This morning, I'm going to take a text that many
of you have heard. I'm going to preach it much
differently than you've ever heard before. I
want you to turn in your Bible to Matthew chapter
14, verse 22. I'm going to read out of the NIV
tonight, this morning rather. Very familiar passage
of Scripture, but let me give you a context.
Let me contextualize. I want to remind you out
in the foyer, I have a brand new book called
Taught by God. And it's out there. You can see
Meliana at the end if you'd like to get a copy.
But listen to what it says here. Immediately,
Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and
go on ahead of him to the other side. Everybody
say, go to the other side. Let me give some context.
Jesus had just fed the 5 ,000. How many want
to multiply? How many don't care if you multiply?
Come on. Most of us in this room want to multiply.
And Jesus teaches me something when he multiplied
the five loaves and two fish about multiplication.
I want to multiply. I want Pastor Darren and
Pastor Cammie to multiply. I want everybody in
this house to multiply. And a lot of times we
have an assignment from God. We have a call from
God. But yet what we have in our hands is not
enough to do the things that God has called us
to do. For instance, the five loaves and two
fish cannot feed 5 ,000. It's mathematically
impossible. Even if you go to school in Illinois,
it's still mathematically impossible. Come on.
And so you have to, because, you know, Common
Core, you know what I'm saying? They still do
that, right? It's whatever you think it is, right?
But Jesus receives what can't meets the need.
And I love what he does. Because how many know
that life and death are in the power of our tongue?
He doesn't curse what doesn't meet the need.
He blesses it. Because what I bless multiplies.
You follow me? That's why I want to bless my
country. That's why I want to bless my marriage.
That's why I want to bless Sister Kathy. That's
why I want to bless the church because I want
the church to multiply because if I curse it,
it doesn't multiply. I want to bless my kids.
I want to bless my grand, especially my grandchildren.
I really want to bless my grandchildren, you
know. And so I blessed them. Come on. And so,
however, when he did that, when he fed the 5
,000, as we read that he dismissed the crowd,
however, There's something that began to transpire.
Because he met the need, people followed him
not because he was a lord of lords and the king
of kings. They followed him because all he did
is meet needs. And this is something that we
can understand because how many know that Jesus
can meet every need? How many know that Jesus
can meet every need? But there comes a time in
our life when we're not seeking him to meet our
needs. We're seeking him because we want to obey
him. We're seeking him because we want to worship
him. We're seeking him because we want to know
him. Come on, are you hearing what I'm saying?
Not just that he meets my needs. Because every
one of us in this room have needs. We all have
need. If you don't have a need, you're probably
not alive. Come on. We all have needs. And so
what God is doing with the disciples when he
tells them to go to the other side because the
crowd started following him because he gave them
free food. And so what happened, because I guarantee
you, you put a sign up there, free food, the
church is packed. Come on. And so what happens
is, at that process, he wants the disciples to
graduate from the ministry of need to the ministry
of maturity. And he wants them to go to the other
side. Now, notice what he says. Then he says,
after he had dismissed them, he went up to the
mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night,
he was all alone, which means he's praying for
the next assignment. But here's where it gets
interesting. Here in verse 24 of Matthew 14.
And the boat was already a considerable distance
from land, buffeted by the waves because the
wind was against it. Everybody say the wind was
against it. Now, how many believe in fasting
and prayer? Why do you fast and pray? Because
there are things in our life that are buffeting
us from getting where we need to be. Right? That's
why we believe in fasting and prayer. So think
about this. These disciples are actually in the
boat of obedience. They're actually doing what
God has called them to do. They're not resistant
to the call of God. They're saying yes to God.
They're getting the boat. They're going to the
other side. But sometimes the tendency is, if
I am doing everything God has commanded me to
do, then guess what? I am now immune to any kind
of warfare. Are you hearing me? I'm in the will
of God. For instance, I'll give you an example.
You know, my wife is a righteous woman. She's
a holy woman of God. She's a giver, but she still
gets cancer. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
And there's a tendency, especially within our
Western culture, to think that as long as I'm
living perfectly, as long as she, as long as
I'm doing what God called me to do, I'm now immune
to any kind of warfare or any kind of storm.
Come on. And so Meliana, I want to tell you something.
Meliana got cancer, but guess what? She got healed.
Come on. She doesn't have cancer. She wanted
to make sure I was aware of that, you know. But
here she is in the will of God, but she's still
under attack. You follow what I'm saying? And
a lot of times, a lot of times we think, oh,
what have I done? What should I have done? And
what we do is we stop rowing to the other side.
Because we're trying to figure out why we're
in the middle of this mess and why we're in the
middle of this storm. Come on, are you hearing
what I'm saying? Because every one of us in this
room is in a storm. And let me tell you something
right now. The fact that you're in the storm
is saying that you are in the will of God. Because
the storm is exposing the opposition. Doing God's
will is going to expose. This is a real enemy
that doesn't want to get this church to the other
side. Can I hear an amen right now? I feel like
preaching. I thought I was in a Pentecostal church.
