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TALIESIN Perhaps you know what this is like, a storm

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blows up in your life and the wind is against you and you re straining at the oars, and

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Jesus seems far away and your faith is tested when you are not feeling the presence of Jesus.

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Welcome to Open The Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I’m David Pick and Colin I’m guessing

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many of us have been through times like that. If we’re having a tough time and Jesus seems

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far away, maybe there are some listening today who are in that place right now.

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Yeah, this is one of the hard realities of Christian experience and as a pastor, many

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times I’ve known what it is for a believer to say, you know Pastor Colin I just don’t

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feel the presence of Jesus. I feel my need of Him. I just don’t feel his presence.

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Sometimes it’s like that and I think that’s one of the reasons that this story that we’re

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going to look at today is so valuable for Christian believers. There are times when

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your faith will be tested because you don’t feel the presence of Jesus and we’re going

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to look at a story about when the disciples were in the boat when Jesus was far from them

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and they felt alone, and they were really struggling and in the Lord’s great goodness

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and kindness, he did draw near to them. Late in the night, the Bible tells us. Sometimes

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you go through a period of darkness before the relief comes, but we’re going to look

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at a story that gives us hope when we feel that the Lord is far away and I hope that

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it will be faith strengthening and that it will be a means of God’s comfort for all of

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us who are feeling that we’re struggling with that darkness today.

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So let’s look at this account from Matthew chapter 14 as we continue the message Confidence.

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Here’s Colin.

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The presence of fear is not an indicator of the absence of faith. I have many conversations

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in which someone has said, pastor I feel great fear sometimes, does that mean that I do not

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faith? That my faith is not genuine? That I’m not really a Christian or not truly

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a believer? No the presence of fear does not mean the absence of faith. The faith of these

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disciples was tested and it was tested when they felt that Jesus seemed far away. But

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what we’re learning from this story is that though they felt surrounded by evil and by

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great darkness, Jesus had not abandoned his disciples to dark and evil powers. Immediately

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Jesus spoke to them, verse 27, saying, take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid. Here are

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the disciples, they think that Jesus is far from them, up on a mountain, somewhere on

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his own praying. They thought that the only thing that was near, the only thing that was

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pressing around them, was great, great evil and darkness. But Jesus is near, even when

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we think he is not. They feared that the night was ruled by dark and sinister forces. What

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they discovered was that Jesus rules the night as well as the day, and Jesus rules the storm

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as well as the calm. And friends, these are days when our faith is and will be tested.

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Remember this, Jesus rules the night as well as the day, and Jesus rules in the storm as

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well as in the calm. There is no place, however dark, where Jesus Christ cannot reach you.

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Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid. You are never beyond the reach of Jesus.

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Now, that’s the first thing, that faith is tested. We all know this experience and

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it’s right here in the Bible. Faith is tested when we feel the absence of Jesus.

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Here’s a second thing, that we learn from this remarkable story. We’re looking at

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what it is to live with faith in an unexpected storm. And I want you to see

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from this story that faith ventures at the command of Jesus. Faith ventures at

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the command of Jesus. And Peter answer to him, verse 28, Lord if it is you command

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me to come to you on the water. Now I have tried to ask myself this question

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honestly during the week. Would I have said that? And I have to admit I’ve come

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to the conclusion that I don’t think I would. I think what I would have said is

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Lord, if it is you, come into the boat, calm the storm, and please get us as quickly as

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possible back to the shore. And maybe you think that’s what you would have

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said too. I think that’s the most natural thing to say here.

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When we face a storm or a trial, the natural reaction is always, when will this be over?

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When will it be done? When can I get back to living the life I want to live?

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Lord, calm the storm and get me out of here. That’s our instinctive reaction.

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But I love Peter in what he says here, because he says something entirely different.

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He says, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.

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You see, instead of simply wishing that the storm would cease,

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Peter reckons that this is the perfect opportunity for a new and bold venture of faith.

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Faith ventures at the command of Jesus.

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So here’s a good question to ask yourself every time you find yourself in a storm.

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What opportunity is there here for me to take a new venture of faith?

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Now, what are we to make of Peter walking on the water?

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Well, I think the first thing to say is that this part of the story should have one of these

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do not try this yourself warnings attached to it.

