Christ Stilling the Storm

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:05.200 The text is in. It's in the gospel of Mark Chapter Four versus thirty 2 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:15.509 five through forty one. Mark Chapter Four versus thirty five through forty one. 3 00:00:16.870 --> 00:00:21.269 This is God's word for us this morning, so let's pay heed to it. 4 00:00:24.100 --> 00:00:26.699 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, 5 00:00:26.780 --> 00:00:32.100 let us go across to the other side and, leaving the crowd, they 6 00:00:32.179 --> 00:00:36.250 took him with them in the boat, just as he was, and other 7 00:00:36.409 --> 00:00:41.609 boats were with him, and a great wind storm arose and the waves were 8 00:00:41.649 --> 00:00:46.850 broke, were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 9 00:00:47.609 --> 00:00:51.560 But he was in the Stern, asleep on the cushion, and they 10 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:55.320 woke him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we 11 00:00:55.399 --> 00:01:00.759 are perishing? And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea 12 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:06.510 peace, be still, and the wind ceased and there was a great calm 13 00:01:07.469 --> 00:01:11.629 and he said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you still 14 00:01:11.790 --> 00:01:18.700 no faith? And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, 15 00:01:18.859 --> 00:01:23.980 who then, is this that even wind and sea obey him? Please 16 00:01:25.060 --> 00:01:29.859 pray with me, father, this is your word. You caused it to 17 00:01:30.060 --> 00:01:34.170 be written, every word of it. It is your word, every jot, 18 00:01:34.329 --> 00:01:42.049 every tittle. We thank you for this beautiful story of Christ stilling the 19 00:01:42.129 --> 00:01:48.120 tempest, which tells us that there, that there is a theology of Christians 20 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:53.000 in suffering and trials that we are to remember and not to ever forget. 21 00:01:55.719 --> 00:02:00.000 So give us wisdom and discernment this morning to learn and apply this important lesson 22 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:02.150 in our faith. And we ask it for Jesus Sake. I'm in. 23 00:02:02.989 --> 00:02:14.509 Please be seated. You know, you think you know Jesus. You have 24 00:02:14.669 --> 00:02:20.740 a relationship with him. He's your savior, he's your Lord, he's your 25 00:02:20.780 --> 00:02:24.979 friend, you've talked to him, you commune with him. He he comforts 26 00:02:25.060 --> 00:02:31.009 you when you're sad, he provides for you when you're in need, he 27 00:02:31.169 --> 00:02:38.610 reassures you when you doubt. He's always there when you call upon him. 28 00:02:38.610 --> 00:02:46.599 He meets your needs, he does what's best for you. And then something 29 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:57.680 happens, something everything starts to unravel. You lose your job, you lose 30 00:02:57.719 --> 00:03:06.030 a loved one, you get sick, there's conflict in the church, your 31 00:03:06.189 --> 00:03:10.830 family is in disarray, your dreams and your aspirations come crashing down around your 32 00:03:10.870 --> 00:03:17.219 ears. You don't get that promotion and you think, Jesus, this isn't 33 00:03:17.300 --> 00:03:23.379 what you're supposed to do. This isn't the way things are supposed to be. 34 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:30.770 Jesus, don't you care? You find yourself in a storm. You 35 00:03:30.889 --> 00:03:35.129 know some of you this morning, or in a storm, maybe most of 36 00:03:35.250 --> 00:03:39.689 you. You know this week has been a storm and nothing about this week 37 00:03:39.770 --> 00:03:46.879 makes any sense. Do you know John Newton's prayer, a prayer answered by 38 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:54.439 crosses? The prayer of that old slave trader turned pastor goes like this. 39 00:03:57.870 --> 00:04:00.669 He says, and I quote, I asked the Lord that I might grow 40 00:04:00.870 --> 00:04:06.710 in faith and love and every grace, might more of his salvation, know 41 00:04:06.949 --> 00:04:13.659 and seek more earnestly his face. Twas he who taught me thus to pray, 42 00:04:14.699 --> 00:04:17.660 and he, I trust, has answered prayer, but it has been 43 00:04:17.819 --> 00:04:24.850 in such a way as almost drove me to despair. I hope that in 44 00:04:25.009 --> 00:04:31.449 some favored our at once he'd answer my request and, by his love's constraining 45 00:04:31.610 --> 00:04:39.519 power, subdue my sins and give me rest. Instead of this, he 46 00:04:39.720 --> 00:04:46.040 made me feel the hidden evils of my heart and let the angry powers of 47 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:53.470 hell assault my soul in every part. Yeay more, with his own hand, 48 00:04:53.589 --> 00:04:59.189 he seemed intent to aggravate my woe crossed all the fair designs, I 49 00:04:59.389 --> 00:05:04.910 schemed, blasted my gourds and laid me low. Lord. Why is this? 50 00:05:05.149 --> 00:05:10.779 I trembling cried. Wilt Thou pip, pursue thy worm to death. 