Luke 8:22-25. Let’s focus our attention on the subject in verse 23, “He Fell Asleep.”
Now it came to pass on a certain day,…
And in Mark 4:35 tells us, And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. Luke doesn’t say it wasn’t the same day, Luke says, it was a certain day.
Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.
Prayer: Father, we thank you for the privilege we have to stand and read the blessed Word of God, given to us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, through holy men of God. We thank you, Lord, that you have preserved it unto our day and age that, we too, might be able to read these ancient, glorious truths and have the Spirit of God interpret them for us. Refresh them for us and put us back into the purposes and frame of mind wherein God intended them to speak to us. We pray that You would receive all glory and honor today, opening our heart to understand and opening the scriptures that we might perceive and know that the Person of the Word, Himself might be manifested and glorified among us. Thank you for the worship that has already taken place, the Word of God that has gone forth, the prayers, the singing and Lord, for the gathering together of the saints of God, that God would have this day to be gathered together. May you be the center of all things. For we ask this in Thy Blessed and Holy Name, Amen.
The Bible said in Verse 23; But as they sailed… They didn’t say except by God’s command. We are sailing along in life’s sea and we are doing so as Christians by God’s command. It is that which God has said unto us, “Let us go over.” Our steps are ordered of the Lord. Our lives are directed by Him and we see that not just our paths but our steps are ordered by the Lord.
Psalm 37:23, 24; The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
The Bible says, Mary pondered these things in her heart. Luke 2:19.
Sometimes, dear soul, it seems like my feet have a different understanding than my brain does and I have to watch and see what takes place in order to know what God is saying to me. God told them to launch forth. Everything that is going to happen now cannot be questioned because they understand that God sent them out into this sea. They were sailing by the command of God. You are ordering your life by God’s command. You may not have come to being confident with the doctrine of absolute predestination but dear friend; I absolutely assure you God has predestinated all things according to the counsel of His own will and for His own glory. Man will not do what man wants to do except God has prescribed it for God’s glory. The Bible says, we are to work our salvation with fear and trembling for it is God that worketh in you to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Whatever situation they find themselves in, God launched them forth. They went forth at the command of God. Psalm 37:23, 24; The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall… Wait a minute! If God ordered my steps, how can I fall? How do you know He didn’t order a fall for your steps? He said, let us go to the other side but He didn’t say there wasn’t going to be a bad storm. We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. Why do we fall? So that we may show the Excellency of the power to be of God, for we have the treasure of regeneration in earthen vessels. We have the treasure of God’s divine and sovereign grace and mercy within our finite beings. We have that which is born of the flesh longer than we have been involved in that which is born of the Spirit. Our cross is that we might be contented! The greatest thing that you can have in life is godliness with contentment, for that is great gain!
We understand and see that they set sail. They didn’t set sail on a whim; they set sail because God told them to. You have set sail in the life that God has prescribed for you in regeneration. You are here today because God has directed, as the old folks used to say, God has directed your bark. You have been prescribed by God to be where you are. That doesn’t mean that you shall not taste of bitter things along the way. Just as God lets the sun shine on the unjust and the rain fall on the evil, so He allows disease to come upon His elect and His chosen people. Disease is still disease to them. Misfortunes and heartaches and afflictions and reverses are still as painful to them as they are to the world. We understand God has set them forth but it is according to the purpose of Almighty God.
Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. Luke 8:22
They sailed forth at God’s command and they sailed forth with God’s presence. In Isaiah 41:10; Fear thou not; for I am with thee: What is that relieves you from sinful fear? The presence of God. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: He didn’t say that you won’t have disease, humiliation, heartache. He just said, “Don’t fear because I’m with you and don’t be dismayed at whatever the course I have prescribed for you. I want you to understand that the devil is my servant. He will not touch Job, only as I ordain and allow and then he will only touch him according to that which will work together for Job’s good!” We have not been tempted above that we are able. But we have been tempted with those common temptations that come to every man. I Corinthians 10:13. You will have afflictions but you will have God sanctified afflictions. You will go sailing at God’s command. Don’t think for a moment that if your Master ended His natural life on a cross that you are going to sail on flowery beds of ease to win the prize in the sky one day. Dear soul, we will have to fight all the way, as we have heard in our bible reading.
