It Doesn' Matter

This message is one of the Times Square pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing to World Challenge P.O. Box 260, Lindell, Texas, 75771, or calling 214-963-8626.

None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends. Several weeks ago, I went to prayer, and before I did so, I was reading about this upcoming election, and most economists and forecasters tell us that this president, whoever he is, is going to have to face the major problems, the major problems of our economy, of drugs, of other things, and as I got to thinking about all of that and how it no doubt will affect my life, I believe it's going to affect all of us, and it probably won't be but a year into this new administration that whoever is elected tonight will have wished that he had not been, and there is just no doubt about it. You don't have to just hear it from preachers.

You can hear it from economists who will tell you that our country is heading for a great economic storm, a recession, depression, chaos, whatever the case might be, and as I thought about that, and I also at the same time, I was thinking about some of my own personal situations in my life, and when I went to prayer and I was presenting all that to the Lord, in the midst of it, the Lord just lifted my spirit in just a tremendous way. I just felt the joy of the Lord in my heart, and I spent the time pacing the floor and walking through my apartment and rejoicing in the Lord, and in the midst of it, the Holy Spirit dropped a seed thought in my heart for this message which I entitled, and it came to me as I was praying. As I thought about all of these things, it just came to me in these words, it don't matter, that none of this needs to affect me.

Now, I realize that proper grammar would be to call this message, it doesn't matter, but God did not endow me with normal thought processes. Anybody can say it doesn't matter, it takes creativity to say it don't matter, but regardless of how you say it, the crux of a message tonight is this, regardless of what you may be going through, regardless of what good or bad we may face tomorrow in the world at large, or in your own personal world, for the child of the living God, there are some things that just don't matter. There are some things that ought not to matter, or to shatter us, or to shake us in the inner core of our soul.

Look with me at Acts chapter 20. Paul is meeting with some of the believers, and we'll pick it up at verse 17. It says that he went to Ephesus, and he called to him the elders of the church.

He stopped, and when they had come to him, he said to them, you yourselves know from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility, and with tears, and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews, and how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly from house to house. You see, it didn't matter to Paul that even though he was preaching the gospel, it got him into hot water. Verse 22 says, and now behold, he said, I'm bound in spirit.

I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. But still, he said, even though I've gone, it still doesn't matter. And then verse 24, it says, but I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course and the ministry which I receive from the Lord to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.

And I like the language in the King James even better in that 24th verse. Paul said, when he outlines all of these conditions that he's under, that he was under when he preached the gospel there, and what was about to happen to him as he goes on, and eventually is going to go to end up in Rome, he says, but none of these things move me. None of these things move me.

He said, when all is said and done, what really matters is that I might finish my course with joy. And that's what he did, even though in one sense, it was also a very sad moment for him because he says in verse 25, and now behold, I know that all of you among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, you will see my face no more. It was a sad time, a time of parting.

And so Paul did not fully know what was going to be ahead of him, but he said, it don't matter. It don't matter. None of these things move me because I have a joy that is set before me of finishing the course that God has set before me.

Now, before talking about some things that don't matter and things that ought not to move us, I don't want to neglect saying that there are many things that do matter and that we must not neglect. Now, most of this message will not apply to you tonight if you've not taken care of certain things that do matter and that you dare or dare not neglect them. For example, the worst thing that you could do is to be here tonight and have a lighthearted attitude towards some sin in your life and say, well, it doesn't matter.

God doesn't care about that. If there is a sin that besets you, I want to tell you, it does matter. I was having lunch just a week or so ago with, with a gentleman and we were having a friendly discussion, but it came to be that we had a difference about whether a certain matter was right or wrong.

And he said to me, he said, well, look, there was a lot of good in this. And I was pointed out to him that there was a lot of bad in it as well. A lot of evil in it.

He said, yeah, but there's a lot of good into it. And I looked over at his plate of spaghetti and I said, Hey, would you mind if I put just a little poison in your plate? He turned and he looked at me. He didn't say a word.