51 00:05:12.779 --> 00:05:16.459 Tis In this way, the Lord replied, I answer prayer for grace and 52 00:05:16.620 --> 00:05:23.769 faith. These inward trials I employ from self and pride to set thee free 53 00:05:25.290 --> 00:05:30.689 and break thy schemes of earthly joy, that Thou may seek thy all and 54 00:05:30.970 --> 00:05:35.759 me. You know, if you don't know this poem of John Newton's, 55 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:42.360 it's also a hymn. Google it now, get it on the web, 56 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:46.439 prended out. Stick it in your bibles. I'm telling you, it will 57 00:05:46.519 --> 00:05:49.230 help you through many a trial. It will help you through many a storm. 58 00:05:50.949 --> 00:05:57.589 You see, that's what this story of Christ stilling the storm is all 59 00:05:57.670 --> 00:06:02.310 about. It's about life's trials and how we, as Christians, should deal 60 00:06:02.389 --> 00:06:08.259 with those trials. So, as we begin this morning, let me just 61 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:14.420 make a few general comments about this text. You know, each of the 62 00:06:14.500 --> 00:06:18.170 three Sonoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, includes this account of Jesus 63 00:06:18.250 --> 00:06:24.529 stilling the storm. It's an important miracle, not least because I think it 64 00:06:25.089 --> 00:06:30.730 recollects to us the power of God displayed over nature and some of the great 65 00:06:30.810 --> 00:06:33.720 miracles of the Old Testament, for example the parting of the waters of the 66 00:06:33.800 --> 00:06:42.199 Red Sea. It provides another demonstration that mark gives us of the identity of 67 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:46.870 Jesus with Yahweh of the Old Testament. It demonstrates that Jesus is God. 68 00:06:47.470 --> 00:06:54.430 He can control the weather, he can control nature. It's also interesting, 69 00:06:54.470 --> 00:07:00.939 I think, that this little account is vivid with many eyewitness details. The 70 00:07:01.060 --> 00:07:05.860 first one is in verse thirty six. You know, we see this curious 71 00:07:06.019 --> 00:07:13.899 detail that that they took Jesus along just as he was, which apparently means 72 00:07:14.779 --> 00:07:17.810 that Jesus was taken directly from the boat from which he had been teaching the 73 00:07:17.930 --> 00:07:24.290 crowds along the lake shore, without returning him to the shore. Now that's 74 00:07:24.370 --> 00:07:27.930 something that an eyewitness would remember, but no one else, I think, 75 00:07:28.290 --> 00:07:33.480 would think to add. A similar detail, not picked up again in the 76 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:39.000 account, is that there were other boats with them as they began their crossing 77 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:43.360 of the sea. You know, we're left to wonder what happened to these 78 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:48.470 these other boats in the storm, but mark says nothing about them. It's 79 00:07:48.470 --> 00:07:55.870 an eyewitness detail. Then there's that strange little detail here that Jesus was asleep 80 00:07:55.949 --> 00:08:01.500 in the back of the boat on a cushion. Again, it's an eyewitness 81 00:08:01.620 --> 00:08:07.740 detail. Now, I mentioned all this because these sorts of details, they 82 00:08:07.819 --> 00:08:13.610 don't have advanced the plot here. They don't develop any of the characters. 83 00:08:13.410 --> 00:08:18.449 They're basically irrelevant, they're unnecessary to the flow of the story, and I 84 00:08:18.569 --> 00:08:24.370 think that's what gives this story the marks of something that actually happened and it's 85 00:08:24.449 --> 00:08:28.879 being reported by someone who was actually there. In other words, we can 86 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:33.360 know that this story, which is all about the power of Jesus, really 87 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:41.629 happened. It's a true story. In other words, also in calm weather, 88 00:08:43.070 --> 00:08:48.389 a journey across the Sea of Galilee, depending upon one's destination along the 89 00:08:48.549 --> 00:08:54.509 fire shore, would probably taken an hour or two. But this is this 90 00:08:54.710 --> 00:09:03.019 lake is notorious for sudden and severe squalls. Now, the surface of