You should be running by now. Come on. But here
they are in the will of God. Doing everything
God says, and there's this opposition, this thing
that is buffeting them. And so we find out the
famous, the only place in the Bible where this
is recorded. We find out that here they are.
Because sometimes we go, God, why is obeying
you so hard? Because there's a real devil and
a real darkness that doesn't want to get me to
the other side. Church, can I tell you something?
You know, I'm a fundamentalist conservative and
by political stance. But I can tell you something
right now. You know what? Even the fundamentalist
conservative media didn't post the Democrats
and Republicans worshiping God together. That
was never, never said. I was there. I watched
them lift their hands. I watched a congressman
say, I'm a Democrat and I love Jesus. Come on.
You follow what I'm saying? No, I don't believe
that, but he does. No, I'm just kidding. I'm
just kidding. But here they are, buffeted by
the waves and the winds against them. But listen
to this, verse 25. Shortly before dawn, Jesus
went out to them, walking on the lake. Everybody
say, walking on the lake. Well, here's something
I realized. Because why isn't Jesus calming the
storm? Wouldn't that be a lot better? Wouldn't
that give a little bit less drama? A little anxiety
and worry and fear. If you just calm the sea,
everything is going to be fine. That's a lot
easier. Why aren't you calming the storm? Why
are you walking on the water? I'll tell you why,
ladies and gentlemen. Because sometimes Jesus
doesn't calm the storm. And because I'm a prophetic
voice, I'm going to tell you the truth that Jesus
doesn't always calm the storm. He can. He can
do whatever he wants to. He can solve the problem.
He can fix it just like that. But this is exactly
what he's doing. The reason why he's walking
on top of the water is he's telling us, guess
what I'm doing? I'm walking on top of the storm.
Come on, are you hearing what I'm saying? Because
he's trying to teach me. He's trying to teach
you and I that guess what? There are some storms
that I'm not going to calm. But I want to teach
you how to walk on top of it. Come on. Because
there's something in the water. There's something
that's hindering the church from getting across
to the other side. And what I'm telling you is
I'm telling you that you have dominion over this
storm. That this storm doesn't have dominion
over you. You have dominion because you belong
to me. And I'm showing the disciples that as
I'm walking over the storm, so you can walk on
top of the storm too. Can I hear an amen right
now? If you're suffering from depression. You
can walk over depression. If you're suffering
from financial lack. And abandonment. And all
kinds of stuff that you've gone through. I'm
here to tell you. Jesus is your model. Jesus
is your guide. Jesus is supposed to look for.
And as he walked on water. He's saying I want
you to walk on the storm too. Why is that? And
it is as if. He's not even paying attention to
what's under the water causing all the chaos
and disturbance. As if he's not disturbed. We're
so easily disturbed by what we don't understand.
Let me tell you what happens here. It's very
interesting. Because what Jesus is doing is Jesus...
Showing me that I don't have to be conditioned
by the conditions. Are you hearing me? Jesus
showing me he's demonstrating his dominion over
the disorder. Listen to this. Verse 26. When
the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they
were terrified. It's a ghost, they said, and
cried out in fear. I'm not talking about the
unsaved. I'm talking, the disciples say, oh,
he's a ghost, and cried out in fear. Well, let
me tell you what happened. Last October, I was...
I was visiting my grandchildren. All five of
my grandchildren are now in Florida. I praise
God they're in one place going to one church
because my son and my daughter and my son -in
-law are all on staff at one church. And I'm
so thankful for that because I don't have to
go all over the country chasing my grandkids.
Just go to one place. You know what I'm saying?
And so I'm very, very thankful. And so we took
Monday through Friday off to not to speak so
I can go and visit them. And so on Tuesday morning,
I get a phone call from a friend of mine in Santiago,
Chile. I've known him for a long time. He has
a church of about 800 in the capital of Chile.
He calls me up and he says, Prophet John, I'm
sorry to bother you, but is there any way you
could come to Chile? I said, I'd love to come
to Chile. When? He goes, today. Right? I said,
what do you mean today? I thought you were doing
a conference. He said, yeah, but one of the speakers
had something happen in his family. He can't
make it. Is there any way you could come today?
And then, of course, I'm thinking, oh, man, I
took this time off to be with my grandchildren,
and I don't want to disappoint them. But under
the circumstances, I said, yeah, I'll do it.
So he said, I'll get your ticket. I'll send you
a text with your ticket, and you'll fly out this
afternoon. So this is like 7 a .m. in the morning.
I go in the room. We're staying at my other home
where my kids live in Florida. I start packing.
