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thank you foreign good evening everyone welcome back to free Grace Baptist Church warm welcome to any visitors amongst us uh if you've come expecting the Lord's supper tonight we are not celebrating the Lord's Supper is there is as our usual first Sunday of the month uh habit but we will celebrate the Lord's Supper when Pastor Butler returns in a few weeks time we again have Pastor Rick Horst his wife Karen with us for the last time this evening we want to thank you again for your ministry amongst us and we ask you as well to take our greetings and our thanks to your family back there your church family the other Elders that have granted you this time away as well cam Porter will be preaching next Sunday morning and evening Lord willing he's been away the last three Sundays down in Kirkland Washington preaching there and then the following Sunday after that Pastor Butler will be back so for our call to worship this evening please turn to Psalm 67. [Music] Psalm 67 to the chief musician on stringed instruments a Psalm a psalm God be merciful to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us say law that your way may be known on Earth your salvation among all nations let the peoples Praise You O God let all the peoples praise you oh let the Nations be glad and sing for Joy for you shall judge the people righteously and govern the Nations on Earth say long let the peoples Praise You O God let all the peoples praise you then the Earth shall yield her increase God our own God shall bless us God shall bless us in all the ends of the Earth shall fear Him amen for our first hymn we'll turn to number 280 in the hymnal 280 and we'll Stand Together As we sing foreign [Music] foreign [Music] sunrise foreign [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] seated let us go to the Lord in prayer gracious Heavenly Father we thank you for your mercy and your kindness that you have displayed to us in so many ways thank you for bringing us out of the world and into the church thank you for the Universal Church of Jesus Christ that spans every continent on the face of this Earth spans every time from the beginning of the creation until this very day the Lord we thank you that it will continue long after we are gone we thank you O Father that in time and in space you've called us out of Darkness into Marvelous Light and we thank you that you've placed Us in local bodies for our good and for our benefit and for the benefit of our Brethren thank you that we have this place to come into to hear the word preached to participate in the sacraments to fellowship with Brethren and with sisters and to have encouragement exhortation discipline when needed that we might grow in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ we thank you that you have given us connections from this church to many other local churches and we thank you for the the Brethren especially down in La Mirada California that we pray Lord that you would bless that congregation again as as Pastor Rick and as Karen returned there on Tuesday we pray oh God that you would go with him and bless their return and continue to encourage their congregation there at Trinity reform Baptist Church Lord we pray that they would be blessed with the the ability to to multiply and to send out more preachers of the Gospel we thank you for the good work that you've done there and arguing all throughout the state of California Lord we thank you for our sister churches here in British Columbia and the Reformed Baptist Movement we thank you for the church plants in Surrey and in Armstrong we pray that you'd bless those congregations even this day bless the work that has begun out in Ontario Lord we pray that there would be many more we thank you that there are other reformed churches across this country churches where the gospel is being preached we pray your blessing would rest upon it and Lord we pray that you would continue to preserve this nation through the preaching of the gospel and through calling man out of Darkness into Marvelous Light Lord we pray that you would be gracious to us now as we continue in worship and as we look to you and look to your word we pray O Lord that you would meet it meet us at our place of need Lord that your word would be that sharp two-widget sword and that we would find the Comfort the blessing the chastisement that we're in need of this night we ask this in Jesus name amen for our next hymn we'll turn to Psalm 47 a in the psalter psalm 47 a stand with me again as we sing [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] away come on foreign [Music] myself [Music] our evening scripture reading we are in Deuteronomy chapter 4 We Begin this chapter last week and we finished off at verse 31 so we'll pick up reading in Deuteronomy 4 verse 32 to the end of the chapter this evening this again is Moses recounting to the children of Israel their history since the Exodus from Egypt of course he's speaking to the new generation the generation that left Egypt at least the men of fighting age have all passed away we're left with Moses Joshua and Caleb and the younger generation and he is recounting to them with the wonderful works that the Lord has done in their midst verse 32 for ask now concerning the days that are passed which were before you since