You say, “God sent me forth.” I’m glad of that; I wouldn’t want to go one step without Him. “God is with me.” That is the only reason you are not to be dismayed. Dear soul, if you say, “I’m not going to be dismayed because God is not going to let anything bad happen to me.” You better tell me what your description of bad is. If you are talking about inconveniences, you are going to be fearful and dismayed because God is going to let fear grip you. It is good to be able to be in over your head because if you don’t, you will never be cured of self-assurance and never be cast upon Christ as you really should be. There is a cross that is to be in your life and it is a sanctified affliction, and it is the greatest purifying agent that the world has ever known. Dear soul, every single one of God’s children will have a cross. You will never be on a cross of affliction without God’s presence with you! That is what God assures you! He says I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; Do you understand, God is going to strengthen and help you so you might endure your affliction and not in order that He might relieve you of your affliction? What shall I say now, Father, deliver me from this hour, but for this hour have I now come. We understand and see, dear soul, that being sovereign, He even ordains the tailor-made afflictions that we might be able to endure, that it might purge us from all the dross that we got from Adam and fix us so that we might have all the gold. Our faith is tried like precious gold that we have from Christ, the last Adam.
He says, I will strengthen thee;… God gave Jesus strength to be able to endure the cross. yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Verse 17; When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
You say, “I’m sailing because God told me to.” Good, have you had your first storm yet? “Oh, you don’t understand, God told me to sail, I shall not have a storm.” You either have the wrong theology or the wrong God! Because, dear soul, if you walk with the true God, you aren’t going to go two steps before something hits you in the face.
Isaiah 43:1; But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee… (That’s why you shouldn’t fear. Not because you don’t have problems like other people. You better watch out if you are without affliction. You may without salvation.) I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters,… (from Luke 8:22) And they launched forth. But as they sailed he fell asleep:
Surely God has called us to go forth. Surely we are doing that which He said to do. Go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature. We are spreading the word. The seed of the gospel is their responsibility. Whether they hear it or not, it is our responsibility to make it available to them. That is what we are doing. Well, surely we are doing what God said, so we shouldn’t have any problems. I don’t think you understand it.
Listen, young people, it is good to have mamas and daddies to comfort you! It is good to have a mate to be able to help you with your burdens. It is good to have friends and family. But, dear souls, I’m going to tell you this; the cross of Christ only holds one person at a time and you will have to bear a cross, exclusively for yourself, and God and God alone, will be your help. There are no bicycles built for two in the kingdom of God, it is you and the Lord. You say, “I’m thankful for my wife, my husband, my mother, sisters and all that.” I am too. Time after time, God has taken us all as individuals, down into some deep valleys, and the only thing that has caused us to endure is the presence of God in our soul.
When thou passeth through the waters, what is the comfort? I will be with thee. They didn’t wake up Peter. Hello? They didn’t go punch John. They didn’t say, Andrew, you fellows, you Zebedee’s, come over here and help us. You don’t have any help except the Lord, dear souls and you need to understand that faith affixes itself to its source. The source of faith is Christ and the object of faith is Christ. He is the one who has brought it forth and He is the one it has to come back to. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire,… Isaiah 43:2. The afflictions between water and fire, every affliction the church might ever know. From fire all the way to water. That is from A-Z. No matter what you go through involving that scope, the only thing God said was, I will be with thee….