I end up waking my wife up, and she says, what
are you doing, and where are you going? I said,
I'm going to Chile. She says, I'm not. And I'm
staying here. So, you know, I get on the plane
to go to Chile. And, of course, we're on the
phone a couple times with each other a day. And
then she looks that, you know, because we were
going to leave on that Saturday, and I'm in Chile,
and we were going to go other places. And she
said, honey, I looked on our calendar, and we're
going to be on the plane four times in seven
days. I'm just going to stay with the grandkids.
I said, okay. So that night after church, and
you know how on your phone you'll get a memory
picture will come up. And a picture came up of
my wife's beautiful face looking all elegant
and stylish and beautiful and Polynesian as she
does. And I don't post on social media. So I
decided to post her picture on social media and
put a caption, missing my wife today. You know,
that's what I posted. So I wish I never would
have posted, Pastor Darren. Because when I posted
that. All of a sudden, Meliana saw it. She didn't
say anything. She didn't think anything. All
of a sudden, threads started coming up, and half
the people in the thread thought my wife was
dead. Or sick. Come on. Dead or sick. And I realized
something about human nature with these disciples,
ladies and gentlemen, that our default, I thought,
what we're saying about this church is called
faith assembly. It's not called fear assembly.
It's called faith assembly, right? I like that
name. Come on, I like that. We're assembled under
the canopy of faith. Come on. Are you hearing
me? But what I saw is that, Pastor Darren, that
the disciples' default and the human default
is not faith. It's fear. And many of these people
that posted were pastors and leaders and worship
leaders across the country. And I was completely
shocked. So then I had to rewrite it. Come on.
But no, she's not dead. And she's not as sick.
That was the last time I posted on Facebook.
Really, I'm serious, you know. And so I'm done
with social media. Because I don't want people
thinking my wife's dead, you know. She's very
alive. But what is that? That's the response
of fear. Oh, there's no way anybody can walk
on this storm. There's nobody that anybody that
can walk on water. It has to be a ghost. And
these were church people. These were not worldly
demonic people. They were people that saw miracles.
Because God wants to do something in us and you
and I where we all of a sudden realize that faith
has to become our default. Come on. You know
what? I'm just going to say something. You know,
we don't understand. You know, Kathy, I had my
best friend pass away in front of me on February
8th. We don't understand why that happens. But
God wants my response. Not to be fear. God wants
my response to walk in faith. Come on. I don't
understand everything. Come on. I don't understand
why a man of God goes and leaves a widow. I do
not understand that. My 64 -year -old best friend,
pastor friend, on Sunday morning falls dead,
has a massive heart attack right in front of
me on February 8th. I don't understand that.
And then I go to the hospital, and for two hours,
I pray that he would be raised from the dead.
And then nothing happened. Come on. I don't understand
that. I had faith for him to rise from the dead,
and nothing happened. But guess what? I am not
going to allow fear to control me. You follow
what I'm saying? The pastor's wife, come on,
the pastor's wife was just at our house. We were
there also on Monday and Tuesday because I was
only preaching an hour away. We spent the whole
day. On Monday night, she led prayer meeting,
and on Wednesday night, she preached after losing
her husband. Come on. Because she understood
something. I've got to walk upon this. I've got
to walk upon this storm. I can't let the storm
walk over me. Can I hear an amen right now? It's
a ghost, they said. And cried out in fear. Now
they're really in trouble, Meliana. They're in
a storm and ghosts are coming at them. They assumed
he was a ghost. Isn't it interesting that our
assumptions can promote our fear? But Jesus immediately
said to them, take courage in his eye. Don't
be afraid. Everybody say, take courage in his
eye. Sit in, take courage in his eye. Why does
he say that? Well, obviously, the New Testament
is written in Greek and the Old Testament written
in Hebrew, but there's kind of two, it's different
language, but they mean the same. When Moses
met the Lord on the burning bush, he asked who
he was, and God said, I am that I am. Well, that
word in Hebrew and the same what Jesus said in
this text, take courage. It's me saying, it's
the I am talking to you. It's the I am walking
on your storm. Because notice where he's walking
toward. He's not walking across the lake. He's
walking towards his church. Oh, come on. Because
he wants his church to get across the lake. He
wants faith assembly to get across the lake.
He wants faith assembly to accomplish everything
that he called them to do. And guess what? I'm
walking towards you. I'm not walking past you.
Even though you're in fear, I'm not going to
walk past you. I'm not leaving you. I'm not forsaking
you. I'm walking directly to you. Can I hear
an amen right now? I'm not bypassing you. I'm
not giving up on you even though you're in that
state. Take courage in his eye. If I've got a
word for this house, take courage. Take courage
in his eye. Now, you're in the middle of the
storm. Notice he has never said anything about
calming the storm. He hasn't even acknowledged
the storm. What he's saying is take courage.
Because your fear will kill you before I get
there. Now, think about this. When he says this,
take courage of your desire, don't be afraid.