the 91 00:09:03.100 --> 00:09:07.580 Sea of Galilee is about seven hundred feet below sea level and on several sides 92 00:09:09.100 --> 00:09:15.889 it's bordered by steep hills, including the goal on heights. Now what happens 93 00:09:15.929 --> 00:09:20.250 is the interchange between cooler air from the heights and the warmer air coming up 94 00:09:20.289 --> 00:09:26.639 from the surface of the lake creates conditions in which these winds sweep down the 95 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:33.200 ravines and they whip up unusually large waves for a lake that particular size, 96 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:41.509 and that's what happened here. It says in Verse Thirty Eight that Jesus is 97 00:09:41.789 --> 00:09:46.509 fast asleep even in the uproar of this storm, which is a testimony, 98 00:09:46.590 --> 00:09:50.990 I think that he's no doubt he's exhausted from his ministry. He has to 99 00:09:50.110 --> 00:09:56.620 get away from the crowds. By the way, this is the only passage 100 00:09:56.620 --> 00:10:01.419 in the gospels where we read that the Lord is sleeping, and the fact 101 00:10:01.460 --> 00:10:07.809 that the disciples, who make their living on the waters of this lake were 102 00:10:07.889 --> 00:10:11.809 so afraid indicates the severity of this storm. It was a big one. 103 00:10:15.570 --> 00:10:20.649 You know, this desperate and, we might think, disrespectful rebuke of Jesus 104 00:10:20.769 --> 00:10:26.960 by the disciples in Verse Thirty Eight, I think it's almost certainly of verbatim 105 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:33.480 recollection of what they said. See, this is the way people speak when 106 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:41.269 they're terrified. This word for rebuke in verse thirty nine. It's the same 107 00:10:41.309 --> 00:10:46.070 word used earlier by mark when the Lord rebuked the evil spirits in people. 108 00:10:46.909 --> 00:10:50.340 You know, the Lord speaks to this lake as if it were an unruly 109 00:10:50.460 --> 00:10:56.580 heckler. I think a good paraphrase of what he said is quiet, shut 110 00:10:56.659 --> 00:11:01.740 up. You know, whether evil spirits or forces of nature, they're all 111 00:11:01.899 --> 00:11:11.570 subject to his command. But power over nature even more starkly, I think, 112 00:11:11.649 --> 00:11:18.490 reveals Jesus Divine Authority. You know, there are remarkable parallels between this 113 00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:24.559 verse and Psalm One and seven, but they're the one who stills the storm. 114 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:31.000 In Psalm one hundred and seven is Yahwe now in verse forty one. 115 00:11:33.269 --> 00:11:39.070 The presence of the supernatural terrifies the disciples just as and even more than the 116 00:11:39.149 --> 00:11:46.950 storm had. Now even the prospect of their own death was not as discomfiting 117 00:11:46.179 --> 00:11:50.700 to them as the presence of God. And so, as this text ends, 118 00:11:52.500 --> 00:11:58.940 we're left with the question, in the midst of this storm, will 119 00:11:58.059 --> 00:12:05.490 these men put their faith, put their trust in Jesus? How should they 120 00:12:05.690 --> 00:12:11.929 respond to this serious trial that they're experiencing? So let's get into the boat 121 00:12:11.129 --> 00:12:16.519 with Jesus and these disciples and see what we can learn. You know, 122 00:12:16.679 --> 00:12:22.879 this story, this historical narrative, in the first place, is a revelation 123 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:28.600 of Jesus himself. It's a demonstration of his divine authority. It's a demonstration 124 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:33.990 of his power over the forces of nature, and that's really important for us 125 00:12:33.110 --> 00:12:37.710 to see that. But this story is much, much more than that. 126 00:12:39.669 --> 00:12:48.139 I think it's entirely proper to treat this passage as a lesson for us regarding 127 00:12:48.220 --> 00:12:54.539 the trials of our lives, the sorrows, the fears and confusion which we 128 00:12:54.700 --> 00:13:01.289 have to endure in this world. You know, Jesus asked his disciples immediately 129 00:13:01.370 --> 00:13:05.929 after calming the lake. Have you still no faith? So Jesus is interested 130 00:13:07.049 --> 00:13:11.250 not only in the facts about himself, but he's interested in the implication of 131 00:13:11.370 --> 00:13:18.759 those facts for us, his disciples. So the Lord turns this miracle into 132 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:22.360 an important lesson about my faith, in your faith, in trial, in 133 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:31.509 tribulation and frustration, in fear, in the storms of