If you want to go to heaven so you can see Granny, you may not get there; she may not be there either. If you only want to go to heaven to see Uncle John and Aunt Mary and if you only want to go to heaven to see Granny, you better understand, heaven may be hell to you because nothing will be there except Jesus. The focus of everything in eternal glory will be the Lamb of God in all of His glory. If you do not have the Lamb of God now, as your personal Savior, as your personal Hope, as the One upon you completely rely, dear soul, you may not want to go to heaven because you have to learn that Christ is my only everything! “Well, He commanded me to go forth; I’m going to do alright.” Yes you will! But you aren’t going to be without problems. “He was with me, so I know He is not going to allow anything to happen to me.” I wouldn’t count on that. If God did that to His only begotten son, what shall He do to us adopted sons? If God did that to a perfect being, who deserved no harm, what will He do to us that deserved hell because of our sin?
I’m glad Jesus took upon Himself, my punishment and I can’t be re-punished for it but God says it isn’t a matter of punishment; it is a matter of purging. Your afflictions and crosses will be sanctified for one reason; for you to be cast entirely upon God and to end, -listen to me, you had better hear this! -And to end practical idolatry within our hearts. We are not professing idolaters! We don’t believe in idolatry! We believe in the Lord, but how many times do we practice idolatry, shut God out, say, “I got it, I can handle this?” God says, I’m going to show you, you can’t. These guys were fishermen! That’s all they did, but they couldn’t get across the lake! They had done it a million times, they will do it another million but they aren’t going to do it this time because God is going to fall asleep on them and say, “Okay, I’m going to leave it with you, let you handle it, you have the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith. I was the author of that faith, that faith is the gift of God. It was once delivered to the saints, it cannot be undelivered, it is yours, it will overcome, it endureth all things, hopeth all things, it will see all things that are invisible. It will please and honor God but you are going to have to exercise it yourself, just between you and God Himself.”
When thou passeth through the waters, I will be with thee and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. Fear not (because you have all these fellows that are going to help you out, that we just mentioned in verse 3 and 4? NO! Again, we go back to why should you not fear. There’s one reason… for I am with thee: Isaiah 43:2-5.
One of these days, you are going to have to eat your lunch by yourself. Granny, Paw-Paw and Uncle Bert aren’t going to be there to help you. They may be in the car with you; they may be the one that takes you to the hospital. They may be around you when you are at the funeral home. You can be surrounded by family but be all alone. God will see to it that you are because you are going to have to get rid of practical atheism in your heart and you are going to have to prove to God that love Him because you love Him.
Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. Isaiah 43:5-7.
What did God say about sharing His glory? He will not share His glory with anyone and That no flesh should glory in his presence. (1 Corinthians 1:29)
Dear souls, one day you are going to run out of lawyers. One day you are going to run out of doctors. One of these days you are going to run out of friends. One of these days you are going to run out of helpers. One of these days you are going to run out of family. They may be alive and very vibrant and may be right where they have always been, but God will fix it so no one understands you except Jesus. You will be glad that you went by His command and you will be glad that He is in the boat with you. You will learn that God didn’t say, “we are going to make it to the other side without a storm.” He said, “we are going to make it to the other side.” They DID make it to the other side! He just didn’t tell them that there was storm in the middle.
I want you to notice something. God commanded them to go. God went with them and God was at peace among them. Zephaniah 3:17; How many capital letters are in the word “Lord” in this verse? All of them! The eternal, self-existing God… The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. But that doesn’t mean that He won’t go to sleep!
Sometimes it seems God is a million miles away (singing), too busy for a creature such as I. Let’s read that verse again! The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. (Isn’t that good? You make Jesus sing, but it doesn’t mean sometimes He won’t rest.) Is mama still mama if she is in the other room? Is daddy still daddy if the little boy loses sight of him? Is God still God when you lose, not the presence of the Lord. For He just finished telling us in Isaiah 43, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” You will never lose the presence of God but; is God still God when you lose the sense of His presence? Yes. Did you sail at God’s command? Yes. Can you say that God is not omnipresent? No I can’t. Does that mean that God is with you all the time and in all places? Yes, He is. Did He not give you His Son? Romans 8:32; …how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Yes, He shall. Then if I lose the sense of God’s presence, what faith do I have if I say, carest thou not that we perish? How can you look at the cross and say that?
