The Authority of the King pt. 2

Introduction:

Good-morning Connection Church!

I am so glad that you have come to worship God together! It is a beautiful thing to gather together with the Church on the Lord’s Day!

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Jonathan Hansen. I am the pastor here at Connection Church. I love being able to worship God together. On the Lord’s day, we worship through the gathering together, the singing of praise, the learning of truth, and the reading and preaching of God’s Word. Since we have sung praise and learned truth through our catechism, let us open the Bible together and worship through the reading of Scripture and preaching.

Introduction of Passage:

With that in mind, open with me to Matthew 8:23-34. If you would like to follow along with the sermon notes, there are notes over on the welcome table. We have been studying verse by verse through the book of Matthew. As many of you have heard me say, I do this because I believe that as your pastor, the most important thing I can give you is the Word of God. I do not want you to leave here with an understanding of just my opinions. I want you to leave here with a clear understanding of what God has said. This is why I hold Sacred Scripture to be the ultimate authority and foundation of everything that we do as a church, and everything that is preached here from this pulpit. If I communicate to you with passion my own thoughts, but I fail to communicate the Word of God, I have failed as your pastor.

With this in mind, I enjoy reminding us of what we have covered so far. Can someone tell me who wrote the book of Matthew? Good. Who did he write it to? Good! Matthew wrote this book to show that Jesus is the King. The true King, the fulfillment of God’s promise to David. Does anyone know what this promise is called? That’s right, this is referred to as the Davidic Covenant. Matthew is emphasizing this. This may be the most prominent theme Matthew is communicating but it is not the only one. Matthew really wants His readers to know who Jesus is. He wants us to know that Jesus is the Messiah. God in the flesh. This is why Matthew has shown that Jesus is fully God and fully man. In this passage Matthew is again exploring the extraordinary authority that Jesus has as King over all.

Before we begin, remember in the previous verses Matthew showed the miracles that Jesus performed after preaching His sermon on the Mount. Jesus showed His authority over sickness by healing the leper, the centurion’s slave, and various others. Then Matthew showed us the bizarre interaction of Jesus with the Scribe and Jesus’ own disciple. We saw that following Jesus demands great commitment and a great cost.

This is the same day. Moments after telling His disciple the leave the dead to bury their own dead. We pick up now in verse twenty-three.

Reading of Passage:

Because we take Scripture to be the Word of God and the foundation for what we say, do, and believe, will you stand with me for the reading of God’s Word.

English Standard Version Chapter 8

23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons

28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” 32 And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father open our hearts to hear from you today. Lord, we ask that you would help us to hear what you have to say to us. We are so easily distracted, keep our attention on what you have recorded in Your Word through Your servant Matthew.

Still our hearts Lord. Let us not be afraid of natural forces or demonic forces, for we serve the one who has all authority over them. You are the one who is sovereign over all. You are sovereign over the most severe natural disaster. You are sovereign over the forces of evil. Let us rest in you when we are afraid.

Lord, please guard over these people’s ears and my mouth. Let me not speak anything against You or Your Word. If I were to say anything against You, stop my mouth and shut their ears. Help me, Lord, to shepherd this flock you have given me well. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Oppening Illustration:

I, like so many kids, was afraid of the dark when I was a child. Night would come and images of ghouls and monsters would flash in my mind. I would be afraid of what was lurking in the closet or under my bed. What was waiting to jump out and come after me.

This was always made worse when storms blew. The wind would howl outside my window and make terrible noises. Nights when the wind was blowing, the images of ghouls and demons in my head would haunt me even worse. I was sure that these evil forces were controlling the wind, trying to beat down my window and get to me. I would hide my face under my blanket thinking that it would protect me.

This was all aggravated by the fact that within the church I grew up in, there was a hyper charismatic obsession with the Spiritual realm. It was not uncommon to hear a Sunday School teacher cover passages about demons. However they would not cover them as we are doing today. As soon as they would finish reading the text, they would go off book and give a list of things to do if a demon attacked us, they assured us this would likely happen. So my young mind was full of the phrases to say and how to say them. Surely, if the pitch of my voice was off when I said these magic phrases, then the monsters lurking just inside my closet would laugh and come to attack.

Rather than calm my fear, this false understanding of the forces of nature and evil kept me chained in fear. It put the weight of facing down these giants on my shoulders. And I was hopelessly aware that my shoulders were too small to bear these burdens. I was given magic spells to speak rather than real hope in Jesus Christ.

