R246 When All Arguments Cease Pt.2

We all could use some encouragement, and we'll find it together today in the Bible itself, God's Encouraging Word with Dr. Don Wilton. Today Dr. Wilton continues this concept in a message called When All Arguments Cease, helping us know not only how we act, but how we react as followers of Jesus Christ is a powerful part of our witness and a powerful part of the way we grow in Jesus. As we study the Word together, know that we're here to encourage you, both on our website at www.tewonline.org. Many folks still getting signed up for the Daily Encouraging Word email from Dr. Don. Again, that's on our website, www.tewonline.org. Or if you need someone to pray with you, we're here at 866-899-WORD, 866-899-9673, 24 hours a day for prayer and for resources. We'd love to connect with you.

And now today's teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. I wonder if there's someone here today who's in the boat of life and you've gone downhill and you're riding that boat outside and away from the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, I don't know why Jesus sent them away by themselves. I think Jesus understood his disciples, don't you? I think maybe Jesus, when Jesus in verse 15 of John chapter 6 understood that there were people who misunderstood his messianic message. There were many people in Jesus' day who believed that Jesus was not so much the saviour of the world as he was the deliverer from Roman oppression. These people believed that Jesus was camped on the outskirts of Jerusalem on his aircraft carrier waiting to invade the little nation of Israel and rid them of the scourge of the Roman oppressors and of the military authorities. But Jesus did not come to deliver them from a secular oppression. Jesus came to them as the saviour of the world. But his disciples were struggling with it.

And so he said, I'm going away by myself. I don't know, maybe he understood, maybe he understood the fiery nation of the Apostle Peter, don't you think? Maybe he understood the temper of James and John. Maybe he understood the zealot, zealousy of the Simon the Canaanite. Maybe he understood the hidden motive of Matthew the tax collector.

Maybe he understood the analytical nature of Luke the doctor. But he sent them away and outside of the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. These men had to recognize the danger that surrounded them because they were headed in the wrong direction. But I want you to notice as they recognize the danger that surrounded them, it not only lay in the direction in which they were headed, but it lay in the darkness that began to overcome them. Friend, it's guaranteed.

Do you want to guarantee this morning? Outside of Jesus Christ, darkness will overcome you. The Bible says that Jesus is the light of the world.

And the Word of God teaches us most clearly here in verse 17. When they got into the boat, they set off across the lake because it was now dark. Can you imagine being in that boat on the Sea of Galilee without Jesus Christ encompassed and overwhelmed by darkness? What helplessness and what hopelessness. The Bible says that the world outside of Christ is engulfed in the sinfulness of mankind, that darkness covers the earth and that the world outside of the Lord Jesus Christ is lost. These men were in the boat without Jesus.

I wonder if there's someone here today worshiping with us and you're in the boat, but you're headed in the wrong direction and your world is covered in darkness. But there's a third thing to notice about the recognition of the danger that surrounded them. It wasn't just their wrong direction. It wasn't just the darkness that covered them. But in the third place, it was the dread, the dread that overcame them. It was unbelievable.

The Bible says that they saw Jesus approaching on the water. They were scared to death, folks. Have you ever been really scared to death? I remember about 25 years ago, I've just got to tell you this. I was in Africa and I was on the Indian Ocean sitting on a surfboard.

Yes, a man of my caliber. My wife remembers this day very well. And I was sitting on a surfboard in a place called Port Alfred.

Beautiful. And on those beautiful big waves, man, waiting for the waves to catch. Used to love being out there in the sea.

And over there on a peninsula where I could just see them, there were two men fishing. And all of a sudden they started to shout and wave at me. Hey, hey, hey. I said, this is jolly nice. It's very pleasant of them to wave at me when I'm out here in the middle of the Indian Ocean. So I waved back my royal wave, you know.

I said, gentlemen. Of course, they couldn't hear me, but I waved. Well, two minutes later, they were going quite berserk.

Waving at me and shouting and waving at me and looking, shouting at me and doing everything. I waved back again. And they were pointing like this and screaming and I couldn't hear them. And I looked at them again and then I looked a little bit further down, about 30 yards away. I saw exactly what it was they were waving at me about. It was a great white shark.

