Speaker: Rev. Mikha Sanda Toding
Matthew 8:18-27
8:18. And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.
8:19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."
8:20 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests,but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
8:21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."
8:22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
8:23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.
8:24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.
8:25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"
8:26 But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
8:27 So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"
There are three hindrances in following Jesus to go to New Jerusalem as follows:
Matthew 8:25-26
8:25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"
8:26 But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
John 11:11
11:11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."
Sleeping means death experience or the power of death and waking up means resurrection experience or the power of resurrection.
Jesus slept but then He woke up, meaning the power of His death and resurrectionthat can defeat all hindrances and make all wind and waves calm.
The proof of having the power of Jesus' death and resurrection is BEING SILENT and QUIET.
Matthew 8:18-27
8:18. And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.
8:19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."
8:20 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests,but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
8:21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."
8:22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
8:23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.
8:24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.
8:25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"
8:26 But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
8:27 So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"
There are three hindrances in following Jesus to go to New Jerusalem as follows:
- [Matthew 8:18-20] Foxes and birds.
Jesus will come again soon to put Himself as the Head over His body. Nevertheless, there are foxes and wolves dwelling in the congregation.- Foxes.
Revelation 18:18-21,2-3
18:18 "and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What is like this great city?'
18:19 "They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.'
18:20 "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!"
18:21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.
18:2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!
18:3 "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury."
Foxes refer to evil spirits or evil lusts, namely the lust of money or riches or worldly matter that makes one stingy and greedy.
Being stingy means one cannot give tithes and special offering that are God's possession.
Being greedy means one seizes the possession of other people, even the possession of God. - Birds refer to unclean lust, namely sins concerning eating-drinking and marrying-being given in marriage or sexual sin with all its varieties.
The hiding place of evil and unclean spirit is our heart and mind. Rejecting the hard teaching Word, one becomes harder and become the hiding place of foxes and birds. - Foxes.
- [Matthew 8:21-22] The hindrances are as follows:
- Activities in the worldthat make us unfaithful in serving and ministering God.
James 4:4.
4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. - Busy activities that make us unable to change.
2 Timothy 3:1-4.
3:1. But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
3:2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3:3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
3:4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
At the last days there will be perilous time, that is to say people cannot change.
Activities about worldly matters make the sons of God unfaithful even leave the service and ministry and not change, but still become flesh men keeping eighteen sins.
- Activities in the worldthat make us unfaithful in serving and ministering God.
- [Matthew 8:23-24] Wind and waves.
- Wind.
Ephesians 4:14
4:14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
The wind refers to the wind of false teaching that deceives and drowns usuntil we go astray in our journey to New Jerusalem, so we will go to Babel. - Waves.
James 1:6
1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
The waves refer to temptations and problems, beginning from our household. Do not be weak and shaken because of the wind and waves because we indeed have to face them. Do not be hopeless because of problems in the household because only the Word can change us all.
- Wind.
Matthew 8:25-26
8:25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"
8:26 But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
John 11:11
11:11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."
Sleeping means death experience or the power of death and waking up means resurrection experience or the power of resurrection.
Jesus slept but then He woke up, meaning the power of His death and resurrectionthat can defeat all hindrances and make all wind and waves calm.
The proof of having the power of Jesus' death and resurrection is BEING SILENT and QUIET.
- Being silent means checking ourselves and repenting if we find any mistake.
Isaiah 30:15
30:15 For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: "In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." But you would not,
Do not make our own way, but let us now be silent and quiet. Do not blame other people or God when we face any problem, but let us be silent at Jesus' feet. - Being quiet means we only hope in the Lord, pray, and entrust ourselves to God. It equals to stretching our hand to God.
- The Lord will open way for us, and we can live in the middle of dry desert of the world.
Exodus 14:15-16
14:15. And the LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.
14:16 "But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. - The hand of God is stretched to lift us up from our sinking, so we do not doubt, especially we do not doubt to the true teaching Word.
Matthew 14:30-31
14:30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"
14:31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
The doubt will drown us. We are often shaken when we see the weakness of other people, especially the preacher. Do not check the fault of other people but let us heed to the Word.
1 Peter 4:7
4:7. But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.
Jesus' second coming is drawing near. Many people who actively minister God will depart Him because of keeping foxes and birds, because of doubt to the true teaching Word. Let us now seriously heed to the sacrifice of Christ, so we do not move anyway. - The hand of God is stretched to guide us to the desired haven or the harbor of peace in New Jerusalem.
Psalm 107:29-30
107:29 He calms the storm, So that its waves are still.
107:30 Then they are glad because they are quiet; So He guides them to their desired haven.
Revelation 21:1
21:1. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
There is no doubt in New Jerusalem. Where will we go if we still doubt to the true teaching Word? There is no sea in New Jerusalem means there is no doubt there. Being outside New Jerusalem means being in Babel.
Therefore, let us not doubt to the true teaching Word.
There is no tear or sorrow in New Jerusalem. Our sorrow and suffering because of keeping the true teaching Word are only temporary because the joy we will experience in New Jerusalem is much greater.
Tonight let us be quiet and silent much more, look upon the sacrifice of Christ and we receive the power of Hid death and resurrection.