Today I will not do this. My aim is to give you real hope when the night is dark and the wind blows. Kids, I do not want you to be like me, cowering under you sheets hoping they will protect you. You can rest in the arms of Jesus. Jesus has authority over storms and demons. He has you. You do not have to fear.

Intro:

So let’s look again at the first section. Let’s read v.23-27 again.

English Standard Version Chapter 8

23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

We see clearly here that Jesus has Authority over Nature.

Jesus has Authority over Nature.

Explanation:

Jesus has finished speaking to the scribe. He has reached the boat with His disciples when one of them asks about burying his father. Jesus has that conversation with the disciple and climbs into the boat. The disciple follows Jesus.

It is evening. Likely the sun has just set. Darkness looms over the sea of Galilee. But there is no reason to fear. Peter, Andrew, James, and John are all highly experienced fishermen. They grew up on these waters. They have faced storms on this sea. They are not new at this, they watched their fathers fish and sail. They likely were in the boats with their fathers from the time they could walk and pull a net. While you or I would be stumbling to the railings to release our lunch to the fish below, these men would be walking steady across the deck of their ship.

But if you were a fisherman on the sea of Galilee, you would know that storms arise in minutes. Huge storms come rolling over the mountains and build and build. Within thirty minutes a storm so large it can capsize a ship can be upon you. This is because of the layout of the sea of Galilee with the mountains and the desert. To this day, fishermen will still talk about how storms seem to come from nowhere. Even with modern equipment, it is nearly impossible to predict.

I can picture it now, the disciples are in the boat, the four sailers are manning their posts. Then Peter sees the stars start blinking out over the mountain range. “Storm!” he calls to Andrew. Andrew looks up and sees more and more stars blinking out as the clouds billow over edge of the sea. “We’re too far out to turn back. We better push on to the other side. It will be fine.” The hair on the back of James’ neck begins to stand on end because of the static electricity. It looks like this storm will be a bad one. The wind picks up. It swirls around the ship. The waves begin to crash over the sides. The disciples realize one thing. They had vastly underestimated this storm. They had to fight for their lives.

I imagine that the more experienced sailors among them began to give orders to the others. They attempted to calm them and keep the rigging in place during the gusts of wind. “Hold that line” “Don’t let go!” “Philip, come here and help me raise the sail before it rips our mast down!” But nothing could be done. The ship was being tossed like a cork on the rough sea. Dread began to creep it’s way in to the heart of even the saltiest sailor on that ship.

“What do we do?”

“Where is Jesus?”

“I can’t see anything!”

“Did He get washed over board?”

“Is that Him, in the stern?”

“Is… Is He sleeping?”

The disciples, having given up on saving the ship, scramble their way to their Master and wake Him, “Save us, Lord! We are going to die!”

Jesus wakes, gets up, and tells them they have little faith. Little faith? Does Jesus not see the storm? Then Jesus does the unexpected. He stands up and speaks to the wind and waves. He rebukes them as a master would rebuke a slave. And what is even more shocking, is that they listen. The wind and waves are instantly calm. The stars are back out. One can see the lightening of the horizon as the Sun is going to rise soon. The boat calms, because the waves have disappeared. Jesus did not just end the storm. Jesus had made a great calm.

And the disciples were terrified.

I think so often we are rather hard on the disciples. We like to take examples like this and poke fun at them. I’ve heard so many preachers twist this passage in many ways. One way is to trivialize the storm. They make the storm out to be only a slight inconvenience and the disciples are presented as flighty cowards who scream at the sight of the smallest inconvenience. Jesus is presented as rolling His eyes, and saying, “come on guys.” It’s almost as if Jesus looks up and sees the one little black rain cloud from a Winnie the Pooh cartoon, and sighs at the cowardly demeanor of His disciples.

But that is not what is presented here. In this passage we are presented with experienced fishermen who knew the sea. These experienced fishermen faced a storm that was causing water to poor into the ship, as seen in verse 24. It was being “Swamped by the Waves.”

But perhaps you still are wondering why the disciples were so afraid of a storm. If this description of the storm on page doesn’t get to you then you must never have been caught in a storm.

Illustration:

I grew up here in South Dakota. I grew up camping, hunting, and fishing. I would like to think I am quite the woodsman. I was taught how to survive off of wild game. I learned how to trap and even to start a fire with two sticks and a shoelace. The shoelace is optional. I know how to handle being trapped in a snowstorm, I know how to dig my own snow cave to stay alive in the event of an avalanche.