Love continues whether it is out of sight and not acting directly on you at that moment or not. You cannot undo God’s love, for God IS love. Isn’t that good?
Song of Solomon 2:7; Here is the true spirit of faith concerning God’s resting in love, God being asleep but still in the boat. You know, He was visible! He was present! He didn’t say; let’s try to make it to the other side. He said; let’s GO to the other side! Yet, their faith failed them, not His love. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, (the true church is talking to the religionists) by the roes (deer), and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
If God is our Father (and that is the second word in the Lord’s Prayer), and He tells us to come to him as a Father who pitieth His children, then dear soul, He can never discharge that office of being a Father.
I was talking to a Brother yesterday and my son came up. We were talking about how our youngest son would always be our baby. There he is grown up. He can’t undo his place with me in our family. I will always be his dad. Dear soul, God has determined that He will love you, He has birthed you by His Spirit. He has called you by His effectual voice. He has not held back the very lifeblood of God Himself, so that he has washed you. He hath provided all things for you. He has mitigated hell’s wrath for you. He has provided angels to watch over you as heirs of salvation. He has provided prayer that you might talk with Him. He has provided preaching and a spirit of God with the gift of the church to nurture you and administer to you. There are times when my son has to go his way, goes out to where he lives and I stay in Tyrone where I live. There are days that go by that I don’t talk with him but I am always his dad. Dear friend, you might go through a period of time where it seems that everything that nature has, speaks to you by the Holy Spirit’s voice and edifies you. Every rustling leaf and every chirping bird, everything, the colors, the beauty of the sky, everything that is in God’s array comes forth. Men that don’t know God speak, and you hear God’s voice. The unregenenerate saying things that they don’t even know what they are saying. God blesses you with that! You see things that others can’t see and God is enriching your life! Every moment seems to be like a heaping more of the glory of God upon you as God manifests Himself to you through all His creation!!! Then there comes a time when faith must take hold of the Word. The storms of the sea may rage and you seek for the harbor of the haven of rest, “the haven of rest is my Lord.” You will have to, then, yield yourself to His tender embrace and faith taking hold of the Word. Your fetters will fall off and you anchor your soul, the haven of rest is your Lord. You will not know that haven and its rest, glory and beauty and peace if you had not had the storms to drive you into it. Just like there was that time when everything spoke of God and God spoke through everything. Sometimes it seems like the heavens are as brass and you can’t do anything but bounce prayers off a brass ceiling. It seems that God is a million miles away. It seems like God is asleep, it seems like God has abandoned you. It seems like, dear soul, that everything that happens makes you be driven deeper and deeper into a black hole of despair and it seems like your soul will not stop going down, down, down until you have reached hell itself!! But whether you feel UP or whether you feel down, I’m still my son’s dad. Did you get it? God is still your Father and you either have to call Him a liar and say, God said, “I will not forsake you. I will not abandon you, I will be with you, I love you so much I gave nations for your good. I had human kind to be expendable in order that you might be able to come to God.” Then in that time, can you say, because I don’t sense His presence, can you really say, “God does not love me?”
So it is not by sense, it is by faith. In Song of Solomon 3:5 it says the same thing. I want us to learn it. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
What if God doesn’t come to church? Go on, trust God and preach it anyway. Praise Him anyhow! Worship Him anyhow! Glorify His name anyhow! He will be here when He pleases. There have been sermons that I couldn’t wait to hear what I was going to say next. But there have been some that I wish I had had a hole I could jump in and you could never see me again. He said, preach the word, be instant in season and out of season. Do what you do because God is who He is! God didn’t say we were going to make it to the other side without a storm.