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You know if you try getting out of a boat in the middle of a lake by faith,

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then it will not lead to you walking on the water and it is important to make this observation that

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faith is not foolhardiness. Remember that the devil tempted Jesus to fling himself down from

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the pinnacle of the temple on the basis he said that the angels will bear you up . You won’t be

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hurt at all, the angels will bear you up and Jesus said you shall not put the Lord your God to the

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test. So you see faith is not believing that anything is possible if only you believe it

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faith is a believing response to the Word of God and Peter of course got it exactly right

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here he says lord if it is you command me to come to you on the water

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Jesus if this is something that you tell me to do then this is something that I can do

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because when Jesus calls you to do a thing with the call with the command He gives the power

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to do it and Peter’s got this exactly right you don’t try and walk on water simply because you

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think that’s a great idea it’s a response to the command of Jesus if he gives it

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and sure enough verse 29 Jesus said come come and so in a believing response to the

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word of the Lord Jesus Christ Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came

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to Jesus now do you see the principle that we learn here it’s a very important one

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Jesus will give you all that you need to do all that he is calling you to do

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do he can impart his own power so that you can do what would otherwise be quite impossible for

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you that’s why Paul says i can do all things through christ who gives me strength

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so what has jesus called you to do that you may fear is beyond you

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and you find yourself saying maybe you’ve even said this week oh i can’t do it i can’t do it

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and i’m saying to you on the basis of the scriptures oh yes you can because

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jesus will give you what you need to do all that he is calling you to do

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and this of course is good news that goes to the very heart of the gospel the christian message

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because jesus calls us to a life that is impossible apart from his power i mean

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think of what jesus calls us to be holy as i am holy love your neighbor as yourself

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fear not well you see what jesus commands may seem impossible to you but here’s the principle

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when he calls you to do something he will give you the power to do it

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the gospels record a wonderful story about an occasion where jesus met a man with a withered

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hand he wasn’t able to use his hand it simply hung as it were limp and inactive

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and mark records the encounter with jesus and tells us that jesus simply said to this man

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stretch forth your hand what an extraordinary thing to say to a man who doesn’t have any

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control over his hand it’s the one thing he clearly cannot do but jesus said to him stretch

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forth your hand and then mark records very simply and very beautifully and he stretched it out and

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the hand was restored you see what that is telling us when the lord jesus christ calls

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you to something when he commands you in a direction he gives with the command the

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power to fulfill it and that is why augustine very famously said oh god command what you

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will only give what you command now jesus gave peter a command in a single word jesus

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said to him come and of course the problem with the command was that all peter needed

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to do was walk on water to fulfill it and i want you to think about that because jesus

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gives us the same one-word command come come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden

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he says and i will give you rest if anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink now

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you may be thinking well jesus may invite me to come but pastor you don’t realize

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what i would have to get over in order to come to jesus i’ve thought about faith

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i’ve thought about following jesus but it seems to me that there’s an ocean in the

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i can’t get there and i’m saying to you from the bible today oh yes you can

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because it is jesus who bids you to come and whatever you need to overcome

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to get to jesus he will enable you to do it he will give you all that you need

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accomplish all that he is calling you to do so step out in faith believe in the lord jesus christ

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you will not sink he will hold you up. you’re listening to open the bible with pastor colin

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smith and our message today called confidence was originally part of a series called authentic

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discipleship and it’s included this month because it was one of the most requested and popular

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downloads and programs of the last 12 months if you ever miss one of our broadcasts you can always

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catch up or go back and listen again online at our website openthebible.org.uk

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back to the message now here’s colin so faith is is tested we feel that jesus is far away

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faith ventures in a storm at the command of jesus here’s the third thing

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what’s it look like to live with faith in a storm well faith depends on the faithfulness

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of jesus verse 30 when he that is peter saw the wind

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he was afraid and beginning to sink he cried out lord save me

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now we don’t know how far jesus was from the boat when peter

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stepped into the water what was the distance that he had to cross but let’s suppose for a moment

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that it was 50 feet and jesus says to peter come and peter gets one leg over the side of the boat

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and gingerly puts a toe on the water and the toe holds up and and now he swings his other leg over

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the side of the boat and puts his weight two feet on the water and he is held up and looking at

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Jesus he takes his first step forward and then a second and then a third he’s doing it.

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He’s walking on water and he walks 10 feet and then 20 feet and now 30 feet

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and he starts to think this is amazing what i’m doing is really remarkable

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and then he looked at the wind and when he saw the wind he was afraid and he began to sing

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now there is an important warning here and it’s this some in this congregation have been blessed

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by God with great success in one area or another of life, and here’s the warning

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if God enables you to accomplish great things, beware of being entranced by your own achievement

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what I’m doing is really quite remarkable as soon as Peter took his eyes off Jesus

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fear just rushed in and suddenly he’s perplexed with all these questions how long can I withstand

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the wind how long can I really keep this up and then he began to sink, beware of becoming

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entranced with your own achievement and then we read verse 30 that beginning to sink Peter cried

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out Lord save me, being saved is more than something that happens once when you first trust

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in the Lord Jesus Christ, being saved means that you have a living Savior who is always for you

