There are many questions you are faced with
every day. We are all searching for answers that will
make a real difference in our lives. It’s hard to imagine that these answers
might be right in front of us. Get ready to discover answers in the Bible
with Bayless Conley. Hello friend. So glad to have you with us today. And we have been on the most amazing series
about the invitations of Jesus. Things that He invited people to do and to
join in in His day that apply to us today as well. And in this particular message, we’re going
to be looking at some really interesting and thought-provoking invitations that Jesus issued
then and that He issues now to us. So if you’ve got a pencil and a paper get
it. You might want to take some notes. We’re going to be looking at some invitations
of Jesus. And we find number six today here in Matthew
14, and it is, "Step out of the boat." Step out of the boat. Matthew chapter14, verse 25: Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus
went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on
the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying,
“Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord,
if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat,
he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous,
he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand
and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind
ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped
Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.” Now in many respects, this was a unique situation
and there were certain events that precipitated it happening and yet, there are still powerful
lessons in this story for us, one of which is there comes a time when the Lord invites
each one of us to step out of the safety of the boat and take a walk of faith. An invitation to leave the place of security
and familiarity, and step out with nothing under our feet but the assurance of His promise. Every one of us, there are times the Lord
will do that. The Bible says, "We walk by faith and not
by sight. Without faith, it is impossible to please
God." Didn't say it's hard, said it is impossible. For some of you here today, it may be that
God is saying, "Hey, step out of the boat. It's time to start trusting Me by honoring
Me with the first part of your income." You've heard it preached, you've read it in
the Word, but you've yet to step out. You've always thought that, "Well, I need
to take the whole; I can never make it through and pay all my bills and do everything unless
I hang on to everything." But God says, "If you honor Me with the first
part of your income, I'll fill your barns with plenty. I'll be able to do more with what's left over
with My blessing on it than you could ever do with the whole, if you never gave anything." And there are some I'm quite sure God is saying,
"Hey, it's time to step out and trust Me. It's time to step out and believe the promise." Someone else, it may have to do with a business. God's spoken to you about it and it's time
to step out of the boat; out of that place of security and begin. Maybe it has to do with writing a book that
God's put on your heart. You say, "Well, I don't have a publisher." Well, just step out and get started. Do something. I remember when I was an assistant pastor
out in the Inland Empire, I made a whopping salary of $300 a month. My wife worked as a registered nurse three
days a week, and she made more during those three days than I did with my whole monthly
paycheck, just her working part-time. And so what I did to supplement our income
is I began to work on the side as a glassman; I installed glass throughout the Palm Springs
area, Inland Empire, and further toward the coast. Whenever my church duties would allow, I would
work for this man and go all over and install glass. I made a salary of $7 an hour; that was big
money to me back in 1981. So I’ve got my $300 a month salary from
the church, I'm making seven bucks an hour working part-time installing glass, and Janet's
working part-time. We're getting by, but not by much. And I felt like the Lord began to deal with
my heart. I felt like He said, "Bayless, I want you
to step out of the boat. Step out of this place that's security." What I sensed was the Lord was saying that
I needed to give my notice to the glass company and trust Him for outside meetings, and that
He would supplement our income that way. And I also felt that the Lord was saying,
"You need to do this to develop the gifts that I put in you. This is essential for your future." And so I prayed about it for a couple of weeks,
and then I went to Janet. I said, "Baby, sit down." And I remember we sat on the couch in our
little apartment. I said, "Honey, this is what I feel like God's
told me to do, that I need to give my notice at the glass company. I know we need that money, I know it's important
to us, but I feel like God's told me to trust Him for outside meetings." And up to this point, I had gotten zero invitations
for outside meetings. They weren't just coming in slowly, they were
not coming in at all. She said, "Okay." She prayed about it, said, "Bayless, let's
do it." So my next step, I went to my senior pastor
and I said, "Look, I know you realize I'm working on the side as a glassman when my
duties allow, and I feel like God's put it in my heart to trust Him for outside invitations. With your permission, if it doesn't interfere
with my duties in the church, I'd like to take outside invitations to speak at churches
or Christian events, or whatever if they come." And he said, "Bayless, go for it." So I went and I gave my notice to the owner