the day that God created man on the earth and ask from one end of Heaven to the other whether any great thing like this has happened or anything like it has been heard did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire as you have heard and live or did God ever try to go and take for himself a nation from the midst of another Nation by trials by Signs by Wonders by War by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and by great Terrors according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes to you it was shown that you might know that the Lord himself is God there is none other besides him Out of Heaven he let you hear his voice that he might instruct you on Earth he showed you his great fire and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire and because he loved your fathers therefore he chose their descendants after them and he brought you out of Egypt with his presence with his mighty power driving out from before you Nations greater and mightier than you to bring you in to give you their land as an inheritance as it is this day therefore know this day and consider it in your heart that the Lord himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath there is no other you shall therefore keep his statutes and his Commandments which I command you today that it may go well with you and with your children after you and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time then Moses set apart three cities on this side of the Jordan toward the rising of the Sun that the manslayer might flee there who kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in time past and that by fleeing to one of these cities he might live baser in the wilderness on the plateau for the rubinites ramoth and Gilead for the gadites and Golan Invasion for the manicites now this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel these are the testimonies the statutes and the judgments which Moses spoke to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt on this side of the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth PR in the land of sihon King of the amorites who dwelt at heshbon whom Moses and the children of Israel defeated after they came out of Egypt and they took possession of his land and the land of OG king of basin two kings of the amorites who were on this side of the Jordan toward the rising of the Sun from Aurora which is on the bank of the river Arnon even to Mount Zion that is Hermann and all the plain on the east side of the Jordan as far as the sea of the arabah below the slopes of bisca amen let us pray thank you Father for giving us these truths the history of the children of Israel thank you that they teach us many things concerning you concerning your interactions with your people concerning your requirements your law in concerning your Plan of Salvation thank you Father that even in the old Covenant there were many Believers that were saved and were washed and purified through what Christ did many generations later thank you that before your throne we know that Abraham Isaac Jacob Moses the prophets are standing and worshiping you even this night and we pray o God the day will come when we join them may everyone in this room be found in you on that great day we pray in Jesus name amen for our final hymn we'll turn to number 167. stand with me as we sing him 167 together [Music] thank you foreign [Music] good morning [Music] here please [Music] foreign [Music] you know I have a lot of faults but I don't think in gratitude's one of them so I wanted to express a heartfelt thank you from my wife and I to all of you for how you've made us feel so at home a wonderful church here a wonderful area here we just had a great great time for these three Sundays that we've been here so thank you so much um just for your kindness very kind so let's turn our Bibles for my last message in Matthew chapter 14. now I'm going to ask you to have to do something a little bit difficult and that is there's a parallel passage I want you to flip there when I tell you to flip there I'm going to tell you that passage yet but it's in Matthew 14 and the thing about Matthew and Mark is they do seem to run parallel Luke does as well but he does in a more expansive way so Matthew Mark and Luke definitely have parallel passes this one begins in verse 22 of Mark chapter I mean Matthew chapter 14. I will probably say that make the mistake so bear with me Matthew 14. this is the word of God I'll begin in 22 and go to 33 immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he sent the multitudes away and when he had sent the multitudes away he went up on the mountain by himself to pray now an evening came he was alone there but the boat was now in the middle of the sea tossed by the ways for the wind was contrary now in the Fourth Watch of the night Jesus went to them walking on the sea when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were troubled saying it is a ghost and they cried out for fear but immediately Jesus spoke to them saying be of good cheer it is I do not be afraid Peter answered him and said Lord if it is you command me to come to you on the water so he said come when Peter had come down out of the boat he walked on the water to go to Jesus but when he saw the wind was boisterous he was afraid and beginning to sink he cried