However, despite my wilderness training and experience, there have been times where I have been scared out of my mind during a storm. One time on the property I grew up on, a freak snow storm blew in. It was so wild and fierce that it scared me greatly. I was probably only two hundred yards from my house, but I could barely see my hand in front of my face. I was hopeless to make it home and the storm was not letting up. I knew there was some old equipment about twenty yards to my left, so I made my way to it. I pulled myself into an abandoned length of concrete tube for a ditch that had been stood on it’s end. It was about four feet tall, but it kept me out of the gusting wind. I sat in that tube for what felt like hours. Even though it was likely only twenty minutes, it drug on for what felt like an eternity. Once I got into shelter it was not as frightening, but it felt like the wind was trying to kill me. The way it whipped around and pushed me. The way it attacked me left me wondering if it was out to get me. It felt like I had angered the wind and it was taking its vengeance upon me.

The wind finally died down and I pulled myself up and out of that four foot concrete tube. I was relieved that I could again see home in the distance in front of me. Storms can be terrifying. The forces of nature are merciless. The wind rips at you, the hail tries to bludgeon you, the snow blinds you. Earthquakes shake the grown you stand on. Tornadoes try to pull you away. Landslides bury you. Floods wash away all you know. Fires turn anything it can to ash. The forces of nature are frightening. We must not with our “modern sensibilities” think we no longer have to worry about nature.

In October 2013 when winter storm Atlas came through, we here in South Dakota were all reminded how frightening a storm could be. Thousands of cattle died and ranches went under. Homes were destroyed. Power was out for weeks. All because one night, the snow didn’t stop falling.

Argumentation:

But let me ask you this; if nature is so terrifying, how scary is the one who can speak a word and nature obeys? Think about this. Jesus stands up with a word calms a storm that was so bad that it had experienced sailors cowering in fear. The skies were black. No starlight, no moonlight. The only light coming from the lightning crashing overhead. The wind and waves crashing into the boat. But at one word from Christ, instant peace. The clouds, gone. The sea, still. The wind, quiet.

The disciples looked around them, then their eyes rested upon Jesus. They ask the only question that matters. “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

The one who calmed the storm with a word is the one we should truly fear.

This is a spectacular story. We truly to see so much in these verses. We get a glimpse of the truth of how much authority Jesus has. But what can we learn from this most extraordinary ordeal?

Application:

First we see that storms will come. But when they come, we can trust in Jesus. We can see in this passage that when physical storms come, we trust in Jesus.

When Physical Storms Come, we Trust in Jesus.

I remarked earlier that I have heard many preachers belittle the disciples in this passage. But that is not the only way I have heard people twist this text. I want to make one thing abundantly clear. This passage is not just a metaphor for how you can have victory over anything hard that happens in your life. I am not here to preach the message “Jesus will calm the storms of your life.” That is a heretical message. We are not promised that Jesus will calm every storm in our lives. For too long the prosperity preachers have taken these passages and have made them about us. Hear me, these passages are about Jesus, not you. We can apply this passage to the turmoil we face in life. We can look at the emotional storms, and we can find application in these verses. But that is not all that they mean. We can take courage that if we are in a physical storm, we can trust in Jesus.

When physical storms come, we trust in Jesus. I want to make this clear, if you find yourself in a place where the wind is blowing, it is dark, and it feels like nature itself is trying to destroy you; take heart Christian! You serve the one who commands the heavens. If it is late at night, and a physical storm is shaking your house and your room, you can have peace. You can have peace because your Lord can command the storms. This does not mean He will take every storm away. No, we will face blizzards and windy nights, but we can have peace because the one who is allowing that wind to blow, loves us. We can have faith in Christ to protect us in the middle of the storm.

Second, we see that;

When Non-Physical Storms Come, we Trust in Jesus.

It is true that not every storm is made of wind and rain. Some of the chaos and turmoil we face in life is emotional, or spiritual. We can feel as though the storm is blowing in our hearts and threatening to destroy us from the inside. These storms are as real as the ones that seem to threaten to blow our houses off the mountain. But the application is the same as with a physical storms.

When you are hurting, when the tears don’t stop, when the fear won’t go away, you can have peace in Jesus. He is the Lord over the storms in and outside of our heart. He is the one who has all authority over heaven and Earth. He is King over all. When the winds of this life blow, we know that He is in control. It does not mean that He will remove the storm. But we know that He causes all things to work together for the glory of God. We can rest in our sovereign King.