Song of Solomon 8:4; I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please. I want you to understand that when we read this, we read it in the book of Mark 4:38. What was it that the disciples brought to the ship? They brought oars. What was it that they used in the ship? They used the sails!! What did Jesus bring to this ship? What did He bring to this journey? And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: God brought a pillow! When storm times come, it would be well if you would throw your oars down and grab a pillow and lie down with God and rest in the Lord and honor God by your faith and wait until it is over with!!!
Sometimes, dear soul, we must strive against everything that comes up against us and we must continually strive and press on and do those things that God would have us to do. You are going to have to learn that sometimes if Jesus has a pillow, you better start looking around for yours and grab a pillow and lie down close to Him and snuggle up. It doesn’t seem like He was getting wet but all of them were filled with water!! How much concern did He have about perishing in the storm? Brother, if you ever get to be the Pastor one day and I hope you do because I would like to turn this over to you, the worst temptation you will ever have from your people, as a Pastor is “Do something!” Whatever you do, don’t do anything!
He that endureth to the end, grab a pillow. His name shall be safe. People say, “Something’s happening in my life, preacher, do something!” I say, “Okay, kneel down, right here with me.” That’s all I can do. What do you mean that’s all you can do? That is a wonderful thing to be able to do. We have the ear of God. What else do you want done? I want an end of affliction! Go to hell, go directly to hell, do not pass go, do not collect two-hundred dollars. If you don’t want affliction, you don’t want the cross and if you don’t want the cross, you don’t have salvation! Demus has forsaken me, having loved this present world. You will never have any comfort and peace outside of the peace of the Holy Ghost in the depth of your heart. It may be that the boat is just in the water but sometimes the water gets in the boat!! The best thing you can do is grab a pillow.
Where did He get that pillow? It’s a fishing boat. It wasn’t a Caribbean cruise line! It was a fishing boat. He brought it with Him. Didn’t He know about the storm? Is He not God? What are you going to do Lord, when the storm comes? I brought a pillow. I’m prayed up! I’m preached up! I have believed God by faith! My life is lived according to the precepts of God. I do not argue with God. I say, “you Lord, you direct my paths, whatever occurrences happen, I take it as your will and I submit it unto you.” Anyone want to borrow my pillow?
What are you going to do about Psalm 121:3, 4? He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. In case you didn’t hear, He is going to say it again. Verse 4; Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. He brought a pillow; He intended to go to sleep. Did He not violate that word? (I think I will turn this over to you and let you figure this out.)
Dear soul, this is the only place that I know of that says, Jesus was asleep. The bible said that God, the King of Israel, doesn’t slumber or sleep. What are you going to do about that? Who was running the world while Jesus was asleep in the boat? I understand that He is the fullness of the God-head bodily. (Colossians 2) I also want you to understand that as He was coming up out of the water, one part of the trinity came down in the form of a dove and the Father spoke in a voice, saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. You can’t slice God up like a pie and cut Him in three pieces. God is the whole in every person. If God said, I will neither slumber nor sleep and I will keep you; then God wasn’t asleep when Jesus was asleep. Although Jesus is God. You say that doesn’t sound like good theology. It is the closest I can get.
Jesus Christ is very God of very God but He is very man of very man. He stepped back as the priest of this little flock. He stepped back as the priest of these believers and said, “It is your opportunity to have faith in God, I’m setting an example.” The Brother read in Peter this morning, Jesus set us an example; He brought a pillow with Him. I will be glad when I see more pillows in my life than I see oars. I didn’t say I will be glad when I see more pillows in your life. I put it on me. “Do something!!” We are to work it out with fear and trembling. For it is God that worketh in us.
“Brother Gene, you sound like a hyper-Calvinist.” I am probably more hyper than most Calvinists around here. I actually believe in the sovereignty of God and don’t just preach those words. People say they believe in the sovereignty of God and then they act like everything depends on them. I believe that God is sovereign, dear soul and I don’t want to put a foot forward if He doesn’t. And if Jesus Christ is asleep in the boat, I’m looking for my pillow and not your oar!