life. And what's 134 00:13:31.549 --> 00:13:37.789 our faith going to look like when things suddenly go south and we find ourselves 135 00:13:37.870 --> 00:13:43.100 in a situation these disciples found themselves in? You know, I think if 136 00:13:43.179 --> 00:13:48.580 there is a single and simple lesson to be learned from this narrative of the 137 00:13:48.700 --> 00:13:54.730 stilling of the storm, it's best captured by that old Anglican Bishop, Bishop 138 00:13:54.769 --> 00:14:01.929 J C Ryle, who put it this way. Raoul said sight, sense 139 00:14:03.090 --> 00:14:11.679 and feeling make even believers very poor theologians. Sight, sense and feeling make 140 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:18.200 even believers very poor theologians. And he went on. He says the size 141 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:22.159 of the waves and the fury of the wind, the sight of the water 142 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:26.549 accumulating in the bottom of the boat and of the boat sinking deeper into the 143 00:14:26.669 --> 00:14:31.870 waters of the lake, made the disciples forget almost everything they had already learned 144 00:14:31.830 --> 00:14:39.299 about Jesus, not everything, for they at least knew enough to wake up 145 00:14:39.299 --> 00:14:43.500 the Lord and cry out to him, but they did so after the manner 146 00:14:43.139 --> 00:14:48.460 of a desperate appeal to their last resort and in a spirit of despairing fear, 147 00:14:50.340 --> 00:14:56.370 master, master, we're going to drowned. You know, sitting here, 148 00:14:56.409 --> 00:15:03.009 dry and undisturbed, we may think very poorly of the disciples. I 149 00:15:05.090 --> 00:15:09.320 think we might smug smugly say, why didn't these guys put simply put two 150 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:15.919 and two together? You know, the one who had miraculously healed a leper 151 00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:20.279 and driven demons out of men obviously wasn't going to drown in a storm on 152 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:24.710 the Sea of Galilee. You know, why didn't one of them just say 153 00:15:24.830 --> 00:15:28.830 not to worry, let's just set here and see what happens. But not 154 00:15:28.950 --> 00:15:33.750 a single one of them thought that. Not a single one of them said 155 00:15:33.789 --> 00:15:41.299 that. And far too often you and I are just like them, just 156 00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:50.450 as forgetful, just as mesmerized by the waves when our trials come. You 157 00:15:50.490 --> 00:15:56.450 know it's true. You know we see the waves, we hear the wind, 158 00:15:58.129 --> 00:16:03.450 we sense the danger, and our trouble consumes us in the same way. 159 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:07.440 And though we're Christians, we appeal to the Lord only as a kind 160 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:12.879 of desperate afterthought. Why aren't you doing something, Lord? Can't you see 161 00:16:12.919 --> 00:16:18.870 that? I that I that I'm drowning here. We can't hear our theology, 162 00:16:19.230 --> 00:16:22.990 we can't hear our Christology, what we know to be true about Christ. 163 00:16:26.110 --> 00:16:30.710 That can't be heard in our souls over the moaning of the wind and 164 00:16:30.870 --> 00:16:36.580 the crashing of the waves. And here's the point, here's the lesson. 165 00:16:37.379 --> 00:16:41.460 There is a theology for Christians, for you and me, in suffering, 166 00:16:42.059 --> 00:16:48.529 to be remembered and not forgotten, and I think that theology is clearly depicted 167 00:16:48.610 --> 00:16:53.970 here in this account of Christ tilling the storm. You know, one of 168 00:16:55.009 --> 00:17:02.080 the best definitions of personal faith that I've run into lately is this. Faith 169 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:08.519 is confidence in Christ as able to act suitably to the occasion. Faith is 170 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:15.069 confidence in Christ as able to act suitably to the occasion. And I think 171 00:17:15.069 --> 00:17:22.109 that's true, and at least three particular aspects, all of which are highlighted 172 00:17:22.190 --> 00:17:30.859 in this wonderful account of the calming of the storm. First, the troubles 173 00:17:32.099 --> 00:17:38.900 which so much disturbed and distress these disciples were the Lord's doing. Look at 174 00:17:38.940 --> 00:17:47.809 Verse Thirty Five. It was the Lord's idea to take a boat across the 175 00:17:47.930 --> 00:17:52.890 lake, and one Peter's idea, when John's idea. It was the Lord's 176 00:17:52.970 --> 00:17:56.970 idea. Now they would never have been in this pickle, they would never 177 00:17:57.049 --> 00:18:00.799 