Oct. 27, 2024

                                                               John 6:15-26

                                                       “Is Jesus in Our Boat?”

October 27, 2024                                                                                     Dr. Don Bazal

      The account of this miracle is recorded in three of the four gospels.  Why?  When we are in a storm that threatens everything, in our lives personally, or in our church, we must choose.  The choice we have to make, is will we let Jesus enter into the situation:  John 6:21.

          In his book, No Place for Truth, David Wells explains how the pragmatism of 

    the evangelical church has influenced its concept of God.  He writes, “We have 

    turned to a God that we can use rather than to a God we must obey; we have 

    turned to a God who will fulfill our needs rather than to a God before whom we 

    must surrender our rights. . . .He is God for us, for our satisfaction.   Essentially, 

    Wells argues that evangelicals are seeking a God they can use, a God who fixes 

    their problems, a God who works for them.

Deuteronomy 18:18-19 –  I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. ¹⁹ It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.

John 10:37-38 – If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; ³⁸ but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”

John 14:11 –  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

John 1:19-21 – This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 

Matthew 17:5 – While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”

John 2:4 – And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.”

John 7:6 – So Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune.

Mark 6:44-45 –  There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.   ⁴⁵ Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away.

James 1:2-3 – Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

John 11:6 – So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.

John 15:5 –  I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Hebrews 13:5b – for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”

Psalm 77:16-19 – The waters saw You, O God; the waters saw You, they were in anguish; the deeps also trembled. ¹⁷ The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth a sound; your arrows flashed here and there. ¹⁸ The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; the lightnings lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook. ¹⁹ Your way was in the sea and Your paths in the mighty waters, and Your footprints may not be known.

Psalm 107:25-30 –  For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. ²⁶ They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths;
their soul melted away in their misery. ²⁷ They reeled and staggered like a drunken man, and were at their wits’ end. ²⁸Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distresses. ²⁹ He caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed. ³⁰ Then they were glad because they were quiet, so He guided them to their desired haven.

Psalm 139:7-10 – Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? ⁸ If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. ⁹ If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, ¹⁰ Even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me.

Psalm 139:11-12 – If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,” ¹² Even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.

Psalm 107:28-30 - ²⁸Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distresses. ²⁹ He caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed. ³⁰ Then they were glad because they were quiet, so He guided them to their desired haven.