The Bible says a little leaven, leaven is the whole lump. And the worst thing that you can do is treat sin lightly and take the attitude. It don't matter.

It does matter to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him, it is sin. Ask, just ask a young man in our church, Ed, that we've prayed for in the hospital. Ask Ed, if a little thing doesn't matter.

Ed had a little sore on his tongue and he went to the doctor and the doctor just gave him some medication and treated it not as seriously as they should have. Another sister in the church looked at him and said, listen, you better go to a specialist. And he went and took a biopsy and found out that it was cancerous.

And Ed had to go into the hospital for cancer. We've prayed for him here. And so don't tell Ed that a little sore on his tongue doesn't matter.

It did matter. And I want to tell you tonight, it matters a lot more if you've got a sore on your heart. And most of this message will mean nothing to you tonight unless you have taken seriously your relationship with Jesus Christ.

There's a lot of things you see for the believer in this world that don't matter, but that's because we've taken care of the most important matter in our life to make sure that there's nothing in our soul that will pollute us or be cancerous. But not only should our own sins matter, but it matters to me when I hear of the sins of this society. Listen to what, what I, I want to share with you what I read this last week in the U S news and world report and leading article on, on children and what's happening to the children and youth and of our society.

And in the article, they had little boxes that said in one day's time and under, and in that little box, this is what they said happens on one day's time here in America. Every single day, 988 children are abused every single day. Now that matters 320 or 3,200 children run away from home every single day, 365 days of the year.

On any one given day, there are 49,000, almost 50,000 children that are in public juvenile correctional facilities. There are 2,269 illegitimate children born every single day. There are 2,989 kids who see their parents divorced every single day.

Nine children die of gunshot wounds. Five teenagers commit suicide. 609 teenagers get gonorrhea or syphilis.

2,753 teenagers get pregnant and 1,099 teenagers have abortions. Now those are things that ought to matter and move us as Christians, move us to pray, move us to get involved, move us to affect the life of one of those young people if we possibly can. You know, it matters to me when I get on the elevator in our office building, the Jamaica Savings Bank building, and I get on our elevator and there comes a teenager at the same time, or a young lady gets on at the same time.

I know exactly where she's going. I could push button number three as quickly as she could. I know where she's going and our pastors and our staff know the very same thing.

They're going to the murder chamber, the abortion chamber on the third floor. And every time I see that, there's a grief in my heart. That matters to me and it matters to this church.

We're praying that place down. We still believe God's gonna shut it down. And if you're like me, you read in the newspaper or you're here in your neighborhood or school, you see problems and evils in our society.

It both angers us and burdens us at the same time. Now we can't as a church respond. As a church, we cannot respond to every and all of these needs.

But there are certain things that God does put his hand upon us and says, that matters to me and I want it to matter to you. And as we were praying about this today in our pastor's meeting, and we can't respond to everything just because it's a need. But when God apprehends us and God says, I want you to get involved.

This matters to me. Then we've got to hear. But at the same time, in the midst of all of these problems in our society, and when you and I are personally confronted with certain issues, there comes a time when you have to look around at what is going on about us.

And like apostle Paul, you have to say, none of these things move me or translate it. It don't matter. Yes, there are many things matter, but there are other things that don't matter and should never disturb your peace that we as God's children can have in the inner core of our being and our soul, a peace and a tranquility that nothing around us ought to be able to disturb.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. To be able to have an attitude when you go through life and you see certain things and say, that doesn't have to touch me.

It don't matter. You can say, man, now consider, consider a few things that don't matter why they shouldn't matter. First of all, it don't matter who's who's going to sit in the white house because there is one who sits on the throne.

We serve one who sits on a throne, which cannot be shaken. Listen to Isaiah, the ninth chapter, very familiar verse. Verse six and seven says, for a child shall be born to us and a son will be given to us and the government will rest upon his shoulders.

Hallelujah. And his name will be called wonderful. Hey, listen, if anybody asked you tomorrow, who did you vote for? You tell them I voted for wonderful.