God has not removed the depression and anxiety that I have wrestled with my entire life. The storm clouds billow over me, and they do not disappear. The Sovereign King of the universe has chosen in His great wisdom to lay upon me the burden of a heart full of sorrow and pain. He does not seem to be stilling the waves of this storm. He seems to say to me, as He did with the Apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you.” In the midst of this burden that the Lord has so lovingly laid upon my shoulders, I find peace only in Jesus.

And I think this is the most important application.

When the Storm Does not go Away, we Trust in Jesus.

We saw last week that following Jesus demands a great cost. Disciples must be willing to pay that cost. We are not promised a smooth life. Our promise is that in the midst of the storms, Jesus is with us. I love how Matthew Henry puts it.

“One would have expected, that having Christ with them, they should have had a very favourable gale, but it is quite otherwise; for Christ would show that they who are passing with him over the ocean of this world to the other side, must expect storms by the way. The church is tossed with tempests (Isa. 54:11); it is only the upper region that enjoys a perpetual calm, this lower one is ever and anon disturbed and disturbing.”

We know that we will not face a smooth and peaceful life here on Earth. We will face storms, but Jesus has shown that we must trust in Him. We must be in awe of the one who is sovereign. God is in complete control. He determines the ends from the beginning. Nothing will ever happen to us outside of His divine decree. Or as C.H. Spurgeon put it, “All the dogs of affliction are muzzled until God sets them free.”

Christian Pilgrim, take heart. In the midst of the storm, look to the one who is in complete control. Watch the Lord, not the storm.

Intro:

But we see that the story does not end here. After the calming of the storm, the disciples land their boat on the other side. They arrive safely, just as God had intended for them to. But when they land, events get more bizarre than they were on the water. Let’s read again v.28-34

English Standard Version Chapter 8

28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” 32 And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

Here we see that Jesus does not only have authority over nature, but Jesus has authority over demons as well.

Jesus has Authority over Demons.

Explanation:

Jesus and His disciples land on the other side of the sea of Galilee. They step off the boat, the disciples still likely shaken by the incident with the storm. Still they likely mutter among each other, “Who is this? The storm just stopped at His command!” and as they land the boat and anchor it so as to not let it drift back into the sea, two men run up to Jesus and cry out to Him, “What have you to with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

Imagine the confusion among the disciples. “What on earth is happening?!” But there were people there ,a distance away, who know these two men. The pig herders who were apparently there would have known these two. These two were notorious. They were so violent and fierce that no one could even pass their way. The Gospel’s of Mark and Luke add more to the story. Evidently one of these men was far worse than the other, because those gospels focus on just one man. But this man could not be chained. Something about his possession gave him superhuman strength. He would break the chains and beat people. He lived in the graveyard, and no one could go near it without being attacked by these men.

But these two men, who were such a violent nuisance to this town, ran to meet Jesus. These violent and dangerous demon possessed men were so afraid of Jesus that they ran to meet Him and ask Him if He had come to torment them before the day of judgement. Jesus was so frightening to these demons that they were terrified the day of judgement had already come. They beg Jesus not to torment them, but to let them flee into the heard of pigs that were present. Jesus consents, uttering one word, and the demons left these men and fled into the pigs.

These pigs then run down and immediately drown themselves in the sea. The herdsmen were in terror of what they had just witnessed and ran to tell the town of what had just happened. The news spread like wildfire. Everyone knew that the demon possessed men were free. The whole city came out to meet Jesus. Here we expect them to praise Jesus and worship Him. At the very least we expect them to thank Jesus for freeing their city of the terror of these two men. But no. Instead they beg Him to leave. They begged Jesus to turn around and leave.

Argumentation:

I think we can divide this story into three movements. First, the demon possessed men come to Jesus. Second, Jesus casts out the demons. Third, Jesus is begged to leave. Let’s examine these movements in the story.

First, the demon possessed men come to Jesus.

This really is a remarkable thing. These men were wild. They terrorized the people of this area. Nothing could bind them, no one could stop them. They were a danger to the whole community. But something about the presence of Jesus was so frightening to the demons who were in control of these men that they ran to Him and begged Him not to torment them.

Matthew Henry describes this spectacle using the idea of chains. The other gospels make clear that these men could not be bound by chains, but they were bound by Christ’s chains and they could not break them. This was a divine appointment that must be kept. Christ’s power and dominion over the forces of Satan was to be shown on this day. God’s sovereign plan was to be fulfilled and these men would be there. They were dragged there by the divine chain of God’s plan. As they are before the Son of God, trembling, they wondered what Christ would do. And we must wonder at the one who made these demons tremble. Who is this that the demons who caused so many to tremble, sit and tremble before Him?