out saying Lord save me and immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him and said to him oh you of little faith why did you doubt when they got into the boat the wind sees then those who were in The Boat came and worshiped him saying truly you are the Son of God let's go over to Mark chapter 6 the parallel passage is found in verse 45 he says here immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side to be Sadia that would be the Sea of Galilee while he sent the multitude away and when he had sent them away he departed to the mountain to pray now an evening came the boat was in the middle of the sea and he was alone on the land then he saw them straining at rowing for the wind was against them now about the Fourth Watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea and would have passed them by when they saw him walking on the sea they suppose it was a goats and cried out for they all saw him and were troubled but immediately he talked with them and said to them be a good cheer it is I do not be afraid then he went up into the boat to them and the wind seized and they were greatly amazed at themselves beyond measure and Marvel for they had not understood about the lows because their heart was hardened when you come to this amazing portion of God's word we have Jesus walking on the water it is I'll use the word amazing that word just really doesn't make it it doesn't really give everything of that experience of what the people saw our Lord walking on the water and so tonight what I plan on doing is when one preaches I'll just let you into my study there's a couple of things that those that preach should be able to do and that is they should take a text and make it easy to understand and I think you should have everyone in mind from the kids to the older ones I'm one of those older ones now to those that are in between you also want to be compelling preaching should be compelling you must believe this of what it is that I am proclaiming to you and then it should have some measure of of a picture if you will of one thing that sticks out in your mind oh yeah he was preaching about this that and the other just like when you look at a picture if you get up close to a picture you see a bunch of lines and colors and that sort of thing but it's not till you stand back and take a look at and go oh okay that's a picture of my wife whatever it may be so that's hopefully what I will do tonight is to explain the context and explain the text now before we get into the context and text there is a reality of truth that needs to be accompanying us as we go through this passage and that is fear fear before sin enter the world there is no fear there is no sickness there is no sorrow sin no death and no fear Adam before his sin Was Not Afraid of Anything think about that no pain no sickness no sorrow no death and as a result he lived in perfect peace after he sinned he became guilty before God as well as the entire family of Adam do you remember in Genesis what he said to the Lord I heard you in the garden and I was afraid now a new emotion as a result of sin and by contrast the Eternal state of Salvation is described in Micah 4 5 in a metaphor that everyone shall sit under his Vine and no one shall make them afraid Zephaniah 3 13 here you have the remnant those that are saved shall feed their flocks and lie down and no one shall make them afraid and being afraid is common to everyone kids you get afraid of things I was afraid of the dark I was afraid of some of my dreams and I was definitely afraid of my dad when I disobeyed my parents because I knew that I was going to get the backside spanking but it was a fear of Love towards my father these fears which is common to all of us might be fear of sickness of Sorrow yes of death but all are afraid now we have our fears as Christians and we have our Comforts as Christians and when you come to a service a church service fear is probably the last thing on your mind probably well let's hang on to that for a minute and let's move on now with the context we are in the midst of our Lord's Ministry after he hears the news of John the Baptist being beheaded he takes his 12 disciples and goes to a deserted place however many hear of him and go to him and he performs wonderful teaching and a wonderful Miracle as he feeds five thousand men with a very small amount of Loaves and two fish wonderful miracle then after he feeds them in John's gospel in John chapter six it appears that they're going to take him by force and make him King now this was not the design of his miracle of feeding the five thousand men they were seeking to establish a temporary Kingdom and that was not our Lord's intention when he fed the five thousand that was not his intention to do that so what he does is he takes the twelve and he sends them to go to the other side from gal in the Sea of Galilee then he goes to the 5 000 and it appears that he instructs them and he sends them away okay so now he Retreats up to the mountain by himself to pray to have communion with God now I have to stop here and say I find it interesting that here the son of God the son of man found a need to pray and as I sit in that Pew and many times not this particular Pew but the one down in California praying and I'm in need of the Lord and I pray and yet the Lord Jesus shows his