I voted for wonderful, for mighty God, for eternal father, for prince of peace. They might look at you a little strange, but the Bible says there will be no end to the increase of his government or a peace. Hallelujah.

Now, I love my country and thank God for democracy and the freedoms that we still have left. And I will respect and support and pray for whoever is elected. But at the same time, I want you to know it don't matter because my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame that the verse says. I dare not trust the sweetest frame. You know what a frame is? I dare not trust the sweetest frame.

That means you dare not trust the sweetest platform. I dare, you dare not trust the democratic platform or the Republican platform. I only lean on Jesus name.

Listen, my friend, I'm not going to wrap myself around with a red, white, and blue. I'm going to wrap myself with a crimson red of Calvary. Hallelujah.

When is the church going to quit looking to or for a Christian president to turn America around and begin going boldly before the throne of God rather than going boldly before some politician. We've had two so-called Christian presidents. And while I make no judgment on their faith, I do make a judgment on the church for putting more faith in the political process than in the process of divine revelation.

My Bible tells me Exodus 15, 18, the Lord will reign forever and ever. And whether Dukakis or Bush is elected, it don't matter. The Lord has reigned.

He does reign and he will continue to reign. Listen, God is not unconcerned about who sits in the white house, but another sense, it don't matter because God rules from the throne and that is what does matter. Hallelujah.

Second Chronicles 20, verse five and six, Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and in the house of the Lord. And he said, Oh Lord, the God of our fathers, art thou not in heaven? And art thou not ruler over the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in thy hands so that no one can stand against thee. Now I feel sorry for the losers in tonight's election.

I even feel sorry for the winners. If the hope of the nation rests on political power and the rule of men, we're in deep trouble. But tonight I'm going to go to bed with this word in my heart, power and might are in thy hand.

Hallelujah. And I'm going to wake up tomorrow and I'm going to also have that word in my heart, power and might belong to thy hand. So it don't matter who sits in the white house.

The Lord sits on his throne and no one can stand against him. Hallelujah. I was so blessed as I was studying for this message and I discovered, and I knew this, but it just hit me, one of the, you know, there are many names for God and names of Christ, descriptions of who he is.

And I forgot about this, this one. It's in Isaiah 44 and six. Isaiah refers to the Lord as the first and the last.

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and the Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am the first and I am the last and there is no God besides me. You see, God is always first and God will surely be last.

And John writes to the seven churches of Asia and he says in Revelation one, four, grace to you and peace from him who is and was and who is to come. Now you see, man has in the plan of God been granted considerable say so in determining the domestic and political and social affairs of his life. And thank God that we are in America and we can go to the polls today and we can vote.

And God has given men certain prerogatives and control over the affairs of his life. But man is not permitted to utter the first word of his existence or the last. That is the prerogative of the deity and one which he never surrenders to his creatures.

And you know, we as men, men and women have no say so about the time of our birth. God determines that without consulting us. I wasn't consulted about it.

I don't know if you were or not. Although I must say this, my mother listens to this on tape and I have to remind her every once in a while whenever she gives me trouble that my mother was very, very sick and had four children and she was very sick. And back in those days, the doctors prescribed for a lot of women like that to have another child that that would overcome their sickness.

So the doctor said, have another child. And so I came along and boy, when I found out that I ever rubbed that, did I ever use that? My mother gave me a hard time and I said, mother, don't forget if it wasn't for me, you'd be sick today. But God determines our, our beginning.

One day we appear on the scene without asking to be born. And when our free, then our free will and consciousness begins before that man has nothing to say about anything. But after how different is man, he struts and he boasts and he utters his defined proclamations of individual freedoms.

And he's encouraged. He's enamored by the sound of his own voice. And man is so bold to declare his own independence of God.

Some even calling themselves agnostics and atheists. And God says, go ahead, have your little fun, have your little fun because all it is is meaningless chatter between the first and the last. God has a first word and he's going to have the last word.