Because you've got to understand that it's directed
toward every single person in the boat, every
disciple in the boat. And you have to begin to
think like, okay, what would you do if God said,
take courage of your desire? But sometimes, We
can be so engulfed in the storm. We can so internalize
the chaos that we don't even hear the words of
Jesus. So I've got to ask myself this question.
What was different about Peter? Because that
word, take courage, it is I, was directed to
everybody. They all heard it. But they heard
it, but it didn't mean anything because the fear
had so gripped their soul and gripped their mind
that it didn't enter in and didn't produce faith.
Unless this were true about Peter. Because when
Peter heard it, this is exactly, this is what
separated Peter from the rest of the disciples.
When Jesus said, take courage in his eye, He
got a vision. He got a vision. He got a vision
that could it be that if he's out there, I could
go out there too. Oh, come on. Could it be he's
trying to tell me that there's no courage in
this boat that I'm stuck in right now, that the
courage is actually being with his presence?
Because let me just tell you right now, I would
rather be with Jesus, even if he's out on the
water, than be in the boat when Jesus is not
in the boat. Come on. You follow what I'm saying,
ladies and gentlemen? Because what was different
about Peter? What was his mindset? What was he
thinking? What was going through his mind? Because
he doesn't have a reference point. He doesn't
understand everything. But he heard, it is I.
It is I. Take courage. It is I. Let me just tell
you something when you really get that in your
spirit. All of a sudden, you can go through hell.
You can go through anything. But all of a sudden,
something rises up within you and say, guess
what? Storm, you're not controlling me. Cancer,
you're not lording over me. Sickness, disease,
and death, you're not telling me what to do.
I'm telling you what to do. Because I just heard
my Lord say, take courage. It is I. Come on.
Come on. It is the I am. Because if the I am
is not over your life, then you are over your
life. Come on. So notice this. So if something
happens, a vision happens, I can go out there.
That's why Peter said, Lord, if it's you, tell
me to come on the water. Why? Because again,
God doesn't want to be the only person walking
on water. Because he's showing us, I have dominion
over the chaos. But not only do I want to walk
on the storm, I want you to walk on the storm.
Notice that he doesn't even tell Peter, if you'll
step out, I'll calm the storm. That he invites
Jesus, he invites Peter, excuse me, he invites
Peter out of the boat. Come on. Even when his
life is a mess. Oh, man. And because sometimes
we're waiting for the perfect moment, the right
extent to step out in faith. Come on. That is
not faith. Faith steps out when it looks crazy.
when it doesn't make sense, when you don't even
have enough, but all of a sudden you heard God
say, come. Lord, if it's you, cause me to come
upon the water. Because Peter had the proper
theological understanding that faith is not an
intellectual concept. It must be walked out.
For instance, I'll give you an example. Here's
a perfect example. You know why people don't
tithe? Because they don't have faith. Yeah. Because
if they had faith, they would tithe because they
would believe that if they tithe, they give 10
% of their income, that God would open the floodgates
of heaven and pour out a blessing that they can't
contain. Right? That he would provide for them.
But because of the fear of not having enough,
It puts them in a boat where now money is their
God instead of Jesus being their God. And so
they don't see God, I mean, because he reigns
on the just and the unjust because of his grace.
However, they don't see God's intervention in
their life like they could be because they haven't
given up. their financial stronghold and have
them say, God, I'm going to be committed to giving
to you. And when I'm giving to you, this is what's
going to happen. You're going to bless me. Come
on. They don't believe that. And so, for instance,
when Peter said, if it's you, bid me to walk
on the water, or let me walk on the water, he
was actually saying, I don't want to just know
you intellectually. That faith is not an intellectual
concept. Faith must be walked out. Or it's not
faith. It must be walked out in my actions. So,
when God said, come, everybody say, come. That
invitation wasn't just for Peter. That invitation
was for everybody in the boat. Now, think about
this. Think about this in this room. What would
it look like if everybody at Faith Assembly was
walking on water? Or just one person was walking
on water? What would glorify God the most? Come
on. It would glorify God the most when everybody
stepped out of the boat and said, I'm walking
out on the water. Come on. We don't need this
boat. We've got Jesus. Come on. So, when God
said, come, Eliana, this is what Peter does.
Peter then got out of the boat, walked on the
water, and came toward Jesus. Why is this important?
Because this is exactly what Jesus is trying
to teach Peter. Peter, you know I have dominion
over everything. But I'm giving you dominion
over everything too. I'm giving you dominion.
over what's under your feet. Come on. Because
sometimes in Pentecostal churches, we don't speak
enough about dominion theology. God said this
in Genesis 1, 26. I've created man in my image
and likeness and gave them dominion. Come on.
That means sickness shouldn't have dominion over
you. Doubt shouldn't have dominion over you.
Depression shouldn't have dominion over you.
Divorce and brokenness and fractured soul should
not have dominion over you. You should have dominion
over it. Come on. I understand that we are emotionally.