And its fin was about that high out of the water. And guess what? He had lunch written all over his face. I tell you, if ever I believed what my grandmother always said about me, that I was delicious, it was right then because I mean, I was going to be a meal just in one bite. That's all it took.

Just like that. Boy, and he was coming. Now, folks, I'm here to tell you today. That is the first motorized surfboard you've ever seen in your life. I want to tell you, I had that board. There were no waves to catch. I caught a wave.

I put that thing at right angles. I was paddling so hard. It was going backward and forward like this. When I got onto the beach, my wife said, it's okay, you're on land.

I was still going. I don't think I've ever been as scared as I was that day on a surfboard with a great white shark chasing after me. But friend, I want you to know the Bible says that the dread that overcame these men as they were in that boat by themselves, headed in the wrong direction, overwhelmed by the darkness that surrounded them was a spiritual dread. It was a physical dread. It was all encompassing dread because the Bible says that man outside of Jesus Christ is absolutely helpless and hopeless.

And there is no beach that you can head for. There is no place of protection outside of Jesus Christ. There is no solace outside of his full voice. There is no love that could ever take the place of the love of God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. May I submit to you, my friends, that when all arguments cease, there must be a recognition of the danger that surrounds you. My father has said a thousand times to me, son, a man, a woman will never come to know Jesus until they realized how lost they really are. A person will never come to know who God is until they understand who they really are. That's what happened to the prophet Isaiah when he came into the presence of the king of kings and the Lord of lords. And he said, woe is me because I am undone. I stand in the presence of the king of kings and the Lord of lords.

And I'm a miserable wretch compared to the holiness of Almighty God. There must be a recognition of the danger that surrounds you. But I want you to notice in the second place that these disciples, all their arguments ceased when they realized the presence of the savior who approached them. All arguments ceased when they realized the presence of the savior who approached them. Verse 20, the Bible tells us that they saw him coming along when they had rode two or three miles.

They saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water, and they were terrified. But he said to them, it is I. Be not afraid. Be not afraid. What a tremendous joy to understand and to realize, my friends, that all arguments cease when you realize the impact of the presence of the approaching footsteps and the loving arms of our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Forgive the interruption. We'll be back with the rest of today's message in just a moment. But Dr. Wilton wants me to remind you it's not just a presentation of the gospel. It's a conversation, and we're connecting both on the phone at 866-899-WORD and on our website, www.tewonline.org.

Many of our friends are still signing up for the fresh new perspective on life and God's word. It's the email called the Daily Encouraging Word Devotional. Now, if you haven't signed up, it's easy to do on our website. Just click on the Devotional tab at the very top of the website. You can sign up to have it sent to you via email every day. That's what I do.

Or, like my bride, she prefers the hard copy. We'll be glad to send that to you as well. All the details are on our website at www.tewonline.org. And maybe there's some of our resolutions that we've broken so far. But let's be resolved on a daily basis to spend more time in God's word, the Bible itself, God's encouraging word.

Details on our website at www.tewonline.org. Now, back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. And there are three things that took place right there that I want you to note. First of all, the Bible tells us Jesus came to them. Jesus came to them. It's right there in verse 19. They didn't come to Jesus.

He came to them. You see, my friend, the sovereignty of God is the indisputable fact about the grace of God. Salvation is born in the heart of God.

No man can be saved outside of the grace of God. It begins with God and it ends with God. It is God. It is in him that we live and we move and we have our being. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believes in him should not die, but should have eternal life.

Why? Because God didn't send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might believe and might be saved. And the word of God teaches us, my friends, that arguments are going to cease when we realise the approach of Jesus Christ who comes to us. He comes to us.

There are men and women and boys and girls here today. You've sensed the approach of Jesus. You know that he's there. He has spoken to you. He has ministered to you. He's done everything he possibly can and wants to in your life. And he's coming to you.

And the Bible says all arguments will cease. Number one, when you recognise the danger that surrounds you outside of him. But secondly, my friend, when you realise the approaching presence of the only one who can get into the boat and make you walk on water, he's the only one, number one, he came. Number two, he talked to them.

I like that, don't you? Did you notice that about the Lord Jesus choir? He talked to them. Can you imagine being in the middle of that sea? Several years ago, I was in Israel, as many of you have been. They took us out on the middle of the Sea of Galilee. It was incredible. You can see Tiberius.