We had no vote at the first and we have no vote at the last. Psalms 49, 12 says, but man, despite his riches does not endure. He's like the beast that perish and God has the right to take over at the last, just where he began at the first.

And my friend, you are in the hands of God, whether you acknowledge it tonight or not. Remember he's the first and he's going to be the last. And the sooner you acknowledge him is that the better off your life is going to be.

And this knowledge of one who was the first and the last ought to humble us and it ought to encourage us. It should humble us when we remember how frail we are, how utterly dependent upon God we are. And it should encourage us to know that when everything else has passed away, it don't matter.

We will have God no surely as we did in the beginning. Our confidence is in him who was and is, and who is to come. And from the seven spirits who are before his throne and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the Kings of the earth to him who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood.

Now it would be great wisdom tonight if our new president and our Congress and our government officials would begin to live in light of this wonderful and terrible truth that God is the first and he's going to be the last. He's our first resource. He's going to be our last source and he's our only recourse.

And the remembrance of this would save nations from tragic, from, from tragedy and from bloodshed. If our laws, for example, if our legislators would have had written our laws against the background of this knowledge, they might be less arrogant and self-centered and anti-Christian. And you see if presidents and premiers and dictators were to think soberly of this great truth, they would not walk around as little gods.

When it's all said and done for America or for Bush and Dukakis or Gorbachev, they're going to have to deal with the one who was called the last. And you see, they're not really that important in the scheme of things, even though they may think it, they're not. God is going to have the last word.

Hallelujah. And when you read the newspapers tomorrow or anytime, and the news does not sound good. And when the clouds of, of the economy come in or political doom and judgment hangs over the city or over this nation, I, I encourage you nowaday, you ought to read the newspaper in one hand and have your Bible in the other hand.

And when you read it, you'll come to the same conclusion as I do. When you put down the paper, it don't matter. Hallelujah.

God is going to have the last word. Psalms two was one of my favorite. It don't matter.

Psalms. Listen to what it says. When the nations rage and the people plot in vain and the kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his anointed one saying, let us tear their feathers apart and cast away the cord from us.

That's talking about the cords of righteousness. Whenever they say that, when they say let's tear the feathers away, let's cast away all the restraints of righteousness. Remember, it don't matter.

The psalmist says, have a good Holy laugh. Why? Because he who sits in the heavens laughs and the Lord scoffs at them. He will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his fury.

And then the psalmist says, but as for me, it don't matter. I have installed my King upon Zion, my Holy mountain. I've already voted.

Hallelujah. The Kings on his mountain. You see this kingdom.

God's kingdom is one that comes not in a temporal takeover of political structures, but in the lasting takeover of a human heart by the rule of God. Psalms 102 says, even they will perish, but thou remain us and all of them will wear out like a garment. And I want to tell you, everybody is worn out from this already.

If ever that they're worn out already, everybody is saying the candidate, like two old garments, not, you know, I saw a cartoon the other day in the paper and a lady haulers out to her husband and she says, when am I going to be able to vote for somebody rather than again, somebody, he said, they're all wear out like an old garment, but thou remain is hallelujah. If ever an election demonstrated the futility of the hope of our nation, resting in an elected leader, it is this one, but you know, something, you know what God wants to do. God wants to develop in his people and inner confidence in the midst of outer chaos and inner confidence in the midst of outer chaos.

Go with me, if you will, to Hebrews chapter 12, chapter 12 and verse 26, it talks about how he goes about trying to develop this inner in us in the midst of outer chaos, verse 26. And his voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised saying yet once more, I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven. And this expression yet once more denotes the removing of those things, which can be shaken as of created things in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Now there are two things referred to here by the apostle. The first shaking he's talking about was what took a place on Mount Sinai, which had already passed. And then he's talking also about the coming of the Lord, what there's going to be another shaking.

And then he also talks about what's going to happen on planet earth and in the nations and in America and in our own lives and in the kingdom of the earth. In the meantime, between the shaking that already went on at Sinai, the shaking that's going to come yet is going to yet come. And you see the Hebrew writer here quotes these verses as the prophecy from Haggai, who said that God was going to shake the world by he did the first time by the giving of the law.