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who is always with you who will never let you go and you can always count and depend on him,

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Peter cries out Lord save me and immediately verse 31 Jesus reached out his hand and took hold of him

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saying oh you have little faith why did you doubt Jesus may let you go down deep enough to realize

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that you can’t save yourself but he will never let you go he will reach out his hand and he will

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take hold of you and of the many many applications that there are of this beautiful reality in the

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story there is surely a marvelous picture here of what will happen on the last day of your life

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because the day will come for each and every one of us when you breathe your last breath and when

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that day comes you will be as if we’re getting out of your boat and when you feel yourself sinking

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do not be afraid Jesus will reach out his hand and take hold of you in Christ you are not going

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under he will lift you up. Faith depends on the faithfulness of Jesus in life, in death

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and in every storm so where do you need to trust the faithfulness of Jesus today

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One more thing very briefly and then we’re through. We’ve seen that faith is

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tested. That as believers there will be times when we feel the absence of Jesus

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and he always comes because no darkness can ever keep Jesus from reaching you.

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We’ve seen that faith ventures at the command of Jesus. The marvelous example

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not simply to desire that the storm will be over but to see what new bold

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venture of faith may be undertaken in it. Faith depends on the faithfulness of

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Jesus. He will not let you go. Here’s the last thing. Faith worships in the

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presence of Jesus. Verse 32.

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And when they got into the boat the wind ceased and those in the

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boat worshiped him, saying, Truly you are the Son of God!

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Now, I expect that if Peter was able to give us his testimony here today he’d

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probably say something like this, You know I didn’t think it at the time but

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looking back I’m grateful for that storm. My faith was stretched to the limit in

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it but it was in that storm that I saw the glory of Jesus. And it was in that

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storm that I discovered what faith in Jesus can really do. I’m sure that when

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Peter got back in the boat the disciples would have had many many many

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unanswered questions. Why did Jesus allow the storm? Why did He tell them to get in

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the boat when He knew it was coming? Why did He leave them straining at the oars

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for so long? Why did He come at the fourth watch of the night? Why didn’t He

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come in the first or the second or the third? He could have made it so much

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easier. What if there’s another storm? But you see the story ends this way and

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it’s reminding us that these men had something better to do than to agonize

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over unanswered questions. There will always be unanswered questions in

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relation to every storm in your life. And these men had something better to do

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than agonize on and on about unanswered questions. They had come to realize that

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the Son of God was with them. And realizing that they were in the presence

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of the Son of God they worshiped. And when you realize that the Son of God is

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always for you. That he’s always with you. That no place, however dark, can prevent

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Jesus from reaching you and holding you up. That the Son of God will never, never,

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never let you go. If you come to see these things for yourself then you too will

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worship. Some encouraging thoughts there from Pastor Colleen Smith on Open the

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Bible. You’ve been listening to a message called Confidence. It was

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originally part of a series called Authentic Discipleship and it was one of

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the most requested and downloaded messages of the past 12 months.

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Remember, if you ever miss one of our broadcast or if you want to go back and

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listen again, that’s entirely possible. If you come to our website

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openthebible.org.uk or you can find us as a podcast if that’s a better way for

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you to keep up with Pastor Collins’ teaching. That’s available on all the

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major podcasting sites, search for Open the Bible UK and subscribe to receive

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sending you Pastor Colin’s new book Flying through the Bible. Colin, why did

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you use the flying metaphor to describe this book? Well, suppose you were making a

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visit to the Grand Canyon and exploring it for the first time. I mean I guess you

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could hike down and you’d get a sense of the depth of the canyon, you could drive

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around the rim you’d get a sense of the length of it, but perhaps the best way to

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get an overall sense of the vastness and beauty of the Grand Canyon would be to

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take a flight over it. Now, when it comes to the Bible to get a

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high altitude overview of what the Bible story is all about seems to me to be the

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best place to begin. The Bible really is one story it begins in a garden it ends

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in a city and all the way through it’s about the Lord Jesus Christ and fly

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through the Bible is kind of cookies on the bottom shelf to change the

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analogy it gives an overall picture an introduction to the Scriptures that I

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hope will help and encourage people to want to explore more when they get on

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the ground. Well we’d love to send you two copies of Pastor Colin’s book Flying

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Through The Bible to say thank you for setting up a new donation to the work of

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Open The Bible in the amount of £5 per month or more this month. Full

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details on our website and you can give online as well. For Pastor Colin Smith

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and Open The Bible I’m David Pick and I hope you’ll come and join us again soon.

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Sometimes people say, if only an angel would appear to me then I’d believe. Find

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out if that would really make a difference next time on Open The Bible.