Second, Jesus casts out the demons.

Jesus takes pity on these poor men who have been tormented by these evil spirits for so long. Yes, while possessed, these men tormented any they could, but we must not forget that they themselves were tormented. The men who were possessed bore the brunt of the hatred from these spirits. Forced to sleep among the dead, to terrorize the community they likely lived and grew up in. Jesus takes pity on them and frees them from the grip of the demons possessing them.

But we see an even more remarkable fact. Jesus commands the demons, and the demons obey. They are bound to the will of Jesus. Whatever command He gives, they must obey. They beg Him not to torment them before the day of judgement, but beg that they may go into the herd of swine nearby. They know that they are bound to will of the Son of God who stands before them. He tells them “Go.” And they flee. The pigs then run and drown themselves in the ocean. Flee this Son of God. We read this and we must be left with pure awe and wonder. “Who is this that commands the demons and they obey?”

Thirdly, Jesus is begged to leave.

The entire city comes running out to see Jesus. They are in awe of Jesus and they beg Him to leave. We can wonder at this response, but these people were wondering at who could possibly command the devils? They were clearly afraid of Jesus. They saw Him and they begged Him to go. They saw the loss of the herd and the freedom of the men who were once possessed, and instead of worshipping Jesus, they rejected Him. “Get back in your boat and go away.”

What a spectacular story. The forces of nature are subject to Jesus, and the forces of hell itself are also subject to Jesus. We see in this passage the power and authority of the King. But what can we learn from these verses about the demon possessed men?

Application:

First we see that demons are real.

Demons are Real.

I think so often we tend to fall into two traps. We can either fall into an obsession with these beings, or we can reject them as the fables of a forgotten time. In short, we think too much or too little about these evil creatures. But the Bible makes it clear that these being are real. They are fallen angels who rebelled against God. And they hate God and humanity. They seek to destroy all they can. We cannot ignore them, and we cannot be obsessed over them. I do not wish to scare anyone, but before we get to the peace we can have in Christ, we must discuss what these beings did in this passage.

The demons possessed two men. These two men were fierce and violent. If we look at the passage here and Matthew and the ones in Mark and Luke, we get a good picture of how violent these men were. The demons had taken control of them, made them violent, strong, and dangerous. These men were clearly not who they used to be. They were fundamentally changed and damaged by these creatures.

Now that we see what these demons had done, let us look at the focus of this passage; not the demons, but Christ. We see that demons are subject to Christ.

Do not be Afraid! Demons are subject to Christ.

We can take great peace in that. The demons must obey Christ. While we know that these beings are real, we also know that they must obey Jesus. They cannot do anything without His permission. Because of this, we have no need to fear these malevolent beings. They may for a time be permitted to cause havoc and destruction, but we know that they are ultimately subject to God. We can have peace because of our Father.

I opened this morning by sharing how when I was taught as a child about these creatures, there was an unhealthy obsession with them. The burden of handling these beings was placed on me. “Say this and they will go away, but if you say it wrong they won’t go away.” This was terrifying as a child. So I want to give you peace. If you are ever afraid, as I was, you can call out to Jesus and know that He has complete authority over the forces of evil. You do not have to utter the right phrase, and hope you said it right. The weight is not on your shoulders. You can call out to Jesus and know He is with you. Nothing will happen to you outside of His plan. He is in complete control. You are safe in the arms of your Lord.

As His children, we can cry out our Father and know He hears us. You do not have to be afraid in the dark. You can rest in the knowledge that God hears our cries. And this is the attitude we see the apostles have towards other demon possessed they encounter in the book of Acts. They do not fear, they know that they are held fast in Christ.

Closing:

This leads us to our final application. What can we do with all of this? What can we do with the fact that Jesus has authority over nature and demons? We can be in awe of Jesus.

Be in Awe of Jesus.

The disciples were astonished, amazed, in fear of Jesus when He with a word calmed the storm. The city people were amazed and sent Jesus away. But one thing is for certain; we should be in absolute awe of the one who can calm a storm with a word. We should be in absolute awe of the one who commands demons and they obey in terror. There is a fear that should envelop us when we really contemplate Jesus. We should feel that sense of fear and awe at who He is. This is called the fear of the Lord. And we are to have the fear of the Lord. We should sit back and wonder, “Who is this?”