I understand that things happen. When you lose
your spouse, it would be easy to get depressed.
You know what? You know what? We had the widow
over at our house. She's sitting at the counter.
We're fellowshipping. And she says, I haven't
got rid of Pastor Steve's clothes yet. And I
mean, I can't imagine that. I can't imagine getting
over, getting rid of Melianas' clothes. But I
do know this. When God invited Peter and God
invited the disciples, he says, I'm going to
even have dominion over what's hard. I'm going
to give you dominion over what you don't understand.
Come on. I'm going to give you dominion what
you don't have a reference point for. I'm going
to give you dominion. But then this question
has been stirring on the inside of me. I've been
wrestling with it inside my soul. Because he's
walking on earth. He's coming toward Jesus. But
verse 30 is what I've been struggling with. But
listen to this. But when he saw the wind. Everybody
say, but when? He saw the wind. Wait a minute.
Wait a minute. I've never seen wind. I've seen
the results of wind. I've felt the wind, but
I've never seen the wind. Have you? Has anybody
in the room ever seen wind? We live in Illinois.
Come on, maybe we can felt the wind. I'm so thankful
it was warmer today. Come on, most of the time
I come here, I'm freezing. It doesn't matter
where I come from, I'm always cold in Illinois.
And I'm just waiting for it to thaw out, and
it never does. Come on. But what do you mean,
saw the wind? What does that mean? What is that
implying? Because see, when he saw what he was
supposed to have dominion over it, the Bible
says when he saw the wind, he began to sink.
You know what's causing people to sink? They're
paying attention too much to the wind. And then
I have to ask myself this question. This is the
question. What is under the water that is pulling
Peter down? What's under the water that's pulling
you down? Pulling me down. Pulling my precious
wife down. What's under the water that's attempting
to pull Kathy down? Because there's something
under the water that's trying to pull us down.
Oh, come on. And see, nothing was going to pull
Peter down as long as his focus was on Jesus.
Are you hearing me? As long as he looked toward
Jesus, but when he saw the wind. Can I tell you
something? That's why I believe that the media,
oh, I got to tell you this. I'm not going to
preach it, but I want you to hear this. You know,
Meliana has English as her second language. And
sometimes, you know, when we drive back to the
hotel or back home and I'll come up and I will
critique her because I want her to critique me.
And sometimes she has a way of saying opposite
or not using her S's and R's and all of that.
So, you know, I talk to her on the way home and
sometimes I pick my times when I do. Sometimes
I don't because I want to sleep that night. Come
on, you know what I'm saying? And so, but when
she's in a good mood, when she asked me, honey,
what could I have said? We will critique each
other to be better public speakers. And so the
other night, Melianna reads this scripture out
of 1 Chronicles 10, 13, which says, and Saul
died because he was unfaithful. He did not heed
the word of the Lord. And he even went and saw
a medium for guidance. So instead of saying medium,
Meliana says media. That's what comes out. And
see, I'm sitting in the front row. I go, oh,
Jesus, come on. So I run up to the platform.
I actually show her the text on my iPad so she
can read it, right? I'm kind of like, I'll tell
you this. You know? And so then I go back and
I sit down. And you know, when you're a public
speaker, it's really advisable to understand
what words mean and what they don't mean. Right?
So ladies and gentlemen, you want to hear something
crazy? I look up the root word for medium. And
the root word for medium is media. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry if I said that. I blew your bubble.
But the root word for media is medium. They're
root words. Come on. My wife in her broken English
was correct. Come on. You heard what I'm saying.
And she didn't even know it, you know, under
the Holy Ghost. You know what I'm saying? And
this is the problem with America. We're looking
at the wind. The wind is determining the narrative.
Instead of this man, Jesus, who's saying, I'm
going to give you authority and dominion over
the narrative. And certainly he begins to sink.
And when he begins to sink, ladies and gentlemen,
Lord, save me. Because there was something pulling
him down. I call it Leviathan. I don't have time
to go into that. But that's why Israel didn't
have a navy. That's why Israel was afraid, deadly
afraid of water because they believed that the
demon, the serpent, the snake, however you want
to call that, lived in the water and caused the
chaos. Can I tell you something right now, ladies
and gentlemen? There's some people that God is
going to raise up in this church. They're going
to have dominion over Leviathan. They're not
going to let Leviathan pull them down. They're
walking on top of the water. Can I hear an amen
right now? Now, I'm so thankful because all of
us aren't just thankful. This is why when pastor
told us to get up and come to the front, I'm
going to come to the front because you know why
I'm coming to the front? Because I'm so thankful
that God pulled me out of chaos. When I was sinking,
he pulled me out. When I was lost, he found me.
When I was blind, he put eyes on me. When I was
lame, I got to walk. When I was depressed, he
gave me joy. Come on. When I was distraught,
he gave me a purpose. He gave me meaning. Are
you hearing what I'm saying, ladies and gentlemen?