And then the Hebrews were shaken up over the fact that their whole system of salvation had been shaken to its core by the coming of Christ, who introduced the Christian faith. But the Hebrew congregation was being reminded here that indeed God was the one who was doing the shaking. And he was shaking the order of things that he himself made, but they were not to fear for the purpose of that shaking was so that the things which can be shaken should be removed so that the things which cannot be shaken would remain.

And everything God has done down through history was to point to a day when a man would, when they would have a man and man would trust in nothing except the King who was to come. Ezekiel prophesied this, and he speaks of a day when iniquity shall have an end. And he tells how it will be accomplished.

He said, I will overturn, overturn, overturn it. And the same meaning is the same meaning as the word shake here. And he said, I'm going to shake all of these things.

I'm going to shake all the earthly kingdoms. I'm going to shake up all your religious systems and it shall be no more until he come speaking of Christ. And when he comes, who's right it is, and I will give it to him.

Now, the very same truth was expressed by Paul in first Corinthians 15, 25, and he speaks of God's anointed and appointed King, his only begotten son. And he said of him, he must reign till he has put all his enemies under his feet. Now, what all of this teachers us is this.

It teaches us how we ought to act when anything or everything that God has created is in upheaval or confusion or revolution or convulsion. God wants to develop an attitude, a conviction, a confidence inside his people that when things go into confusion in the world at large or in your own world, that you will not fret. You will not be shaken, but you will stand firm with an it don't matter kind of faith.

You see, the Bible says that it rains on the just as well as on the unjust. Did you ever notice in a storm that you get just as wet as a sinner does. And when the economic storms come, there may be some of you here that are going to pay a price for it.

You may lose your job. Your world may be shaken, but you see that fact should not shake you. You see the child of faith, he sees all of this.

He feels it all. He experienced it all, but he said, it don't matter because I see beyond the shaking. And I know that the shaking is from God.

And I rejoice that the shaking is coming. Hallelujah. Because we know him who is the first and the last.

We have read the last chapter, the Christians win. The Christians win. Hallelujah.

You see, faith watches change. It watches revolution. It watches calamity and catastrophe.

We observe the coming judgment and the flood tides of growing apostasy. And we say, God is doing it. And folks, the Lord helping us, we want to as pastors to bring all this into perception, perspective for you, to foretell you of what's coming, but at the same time to give you an inner confidence in the midst of outer chaos.

Oh, I love Psalms 29 and 10. Listen to it. Listen to it.

It says, the Lord, the Lord sat as King at the flood. The Lord said it. You know what that means? He said it.

That's talking about the flood in Noah's day, the flood of it that came as a result of the other iniquity of mankind. And what does the Bible say that in these last days, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the end at the coming of the son of man church. We're in a flood.

There is a flood of iniquity, a flood of judgment and chaos and confusion is coming, but it don't matter because the Lord sits as King at the flood. Hallelujah. The Lord will give strength to his people.

The Lord will bless his people with peace. Glory to God. Glory to God.

Go with me to Mark chapter six. I want to show you a shaking, a simple illustration. You are very, very familiar with this, but this is interesting how the Lord shook the order of things for some disciples so they could develop inner confidence amidst outer chaos.

Mark chapter six, verse 45. It says, and immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side of Bethsaida while he himself was sending the multitude away. Now there's something quite unusual and unique that's going on here.

And the Lord is concerned. In fact, the King James language says on this occasion that he constrained them. There was an urgency.

He said, fathers, come on, come on, get in the boat, get out of here, get out of here, go across. I'll meet you on the other side. Now, you know what happened to them when they, when they got into the boat and they started across, it says that the storm verse 48 or 40, 47.

And when the evening, the boat was in the midst of the sea and he was alone on the land and seeing them straining at the oars for the wind was against them. Matthew's account says that they were battered by the sea. This was, there was another traumatic experience they also had upon the sea and it's in Matthew's account.