We stayed in Tiberius in Sea Capernaum. What a tremendous joy. They took us out in the middle of that sea and switched off the engines.

It was the most unbelievable silence I've ever heard. And it was my day that day to do the devotions and I got out my Bible and I opened up to John chapter six. And all I read was, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water and they were terrified. But he said to them, it is I, be not afraid.

When all arguments cease, it is I, be not afraid. What tremendous hope, what unbelievable joy, what great gladness, what an outpouring of the presence and the power of God. He not only came to them, but he talked to them. And in the third place, he just loved them. Oh, he loved them. Jesus must have loved these men. They were something else. I mean, they did all kinds of things. Every one of them had a character flaw. They were just like you and me.

Oh yes, they put their foot in their mouths. They were going to many more times before Jesus died. These were the disciples who became a little disturbed because the crowds were getting too close. These were the disciples who murmured along sometimes with the Pharisees. These were the disciples who were going to fall asleep when Jesus asked them to pray. These were the disciples who didn't really understand the depth of the kingdom of God.

And yet the Bible says that God by his grace in a private demonstration of the power of his grace sends them out into the middle of the sea in a boat all by themselves. And then he stands and watches as they fall apart. And when they begin to fall apart, he walks on the water and he comes to them and he talks to them and he loves them.

He loves them. But I want you to notice something in the third instance about when all arguments cease. You see, friends, if all arguments are to cease and when all arguments did cease for these disciples, they came to the point where they were willing to, number three, here it is, relinquish total control to the lordship of Christ. You see, it's not good enough just to recognise the danger. It's not good enough just to realise the imminent approach of the Lord Jesus Christ. You've got to take it to the third step, my friend, for all arguments to cease.

You must relinquish total control to the lordship of Jesus Christ. You see, in Matthew's account, that's exactly what happened. Peter, of course, Peter always wanted to be the centre of everything, didn't he? He was probably a little bit like me.

You know, I find it hard to keep my mouth closed. And I mean, there he was right there in the middle of it. And all the disciples, guess who pops up? Brother Peter says, Lord, Lord, hey, Lord, won't you use me as your magnificent servant to walk on this water? Jesus said, come on, son, step out, take a cruise, come on down this way. I don't know why Jesus agreed with Peter, but I believe maybe Jesus agreed with Peter because he was privately demonstrating to Peter the outpouring of his power and grace. Maybe he was about to teach Peter the greatest lesson that Peter could ever, ever learn. And that is simply this, that my son Peter, even though you have relinquished control to me, don't ever take your eyes off me.

Don't ever take your eyes off me. You see, friend, in order for all arguments to cease, Peter and the disciples had to be willing to invite Jesus into the boat. It wasn't good enough just to acknowledge his presence.

It wasn't good enough just to be aware and recognize the danger. They had to give up and relinquish all control. Just a moment, we're gonna sing a great hymn of invitation. I surrender all, all to Jesus. I surrender, I surrender all.

This is what they did. They relinquished control to the lordship of Christ. Why? Because you see, friend, Jesus Christ is not just my Savior. He's my Lord. You don't accept him as Savior and then make him Lord. He is Lord. He is Lord. He's my Lord and Savior. He's in charge.

The buck stops at his desk. He is the pilot of my aircraft. He is the captain of my ship.

He is the maker and the motivator. He is the one who moves me. He's the one who saves me. He's the one who loves me. He's the one who comforts me.

He's the one who comforts me and picks me up. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. All arguments were about to cease with this band of disciples. Don't you think? They recognized the danger that surrounded them.

There's no question about that. Then they realized that Jesus was approaching them. And when Jesus approached them, they had to do something.

They had to relinquish total control to him. Do you know why Jesus not prepared to settle for anything less? Jesus put it like this. He said, if any man will come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and he must follow after me. He must give everything that he has.

She must give everything that she has. There must be a total relinquishing, abdication of the throne room of one's life. And we have to place upon the throne room of our lives, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Yes, there was a recognition of danger. There was a realization of Jesus' presence. There was a relinquishing to the total control of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then I want you to notice something in closing today. If you are ever my friends, and if I'm ever going to get to the point where all arguments cease, there must be a return to the Lord Jesus Christ after we have taken our eyes off him. There must be a return to the Lord Jesus after we've taken our eyes off him. You see, there was no doubt that Peter relinquished control to the Lord Jesus.

