Faith People Don't Bail Out: You Are Going to the Other Side

Sermon outline

Jesus said, "Let us pass over unto the other side", so the storm that rises after God has spoken is only there to separate you from your faith: keep your joy, speak the Word instead of the storm, and refuse to quit.

1. Choose gladness and know how to encourage yourself

   Everybody has problems, but if you let yourself stay depressed the enemy, who comes only to kill, steal and destroy, will use it against you, so grab on to God's Spirit and let the spirit of joy come on you. David is his example. He fasted and prayed while his child was sick, and when the child died he got up, washed, ate and went to the house of the Lord to worship before anything else. It shows a man who loved God first, whatever his sin and his troubles.

   Illustration: David reading the whispers of his servants, asking what had happened, and answering those who questioned him that he could do nothing more now that the child was gone.

   “You must, as a Christian, know how to encourage yourself.”

   • Jeremiah 20:9
   • John 10:10
   • 2 Samuel 12:15-23

2. The other little ships: many lives are attached to yours

   Mark notes that other little ships were with Jesus' ship. He takes them as a picture of the people who are watching you and relying on you, to see how you act when you are happy, when you are sad and when the news is bad. Even your worship in church encourages someone who is looking on.

   “Choose to become a bigger ship.”

   • Mark 4:36

3. Let us pass over unto the other side

   Jesus was specific when he got into the ship: they were going to the other side. That is where the believer is going too, not under, not behind and not backwards. Whatever your dream, vision or destiny, God will take you there. He declares 2011 a great year and says the Lord told him during worship to tell the church, "we are growing", on every side.

   “You are not going under. You are not going behind. You are not sinking. You are going on the other side.”

   • Mark 4:35

4. The storm comes to separate you from your faith

   As soon as God tells you he will do something great through you, the storm comes. Its whole purpose is to part you from your faith, because faith is the only thing that will get you across. Satan cannot curse a child of God, but under pressure he can get you to speak what the storm is doing and so curse yourself. Jesus knew the power of words, so speak the Word every day, when you are well and not only when you are sick.

   Illustration: When no customers come in and money is low, get up in the morning and call customers in from the east, the west, the north and the south. Most Christians look for parachutes, he says, but parachutes are for emergencies.

   “The whole reason for the storm is for Satan to separate you from your faith.”

   • Mark 4:37
   • Mark 11:23-24
   • John 11:43-44
   • 1 Peter 2:24

5. Peace, be still: faith people don't bail out

   It was a furious, life-threatening storm and the ship was full, yet Jesus was asleep on a pillow. He got up, rebuked the wind and said, "Peace, be still", and he has given that same authority to us. When pressure comes and you feel your faith wane, do not say what you see and do not look for a way out. He says he goes through the same weakness, tiredness and financial pressure as everyone else, and when he has no strength or wisdom he goes on his knees and cries out to God. The Lord will not accept "things were rough, so I quit": remember the parable of the talents.

   Illustration: That same day, after sitting up late writing Chronicles, every symptom of flu hit him: he could not speak or breathe properly. He prayed over himself all day, "by your stripes I'm healed", and stood preaching that night. He also pictures the disciples hunting for life jackets and the buoyancy certificate.

   “I've made a quality decision to keep on keep on.”

   • Mark 4:37-39
   • Matthew 25:14-30
   • Ephesians 6:10
   • Joshua 14:12

6. When slander comes, rejoice: God will balance your book

   Fear-based thinking is what makes you sink. Your trust is in Christ, the author and finisher of your faith, not in man, so if someone does you in or steals from you, God will balance your book. They called Jesus Beelzebub and a winebibber, and it is the same spirits that attack your character. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, and you are not ignorant of how the enemy operates, so do not quit when he puts on pressure.

   Illustration: Before he preached, in his work, he walked with tremendous respect and nobody spoke ill of him. When he started preaching the gospel, he says, everything came out of the woodwork with something bad to say. As a baby Christian he gave up and ran from the call many times, but now he has grown up, and when he is slandered he rejoices.

   “If everybody talks good about you, then you're on the wrong road.”

   • Hebrews 12:2
   • John 8:44
   • Matthew 12:24
   • Matthew 11:19
   • Ephesians 6:12
   • 2 Corinthians 2:11

7. Keep your eyes on the prize: why are you fearful?

   Be as determined for Christ as a young man is when he has set his heart on a girl: she snubs him and he still phones, writes the letter and buys the flowers. Children of the Most High do not walk like weaklings, and nothing should separate us from the love of God. He comes back to the text and turns Jesus' question on the church: why do you want to give up, and why are you afraid to tithe, to sow, to pray for the sick and to cast out devils?

   Illustration: He says of his own background that he was scared of nothing, with "more guts than muscles", and that he brought that into the kingdom of God.

   “Why can't you apply the same principle in the kingdom of God?”

   • Romans 8:35-39
   • Mark 4:39-40
   • 2 Timothy 1:7