ever coached like a little league team or like a little junior soccer team or something like that. And you're like, okay, guys, here's what we're going to do. You know, Sally's going to go to the goal and then, you know, Allie is going to go and she's going to kick it over here and then you're going to pass it.
And that's how you guys are going to get in the goal. Here's the plan.
Okay, you got it.
Okay, let's run some drills. And you're doing the whole thing and you've got some plays down. You're like, we're going to crush it. And then the game starts. And nobody remembers anything.
And you're like... What just happened? What happened, guys? What happened to our plan? I think that's what Jesus was feeling with the disciples.
Where did your faith go? What do you mean, don't I care that you're perishing? I'm in the boat too, stupid? Like, of course I care. Of course I'm going to intervene.
But they acted without faith. They acted in terror. Where did your faith go? Storms expose what we really trust, don't they? When you're going through that hard thing, I think it's pretty clear what's the first thing that you're drawn to when you're going through a hardship, some kind of storm.
Quick scroll on social media, some online shopping, alcohol, drugs, pornography. What is it that is going to help you? Oh, okay, I feel like, okay, it took the edge off for me. We should run to the Father. We should run to Him.
Lord, help me. Lord, I'm in this storm. I don't know what to do. What do you want me to do, Lord? Speak to me.
I'm your servant. I'm listening. Help me, Lord. I'm not leaving until you give me an answer. How about that?
How about that? What does Jesus do? Yeah, amen. You can applaud for that. Good job, second service.
Just kidding. Always good to insult your audience, right? No, just kidding. Yes, that's right. Storms expose what we really trust.
They strip away the illusion that we are in control, but storms can also reset our perspectives. And hopefully, it leads us to this place recognizing the storm isn't the biggest thing in your life, Jesus is. That's the conclusion the disciples came to. The storm, the storm. We don't care about the storm anymore.
Who is this man? Who is this? The commands, the elements, and they obey him. The storm no longer was the biggest thing. It was now Jesus.
And so he stands up, he rebukes the wind, he rebukes the waves, the storm calms, he asks them, Where is your faith? The disciples were terrified and amazed. Who is this man? They ask each other, When he gives a command, even the wind and waves obey him. They were terrified and amazed, it says.
That's called being in awe. They were in awe of Jesus. That storm helped reset their awe for Jesus. The storm didn't reveal How powerful the wind was, it revealed how powerful Jesus was. That's what the storm accomplished for the disciples.
It didn't reveal how powerful the wind was, it revealed how powerful Jesus was. This is such a great principle for all of us to tattoo on our eyelids. Write it. You know, on sticky notes everywhere. Remind yourself of this.
Listen, write this down. Every storm we face is an invitation to trust the one who commands the wind and to obey him. That is what every storm offers us: an opportunity to exercise our faith. Instead of feeling like every storm that comes your way is an attack. And it is a discouragement, and it's gonna lead you into a twisted tail of going back into your old habits and falling back into old patterns and listening to your temptation.
It's an opportunity for you to exercise your faith. Lord, I am weak. I can't do this on my own, but you are strong and I trust you. I won't leave until you help me, Lord. I'm staying right here at your feet.
Help me, Lord. Help me get through this. What would it look like for you to go through a financial storm or a storm of bad news from the doctor, having that prodigal child or losing your job or being slandered and gossiped about? What would it look like for you to endure that storm with faith? With confidence in the one who is bigger than your storm.
Know what's going to happen? You're going to look back and you will be able to say, that storm was bad, but God is good. That storm was bad, but God is good. That storm brought me to my knees, but Jesus picked me up again. Talk about letting your light shine.
You know, the world, when it sees that you're going through something, when you get sick and they know that you're a believer, your coworkers look specially at you and they bring special interest to see how you were going to go through it. Oh look, Jesus Jr. is finally facing reality, right? Reality hit. They're just like one of us.
They deal with stuff, they deal with sickness, they deal with disease. Let's see how they handle it now, right? They take special interest. I think in those moments We need to remember. how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced a very similar situation.