That's why I can't help but praise God. Because
he didn't have to pull me out of the chaos. He
didn't have to pull me out of jail. He didn't
have to pull me out of my dark pit. He didn't
have to pull me out. When I said, Lord, save
me, that's exactly what he did. I'm not going
to let you get swallowed by the enemy. I'm going
to pull you out. And when he pulls him out, why
are you out? Peter, you have little faith. I
said, Jesus. Why do you call Peter of little
faith? He just walked on water. I mean, we don't
know how long, at least for a few seconds, you
know. That's pretty cool. But the Bible said,
in verse 32 of Matthew 14, that when they climbed
into the boat, the wind died down. I'm thinking,
Jesus, why didn't you cause the wind to die down
in the beginning? It would have been a lot easier.
Why do you have to wait till you come in the
boat to have the wind die down? You can walk
on the water once you stop the wind. I mean,
are you into drama, Jesus? Do you like drama?
It seems like you like drama all the time. You
know why he waited for the wind to die down?
Because he wanted to show me. Are you going to
walk on the water even when the storm and the
wind is all around you? Or are you going to only
serve me when the wind dies down? Think about
this. Think about this. The wind dies down, very
profound. Then those who are in the boat worshiped
him, saying, truly you are the son of God. A
few moments, a few seconds ago, he said he was
a ghost. Let me ask you a question. Is Jesus
the ghost or is he the son of God? Now think
about this. These are the disciples. It's interesting
that they worship him when the wind dies down.
That's not worship. You're worshiping circumstances.
I don't want to worship God just because he calms
the wind. I want to worship God when it's windy.
I want to still worship. Kathy didn't have to
come to church today. She just lost her husband.
You know what I'm going to do? She didn't have
to come. Family's here. All of these kinds of
things. But you know what she's saying? She's
saying, guess what? I'm still going to worship
God in the middle of my wind. I'm not going to
just wait for everything to get calm and everything
to settle down before I worship God. I'm going
to worship God in the midst of the storm. Do
I got anybody at Faith Assembly that is going
to worship God in the middle? I'm not going to
wait until everything's perfect. Look at it.
They said, truly, you are the son of God. Why
didn't you tell us? Why wasn't he the son of
God when he was walking on water? So now that
he calms the wind, then he solves my problems,
that now he's the son of God. No, he's the son
of God whether he heals my body. He's the son
of God whether he does anything for me. He's
still the son of God. Because I'm going to tell
you right now, God healed Meliana. But if God
did not heal Meliana, he's still the son of God.
Are you hearing what I'm saying? Are you hearing
what I'm saying? He's still the son of God. I
don't question what he does or what he doesn't
do. That's not my job. My job is to acknowledge
you are the king of kings and lord of lords.
Whether you do anything for my life or am I just
coming to get free food. He is the son of God.
Truly you are the son of God. Why didn't you
say that? What would have happened if he would
have said that when they were buffeted by the
waves and the wind? You're the son of God. But
here's what happened. Write this down, please.
Write this down. Because there's a sequence that's
happening here. Very clear sequence. They get
a revelation of Jesus. Not only do they get a
revelation of Jesus, but they recognize Jesus.
So recognition. Revelation. Recognition. Worship.
Say that with me. Revelation. Recognition. Worship.
Now I can tell you, I'm not trying to pick on
you, I'm just telling you the truth. They're
all up here worshiping God. This young lady that
was worshiping God has such a beautiful voice.
We could feel the weight of the presence today.
But yet there were people who were oblivious.
They weren't entering in. Why is that? I'll tell
you why it is. They don't have a revelation of
Him. And they don't recognize Him. Because if
you had a revelation of Him and you recognize
Him, you would worship Him. You worship that.
We worship this. This is in our face. All the
time. All the time. Right? What does that tell
me? I don't want that to be my place of worship.
I want the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to
be. See, I want to come to church so I can get
a revelation of him. So I can recognize him more
clearly. So I can worship him now. This is exactly
what happens. I've got to move on. There's a
lot into this. But as soon as they get Meliana,
as soon as they get a revelation, as soon as
they recognize him, as soon as they worship him,
they're on the other side. Oh, come on. Are you
hearing what I'm saying? Because how many want
this church to get to the other side? And it's
not just one couple. It's not just Alexandria.
It's every single person in this room. Come on.
I mean, faith. Come on. I'm sorry, that was your
sister. You forgive me. But anyhow, when they
get to the other side, very interesting, and
I've got a couple more verses. And this is what
they said. When they crossed over, verse 34,
and landed in Janzarat. See, that may not mean
anything to you, but it means a lot. Because
this is what it means. Because the last time
they were there, it was called the Gadarenes.
And then Jesus put his foot down, and, you know,
a demon that didn't have any clothes on came
running at them. Now, ladies and gentlemen, can
you imagine having a greeter that's demon -possessed?
Come on. And doesn't wear any clothes. Come on.