have been on that lake that night but for the Lord's decision. That was 178 00:18:00.920 --> 00:18:07.319 the Lord's doing. Now he was tired, he was exhausted, he had 179 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:11.839 to get away from the crowds. So it was the Lord's needs and the 180 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:17.390 Lord's purposes that had put the disciples in this difficulty. So, given that, 181 00:18:18.470 --> 00:18:22.950 what do you think their response of the disciple should have been? Well, 182 00:18:22.950 --> 00:18:29.980 let me suggest this. You know, had the disciples had the faith 183 00:18:30.339 --> 00:18:33.740 the size of a grain of mustard seed, which, by the way, 184 00:18:33.819 --> 00:18:38.420 Jesus had been taught that had just taught that earlier in the day, I 185 00:18:38.539 --> 00:18:42.450 think these disciples would have come to Jesus in the boat and said not master, 186 00:18:42.690 --> 00:18:48.170 master, were going to drown, but let's just sit back and see 187 00:18:48.210 --> 00:18:52.970 how the Lord is going to deal with this rather interesting situation, knowing that 188 00:18:52.049 --> 00:18:57.759 these troubles had been ordered for them by the Lord. No, think now, 189 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:06.000 if the Lord could still a great storm by merely rebuking the wind and 190 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:10.109 the waves, is it not obvious that he could have prevented the storm from 191 00:19:10.150 --> 00:19:14.589 rising in the first place? Now, he could have ordered up a glassy, 192 00:19:14.789 --> 00:19:18.109 smooth water, he could have ordered up a bit of a tailwind. 193 00:19:21.750 --> 00:19:26.460 If you find yourself in a storm, your merciful savior has had a hand 194 00:19:26.579 --> 00:19:36.859 in that. Faith knows that. Sight does not site forgets that, and 195 00:19:37.140 --> 00:19:41.569 I think knowing this as a very large part of the hope and the peace 196 00:19:41.650 --> 00:19:45.329 and the strength that we need in the storms of life. You know, 197 00:19:45.490 --> 00:19:52.480 my experience has been that it has been a large part of my deliverance from 198 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:57.279 various trials just to know that this is the Lord's plan, this is his 199 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:02.200 purpose, that it was his plan for me to pass through these waters, 200 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:10.789 whatever that water was. Now, he who loves us with an everlasting love, 201 00:20:11.150 --> 00:20:15.349 could have kept us from every one of our trials, every one of 202 00:20:15.390 --> 00:20:22.140 our heartbreaks, every one of our dangers. That he has not, I 203 00:20:22.259 --> 00:20:26.900 think, is the clearest indication that he intends for us to face this trouble 204 00:20:26.859 --> 00:20:33.940 or that trouble. Dear. One's nature is powerful, but a storm doesn't 205 00:20:33.980 --> 00:20:40.049 love you, a storm is indifferent to you, but God is all powerful 206 00:20:41.049 --> 00:20:45.769 and he is filled with an untamable love for each of us. So I 207 00:20:45.890 --> 00:20:51.400 think that's one thing that we can get from this text. The troubles which 208 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:57.680 so much disturb us are the Lord's doing, I think. Second, the 209 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:03.200 troubles which so frightened the disciples posed no real danger to them at all, 210 00:21:04.349 --> 00:21:10.789 with Christ present with them, as he was. You know, in the 211 00:21:10.910 --> 00:21:18.509 aftermath of this storm, it's clear what a blunder these disciples made and why 212 00:21:18.549 --> 00:21:22.099 they had nothing to say when the Lord effectively rebuked them for their lack of 213 00:21:22.180 --> 00:21:27.259 faith. They had been terrified for their lives, while the Mac Maker of 214 00:21:27.380 --> 00:21:33.930 heaven and earth lay a few feet away from them sleeping peacefully. Now, 215 00:21:33.009 --> 00:21:40.450 these these guys didn't know everything about Jesus of Nazareth, but they knew enough 216 00:21:40.569 --> 00:21:47.160 by now that he was the Messiah. They had considered it the most sensible 217 00:21:47.240 --> 00:21:52.400 thing to leave their livelihoods to serve him. They had witness, at witness, 218 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:55.960 all his miracles, all of his healings, is casting out of demons. 219 00:21:56.279 --> 00:22:00.640 Did they really think that God's plan for the world would come to an 220 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:07.869 end because of some unforeseen accident, Jesus drowning while crossing the see of Galilee? 