of the glass company, and it's like the next day an invitation came in. My first one. Awesome. And then another invitation came in, and then
another invitation. And by the end of, I think two months, I was
making more through honorariums that came through my outside speaking than I was making
as a glassman, and I never mentioned money. In fact, from that day to this day, I've never
mentioned money one time anywhere I've gone to speak, I've never asked for anything one
time, and I don't plan on it. But for me, it was a step out of the boat;
a step out of what was familiar, a step out of what was comfortable, a step out of what
I knew was safe for us into an area that was unsafe, because I felt like the Lord had spoken
to me. Now here are some points to ponder in connection
with this. Number one, what I'm talking about is different
than just simple obedience to God's Word. I think when something is clear in the Scriptures,
when you can see it in the Scriptures, you don't need to pray about it, you just need
to do it. You know, someone told me about one of their
neighbors, a Christian lady, and she was having a conversation, and this Christian lady said,
"Well, I'm just praying whether I should pay my rent this month or not." You don't pray about whether you should pay
your rent, you have an obligation to pay the rent on the place you're staying at. And in the same way, I wonder what Heaven
thinks when people say, "Well, I'm going to pray about that. I'll get around to it when things are absolutely
clear," whether it's a command or a principle in Scripture. So I think this is different. This is when the Lord specifically calls you,
which brings me to the second point: You need to be sure that Jesus is calling you before
you step out of the boat. This is not about presumption. Peter's the only one that got out of the boat
that day because he was the only one that Jesus said "Come" to. The other disciples didn't say, "Well Peter
can do it, so can I." No, the Lord had only spoken to Peter. You need to make sure that the Lord is speaking
to you before you step out of the boat. And then number three: Once you do step out
of your boat, you need to keep your eyes on Jesus. Peter stepped out of the boat and, amazing,
the Bible said he walked on the water to go to Jesus, but then he saw that the wind was
boisterous and he became occupied with the wind, and the waves, and the circumstance
around him. And we find the most interesting designation:
Peter, beginning to sink. Now how many of you ever began to sink? You jump into a pool, you don't begin to sink,
you just sink. Peter began to sink. When he looked at the wind and the waves,
let me ask you a question. Is it any easier to walk on the water when
it's calm? No. He let something that actually had no bearing
on his miracle rob him by degrees of his faith and that's why he began to sink, as he became
occupied with things around him rather than with Jesus it robbed him of his faith. And friend, when you're taking that walk of
faith, you need to keep your eyes on Jesus; keep your eyes on His Word. Not on the circumstances around you, not on
the storm around you, but keep your eyes on the One who said, "Come." And then a fourth thought. With every trip out of the boat, we get a
deeper awareness of who Jesus is. It said when they got back in the boat, the
other disciples came and they worshiped Him, and they said, "Truly You are the Son of God." They had a deeper revelation of Who this was
among them. You know, in the Book of Job it describes
the Creator as He flings the stars and the constellations into the night sky, and it
says in Job 9:8 that He "treads on the waves of the sea." Maybe that was the verse that came alive to
them, that this is the Creator among us; He treads on the waves of the sea. You know, Job is the oldest book in the Bible,
they all would've been quite familiar with that. But if you want to know Jesus more, you've
got to step out of the boat. I know there are some here today and one way
or another, Jesus is saying, "Hey, leave that place of familiarity. Step out of that place with security and comfort,
and obey Me, and see what I will do." Alright, look with me at Mark chapter 8 if
you would. We come to the seventh invitation, and that
is, "Take up your cross." Mark chapter 8, "Take up your cross." We begin in verse 34. 34 When He had called the people to Himself,
with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will
lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. You see, our call to follow Christ is not
just about miracles and overflowing blessing. It's about obedience to God, putting His kingdom
first. It involves self-denial, and at times it draws
persecution and suffering. 2 Timothy 3:12 says, 12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in
Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. There is no escaping it. Once you decide to take your cross and follow
Him, you start swimming upstream in a downstream world. There will be trouble because of it, but the
good news is if we faithfully obey Him, there will be a reward waiting for us in the world
to come. There will be blessing waiting for us in the
world to come, and as we follow Him, there's also eternal things worked in us now. Things like patience, and trust, and hope,
and compassion; things that will help us through this life and bring us into the world to come. And you know, taking up our cross is an attitude
that must be renewed daily. That's not something that's forced upon you. Jesus said, "Take up your cross." It's not, "I'm putting this on you." It's something that we willingly do, but it
has to be done daily. Listen to these words of Jesus, Luke 9:23. 23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone
desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. Take up his cross daily. Why daily? Because the temptation comes daily, to loosen
and relax our grip on heavenly things. The temptation comes daily to put ourselves
and our desires and our agendas ahead of His agenda, and ahead of His kingdom, and ahead
of His desires. We need to take up our cross daily, deny ourselves
daily. And you know, though there are very general
implications for us as believers as we follow Him and take up our cross, it can be quite
specific as well. Look with me if you would in Mark's Gospel,
chapter 10. We have a great example right here, a familiar
story. Mark 10 and verse 17. 17 Now as He was going out on the road, one
came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that
I may inherit eternal life?” 18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call
Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit
adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’
‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” 20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher,
all these things I have kept from my youth.” 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him,
and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give
to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow
Me.” I have a friend. I've known him for 30 years, and I'd say about
15 years ago, his influence and the ministry God called him to just sort of skyrocketed. You could only attribute it to the grace of
God, not to human planning. In fact, in my lifetime, I've never witnessed
something happen so rapidly to an individual or to a ministry. This global influence he has, it's just amazing. Some people look at him and say, "Oh, it must
be nice, you know? He gets to travel around the world all these
places," and he certainly has had a much greater degree of prosperity in his life. But most people, they don't realize that there's
always a cross with the calling. Whatever your calling is, there's a cross
that accompanies it. He's continually maligned and criticized. Continually. Everything he says, everything he does, every
dollar he spends, is put under a microscope and then made public by his detractors, most
normally in a very negative way. His family has to live under that same microscope. All of them, his wife, his children, are scrutinized
continually. That's a burden most of us would not want
to bear, but he does. It goes with his calling. So I think, you know, the next time you're
tempted to judge someone or to be critical of someone, just realize people carry things
that you may not know anything about, things that are unique to their calling and what
they're doing in life that may not be a part of what you're called to do. But it's one of these invitations of Jesus,
"Take up your cross and follow me." So you know, some have grown lukewarm, and
they've turned back because of the difficulties associated with following Jesus. And Jesus has an invitation for those people
as well, to those that have gotten lukewarm, to those that have turned back. His invitation? "Come and eat." John 21, look there with me if you would;
one of the most intriguing stories in the Bible, in my opinion. This is after the resurrection. The disciples have gone into Galilee because
Jesus has told them ... After the resurrection, He says, "I'm going before you into Galilee. I'll meet you there." The angel has announced that, "He's going
before you into Galilee." They get there, they're excited, but when
they arrive they don't find Jesus. Day rolls into day, rolls into day, and there
is no Savior. And they get very discouraged. And then Peter one day says, "I'm going fishing." Sounds innocent enough but in the original
language, it's in the infinitive verb form. Peter said, "I'm going fishing and I'm going
to continue fishing." In essence, he said, "I'm going back to my
fishing business." And all the rest of the disciples said, "We'll
go with you." The whole lot of them walked away from the
calling, and ceased to obey what Christ told them to do. The whole bunch of them went back to fishing. And you know the story; they fished all night,
they caught nothing. In the morning, Jesus is on the shore. "Children, you catch anything?" They said, "No." He said, "Let the net on the right side of
the boat." They get 153 large fish, and then they come
to shore. This is where we pick the story up in verse
12; this is Jesus dealing with the backsliders. Verse 12. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who
are You?”—knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus then came and took the bread and
gave it to them, and likewise the fish. That in itself is amazing. We have the resurrected all-powerful Lord
Jesus, and what's He doing? He's serving fish and bread. Yes, He deals with them, especially Peter. He corrects them, but He did not abandon them. He said, "Come, and eat." You know, the church of Laodicea in Revelation
chapter 3, Jesus sends a message to them personally. He says to them, "You're lukewarm. You're self-sufficient. You're proud. You're spiritually blind. You are immoral." Then He says these words to them, Revelation
3:19-20, 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. It's an invitation to linger and to spend
intimate, unhurried time together. Jesus didn't say, "Yeah repent, but you've
lost your place in line; don't expect to get anything out of Me any time soon. I'm keeping My eye on you, buddy. Yeah, you're forgiven, but you're not getting
anything from Me until you prove your worthiness." No, Jesus said, "Come and eat." It's an invitation to have personal fellowship
