The Church of Eleven22 - S01 E83 - Response

Episode Date: September 13, 2020

Hey, church family. Welcome to our final installment of this special episode of DeVos where we've been walking through. What does it look like to be called of God if God is beckoning you to join his rescue team in a specific way? Again, every believer has been called to the Great Commission. And I'm hoping and praying that through our church and through the power of the Holy Spirit in this saturated event, maybe some of you heard God's specific call to go to the mission field. Full-time, long-term vocational missions to take the gospel, to plant churches, to people that have never heard the name of Jesus. And I hope every single one of us have considered and reconsidered

what it looks like in your specific calling. If you haven't been called to go, we all are called to go. If you haven't been called to stay, that how will we play a role? in sending people and being sent ourselves. Again, whether it's to your school, in your neighborhood, at home. And so we talked about, we talked about the condition of the heart. We've talked about conviction coming from seeing God in his glory. We talked about characters to sustain you. We talked about calling.

That sometimes there's a gap between the calling and the placing. So today I want to talk about response. So what do you do with that? If God is calling you, are you ready to take a, step of faith in the direction of Jesus' beckoning in your life. Matthew chapter 14, one of my favorite accounts of anything that happened in scripture. I've taught it over and over. I think I've done a divo on it, but we're going to come back to it because it's so clear. Matthew chapter 14, verse 22, it says immediately he being Jesus,

made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds. Crowds that all showed shown up. He was teaching. He had compassion on them. He fed 5,000 people. That'll bring a big crowd. And now Jesus put the disciples in the boat and sends them to the other side of the sea of Galilee. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. By the way, gospel response is rooted in prayer. gospel response, and I don't just mean responding to the gospel the first time when you become a Christian. I'm talking about continuously responding to the gospel and what Jesus has called us to do. This is what we talked about on Wednesday when we're talking about preparing your heart.

If Jesus felt like he needed to get away from the crowd to be along with God on the mountain, then who in the world are we to think that we can do this on our own? So when the evening came, he was there alone. verse 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land beaten by the waves for the wind was against it ultimately the guys are in the sea of galilee trying to row to the other side i think it's about eight miles the wind's in their face and they're basically doing the road machine like at the gym and in the fourth watch of the night this be like 3 a.m. In the fourth watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea but when the disciples saw him on the sea they were terrified, and they said, it's a ghost, and they cried out in fear. Let me stop right there. I remember when I was in college, and I had this idea that if I'd let God know how much I loved him, then he was going to take away what I really wanted to do.

I had this fear that he was going to call me to go to Africa. I don't know why it was Africa, but that was what everybody always talked about. And I know some of you may be afraid because you know, you know, you've been wrestling with this day after day and night after night. You know that you are in a place and you can't stay there anymore. And when the disciples see Jesus, they think is a ghost, they're afraid, they cry out in terror, they cry out, it's a ghost. And you see, the problem with fear is fear paralyzes. And the opposite of that fear is called faith. and I hope and pray that God will give you the gift of faith,

that you would choose faith over fear. Jesus immediately spoke to them in their fear and says, take heart, it is I, don't be afraid. It is the presence of Jesus, the prince of peace, that makes all your fears go away. And if he is calling you to him, then you can trust him. If he's calling you to step out of what is comfortable, maybe you've been in this career for a long time,

and you know, I'm only talking to a few of you, you know it. You know deep down in here he's calling you, and you're thinking, how in the world, how am I going to pay the bills? This is all I know how to do. But you know that he is calling you to do something different for the sake of the gospel. Do not be afraid. Jesus says, it is I. Don't be afraid. The presence of Jesus will chase away all fears.

And so Peter's, who's going to speak first? Who's going to speak most? It's going to be Peter. And Peter says, Lord, if it's you, command me to come to you on the water. Now, you have to know something about what it means to be a Talmuddin, the follower of a rabbi, is that when you became a disciple or a follower of a rabbi, what you were signing up for is not to just learn the things the rabbi knew, but to do the things the rabbi did and to become the person that the rabbi is.

So what Peter believed is, if I am your Talmuddin, if I am your disciple or your follower and you can walk on water, then I should be able to do what you do. And that's why he's asking. He's not just showing off. This is just, he's just saying, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.

And Jesus says, come. And look at this. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. What boat are you riding around in? Is it the boat of busyness? Is it the boat of comfort? Is it the boat of the American dream?

is it the boat of fear? And I know it makes sense when you're crossing over the Sea of Galilee to stay in the boat. There's only one reason you should get out of the boat. If Jesus says, come, then in that moment, you've got one of two options.

You can trust the boat or you can trust Jesus. And I know it doesn't make sense. It makes no sense for you to get out of the boat unless you believe that Jesus is who he says he is, and he always keeps his promises. And if that's the case, it makes no sense to stay in the boat. Look for me, when God called me in the ministry, again, I was working, I was in college,

I was one year away from medical school, I had taken my MCATs, I had gotten in. Now, it's by God's grace to a whole bunch of patients that I probably didn't become a doctor. I think I'd be terrible. My bedside manner would not be good. However, I thought I was all set. That's why I went to that school.