221 00:22:07.750 --> 00:22:14.869 Couldn't they see that no boat ferrying the son of God, the Savior 222 00:22:14.950 --> 00:22:18.740 of the world, was going to sink? Couldn't they see that there was 223 00:22:18.859 --> 00:22:26.019 no safer place in all this great universe and in that boat on the lake 224 00:22:26.059 --> 00:22:33.130 on that night? No, they couldn't see any of that, because, 225 00:22:33.250 --> 00:22:37.609 while the eyes of their bodies were wide open and terror struck by the side 226 00:22:37.609 --> 00:22:41.569 of the ways, the eyes of their souls, their faith, were slam 227 00:22:41.769 --> 00:22:47.960 shut. And we can fire too often, I think, be just like 228 00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:52.839 the disciples on the lake that night. What we can see with our eyes 229 00:22:53.039 --> 00:23:03.430 and hear with our ears often mesmerizes us. We forget that our savior promised 230 00:23:03.470 --> 00:23:08.589 that he would never leave us or forsake us and that he will be with 231 00:23:08.750 --> 00:23:12.579 us to the end of the world, that he will always provide a way 232 00:23:12.619 --> 00:23:17.460 of escape from our tests and our trials and that he knows how to deliver 233 00:23:17.740 --> 00:23:26.099 the godly from their troubles. God forgive us that we can sometimes think and 234 00:23:26.220 --> 00:23:30.930 behave as if our Lord Christ, our master and commander, were on the 235 00:23:30.009 --> 00:23:36.930 far side of the world, unaware of our circumstances, uncaring of our plight, 236 00:23:37.730 --> 00:23:41.170 instead of in the stern of the very boat in which were rowing through 237 00:23:41.250 --> 00:23:47.079 the storm. Now, what a difference it would have made if the disciples 238 00:23:47.160 --> 00:23:52.880 had exercised their faith that night on the lake. I tell you, they 239 00:23:52.920 --> 00:23:59.269 would have felt alive. Now, it would have been vitality, not fear, 240 00:23:59.549 --> 00:24:02.109 that it would have filled their hearts. They would they would have felt 241 00:24:02.990 --> 00:24:10.180 and I think they would have written home saying what Winston Churchill told his mother 242 00:24:10.299 --> 00:24:15.460 from Cuba after participating in a battle in eighteen ninety five. Churchill wrote told 243 00:24:15.539 --> 00:24:19.779 his mother, you know, there is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot 244 00:24:19.859 --> 00:24:26.650 at and missed. Dear ones, I don't know what storms you're rowing through 245 00:24:26.009 --> 00:24:33.210 this morning. I'm rolling through my own storms, but I do know that, 246 00:24:33.369 --> 00:24:38.720 whatever your troubles and sorrows and dangers may be, if you see the 247 00:24:38.920 --> 00:24:44.799 Lord at your side, if you see heaven before your face if you see 248 00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:48.880 the angels camped around you. If you see that, then suddenly, instead 249 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:53.150 of fear and this creeping despair, you will discover that there is a certain 250 00:24:53.309 --> 00:25:00.269 exhilaration to being shot at and missed. So I think that's that's a second 251 00:25:00.309 --> 00:25:06.589 thing. Now, the troubles which so frightened US pose no real danger to 252 00:25:06.750 --> 00:25:15.220 us with Christ present with us as he is. And finally, I think 253 00:25:15.259 --> 00:25:22.170 the troubles and dangers which so disturbed and distress these disciples were, in fact 254 00:25:22.769 --> 00:25:30.170 they were primarily opportunities for Christ to manifest himself and reveal his glory among his 255 00:25:30.369 --> 00:25:37.839 people. You can't tell me and when all this was over, you know, 256 00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:42.440 when this lake was calm and the wind was just a gentle Zeph Zephyr. 257 00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:48.559 You know, with the adrenaline still pumping through the veins from what they 258 00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:51.990 had just gone through, you can't tell me that even one of those disciples 259 00:25:52.309 --> 00:25:56.869 would rather have stayed behind and missed out on all that action. Not on 260 00:25:56.990 --> 00:26:03.430 your life. You know what they had seen would stay with them, vivid 261 00:26:03.509 --> 00:26:07.779 in their memories, to strengthened and encourage them. They would take that experience 262 00:26:07.460 --> 00:26:14.700 with them to their graves. But don't you see? No great demonstration of 263 00:26:14.900 --> 00:26:18.849 divine power, calming a storm, can be given without a storm to come. 264 00:26:19.490 --> 00:26:23.369 Now, these disciples would never have seen what they saw had there not 265 00:26:23.529 --> 00:26:30.769 been waves and win for the