"PROBING QUESTIONS"
I. "WHY ARE YOU SO FEARFUL?
A. They had good reasons to be fearful.
1. They were in a fierce storm.
a. They were seasoned seamen, and they knew that the ship was in danger of sinking. They were familiar with the sea of Galilee, and they knew the danger of these sudden storms.
b. We read that the ship was full of water.
c. They had been no doubt bailing the water out but they could not keep up, it is coming in faster than they can bail it out.
2. The Lord was asleep and seemingly unaware or worse yet unconcerned with their danger.
a. They awoke the Lord with the words, "Don't You care if we perish?"
b. We sometimes can identify with their plight.
1. It seems as if we are in fierce storms, and we feel that we are about to go down.
2. It seems that the Lord is not concerned with our predicament. As though He is asleep or unaware that we are about to go under.
B. They had good reason not to be fearful.
1. At the beginning of the story they had the command of Jesus, "Let us pass over unto the other side."
a. Note Jesus said, "Pass over," when Jesus says pass over there is no way that you can go under."
b. We need to listen more carefully to the commands of Jesus.
2. Jesus was on board ship.
a. When Jesus is on board our ship, we have no need to fear.
b. The presence of the Lord should dispel all fear.
1. David said, "Ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with Me."
2. Through the prophet Isaiah God said,
ISA 41:10 Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
II. THE SECOND QUESTION, "HOW IS IT THAT YOU HAVE NO FAITH?"
A. Remember that He is talking to His disciples. This question seems like a rebuke.
B. Their fear was a sign of their lack of faith. Faith and fear are mutually exclusive. If you have fear, you do not have faith, if you have faith, you will not fear.
1. Your circumstances may be fearful, but you will not fear. Passing through the valley of the shadow of death would be a fearful experience if we did not know that the Lord was with us.
2. You are His child, you have no need to fear, your heavenly Father is watching over you.
3. How many times the Lord told His disciples not to worry.
a. The phrase, "Take no thought" that was used so often by Jesus, is literally, "Take no anxious thought."
b. He is saying that as His children, we are not to worry.
c. Worry and fear are Siamese twins.
C. This question might be better asked of you who have not yet come to faith in Jesus. "Why is it that you have no faith?"
1. People often say that they have intellectual problems with Jesus. What is it about Jesus that you find it so incredible, that you can't believe in Him?
2. What is it in the Bible that stumbles you and causes you to doubt?
3. What do you have to gain by not believing?
4. I can tell you that you have a lot to lose by not believing, mainly your own soul.
MAR 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
JOH 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
JOH 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
JOH 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
JOH 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
5. There is much to gain by believing.
JOH 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
JOH 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
JOH 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
JOH 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
1PE 2:6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
1JO 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
6. How do you account for the more than 300 prophecies written 400 years and more before His birth, that were fulfilled by Him?
III. All of us sooner or later are going to find ourselves in the midst of a fierce storm that will threaten our survival.
A. You cannot escape the fact that one day you are going to be facing death.
1. The Bible declares that it is appointed unto man once to die.
2. That is one appointment that you cannot cancel.
B. One day you are going to find your life tossed in the storm over which you have no control. You will come to the realization that you are going under, your boat is sinking.
1. Your very survival will be dependent on whether or not Jesus is on board your ship.
2. You cannot know how comforting it is to know that the Lord is with you when the storm begins to rage, you can have this confidence, for He said,
ISA 43:2 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, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
C. One big question remains, have you invited Jesus on board your ship?
Verse-Reference
Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]
Abbreviate Books
Use SBL Abbrev.