Do you want to go on? Do you want to jump this hurdle? We’ve come this far! Do you want to quit now? Are you going to stop because of this doctrine? It’s in the book! Pray and ask God to let Him swap you out your oar for His pillow!! Do you want to go any further? Do you want to go deeper and higher with God? Storms a’comin’ dear friend, we haven’t seen anything like we are going to see before it is over with. This nation is one that has God has taken away, even that which we had. We are about to be in the midst of hell! You aren’t going to make it unless you swap your oar for a pillow! If you want to march on Washington, you can forget me. If you want to march on heaven, I’ll be right there in the middle of it. Grab a pillow!
John 8:28-29; Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
Can I ask you something? If we get bent out of shape about Jesus being asleep in the boat, why don’t we make something out of Him being asleep in His own bed the night before? Who was running the world when Jesus was asleep as a child? Who was running the world when you see Him rising up early in the morning, going out to pray? Rising up from what? Sleep. What is the difference between Jesus of Nazareth having sleep every night of His life and being asleep in the boat? Does that mean God is not there? NO! He says, God is with me. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone… May I add, Whether I am awake or asleep. I want you to know this. He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. God is not asleep! Jesus Christ, the spokesperson for God, the Word Himself, the Humanity of God was asleep the night before in His own bed and He was asleep in the boat. But God is not asleep, God is still running the world!! For I do those things that please Him. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God. Do you like that?
The same was in the beginning with God. Dear soul, you come to understand and see, sometimes the sensed presence of God will pass from your consciousness. I want you to know this; He that keepeth you is never off guard, never off duty, never distracted. The bible says you are the apple of His eye. What does that mean? The pupil. The tenderest part of the eye that is what you are. He sees through you. He sees you. You are every bit bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. He will not forsake you or leave you, He has loved you from before the foundation of the world. There are times when God would say, you should have brought a pillow, not an oar. You need to rest in the Lord and trust God. Fret not. You believe in God? Believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to the cross to prepare a place for you. Did He go to the cross? Then did He prepare a place? Shall He not come back and get you and receive you to Himself? Yes. And do you think He is going to starve you to death on the way to walk on streets of gold? I don’t think so. There are times when we need to bring a pillow and rest in the Lord and give Him honor and let God show us the mighty power of His hand.
Do you think God is going to drown those folks in the boat with His only begotten Son lying there? No, I don’t think so.
What were the last 3 words in Luke 8:21, before He said, let us go over? “And do it.” What was He doing? His mother and His brothers came up outside where He was preaching. They couldn’t get in because there were so many people. There was a note passed to Him saying, “We are out here and we want to talk to you.”As far as we know, the bible doesn’t say that He ever did go outside and talk to them. He used it as a teaching example. If Mary gets in, it isn’t going to be because she produced a virgin birth because it is not of works, lest any man should boast. If Mary gets in, if Mary can get through the crowd to Me, here is what she is going to have to do. My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it. Luke 8:21. If I am not mistaken, that is the description of the good ground hearers only in verse 15. Those who are Jesus’ kin are exclusively members of the good ground hearers. They are not wayside, thorny-ground hearers or stony-ground hearers. They are exclusively good ground hearers, for they are the only ones that hear the word of God and keep it and bring forth faith fruits with patience. The last thing He tells them is, “do it.” You must put action to faith. Faith that is God’s faith never lies dormant, it is always active. The Lord is saying, you have had all this teaching, all day long. Luke 8:1, we have gone to every city, we have gone throughout every village. You have heard me preach, you heard the parables. I told you in verse 10; it is given to know the mysteries… But then I want you to understand that I had my brethren and mother intersects me sovereignly at that point in my message and I wanted to have a “show and tell.” I wanted to show you that I am not going, not even my blood relatives get in just because of inordinate affections. If they get in, if they see the kingdom of God, they must be borne again! It will be evidenced by, not only just hearing the word, and my sheep do hear my voice. But they also have following feet. They do what God says. So God says, “Now, after all this preaching, after all this teaching, let me go to sleep and see what you have learned today.”