dependence upon the father by going to the Lord and seeking him in prayer all of us sitting here when we do pray when the brother prays we are praying with him we are yes agreeing with him amen we know that God hears our prayers we don't pray disbelieving we pray believe in a gobble and actually answer our prayers he will bless our services he will save our children he will cause us to grow in Grace but here our Lord goes in prays and I will submit to you and I'm just being suggestive here he's probably praying for his disciples that are rowing on the Sea of Galilee which brings us now to our text and in verse 24 here you have a boat with 12 and they're about halfway across the Sea of Galilee and they are in trouble because the wind and the waves are against them now four of them were seasoned fishermen they were used to troubles on the water but right now they were having trouble they were losing the battle some would call it mother nature it's not Mother Nature losing the battle with the wind and the waves being brought about by God's Providence they were in a battle and our translation says that they were in their fourth watch in the Fourth Watch which is between 3 A.M and 6 a.m First Watch is 6 00 p.m 9 p.m second nine to midnight third midnight to three last watch three to six so it is late at night it is dark there's an angry sea and there is no end in sight they didn't have Motors back there they just couldn't call the coast guard for help they were in trouble and as a result they had fears the next verse in Matthew 14 25 and in Mark 6 48 either one doesn't matter you can go to either one you see or I should say the Lord sees him straining and because of their current danger he goes to them walking on the water the disciples without our Lord are straining and fearful of their lives they are literally afraid of their lives fearful night on a Black Sea I don't think you've ever been on the Black Sea I should say we've I went across a couple of times with my father-in-law and there was one night there was no moon there was no stars it was dark between about 15 miles we had another few miles to go to it got to Catalina it was dark and the waves were getting a little high it was getting a little scary for us and we were motoring so we just they weren't as afraid as I was but you're when you're on a Black Sea there is nothing you look in front of you behind you above you and all you see is black and I was submit you as probably what they saw is nothing but black water potentially filling the boat making them cold their natural reaction is survival out of fear now that's one fear fear for their lives the next verse is 26. with their backs toward their destination because that's how most people row like this they're not doing the forward one they're probably doing the backward row they've done this before but they're back to their destination weary from rowing they've probably been rowing for around six seven eight hours a new fear arises fatigue they see their lord walking towards them but now a new fear arises it's a fear of the supernatural they look at him they do not recognize him as the Lord and they say in the Greek it's a Phantasm or it's a ghost that's how our Bible translates it it's a ghost now their fears come to a new frightening level when it's a new fear Brethren it is a it's it heightens quite a bit um when I had cancer before then I just knew of cancer oh yeah you might get cancer one day Rick when I had cancer they tell you the news I have to admit that that was a new fear for me now my mortality came before my eyes and I was afraid new fears right there seemed to bring that scale up pretty high in verse 27 of Matthew Jesus brings Peace by a simple word it is I it is I do not be afraid simple word do not be afraid our Lord knew that they were afraid amazing he gets into the boat everything calms down now in Mark's gospel he leaves something out and if you notice that or not I'm sure you did he left out Peter walking on water Mark why'd you leave that one out I mean Peter walked on water that should be something to write about well let's talk about this for a minute why is it in some gospels things are omitted and in other things they are added the four gospels um do not necessarily question everything or have every single solitary fact in there the intention of the rider may not have been with regards to Peter walking on water the thing is is that's probably not the question to ask why isn't this in Matthew or why isn't this in Mark that sort of thing remember that the writers are writing to a particular people to impress their souls and so there is an intention of the writer when he writes the gospel whether it was Matthew Mark Luke or John they had a an audience to consider and their intention was to leave a different impression on their souls than someone else that they were addressing so we probably should be taking up more with what is revealed as opposed to what is not revealed that's about all I'm going to say about that but Peter here is going back to Mark I should say Matthew 14 verses 28-32 exhibits faith and doubt he exhibits both his faith is courageous and his doubt also exists look at that he says Lord that is faith if it is you that's doubt bid me to come on the water that's Faith he gets out of the out of the boat walks on the water that's