with Him, closeness. Yeah, He will correct them, but He says, "I
want to be close to you. I want to sit down with you and eat with you." To every backslider here today, to every backslider
listening, Jesus is saying to you, "Come and eat. Come and eat." He came after Peter and the disciples, He
sent a message to the Laodiceans, and He's reaching out to you right now. And if you hear His voice, and you open the
door, He'll come and sit down with you, and strengthen you and encourage you. And yes, He will correct you, but He'll restore
you. And maybe you're here today, you've become
lukewarm. At one time, you burned so brightly for Jesus,
people had to wear an asbestos suit just to get around you. And that fire got off on everybody and everything
around you, and today there are maybe just a couple of smoldering coals there where there
once was a burning, bright, ferocious fire. Jesus says, "Come and eat. I want to restore you. I want to have that closeness again. I don't want you lukewarm, I don't want you
self-sufficient, I don't want you getting farther and farther away from your calling,
and your destiny." He says, "You hear my voice, open the door." And friend, that door only has a handle on
one side. He's not going to kick it down; the only handle
on that door is on the inside. He said, "If anyone hears My voice and they
open the door, I'll come in. We'll have fellowship; We'll eat together." I don't think it's a coincidence you're listening
to me right now, those of you that are watching perhaps via live stream, or on TV somewhere. God is speaking to your heart. He's after you, He's reaching out to you,
and those that are here in the house today, won't you just for a moment bow your heads,
close your eyes. We do have another invitation, but I'll get
to that in a few minutes. If you're not where you should be with the
Lord, if you've grown cold, if you've grown complacent, if you no longer devour His Word;
instead, you feed on other things, and that undeniable evidence that you belong to Him
today would be hard to find? The good news is He's not mad at you, but
as many as He loves, He rebukes. He chases. And He's not abandoned you, and His invitation
is, "Come and eat." And maybe you found that the cross that you
had to carry with your calling, it was a heavy one. Listen. Whatever God's called you to, there is grace
to help you bear that cross. There is grace to go through the difficulties,
there is grace to sustain you. There is grace to help you through the rough
patches. There is grace for persecution, there is grace
for affliction. There is grace that will help you through
times of boredom, through seasons of tiredness, through seasons of attack; there is grace
that always comes with the calling. But if you've decided, perhaps like the disciples,
"Man, this is more than I can bear right now. I'm disappointed." Maybe even disappointed in God; they were
disappointed that the Lord hadn't shown up like He said He would, because He didn't do
it their way and their timing. Maybe that's you. You've grown cold, you've grown distant. I just want to lead you in a prayer. If you want to get your fire back, if you
want to reignite for Jesus, this can be a starting point for you. It's not the finish line. He said, "Take up your cross daily." We go about these things daily, but this is
a starting point. Things can change, and I want to tell you,
from making a simple decision like this, a decision from your heart, you have no idea
how much this can affect in your life, the life of your family. This could ripple down if Jesus tarries and
affect generations that are not yet born; it can affect and impact a city, one decision
like this. You won't know until you stand in eternity
what these kind of decisions mean. Woman VO: For more information and inspiration
visit AnswersBC.org. You know God’s grace really is an amazing
thing. The Apostle Paul said, “His grace is sufficient.” And friend, His grace is sufficient for whatever
you are going through. And sometimes when I share that with people
I think, “He’s making light of my affliction. He’s making light of my challenges and my
difficulties.” And I don’t mean to do that at all. I know people are going through some very
real things. You may be in the worst storm you’ve ever
been in in your life. You may be in the darkest place you have ever
been in. But I’m telling you: God loves you and He
has grace to help you in your time of need. The Scripture says in Hebrews chapter 4 the
very last verse in that chapter, “Therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace
to obtain mercy to help us in our time of need.” And one translation says, “In the nick of
time” or that’s literally what that means in the Greek language. So hey, come to Him and find grace for your
situation today. Hi there, I have a resource entitled, “Footprints
of Faith” that I believe will be a blessing to you. There’s a book included in it as well as
several teachings on CD. The Bible says, “Without faith it is impossible
to please God.” And I’m going to tell you without faith
it’s impossible to walk with God. This resource is going to help you in your
daily journey with the Lord. Footprints of Faith. Learn to recognize and follow God’s leading
and see His power at work in your life. This booklet and three message series teaches
you the benefits and blessings tied to obediently putting one foot in front of the other by
faith even when you can’t see the outcome. So request this faith-building resource today. Just use the information on your screen, “Footprints
of Faith.” Thank you for watching Answers with Bayless
Conley. For more information and inspiration visit
AnswersBC.org.
