And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! (Matthew 8:23-27, KJV)
That’s the challenge! What kind of Man is Jesus?! The world is looking for a man, a leader to follow. They’ll follow corrupt politicians, even Hitler or Stalin and one day, the Antichrist. But what kind of Man is this in the Bible? Don’t despise the Bible, this book changes men, destroys demons, breaks the curse of evil, gives life to the dead, healing to the sick, it’s the power of God in today’s world! It’s the Word of the living God.
In this story, Jesus was asleep, a storm arose, so the disciples woke Him, ‘We’re all going to die, it’s the end of the world…’ But Jesus just got up, He bound the storm, the winds stopped, the boat was safe, nobody died – and when those strong fishermen saw the demonstration of the power that this Man had over the elements, they said, ‘What kind of Man do we have in the boat?’
Anyone who has witnessed the real acts of God’s power in action in the 20th/21st century must ask the same question: what kind of Man is this?
The disciples thought He was asleep; the world today thinks He is merely a figure in history. But today Jesus is not a babe in His mother’s arms – He is a God of power, of action, of authority. He’s a Man real men can admire and follow! In churches I see images of Jesus as a powerless dead man on a cross. I know Jesus died, but everybody dies. Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, all died and one day, unless Jesus comes first, you will die too. But the difference is that when they put Jesus in a grave, it couldn’t hold Him, the power of the Holy Spirit came into His dead body, He broke open that grave, He came out, He’s alive! What kind of Man is this? The grave cannot hold Him – the wind and the sea are obedient to Him – no demon spirit in hell can stand against Him – no human can resist Him! That’s the kind of God that I have!
I often have to come against the devil. In 1998, I was in a town in Siberia called Magnitogorsk, preaching in a packed auditorium. I called the people to repent, then called the sick. One 43-year-old man came. As a boy of 17, he broke his back, not once, but twice. This man was crippled for life, the doctors couldn’t heal him, he was certified as an invalid of the first category, he had a state pension and could never work. In the beginning he was bedridden. Now he had learnt to walk with crutches, but for 15-20 days every month he was still totally bedridden. For 26 years the pain never left him. Now he came forward – and this same Jesus of the Bible was there! I looked at this 43-year-old crippled man and put my hand on him, ‘I believe God is good, the devil is bad – broken backs don’t come from God – the Bible says: ‘For this purpose was the Son of God revealed, to destroy the works of the devil!’ (1 John 3:8). Be healed in Jesus’ Name!’
I like people to demonstrate their healing, so I asked him to bend down. He refused. In his own words later he said, ‘I don’t know what happened, it must have been the Holy Spirit – but suddenly I found myself going over backwards in a bridge until my hands touched the ground! I had never done this before!’ That’s how great that miracle was.
The next night he came to tell everybody what God had done. There were some Satanists present and this man called them forward. ‘You believe in the devil, feel this big lump on my back – that’s what your master the devil did to me 26 years ago!’ Then suddenly he threw himself backwards, demonstrating his healing, then turned to the Satanists, ‘That’s what my Master Jesus did!’ Those Satanists repented because they saw the power of God! That’s right! God loves the sinners. The Bible says, Jesus said, ‘I didn’t come to call the good, the righteous, the religious,’ but to call the Satanists, the Neo-Nazis, drug addicts, alcoholics…
Eighteen months later we were back in the same town, Vladimir was the first to greet me. He’s brought many people to faith in Christ through his testimony – and he’s also got married since he was healed!
The disciples in the boat marvelled at Jesus – they didn’t realise they had this kind of Man in the boat! They were astonished, what kind of Man is this, He’s got so much power – not just women and children but the wind and the waves – they obey Him! He is the Lord of Heaven and earth, the Jesus who still works miracles today – He is the Son of the Living God! And He’s my Jesus! He’s real!
The first time I preached in Susuman, Siberia, in 1994, I only had two days in the stadium. On the first night the power of God came down and miracles started to happen. One woman came out of the hospital – God instantly healed her crippled legs. She asked me to come into the hospital with her the next day. The Holy Spirit said, ‘Go!’ Next morning, she ran up four flights of stairs and took me into a men’s ward. I laid hands on the first man in Jesus’ Name – his broken back was instantly healed and he got out of bed! The second man also had a broken back – he was instantly healed. The third man had lost his sight. In Jesus’ Name I rebuked the power of the devil. I gave him my interpreter’s Russian Bible and he began to read it. He was so excited, he ran all over the hospital, shouting, ‘It’s a miracle, I can see, look, I’m reading the Bible!’ – and he read the Word of God to the whole hospital! It was the demonstration of the power of Jesus through that blind man! The news spread and that night so many people came into the stadium, a quarter of the town repented in two days! That whole town was stirred by the power of God in a way I had never ever seen before in my life!
After I left, the priest cursed the people that were healed, he cursed the whole town. The next year I was asked back. The priest came into the meeting to curse me and the people, ‘I will drive you out of town with whips, I will denounce you on television.’ So I went to the television first! They gave me thirty minutes to speak. Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, I told the whole town that God loves them, I called them to repent – the entire message was shown on the main TV channel that night immediately before the international news! But because of the priest we could not use the auditorium that night, we had to preach in the street – we put our loudspeakers around Lenin’s statue! The priest sent a male witch who called evil spirits to destroy the meeting. He summoned an electric storm – these men have power – a great wind came and big drops of rain started to fall. I went straight up to that man, bound the power of the devil in him – my Jesus is Lord! There was a flash of lightning direct on the man, he fell to the ground, then ran down the street – and the rain followed him against the wind! I have never seen such a thing in my life before! Jesus has power over the wind and the rain, not just in Galilee! Now today in that town there’s a good pastor, a strong church, they’re on fire, and they’re training evangelists to win Russia for Christ!
We need to demonstrate the power and reality of the Gospel! We’re so far through prophecy, we don’t have time just for words, we need to see action! Let me challenge you – what kind of Man is this Jesus? Wherever I go, He’s in the boat! I’d rather be in a ‘storm’ with Jesus, than living in calm and peace without Him. I want you to know this real Jesus in your life. Most of us, even as believers experience some powerful storms in our lives – that is why we need the reality of the Man who can conquer them!
‘Jesus Your love lifted me’ used by kind permission of www.vinesong.com