Faith then he begins to sink that's doubt then he looks up to the Lord save me that's Faith you see what happens there in a very short period of time faith and doubt existed with this believer and and these men except for Judas were Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ they believed Peter believed he cries out to the Lord to save him and Matthew says he catches them imagine he got pretty close and then he caught him and then he says something to him oh you of little faith why did you doubt it I don't know if our Lord had a smile on his face when he said that but I think he had kindness on his face when he said that oh you have little faith why did you doubt why did you doubt gets into the boat in the wind ceases everything is calm and here in Matthew's account the disciples proved Jesus deity by worshiping him if a Jehovah's Witness shows up on your doorstep and you show him this verse they will probably blow it off and I found the best way to talk to a Jehovah's Witness is to talk to them about their sin once they're convinced of their sinner ship that they've sinned against God it's not gonna be too difficult to show him that Jesus Christ is both Lord and savior but here the disciples proved that Jesus is God manifested In the Flesh by worshiping him and praying praising praising him truly you are the Son of God me you have the same nature as God the Son of God the son of the Living God now while Matthew adds something Peter walking on water Marco omits this Mark go to 6 51 now he adds something that Matthew omits verse 51 then he went up into the boat to them and the wind ceased and they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure and marveled the disciples were greatly amazed it says beyond measure amazed that it was the Lord Jesus Christ and not a ghost first of all they were amazed that he walked on water should be marveled even more so the wind ceases there's a lot going on here of why they would be amazed at our Lord their amazement went beyond words when it says beyond measure there's probably no Greek or English word that can properly or perfectly describe what went on within them they were amazed beyond measure I can't give the right words we're sitting here in the cool of this building here we're not on a sea that was tossing back and forth and all of a sudden everything gets calm we but why were they amazed why is it they were Beyond measuring their amazement and just I find it amazing that they were amazed because they didn't realize something they simply didn't realize something they didn't properly judge something well their amazement Springs from a lack of understanding the next verse brings it out for they had not understood about the lows because their heart was hard now think about that for a moment okay what in the world does our Lord feeding 5 000 have to do with their amazement that he walked on water and calmed the Seas by the way this was not the first time our Lord calmed the Seas earlier when he was asleep in the boat things were getting rough they come down don't you care that we're perishing he gets up rebukes the wind and the waves oh you have little faith why did you not believe this happened before now if our Lord could by his great power feed five thousand by multiplying a small amount of Loaves and only two fish it shouldn't be too difficult for our Lord to walk on water and calm the sea if you could feed five thousand and he did so if our Lord has that ability they should have understood it and I would submit to you that their thinking was lazy they did not conclude or think or meditate upon what our Lord had done with the five thousand if they did you can probably conclude it wouldn't be that difficult since he was able to multiply the Loaves and the fish to walk on water they should not have been greatly amazed but I think something happens here that's not in either of the of the um passages and that is it appears that our Lord probably and I'm making this suggestive in light of Matthew's account that our Lord probably explained to them his deity his power his ability him being the Lord because it says in marks in Matthew's gospel that they worshiped him it seems like something happened between the time that he gets into the boat okay they're greatly amazed beyond measure our Lord has to teach them and instruct him then they say truly you are the Son of God again I'm just being suggestive here but I think that's probably what happened our Lord was constantly teaching his disciples probably teach them look if I can if I did and I have fed five thousand men I can walk on water you should not be greatly amazed you should believe that I am truly the Son of God and they do they do again uh I'm just being suggestive there but something had to have happened uh between their amazement to their unbelief now their Hardness of Heart was not to the degree of the Pharisees Hardness of Heart Is used here but it's not used that to the degree of the Pharisees I preach against the Pharisees in the first message we already know their Hardness of Heart Jesus would do something their heart was hard they would not hear they would not understand they would not obey they would not recognize him as the Messiah as the Son of God these 12 except for Judas believed that Jesus was the son of God they were amazed they believed however there