savior to rebuke. You know, Sam Samuel 266 00:26:30.809 --> 00:26:37.240 Rutherford, once wrote that the Lord, he said, ties terrible notts just 267 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:41.440 to have the pleasure of loosening them off from those he loves. He lays 268 00:26:41.559 --> 00:26:45.720 nets and sets traps only that he may get a chance of healing broken bones 269 00:26:47.150 --> 00:26:55.109 and setting the terrified free. And that marvelous in that exhilarating dear was what 270 00:26:55.230 --> 00:27:00.789 a completely different, wonderfully different way to look at the troubles we face, 271 00:27:02.019 --> 00:27:06.539 to see them as opportunities for the Lord to show himself to us as our 272 00:27:06.619 --> 00:27:14.460 deliverer and savior and friend and all powerful protector and and and this isn't just 273 00:27:14.619 --> 00:27:18.170 some psychological ploy, some trick that we play on ourselves when we do that. 274 00:27:19.609 --> 00:27:22.450 Rather, it's nothing more nor less than the practice of the truth. 275 00:27:23.490 --> 00:27:32.519 The playing out of true faith in all the disciples straining at the oars, 276 00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:38.200 all of their worry and fear was nothing but a setting of the stage for 277 00:27:38.359 --> 00:27:44.829 the Lord Christ to thrill them with his power and glory to show them what 278 00:27:44.950 --> 00:27:48.950 a savior and what a salvation they had got in the son of God. 279 00:27:49.750 --> 00:27:56.309 And our troubles are the same. Thou'll have the same thrilling, exhilarating effect 280 00:27:57.190 --> 00:28:03.940 if we practice faith in the midst of storms and see the Lord rising up 281 00:28:03.980 --> 00:28:08.740 to help us. Well, as I wrap this up, I want you 282 00:28:08.779 --> 00:28:15.490 to notice one more thing. Notice that the Lord doesn't simply encourage us here. 283 00:28:15.529 --> 00:28:22.730 He actually rebukes us. Now, because I think of our modern therapeutic 284 00:28:22.849 --> 00:28:26.210 way of dealing with people who failed or people who are in trouble. We 285 00:28:26.250 --> 00:28:30.400 might miss that in the Lord's words here, but he rebukes these men for 286 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:36.359 the lack, for their lack of faith. You know, we might have 287 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:41.710 thought that he would put an arm around Peter or John or maybe tussle James 288 00:28:41.990 --> 00:28:45.710 Wet here hair and say, with a smile, you know, come on, 289 00:28:45.789 --> 00:28:48.950 guys, what do you think I am? Chopliver? You guys crack 290 00:28:48.069 --> 00:28:52.630 me up. You didn't have to worry. No, sorry, I didn't 291 00:28:52.670 --> 00:28:56.500 wake up sooner. I could have stopped the storm before it got started. 292 00:28:56.740 --> 00:29:00.059 But he didn't say that, did he? Instead, he said why are 293 00:29:00.099 --> 00:29:06.140 you so afraid? Have you still no faith? Or, to put in 294 00:29:06.500 --> 00:29:11.809 another way, after all you've seen me do and heard me say, do 295 00:29:11.930 --> 00:29:18.450 you still understand nothing at all? You know, we all need encouragement in 296 00:29:18.730 --> 00:29:22.809 many ways, and the Lord gives us that. He gives us that in 297 00:29:22.849 --> 00:29:30.279 abundance. But from time to time we also need to hear that our faithless 298 00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:34.480 ways, especially in the light of the Lord's many demonstrations of his faithfulness to 299 00:29:34.559 --> 00:29:41.029 us over the years of our lives, are inexcusable. There are sin we 300 00:29:41.069 --> 00:29:45.869 must repent of those and put them to death. You know, there is 301 00:29:45.990 --> 00:29:53.339 no excuse for us not to understand that our troubles are no accident but have 302 00:29:53.460 --> 00:29:57.140 been brought to us by the Lord himself, that he is with us in 303 00:29:57.500 --> 00:30:03.619 and through them and that we cannot sink so long as he is there to 304 00:30:03.740 --> 00:30:08.450 save us, and that our trials are his opportunities to thrill us, as 305 00:30:08.529 --> 00:30:15.089 he thrilled the disciples that long ago night. We need rebuke, and that 306 00:30:15.250 --> 00:30:21.960 rebuke, I think, is a powerful encouragement in itself. You know, 307 00:30:22.039 --> 00:30:27.079 there's a young woman, I know she's a marvelous, marvelous songwriter. She 308 00:30:27.160 --> 00:30:32.119 attends a big PCA church in Atlanta, Georgia. It's called perimeter PCA. 309 00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:36.430 Her name is Laura's story. I don't know if any of you've heard of 310 00:30:36.549 --> 00:30:42.710 her. About ten years ago, suddenly, out of the blue, during 311 00:30:42.750 --> 