Don't turn there. I'll read it to you. And this time he got in the boat with them.

This was a, well, this was a second boat ride. It says, when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him and behold, there arose a great storm in the sea so that the boat was covered with the waves, but he himself was asleep. Now this storm was much worse than the other one that we read in Mark six and the literal meaning or description of this storm reads like this.

And behold, a great shaking occurred in the sea. What it was is a sea quake. The earth underneath the sea literally quaked.

And in fact, the word that describes the storm is seismos. S E I S M O S from which we get the word seismograph, a meter that indicates the amount of shaking or vibration in the earth in an earthquake. In other words, the storm at sea was caused by an earthquake under the sea.

Now I, I would say, wouldn't you say that that's some shaking? And wouldn't you say that those disciples were shook up? In fact, they cried out, Lord, save us. Now, why did Jesus on these two occasions, why did he put them through such a shaking? Why did he rock their boat? Because the Lord will always do that to his people. You see, when God wants to make a man, he always puts him in some storm.

He will always shake up the natural order of things in our lives. In order, Hebrew says in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. How many of you know that the Lord will attack our strength so that even where we think we're strong, we have to come and realize that we're weak in order that we have to depend upon him.

I know what that's all about. I don't know if you people know, listen, I, we've studied here many times. We enjoy preaching to you folk, but I don't know if you know what a traumatic experience it is for me to get up here and to preach a message.

And that's supposed to be my strength. But I learned long time ago that any, you know, a young convert asked me one time, he said, brother Don, do you get nervous when you preach? I said, listen, I get nervous if I don't get nervous. You see, God's called me to preach.

That's supposed to be my strength. But I learned long time ago that if I think that's my strength, that becomes my weakness. And God will attack at the very point of our strength in order to drain us.

Here, Jesus test his disciples at the point of their human strength. They were fishermen. They lived on the sea most of their lives.

They knew the sea of Galilee, like the back of their hand. They had been in rough waters before and Jesus purposely puts them to test in an area where they normally feel so self-confident in order to shake out of them all self-confidence and teach them only to trust in him in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. You need to understand why the Lord will rock your boat.

And sometimes you'll say, oh Lord, don't touch that area. The very area that you seem to have it all together. The thing that you're most adapt to, the thing that you're most talented in, the thing that's most precious to you, he'll rock it.

He'll rock your boat. Now the devil may attack your weakness and try to shake your faith, but the Lord will shake us up at the very center of our strength. The devil shakes us to defeat us.

The Lord shakes us in order to reveal us to ourselves so that we are totally dependent upon him. The only one in the boat who was not shaken with Jesus, but he himself was asleep. Why not? Because the Lord sat as king of the flood.

In this case, he slept as king of the storm, king of the quake. You see the reason for our spiritual earthquakes, and you may be going through tonight a number one or number 10 on the seismograph, the earthquake. The reason that he's going to do it is so that he might reveal himself to you.

So in the end, you look around at all of those things and say, that don't matter. That don't matter. I'm depending upon the Lord.

You see, our Lord knew that disciples were going to go through worse storms on land than the ones placed, the ones out on the sea. And they needed to learn the truth that when those things which can be shaken will be shaken. And the purpose is in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Somebody said in order to realize the worth of our anchor, we have to feel the strength of the storm. They needed to know that Jesus is a king who sits at the flood and who gives strength and faith and an inner confidence in the midst of outer chaos. And tonight, if you're being shaken by some affliction, don't push the panic button.

Push the praise button. Say, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.

You're shaking things up. And that brings me to another point. The reason that it don't matter when the shaking comes is that we have received a kingdom, a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Luke 21 17 refers to this kingdom. The scripture says, nor will they say, nor will they say, look, here it is in this political party or look there it is in that political party or that candidate or that man or that religious leader. He said, they're going to say that for behold, but they're wrong because the kingdom of God is within you.

Look again there at Hebrews 12 verse 28. Therefore the reason all the shaking is going on. Therefore, since we received the kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God and acceptable service with reverence and all you see our kingdom is not in a political party.