was a Hardness of Heart there and they were not able to understand our Lord's Miracle of the five thousand later on he's gonna he's gonna feed four thousand by the way it goes from five thousand to four thousand they're not greatly amazed anymore they are believing they are seeing this as the work of the Son of God now was it wrong for them to be amazed beyond measure well the very fact that our Lord doesn't reprove them for that but it would appear that he had to instruct them so I would not lay sin at their door because they were greatly amazed at the Lord doing this they were just did not they did not properly judge what had happened when the 5 000 were fed so let's make some conclusions here regarding Matthew as well as Mark because we want to make sure that we understand and we don't have Hardness of Heart as well and here's the thing is we should be amazed at our Lord we should be amazed at our Lord we should Marvel when we read of his miracles in this book in his word and what I find amazing is how God has been able to preserve his word all these thousands of years this didn't happen in America or Canada it happened way over the other side of the world and God was able to preserve his word have those words Frozen on paper and bring it to us here living in the 21st century and I find it amazing when I read of our Lords and miracles when you read in your Bibles you should read daily kids remember when you get up in the morning she pray thank God for your parents make sure you read if you're able to read read your Bibles start with Matthew start with Mark okay and be amazed believe those Miracles that our Lord performed and believe those miracles in one sense let's be amazed let's just oh yeah Jesus walked on water wake me when this is over no God would have us to be exercised when we read his word it's not like you're reading the phone book this is God's word God has been pleased to give us his word it is God's love letter to us we see it we believe it Lord Jesus thank you for this wonderful miracle that I've been able to see you weren't there no but God's been pleased to bring it home to me right here right now I praise the Lord for that that will probably make your Bible reading a little bit different when you get up and do your devotions read believing God also has intended in our reading for us to increase in faith as well as increase in our faith when we come here our faith increases Our Hope increases our love for the Savior increases we will look at our Lord's Miracles probably a lot differently when we see the beauty of the Savior our savior is a beautiful savior there's a hymn that we sing a trinity soon you may sing it here it's about beautiful savior wonderful him he is there's a beauty to our Lord when you consider that he would take upon himself our nature and yet tempted in all points as we are yet without sin therefore he is a savior that can be trusted these disciples believed upon the Lord they trusted him fearful as they may be let's cut them some slack we're probably not in the same boat as they are so to speak but what a wonderful savior a wonderful Savior and for those kids I would exhort you to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ any here that are not Believers if you know your sin the good news is Jesus loves to save bad people he loves to save Sinners love to save disobedient children God loves to do that he loves to do that Christ is more willing than you are keep going to him keep going to him until you believe upon the Savior so he's a he's a wonderful savior if you want to know anything at all about Jesus I know that many want to literally see him we literally want to see him when he breaks through the clouds but he breaks through the clouds and flaming fire taking Vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey his gospel we look to him by faith right now longing for him to return but I would submit to you we have him here in the pages of holy writ I want you to notice as well of the fears relieved by these disciples when they were alone in the boat straining then they had fears it wasn't until Jesus revealed himself to them that those fears were relieved Jesus reveals himself in the word red as well as in the word preached he is not an unknown savior to us and he gives us a peaceful word do remember that our Lord sent these twelve into a fearful I was going to say ocean but a sea is what it is he sent them there they were sent by a loving savior difficulties come our way in our congregation we have many who've had sicknesses cancers one member had an open heart surgery with his heart removed and a new one put in we've had a lot of difficulties in our church when you're in a church a period of time those things happen I'm assuming you're not immune to that as well but it would appear at times as if God had abandoned the person I felt abandoned even though I wasn't abandoned by the Lord but then on the fourth watch it seems then the Lord came and comforted our people in different areas in different sicknesses that they had different fears that they had even though it appeared it looked this way as if the Lord was gone we couldn't recognize him yet on the fourth watch he bought Comfort to us remember this difficulties come by the hand of the Lord and remember this this is not original with me but smooth Seas never