Our response should be to be taken aback in wonder at the incredible power of Jesus. We should be amazed at who He is. I fear that too often we approach Jesus as our cuddly little teddy bear. But that is not who Jesus is. Jesus is a roaring lion. He is the one who makes the waves stop and the storms cease. He is the one who makes demons tremble in horror. He is the one who makes hell cower. We should be in awe of Jesus.

Last Sunday I confronted our idea of who Jesus is with the true Jesus presented in Scripture. I challenged you to take off your glasses and look at the real Jesus. This week, we are doing the same. We are confronted with the raw power of Jesus. We can only sit back in wonder at the one who has authority over the forces of nature and hell. But we must respond to this Jesus. Will we worship Him, or reject Him? Will we be like the disciples and follow Jesus, or will we be like the people of the city and reject Him?

What will you do?

Will you Reject Jesus?

When confronted with the awe and power of Jesus, will you reject Him? Will you turn Jesus away? If you do, I must warn you that rejecting Jesus will mean to face His judgement. The demons feared that the day of judgement was coming. It is coming. All those who reject Jesus will face Jesus. If you are here and you are rejecting Jesus, stop! Turn from your sin and follow Him! It is the only hope we have.

Will you follow Jesus?

When confronted with the awe and power of Jesus, will you follow Him? It is the only hope we have. The storms will come. The scary dark nights will come. You will one day die and then face judgement. Your only hope comes in trusting Jesus. The only hope we have is to follow Jesus. The disciples were saved because they followed Jesus. I am saved only by following Jesus. You will be saved only by following Jesus.

For followers of Jesus, there is the peace that knowing that God is sovereign. God’s sovereignty means that He is in complete control. Nothing happens outside of His divine decree and plan! That means that we as His children can rest in the fact that He will work all things to the glory of His name. We know that we will face storms. We know that we will face scary times and situations. But we know that nothing will befall us that is outside of God’s plan. We can trust that He knows best. This gives us peace.

If you are here, and you are trusting in Jesus I want you to remember that word. Remember the word sovereign. Remember that God is in complete control. When it is late and the wind is blowing and visions of ghouls and monsters are fresh in your mind; remember that God is sovereign. You can trust Him. You do not have to be afraid. You can rest in the arms of your sovereign King.

Communion:

I pray that we all leave here in awe of Jesus. The sign of a gospel centered sermon is to leave worshipping. I pray that you all will leave worshipping God. I pray that we will all be in awe of who Jesus is. I pray that we will be in awe of what Jesus has done.

Jesus did not just calm waves and cast out demons. Jesus defeated sin and death and hell. The Gospel of Matthew is a book written so we can know who Jesus is. The central message of the gospel is Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection. We as Christians can live without fear of nature, demons, death, or anything because of Jesus. We do not have to fear death and the day of Judgement if we have our faith in Christ. He came and lived the perfect life, died in our place, He drank the full cup of God’s wrath for those who will place their faith in Him. He rose, conquering death and the grave. We are free now in Him.

Christ commanded us to observe the practice of taking communion in remembrance of His death in our place. So today, we are going to take communion. If you are here and you have repented of your sins and trusted in Jesus as your savior, even if that was done today in this service, we invite you to partake with us in this sacred act. If you have not done this, but would like to and don’t understand how to, I invite you to come to the front as we come forward to receive the elements and i would love to explain how to repent of your sins and trust in Christ. Do not put this off. No one here will judge you or think less of you. We, in fact will cheer you on and celebrate with you as you come forward and then in celebration we will all take communion together. So do not be afraid to come.

But if you are here and you refuse to repent, you are choosing to live in sin and will not surrender that to Christ, I ask you not to partake in communion with us. Paul warned the church in Corinth that people had gotten sick and died from taking communion with unrepentant hearts.

But if you will, we are going to take communion together, so I invite you to come forward and grab the elements off of the table. Parents, I will let you decide if your children should take communion or not, you know where they are with the Lord better than I do. But come. If you need prayer, or to talk about repentance, please come. I would love to speak with you about that.

Give time for prayer and for people to come:

English Standard Version Chapter 11

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Let’s take the bread.

English Standard Version Chapter 11

25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Let’s take the cup.

English Standard Version Chapter 11

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Close in prayer:

As we close out, let us sing together the Doxology:

As we go, remember the command of Jesus to all His disciples before He ascended:

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Amen, you are dismissed.