I'm not coming to that church. Come on, are you
hearing what I'm saying? That runs at them. They
landed and this guy comes running out of the
tomb, stark naked, demon possessed, screaming.
And one translation says that when the disciples
saw him, he turned around and ran back to the
boat. I would too. Come on. They went from worshiping
to being back into fear. Come on, act quick.
Take your call. There's a lot into that, and
I don't have time after another sermon. But,
you know, Jesus heals him, completely delivers
him. I mean, he just completely delivers him.
He's standing there all by himself. Where's my
associate? Where's my worship team? They all
left me. I'll have to deal with this by myself.
Come on. I've had that happen to me a few times.
A guy levitated. A guy levitated in Idaho. And
the whole half the church took off. Right at
the altar. Like right here. Like picture this.
You're all here. And this guy comes up. I prophesy.
He falls out and levitates. And the whole church
comes back up. I thought you read the gospel.
What happened? Obviously, you probably thought
it was science fiction. Come on, I guess. You
know, it's real, right? But anyway, anyway, anyway,
he cast the devil out of the sky, goes into the
pigs, and he's sitting there in his right mind
fully clothed. I love that. Everybody say fully
clothed. You know what that means? That Jesus
didn't just deliver him. Jesus fully empowered
him. Not just put clothes on him, but actually
clothed him and empowered him to do the will
of God. So it's interesting that when the pig
farmers went and told everybody, they all came
out to see this guy, fully clothed, sitting in
his right mind, and the Bible says they were
afraid. Everybody say, afraid! I'm thinking in
my mind, what kind of people are these? That
they are, they weren't afraid when he was demon
possessed. Why he was, why he was running around
naked. They were kind of used to it. You know
why? Because we've normalized evil. And there
are people sitting in this room right now and
people online watching. You know what? This is
what's happened. We've become more familiar with
the demonic than the power of God. We're more
familiar with the chaos than we are God walking
on water. Are you hearing what I'm saying, ladies
and gentlemen? And we have to change the narrative.
This is why I have a microphone. This is why
I believe God called me, because I want to be
more familiar of freedom than I am chaos. I want
to be more familiar with healing than I am disease.
Come on, come on, church. And then, not only
that, because they were afraid, they asked him
to leave. Jesus just leaves. Let me guess. How
many churches in Lincoln, you'd say? 35 churches?
How many of the 35 churches have asked Jesus
to leave? Now, I don't mind if you leave. Pastor
would. But I don't want Jesus to leave. Because
if Jesus leaves, we're really in trouble. Let's
kick the presence of God out and keep the demons.
I mean deacons. No, I didn't say that. I didn't
say that. And keep the demons. Which tells me
something. They saw Jesus as a threat. Not as
a deliverer. Because they were more familiar
with chaos than they were the power of God. That's
why the media are mediums. Are you hearing me?
Because you will not hear this. You're not going
to hear this, but I don't mind saying it. I don't
have no mind saying it because, listen, I believe
that God's raised the church up at this hour
to speak the truth. Come on. And we cannot water
the truth down in order to peace people who don't
want Jesus around. And that's why, you know,
that is why I tell you that Illinois needs a
move of God. The state of Illinois needs an awakening.
And Chicago needs a revival. Springfield needs
a revival. We need a move of God where this state
becomes more familiar with the power of God than
they do the power of the enemy. Otherwise, they'll
kick God out. Come on. Your own governor said
this during COVID. We need to close the church
down for four years. He said that out of his
mouth. What does that tell me? You know what?
If the church was operating in power, nobody
could ever say that. Don't blame the governor.
He's not saved. We can look at the church because
we're more familiar with chaos than we are the
power of God. Why don't you leave? I'm the guy.
I mean, he's sitting there clothed fully in his
right mind. His life is back. His life's been
restored. I want to go with you, man. Who wouldn't?
And besides, They're kicking you out. Don't leave
me here. I mean, who wants to stay in a church
where they kick Jesus out? You know they kicked
him out. Churches kicked him out. When they say
that God doesn't heal, God doesn't raise the
dead, God doesn't redeem, God doesn't speak.
They kicked him out. We can't, we can't. Let
me tell you something. When they kick him out,
what do they have? All they have is religion.
There's no life. I'm not saying people are bad
people, but guess what? They're then open to
demonic counsel. I don't want to stay here. You
know what Jesus tells them? No. You stay here
and you go tell everybody what God has done for
you. Because sometimes, because we can sit here
and soak in the presence of God under this atmosphere
and this worship team. But sometimes God wants
our obedience as we go out of these four walls
and tell everybody what God's done for us. Come
on. That's more of an act of worship than sitting
down, listening to good music. Come on. And so
now they're back in that region. They're back
in that region. And the reason why I believe
that that storm that they were in, that Jesus
walked on water, is the enemy did not want the
church, didn't want the disciples to get to the
other side because the enemy doesn't want to
see how effective your labor was. Because sometimes
in the middle of the storm, there's a tangible
thing. I'm not making a difference. Nobody's
getting healed. Nobody's getting touched. I'm
in this blue storm. What is my life worth? Come
on, where's my purpose? Where's my meaning? And
the enemy wants to keep you blind to the impact
that you have given somebody else. And so when
they get to the other side, there's an impact
that happens because of this one man's testimony.