made good sailor never did I've competed a lot in sports and I would have to say that the difficulties that came along the the opponent that came along that pushed you to a new level I became a better athlete as a result of that now granted in a Christian walk we have difficulties that come our way we hang in there we believe we look to our Lord and it will turn us into better seasoned Christians but to look to Jesus we look to him just as Peter looked to the Lord Jesus we look to him for our help as well as for our strength and look at this wonderful picture of Salvation Peter sinking he doesn't try to swim to the boat he doesn't try to generate enough Faith to walk on the water he doesn't look to his friends to save him from drowning he doesn't look within himself just the self-awareness that's what you need none of that he doesn't do any of that what does he do he looks to Jesus all he says is save me save me and did he turn him away no no he even said oh you have little faith why did you doubt why did you doubt the tenderness of Our Lord his willingness to save and he did more than that he saved well faith and doubt coexist in the Christian that's my next Point here for application again look at Peter Lord as faith if that is you that's doubt I'm saying all that to say that can it be that happens to us as well faith and doubt coexist within the believer not a doubting to condemnation but there could be at times we doubt about our Lord's Providence maybe we doubt his kindness those things may exist within a believer faith and doubt do indeed exist I think this is an example of it right here with Peter and these disciples had a test of faith and their failure was for their good not that we're looking to fail we want to we want to endure we want to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ but remember every trial that comes our way is by the hand of the Lord and it's for our good even though not everything is good and faith is not hoping oh well then it will be better no faith is believing upon the Savior our trust is in him through good times and bad times we hang on to him sometimes we feel so weak we just try to hang on that we can but we have a strong wonderful compassionate loving savior who is head of the church he's the head of the church it's not a pastor we're under Shepherds we're nothing more than slaves and what we're trying to do ministers we're trying to get out of the way we preach you Christ God gets all the glory and we get out of the way because it is the Lord Jesus who is the head of the church and he is the one that's teaching you in a wonderful way because he loves his people he has great love for his church he laid his life down for his church just remember this my brethren no tribulations no trials we would get pretty fat and lazy wouldn't we those things have to come they come by the hand of a loving father by the hand of our loving savior the Lord Jesus Christ and we put our trust in him so what have I done these last three weeks well I preached you the context of John 3 16 the first time which was numbers 21. and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so the son of man must be lifted up that whoever looks upon Him should not perish but have everlasting life for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes upon Him should not perish but have everlasting life that was my first week here took you 45 minutes two times two to say that yep sure did took me 90 minutes maybe less not sure and then we had the sinful woman and the Pharisee remember that and our Lord has such comforting words to her her sins which are many are forgiven her and he turns her and says your sins are forgiven you your faith has saved you go in peace those are words for us go in peace then we have this wonderful passage yes today this morning with our Lord and with the command for us to be humble not to be judgmental see our sins greater and see our savior to be greater and that's what I'm bringing out here right now we have a wonderful savior so my exhortation to you is continue on in the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ owe you a little faith why did you doubt We believe We cling to him let's pray Our Father we thank you that you have granted unto us eyes to see ears to hear a faith to believe upon your son and we cling to you and we praise you we give you thanks that you are the great God who is made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them we give you thanks for the great honor it is to have communion with you through prayer through the singing of hymns through your word preached we praise it you are our great God grant unto these dear Saints for this upcoming week the grace to walk with you grant unto the children Faith to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ cause the church to continue to grow in your grace and knowledge raise up Elders to continue to minister to the flock of God the shepherd the flock of God we give you thanks and praise you've established the church for the good of your people and For Your Glory so we pause here at the end of this day and we offer up Thanksgiving and praise unto you for you are worthy you are worthy you are worthy hear our prayers do good to our souls for we pray with confidence in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen foreign thank you