It's in a person. It's not in the election. It's in a person.

It's not in creative things. It's in the creator. Look again at one of those shakings that the disciples went through.

Go back again quickly. If you can back to Mark chapter six, there's one other little insight here. It's actually not in, well, we got to see it in Mark to understand it.

Verse 45 and it says, and immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him on the other side. But you got to go back. Look at verse 42.

We see the reason for the immediacy, the urgency, the constraint to get them out and rock their boat. It says, and they all ate and were satisfied and they picked up 12 full baskets of broken pieces and also the fish. And there were 5,000 men who ate the loaves and immediately he made us.

And then that's what he did. He made them get in there. But there's, there's another account.

It's John's account. There's something else that happened. And John is the one who tells us about it.

You don't need to turn there, but John 16, 14, it says wherefore, or therefore the people saw the miracle. They saw the sign, which he performed. And they said, this is a truth of prophet who has come into the world.

Jesus therefore perceived that they were intending to come and to take him by force, to make him King, withdrew again to the mountain by himself alone. You see, Jesus knew that it was not a good time for the disciples. They were too tempted to get their eyes on that miracle and on the material blessings and the excitement of the hour.

And in order to teach his disciples, not to get focused in on the fish, not to get focused in on signs and wonders, not to focus in on the externals of the kingdom. He puts them out in the boat and he shook them to the core of their being in a violent midnight storm. And at three o'clock in the morning, after they had strained at the oars so long, and they had no strength left in them, Jesus walks on the water and he appears to them.

And this is what it says in Mark 51, if you haven't still open. And he got into the boat, he got in the boat with him and the wind stopped and they were greatly astonished for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. Now, how many of you know that the blessings of God do not produce character? Living off of miracles and loaves and fish does not produce fruit in you.

It's wonderful to experience those things, but it's the violent boat rides in sudden storms that produce the kingdom of God within us. And you can be sure that whenever you get your eyes on created things, whenever you get your eyes on external things, that you will then be put through like you've never known in your life before, in order that you'll understand the more important truth of that kingdom of God that's within you. Hallelujah.

Because once you trust in that, then it don't matter. Then it don't matter. Now, Hebrews then tells us also, he said, therefore, since we received the kingdom, which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude.

But by which we may offer to God and acceptable service with reverence and all, you know, what happens to you when you understand this internal kingdom, once, once your dependency is only upon that internal kingdom, it changes your attitude to things around you. For example, what should be our acceptable service in a time of persecution? Some of you tonight may be going through a tough time on your job or in your home. Let me read Psalms 31, 13.

It says, for I have heard the slander of many. Terror is on every side. While they took counsel against me, they schemed to take away my life.

Now, if you're going through such a test, if you're being slandered or falsely accused or misunderstood, God's word said, it don't matter. Because the next verse, Psalms 31, 14 says, sure, there is all these things going on around me. People are attacking me.

But as for me, I trust in thee, O Lord, I say thou art my God. My times are in thy hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.

Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. Save me with thy loving kindness. If somebody's putting you through some heat at home or on the job or at school, if you're hearing the slander of many, pay no mind.

It don't matter. That need not affect you. Your response to persecution should be this.

This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two. Never before or never afterwards was anybody brought to Jesus through a roof or for a theater for that matter.

The normal way to Jesus, I say thou art my God. What about when calamity comes upon America or New York city? Listen to what it says, Psalms 18. Then the earth shook and quaked.

Will you also be shaken and quaking? When the foundations of the mountains were trembling and shaken because he was angry. This is talking about a time of God's judgment. And when this judgment comes, we're all going to feel the shaking.

As I already said to the economy of the government. But for the child of God, it doesn't matter because look what it says in Psalms 18 verses 16 to 19. He sent from on high.

He took me, he drew me out of many waters. They confronted me in the day of calamity, but the Lord was my stay. The Lord was my rock, my stay.