00:30:49.140 a routine check up, doctor's found a brain tumor and her husband it was 312 00:30:51.019 --> 00:30:53.460 pretty serious and they originally thought that it was inoperable, that he wasn't going 313 00:30:53.500 --> 00:31:00.059 to make it. Laura and her housemen were devastated and they they had the 314 00:31:00.140 --> 00:31:03.859 same questions, exactly the same questions that these disciples had. You know, 315 00:31:03.980 --> 00:31:07.890 why, Lord? Why us? Lord? Don't you care about us? 316 00:31:07.130 --> 00:31:15.210 Are you asleep? What's happening to us? And that news started a long 317 00:31:15.329 --> 00:31:21.599 journey for this young couple. Surgery, Chemo, ups and downs, good 318 00:31:21.640 --> 00:31:26.440 days and bad days, and through it all Laura's story and her husband learned 319 00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:30.720 the lessons, I think, we find in this short narrative of Christ stilling 320 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:37.230 the storm. Well, Laura's husband survived. Today they have two wonderful, 321 00:31:37.230 --> 00:31:45.430 beautiful children. She wrote a song called blessings, which I think expresses their 322 00:31:45.509 --> 00:31:52.019 experience of rowing against this brain tumors storm. So wonderful testimony which captures, 323 00:31:52.700 --> 00:32:00.220 I think, the essence of the lessons of this biblical narrative and the lyrics 324 00:32:00.259 --> 00:32:07.210 go like this. We pray for blessings, we pray for peace, comfort, 325 00:32:07.450 --> 00:32:14.569 for family protection while we sleep. We pray for healing, for prosperity, 326 00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:20.240 We pray for your mighty hand to ease our suffering, and all the 327 00:32:20.319 --> 00:32:24.960 while you hear each spoken need. You love US way too much to give 328 00:32:25.079 --> 00:32:31.150 us lesser things. Because what if your blessings come through rain drops? What 329 00:32:31.269 --> 00:32:37.309 if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what 330 00:32:37.470 --> 00:32:43.950 it takes to know you're near? What if trials of this life are your 331 00:32:44.029 --> 00:32:52.019 mercies in disguise? We pray for wisdom, your voice to hear. We 332 00:32:52.220 --> 00:32:57.299 cry in anger when we cannot feel you near. We doubt your goodness, 333 00:32:57.700 --> 00:33:01.890 we doubt your love, as if every promise from your word is not enough, 334 00:33:02.450 --> 00:33:08.130 and all the while you hear each desperate plea and long that we'd have 335 00:33:08.329 --> 00:33:16.720 faith to believe when friends betray us, when darkness seems to win. We 336 00:33:16.880 --> 00:33:22.880 know that pain reminds this heart that this is not this is not our home. 337 00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:29.109 It's not our home, because what if your blessings come through rain drops? 338 00:33:29.829 --> 00:33:34.869 What if you're healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights 339 00:33:34.950 --> 00:33:40.700 or what it takes to know you're near? What if my greatest disappointments or 340 00:33:40.779 --> 00:33:47.900 the aching of this life is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't 341 00:33:47.900 --> 00:33:53.380 satisfy? What if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, 342 00:33:54.339 --> 00:34:01.849 the hardest knights, are your mercies in disguise, Jesus, calming the storms 343 00:34:02.009 --> 00:34:07.369 of our lives? Dear ones, the Lord's in the boat with us. 344 00:34:09.280 --> 00:34:15.280 He's with you in your loneliness. He's with you in your worry, yes, 345 00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:21.000 in your worry about the future or your job. He's with you in 346 00:34:21.079 --> 00:34:27.389 the troubles you have with your kids, with your husband, with your wife, 347 00:34:27.670 --> 00:34:32.230 with your boss. He's with you and your sickness and those of your 348 00:34:32.309 --> 00:34:36.869 loved ones, and he will be with you still on your death bed. 349 00:34:37.230 --> 00:34:44.980 And he who simply spoke and calmed a great storm, is fully able to 350 00:34:45.179 --> 00:34:50.260 hold you up and deliver you when his waves and breakers sweep over you. 351 00:34:51.340 --> 00:34:54.289 And you see, if you call this to mind, if you keep it 352 00:34:54.449 --> 00:35:00.050 in mind, it is, after all, a frequently taught lesson in the 353 00:35:00.170 --> 00:35:06.250 Bible. I promise you, in the Lord's name, you will, far 354 00:35:06.369 --> 00:35:10.679 more often than is now the case, have occasion to say with wonder and 355 00:35:10.840 --> 00:35:19.559 with exhilaration, who, then is this that even wind and sea obey him? 356 00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:22.110 Let's pray