I was all set. My plans were all set. And I felt a clear and distinct call from God to go into ministry. And for me, it was a stepping out of the boat. I had to go to my dad and say, Dad, you know, I've been telling you all these years I was going to go to med school. But for me, med school would be to just stay in the boat. I know it would be hard.

And for many of you have been called to be doctors, thank God. God for you. God is the ultimate, the great physician, and a lot of the ways he works is through you. Thank you. Thank you for stepping out of the boat to do what God has called you to do. But for me, to stay in the boat would be to stay on the track that I was on. And God said, come on, I dare you, step out of the boat. And so I did. And I stepped out in faith, having no idea, having no idea what God had in store for me. And you have no idea what God has in store for you. but I can tell you what he has in store for you. If you are, if you neglect his call, if you are disobedient, I can tell you,

there will be some angst and some frustration and some disappointment in you, not in Jesus, in you for the rest of your days. And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was a full. Here's that fear again. And he began to sink and he cried out, Lord, save me. Now what happened in this moment? What happened in this moment is that Peter takes his eyes off Jesus.

It says in verse 29 that Peter got out of the boat and walked on water, not stood on water, but apparently he got a few steps in. And as long as he was focused on his Savior and his Savior's call in his life and his response was by faith, not based on his circumstance, and he didn't have it all figured out, but by faith, got out, then he could do what was seemingly impossible. Except if Jesus calls you to do it, if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. But when he saw the wind, I don't know how you see, you can't see wind. You can see the effects of the wind, which means he does not have his eyes fixed on Jesus.

When he saw the wind, he's afraid and he begins to sink. You see, oftentimes what happens is God has a call in our life and we might take a few steps in that direction, and then the moment it gets hard, we quit trusting him. We take our eyes off of him. Maybe you've been sharing your faith with your neighbor for a long time, and now you're beginning to doubt, and so you take your eyes off of the gospel, and you put it on your circumstances. That's what Peter does, and when we do that, we will drown. He was afraid, and he beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Verse 31, Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took old of him. Jesus did not say, I told you so, did not take a long time.

That means Jesus was right there with him, and he did not let him drown. The reason he doesn't let him drown is because Jesus is the one that told him to get out of the boat. You see, his divine power will give us everything we need for life and godliness, which means that God will give us everything we need to accomplish everything that he has called us to. And then Jesus asks this question, oh, you of little faith. Why'd you doubt? Now here's what's crazy. I don't want to take this too far, but in this moment, who was Peter doubting? He wasn't doubting Jesus. Jesus wasn't sinking. Jesus was doing just fine. You see, the circumstances of Peter's life caused Peter to doubt whether Peter could do what Jesus had

called him to do. Have you ever thought that I know you believe in God? But did you know that God believes in you? Not for salvation, not in any kind of weird idolatry thing. But God loves you. You're his son. You're his daughter. That God knew that when he made you, he made you as his workmanship, as his masterpiece. This is what Ephesians 2 says, built for good works. That God knew exactly how he was putting you together. So in moments like right now, he would call you to step into the good works that he's, had created you to do. And when we take our eyes off of him and look at our circumstances and begin to sink and begin to be afraid and begin to cry out, ultimately what we're doing is we are doubting, not does God have what it takes, but we are doubting do we have what it takes? And what

Jesus is saying is, Peter, you don't have to doubt you because this wasn't up to you to get it done. I called you out here. I will sustain you. So stay focused on me. Oh, you have little doubt? Oh, do you have little faith? Why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him saying, truly, you are the son of God.

So we've talked about the heart, we've talked about conviction, we've talked about character, we've talked about God's calling in our life. Now, I want to ask you, are you sitting in the boat? Is Jesus himself, through the spirit in you, calling you and saying, I dare you to step out of the boat.

Now, you cannot continuously be a follower of Jesus and stop taking steps of faith. By definitions, followers follow. That means if Jesus is on the move, which he is, and we stop following him, then we stop taking steps of faith. So what's the step of faith that God is calling you to? Maybe. Maybe it's to cash it all in and to go. and to the mission field.

Maybe is to pick up the phone and share your faith. Maybe is to get out of the boat of comfort and lead a life of radical generosity. Maybe is to forgive that person that you've always thought was unforgivable because when you were unforgivable, Jesus forgave you. Whatever it is, I can't tell you.

Only Jesus, through the Holy Spirit in you, can call you to come towards Jesus. I just pray that you will have the bold faith to step out of the boat. And you know what hangs in the balance? You have no idea. Eternities could be changed because you say yes to God's call in your life.

Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord, I pray you would raise up at least 100 missionaries to take the gospel into different cultures around this world. God, I pray for church planners. I pray that there would be men and women that would walk away from the marketplace, not looking at it as a waste of time.

It was not. You don't waste time. God, that you would have used all the skills and talents that they had learned wherever they were, but it would be dedicated primarily to your kingdom and the growing of your church. God, I pray against fear, because you did not give us a spirit of fear or timidity,

but of power and of love and of self-control. old. And God, I praise you in advance for the hundreds of men and women that will hear your call and that will step into your kingdom work. Some of them, full time vocationally and many, many, many of them. They won't change careers. They'll just change focus. And they'll know that they are doing something important for the work of the kingdom and a place strategic for the work of the kingdom. We pray this in Jesus' name. And may you and you alone be glorified. In Jesus. Jesus name, amen.