There's no doubt about that. There's no doubt in this congregation and many who are watching by way of television this morning would say, Dr. Wilton, before God, I've relinquished control to him. Well, what's happened? Why all the problems?

What's going on? Perhaps it's because you've taken your eyes off Jesus. You see, friend, the Bible says that the moment Peter got onto the water, guess what happened to him? He all of a sudden noticed a shark's fin come by. He all of a sudden noticed the wind and the waves. He all of a sudden became threatened by his own mortality. He all of a sudden recognized that he was just one heartbeat away from drowning. And so he took his eyes off the one who had come to him and the only one who could save him. And the Bible says he immediately began to sink. And you see, friend, if all argument is going to cease, it is at that point that we must return to the Lord Jesus Christ.

You know why? Because the Bible says he will immediately reach out his hand to us and pick us up. That opportunity is available for you right now to take Jesus' hand. You know, one of the things that Dr. Wilton insists that we put together when we began this ministry, when God opened door after door after door for television and for radio and for online and podcasting, is he said we need to be available. And we are available to talk with you and pray with you right now at 866-899-WORD. Jot the number down, store us in your cell. As Dr. Don would say, all of us need some 2 a.m. friends, and we'd be thrilled to be one of yours. You can call us anytime at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. But one of our prayers as a team is that you've not just heard the wonderful South African brogue of our pastor and chief encourager, Dr. Don Wilton, but you've heard from the Lord. And you've listened to Dr. Don as he's been preaching and teaching now as he steps into the studio. I pray you'll open your heart to what he wants to share next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much, and I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin. I confess my sin to you, and I invite you to come into my heart and live my life by faith. In Jesus' name I pray. If you prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm gonna be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey.

And in just a moment, I'm gonna come back with a final word. Perhaps you were praying with Dr. Wilton moments ago to give your life to Jesus Christ or rededicate your life to the Lord? Know that we'd love to be a part of launching you into a fresh new beginning and giving you resources Dr. Don wants you to have for free if you'll call us, 866-899-WORD. 866-899-9673. We'll connect you with these resources that will help you build a greater structure in your life, roots to grow deep and branches to bear great fruit. Again, that's online at TEWonline.org as well or call us at 866-899-9673. As a matter of fact, right now, we have some wonderful resources that'll help you grow in your understanding of our beginnings.

Here's Liz with all the details. It all begins with God. Journey with Dr. Wilton as he takes you back to the beginning. Genesis, Back to the Beginning message, plus the bonus book, The Origin of Everything, will help you come face to face with some very foundational faith issues.

You will also find answers to foundational questions about who you are and why you are here. This is a must-have gift to purchase for yourself, a friend or loved one, including your child or grandchildren to help them know truth when the enemy attacks. Call us at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673 to request the life-changing message, Genesis, Back to the Beginning and the bonus book with your gift of $25 or more per set. Thank you for supporting The Encouraging Word as we continue to proclaim the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. Just one of many resources available on our website at www.tewonline.org, and yes, still some copies of that blue leather-bound daily devotional book called Heaven, Life, and the Resurrection.

Again, all the details online at www.tewonline.org. Before we get away, closing thoughts from Dr. Don. You know, before we go today, what a day of worship we've had. You know, you and I have in the middle of our hearts our beloved nation, don't we, how much I love America.

I'm so proud to be an American. And you know, this broadcast is seen by so many of our armed forces across the world, and we hear from many, many of them, and we love them, we admire them, we respect them. They are our real heroes, and I want you to join with me as we are praying for them, that God would protect them and their families and loved ones. Let's do that right now, shall we, just before we go? Why don't you join with me? Lord Jesus, I'm joining with thousands of people right now and praying for our members, our brave, brave members of our community and our world who are in uniform. Many are overseas in strange and difficult places, families left behind. Lord Jesus, bless them, keep your hand upon them in every way, in Jesus' name, amen. Let's stay connected on our website, that's www.tewonline.org.