When they were Told that they have to bow before the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected. And he said, Everybody has to bow, everybody bow. And so they blow the horns, and everybody bows except for. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And so this enraged Nebuchadnezzar, he says, Bring them to me, bring them to me.
We're gonna give them another opportunity. Bow before this golden image. And they refused to again. Everybody bowed, not them. And then he said, okay.
Turn on the furnace. Turn it on seven times hotter than it's ever been before. The guys that turned the furnace on, they ended up dying just standing next to it. And he said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, this is your last chance. Bow before this golden image, or we're throwing you into that furnace.
And this is what they said. In Daniel chapter 3. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve, He is able to save us. And we believe he will rescue us. from your power, your majesty.
But even if he doesn't. We want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up. Man, that is boldness, right? That's boldness. That's strength.
That's faith. Listen, God may not deliver you from that health crisis. He may not answer that prayer that you've been begging him to. He may not get you the finances that you need to live in that place or whatever it might be. But listen, it is important to remember he is still in control.
He is still good. And ultimately, it can lead you to a place of gratitude that someday everything will be made right. Guess what? In this world you will have tribulation, but take heart, Jesus says, for I have overcome the world. Listen, someday every tear will be wiped away.
There will be no cancer. There will be no divorce, no betrayal, no sin. And that's because Jesus endured the greatest storm for us. He endured the greatest storm for us. Taking our sin on the cross, bearing it on our behalf, and then telling us that we are forgiven and we can be called the sons and daughters of God.
The disciples asked, Who is this man? But Jesus, he wasn't finished answering that question. Luke shows us that Jesus' power is no is not just limited to the natural world. But it also has authority over the supernatural world. Let's continue reading in verse 26.
Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when he stepped out on the land, and there met him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes. Nor did he live in a house, but in tombs. And when he saw Jesus, he cried out, and he fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, son of the Most High God?
I beg you, do not torment me. For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, for it often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles, and he broke the bonds, and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. Jesus asked him, saying, What is your name? And he responded, Legion, because many demons had entered him. And they begged him that he would not command them to go out into the abyss.
Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain, and so they begged him that he would permit them to enter the swine, and he permitted them. Verse thirty three And so the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned. When those who fed them saw what happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. And then they went out to see what had happened and came to Jesus. And they found the man from whom the demons had departed now sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.
And they were afraid. They also Who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. And then the whole multitude on the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Jesus to depart from them. for they were seized with great fear, and so he got into the boat and returned.
Now, the man from whom the demons had departed begged him that he might stay with Jesus. But Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to your own house and tell what great things God has done for you. And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus. had done for him. That brings us to point number three, finally, the awe of deliverance.
The awe of deliverance. The disciples. They're still dripping wet from the storm, right? They look like a bunch of wet rats as they stepped off the boat onto dry land, probably kissing the shore as they got there. Oh, finally, we thought we were gonna die out there, right?
They're thankful to be on dry ground. And then they're confronted with something that probably made them want to get back in the boat and go right back into that storm. A naked demon-possessed man living in a graveyard. That sounds like a horror movie. This is a picture of a man who was living in absolute ruin.
The devil had taken over every aspect of his life. He was stripped of his dignity, his family, his community, his clothing, and he is chained and he is broken loose. This is what the power of evil does. Jesus says in John 10:10, the thief does not come except to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life and life more abundantly. This man is living proof of what the devil does.
But then Jesus steps off the boat. Jesus stepped into the picture. The demons, they knew who exactly Jesus was. They knew exactly what he had come to do and what he was capable of. And with a word, he drives them out of this man who has been possessed for years, and he was delivered.
Now notice that Jesus He doesn't negotiate with them. He doesn't plea with them. He doesn't compromise. In fact, the demons were the ones that were begging Jesus because even the powers of hell must submit to the authority of Jesus Christ. The demon's name was Legion.
And this poor guy, he was like an unholy holiday in, having a thousand demons living inside of him, right? That sounds like a bad time. But he wasn't just dealing with one or two, but up to a thousand. That's how many were in a Roman legion, a thousand soldiers.