Listen to this. And when the men of that place
recognize Jesus, Meliana, everybody say recognize
Jesus. It's interesting Jesus is walking on the
water to his disciples. He's a ghost. But these
people, they recognize him as soon as he shows
up. How do they recognize Jesus? By that man's
testimony. Oh, come on. They sent word to all
the surrounding country. People brought all their
sick to him. And they begged him to let the sick
just touch the edge of his cloak. And all who
touched it were healed. Everybody say all that
touched it were healed. Last November, I'm going
to close right now. I'd like the praise team
to come up to the platform. Last November, my
wife and I, right before Thanksgiving, Sunday
before Thanksgiving, had the privilege to speak
in London, England. We spoke at a church there
near Wembley Stadium. After that, we got on a
plane and flew to the island of Malta. And the
reason why we flew to the island of Malta, we
were in England, it's very inexpensive when you
get into Europe to fly to other places around
Europe. Because of a number of years ago, I had
preached a message out of the book of Acts about
Paul being shipwrecked in Malta. And when he
landed on that island, a snake comes out of the
fire, bites him. And a poisonous snake, he doesn't
swell. He shakes it off, keeps right on doing.
The people falsely assume that because the snake
came out and bit him, he must be a murderer.
And so after they sit there and wait, he doesn't
swell up. Nothing happens. He just continues
to go about what he's doing, gathering wood.
And at that moment, what begins to take place
is he then, they deem him to be a god. And so
now he's got some supernatural power. And even
though their theology was messed up, it gave
him the opportunity to start praying for people.
And he starts praying for people. And the Bible
does say, everybody on the island that were sick
were healed. I wanted to go there. I wanted to
go there. You know why? Because that's not just
a historical story. That scripture that I just
read to you in Matthew 14, it's not just something
that happened in the ministry of Jesus and something
here historical. I want everybody in Lincoln
healed. And let me just tell you there's an anointing.
There's a healing anointing in this church. There's
an anointing for people to get healed. I want
to see our brother's blind eye open. Come on.
Don't you want to see that? Don't you want to
see that? But ladies and gentlemen there's something
I have to understand something. The enemy is
trying to buffet us so we won't believe. The
enemy sends storms so our focus will be on the
wind instead of having dominion over sickness
disease. And so we don't actually take on the
inheritance or don't spend the inheritance that
we've been given by the cross. Can I say, I'm
going to say this. When I was sitting in D .C.,
we were there on a Wednesday night, all day on
Thursday, and then we left on Friday. We had
four meals. One was with the president, the other
was with different people and dignitaries from
all over the world. Had people sitting at my
table that I, I said, Lord, what am I doing here?
And he said, oh, you're, You're here, John, to
prophesy over them. You're here to give them
the word of the Lord. I said, okay, God, that's
what I'll do. I didn't have to get invited. I
didn't have to get invited. There are great voices
around the country. I felt honored. I want to
see this nation get on the other side. I want
to see evil destroyed. Come on, I want this nation
to get healed. Come on. You know, people need
to get healed in Washington, D .C. too. I think
the president needs to get healed after hearing
him. Meliana likes him. I tolerate him. He was
supposed to speak 20 minutes. He spoke an hour
and 17 minutes, you know. And I don't know what
he said. Come on, I'm just kidding. He just rattled
on. But then all of a sudden he said something
that everybody stood up. Because on May 17th
of next ethnic month on at the Washington Mall
there in DC They're going to dedicate the United
States of America as one nation under God the
God Under God one nation under God No president
has ever done You don't have to like him. Sometimes
I see says stuff. I said, oh Jesus help him.
I mean doesn't he have a speech therapist? Come
on Isn't there somebody that writes this? Nobody
does that. It's Donald Trump. And I have to tell
you this. When he said that, I said, oh God,
I'm so thankful to be alive right now. Because
I want to see in my lifetime one nation, what
a nation looks like when it's under God. What
a nation looks like when it's under God. Not
under the demonic, not under evil, not under
unrighteousness, but under God. What happens
when a nation is under God? That is why we have
to walk on top of the chaos. Oh, come on. I'm
telling you. I'm telling you, if we don't walk
upon the chaos right now, the chaos will walk
over us. Lift your hands to Jesus all over the
house. Father, we thank you for your word. It's
a lamp unto our feet. And it's a light upon our
path. I thank you for your sons and your daughters.
And I thank you for who they are and what they
do. And I thank you for giving them dominion
even right now.