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"The Problem With Hardened Hearts!" By Shane C. Montgomery

  When Jesus walked on the sea it was a sign of His divinity, but more important than that and not to contradict your Sunday school teacher, His walking on the sea was a message to His future ministers.

Take a moment to familiarize yourself with these verses from Mark and see if you see this, I underlined the key verse for you,..........


"And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. 46 And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. 47 And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. 48 And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. 49 But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: 50 For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. 51 And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. 52 For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened."                                             Mark 6:45-52 (KJV)

 Jesus, always the Teacher, always training His twelve ministers, those men who would go into the world and preach the Gospel.  He gives them a crash course in just how strong He is and just how weak we ministers are.  Of course I do not compare myself with His original apostles, that would mean I was called forth by the living lips of Christ while He was walking this world during His ministry 2,000 years ago, and no, I am not that old!  There is no such animal as an "Apostle" or a "Prophet" for that matter, anymore.

"God's Way Of Holiness" By Horatius Bonar

The way of peace and the way of holiness lie side by side, or
rather, they are one. That which bestows the one imparts the
other; and he who takes the one takes the other also. The
Spirit of peace is the Spirit of holiness. The God of peace is
the God of holiness. If at any time these paths seem to go asunder, there must be something wrong•wrong in the  teaching that makes them seem to part company, or wrong in the state of the man in whose life they have done so. They start together, or at least so nearly together that no eye, save the divine, can mark a  difference. Yet, properly speaking, the peace goes before the holiness, and is its parent.  This is what divines call "priority in nature, though not in time," which means substantially this, that the difference in such almost identical beginnings is too small in point of time to be perceived  by us, yet it is not on that account the less distinct and real.

Luther's Reply to the Diet of Worms

 "Since your majesty and your lordships desire a simple reply, I will answer without horns or teeth. Unless I am convinced by Scripture and by plain reason (I do not believe in the authority of either popes or councils by themselves, for it is plain that they have often erred and contradicted each other) in those Scriptures that I have presented, for my conscience is captive to the Word of God, I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen." 
— Martin Luther

"Christ's Holy Sufferings" by Martin Luther (1483-1546)

How to Contemplate Christ's Holy Sufferings

THE TRUE AND THE FALSE VIEWS OF CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS
A Sermon on Matt 21:1-9

SECTION I. THE FALSE VIEWS OF CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS.
1. In the first place, some reflect upon the sufferings of Christ in a way that they become angry at the Jews, sing and lament about poor Judas, and are then satisfied; just like by habit they complain of other persons, and condemn

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THE SERMONS OF MARTIN LUTHER, VOL. II, PAGE 184
and spend their time with their enemies. Such an exercise may truly be called a meditation not on the sufferings of Christ, but on the wickedness of Judas and the Jews.

"Charity, Or A Christian Spirit, Willing To Undergo All Sufferings In The Way Of Duty" By Jonathan Edwards

1 Corinthians 13:7. . . 

beareth all things.

HAVING in the previous verses declared those fruits of charity that consist in doing, the apostle now proceeds to speak of those that have reference to suffering; and here he declares that charity, or the spirit of Christian love, tends to dispose men, and make them willing, to undergo all sufferings for Christ's sake, and in the way of duty. This I suppose to be the meaning of the expression, "beareth all things." Some, I know, would understand these words as referring only to the meek bearing of injuries from our fellowmen. But it seems to me that they are rather to be understood in the sense here given, of suffering in the cause of Christ and religion; and that for the following reasons:

A modern English version of the Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,

eternally begotten from the Father, God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God, begotten, not made, of the same substance as the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven:

by the power of the Holy Spirit

he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered, died, and was buried.

On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,

and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father (and the Son).

With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.

He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come. Amen.

(Note that, while this version is in the plural, the original Greek is in the first-person singular. )

"The Mystery of Sanctification" by William S. Plumer

"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18)

There is a great mystery in sanctification. It is a mystery for the love it displays, for the power it manifests, for the method it employs, and for the work it accomplishes. When Moses looked upon that bright effulgence in the mount, he gradually caught some of the same glory, so that his face shone. When we behold the image of the invisible God, as it is presented in the person and character of Christ, we too are made like it, not indeed by a mere natural effect, but "by the Spirit of the Lord." Likeness to God alone is holiness. Growth in this likeness is growth in grace. It is all by Jesus Christ.