So there was a lot of demons living inside of this guy. But notice how the locals respond to this. After Jesus delivers this man. It says in verse 37, the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them. Yes, Jesus, leave.
Because they were seized with great fear. And so Jesus got into the boat and he returned. It's interesting that they weren't relieved. that they weren't celebrating. That they weren't thankful.
They didn't worship Jesus. No, they were afraid. They were fearful. They were rejecting. They rejected Jesus.
Why? Because the man who Had brought fear into their lives all those years, shrieking in the graveyard, not allowing people to pass through, running around naked in broken chains, filled with demons. was completely transformed. And they feared this.
Now last week We heard about the parable of the sower, right? What soil do you think these people were in the Gatarenes? They were the most hard-packed, concrete, rock-hardsoil you ever could have probably had. The seed didn't even hit the ground before the birds snatched it up. That's how hard their soil was.
we can conclude that they actually preferred the company of the demon possessed man. Than the Son of God. That's what we see. They prefer the demon-possessed man than the Son of God. What a sad state that people.
We're in this day to feel more at home with demons. that with Jesus. Verse 39, Jesus directs his comments to the man. Return to your own house. Tell what great things God has done for you.
And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. This man was transformed from being demon-possessed to being a missionary for Jesus. This is a picture of transformation. This is a picture of redemption.
Now, instead of bringing this man along with him, he says, no, stay here, go home and let your light shine. Is this not a perfect picture of exactly what Jesus was talking about? Setting your lamp on a lampstand for all to see? He says, You need to go into your home, into your community, and tell everybody about what God has done for you. And that's exactly what He did, and that's exactly what we must do.
This is how awe stays alive when you remember what Jesus has done for you. and you tell others about it. And harvest. The greatest thing that Jesus has ever done for us? was at the cross.
It was at the cross. Because every one of us was once in darkness. Every one of us Was separated from God because of our sin. Every one of us, like this demon-possessed man, had no way to get right with God. I don't think.
We were running around demon-possessed, naked and shrieking. I don't know, maybe some of you were running around naked and shrieking, I'm not sure. We were all compromised. We were all headed for hell. But God loved us so much, He sent His Son Jesus to die in our place.
And because of what He did on the cross, shedding His blood, we can have the forgiveness of our sin and we can be called the sons and daughters of God.
So we could be restored.
So we could have that hope of heaven. Do you have that hope today? Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ? Do you know that when you die, you'll go to heaven? I hope so.
If you don't, you can have that hope right here, right now. You can be transformed just like this man. Maybe you're in a storm. Maybe you're going through something and it's gotten your attention and it's caused you to realize I am not in control. As much as I want to be, as much as I take care of my family and my finances and make the right decisions and my health and whatever else.
This thing came out of nowhere. I'm not sure how to How to manage it. Listen. Come to Jesus, the one that can quiet the storm, the one that can tell the waves and the wind to cease. He can do that for you.
He can stop that storm. But even if he doesn't, you can still say, he is good because he will be with you through the storm. Would you like to have that hope today? Would you like to know that you can have a relationship with Jesus and when you die, you will go to heaven? But most importantly, and not most importantly, but one of the blessings is that you will have life and life more abundantly.
You can have that. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for Jesus. We thank you for the teaching that he had and gave to us today.
And we thank you for his power and his healings and the lessons that we learn from scripture. Lord, this book is over 2,000 years old, far older than some of the books. And Lord, we're just thankful that it can speak to us. In our season today, we thank you, Lord. And while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, and we're praying: if you would like to put your faith in Jesus Christ today, if you would like to have that hope, wherever you are, wherever you're watching from, pray this out loud after me.
Yep, you heard me right. Pray this out loud after me. Pray this. I know that I'm a sinner. But I know that Jesus is the Saviour.
who died on the cross for my sin. And today I turn from that sin. from this moment forward. Would you help me to walk with you? Would you help me to know your voice?
Would you help me to obey you? In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Hey everybody, thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries, follow this show and consider supporting it, just go to harvest.org.
And to find out how to know God personally, go to harvest.org and click on Know God. Mm-hmm.