He brought me forth also into a broad place. I like that. He brought me into a broad place.

41st in fact, in Broadway, he brought me forth into a broad place. He rescued me because he delighted in me. Hallelujah folks.

God's going to keep his hand upon you in the midst of calamity. It don't matter. You're a child of God.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And then there's one more thing.

Pastor Bob prayed it here tonight. Interesting verse out of Isaiah 59, 19 King James version. It says, or maybe this was not the King James where it says, so shall they fear the name of the Lord from the West and the glory from the rising of the sun.

Yeah, I believe it is a King James. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall raise up a standard against him and the Redeemer will come to Zion. Now it's interesting that another translation quotes that word for flood and it uses this word.

It says he, the enemy will come in like a pent up flood. In other words, about a dam or a flood about to burst, it's all ready to come and sweep down on you. And you see, if you're facing a temptation, an enemy that is like a pent up flood and a dam of iniquity or trouble threatens to burst upon you, the promise of the Lord to you tonight is that it don't matter because the spirit of the Lord is able to raise up a standard and bring a wall of fire of up against the flood.

I don't know if you've ever seen a fire face a flood, but he'll put a wall of fire up against your flood and the enemy that comes in like a flood. Let me give you a personal illustration in closing. When I was in the seventh grade, I ran into a pent up flood.

I went from, uh, into junior high school. I changed schools, went into the seventh grade and being a little skinny runt that I was, I unfortunately ran into a pent up flood in a bully who made life miserable for me. He taunted me, he pushed me, he threatened me, threatened to beat my face in and I knew that he could.

And I dreaded for weeks, I dreaded going going to school because what I had to do is I had to chart my course according to his course. And I got to know his pattern of where he went and I had to go another way. But sometimes he changed his pattern and there I'd see him in the distance and I'd have to, or I'd see him behind me and I had to run to school to get there safely or I'd have to skirt down and hide.

And what if you've ever been through that, you know how embarrassing it is. Fortunately, the Lord blessed me with a buddy, a big buddy. And one day I was sitting, we came home from school and I was sitting in front of my house talking with my buddy.

We were engrossed in conversation and I didn't see bully coming. And all of a sudden I turned and there he stood right before me. And we went through this whole routine.

He said a few things and threatened me, but then he went on his way probably because my friend was sitting there and my friend said, what was that all about? And so I, we were friends by then. And so I opened up and I said, look, man, he's, he's giving me trouble. He's threatened me and this and that and so forth.

And he said, I'll take care of it. And he walked on and he went up and I looked to see if he was going to do anything, but he didn't. He just walked with a fella.

He walked along and nothing happened. The next day he came to me in school. He said, listen, he said, he knew I had a, a big room over a, like a playroom, a club room over our garage, two car garage.

And he said, listen, he said, uh, me and a fella going to have a fight tonight. Can you, can you set up a, a, a mattress, uh, in your garage? And I said, sure. Okay.

And so two of the seventh grade heavyweights were scheduled to fight it out in my garage. And the winner got me depending on who won. I was either going to be flat face or smiling face.

Well, fortunately I won. I mean, my buddy won. And you know, amazing thing happened the next day when I went to school, I'd see bully coming and he would remember what happened the day before.

And he remembered my buddy and he didn't bother me anymore. And I'd see him coming and I'd say to myself, it don't matter. It don't matter anymore.

And you know, it says in Psalms 112th chapter says, praise ye the Lord. Blessed is a man that fear of the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings.

His heart is fixed. It is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established.

He shall not be afraid until he sees his desire upon his enemies. Hallelujah. I saw my desire upon my enemy and it didn't matter anymore.

And I could go forth walking about saying it don't matter. And my friend, God wants to give you that kind of a faith. Hallelujah.

Inner confidence in the midst of all outer chaos. When everything is being shaken around you, praise God is being shaken because when all that passes away, there'll be something that remains. And that's the kingdom of God that is within you.

Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

Let's stand to our feet. Let's stand to our feet into the sea in the, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the boat. Paul said to the