We built a storage room, it is full! We had a shed out back, it is getting full. All the racks are full of tapes, booklets, cassettes, CD’s, DVD’s and others. We have so much word around here that it is a wonder that God doesn’t sleep more around here in order for us to have opportunity to DO IT!!
The good ground hearers are different from the other souls because they hear and DO IT!! We are not supposed to just hear the word, but we are supposed to do the word! Jesus was saying I want to give you the opportunity to show that you are my brothers and my mother. So that, when you have the opportunity to put the word into practice, you can do it.
He said, my mother and my brethren are these, whom? They are those that hear the word of God and do it. He was showing you the spiritual family of God. We are talking about us having lost or natural kin and Jesus saying that it is okay. I am going to replace your reprobate brother, your reprobate uncle. I am going to replace those that wouldn’t hear the word of God and do it in your natural Adamic family with spiritual brothers and sisters. I am going to give you spiritual brothers and sisters. So we are still talking about the same things. These are my mother and brothers, those that hear the word of God and do it. Mark 10:29; And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; WITH PERSECUTIONS! Oh, oh, the last thing He says before He gets in the boat with His pillow under His arm is, DO IT!! He is talking about His family. My brethren and my mother are those that hear the word of God and DO IT! I have my pillow, let’s get into the boat and go to the other side. Then he lies down and goes to sleep. Why? Because if they want to prove that they are worthy of Him, as mother, father, brothers, sisters and houses and all things that we need; it is going to be with persecution. Uh oh, and in the world to come, eternal life.
Dear soul, my natural family would rather eat linoleum than hear me preach. Everywhere I go there are homes opened up to me and they say, Brother Breed, make yourself at home. They call me Brother Breed, Brother Gene. I call then Brother, Sister. I have so many Brothers and Sisters; it is unbelievable, in this world. But dear soul, God won’t trust me with them, without persecution. God won’t trust you with them, without persecution. The greatest way that I know, for God to widen your spiritual family is for Him to bring His pillow and check you out and see if your faith will endure the storm.
How are y’all doing? Pray for me! I need help. Amen? Isn’t that amazing? Don’t you think that is amazing? The last thing He talks about before He gets into the boat is how to get mother and brethren, to be those that hear the word and do it. That is just exclusively the good ground hearers and He says, but that is only done with persecution. He says, “Okay boys, you have the oars and the sail, I have a pillow, let’s make it to the other side and see how good we do.”
Prayer: Father, we thank you for the word of God today, an informing word but a convicting word. An instructing word, opening up to us a greater and broader revelation of the glory of the church and the glory of God in dealing with the church. But oh Lord, a scary word. A word that makes our flesh tremble, and well it should and thank God it does. Lord, I pray that we would remember that you are still the same God that you have always been and even though it may seem like the sensed presence of God, represented by Jesus of Nazareth, is asleep, the Holy, Infinite I AM, never slumbers or sleeps. He only gives us opportunities to exact our faith and bring it forth to see that it actually does work and overcomes the world. Bless God’s people, we are headed into a new week, we may be separated in all kind of different ways and place, but none of us shall be without you. The Lord has filled us up with His word; it has been very rich around here with the seed of the word of the gospel. Lord I pray now that it would grow richer, as it germinates and becomes life within our soul as our Brother read, you said; my words are spirit and life. Grant that little sheep, Lord, that even now, is in a place of isolation and may they learn that that isolation will turn into their insulation. May they learn that that prison that they are bound in, that seems that no one else can understand, is their palace that God has ordered for them and may they go to the place where they can find a pillow and lie down with Jesus and rest in the Lord. Help us, our Father, I pray today and grant that this word would be attended by the Holy Ghost, made effectual in the hearts and minds of us all, especially with me, have mercy on my soul. In Jesus name. Amen.
