Please open your Bibles to the
fourth chapter of Mark's gospel. Mark chapter four. 43 years ago, when I was 26 years
old, I'd been pastoring for a few years. And I preached in a number
of conferences and other places. But I was asked to go out to
Appomattox, Virginia and preach in a Bible conference. And I
was asked to go out and preach. Then I found out who was preaching
with me. I was going to be preaching with
Brother Henry Mahan, who was already an old man. He was about
52 then. Old man. And then Brother R.J. Coots, and Brother Jack Shanks. They were right up there, two
old men. And Brother C.O. Jackson, he was sure enough an
old man. He was nearly 70. And I was as nervous as an Arab
in Israel, as we used to say when I was a boy. But I was in
my room studying one day, and Brother Mahan came by, knowing
the kind of pressure I was under. And we chatted a little while,
as he wisely did. He would chat and we'd talk about
most anything, birds or baseball or basketball or something. And
then he'd start to leave and tell me what he came for. And
he said, he said, Brother Fortner, forget about those preachers
out there. A lot of preachers meeting. Forget about those fellas. And find somebody in your mind's
eye, looks like a farmer, Poor man who just buried his wife,
fixing to bury his only son, and looks like he's going to
lose his farm. And if you can preach to him, everybody else
will profit by it. That's good advice. I've got
a lot of friends who are going through a lot of trouble, a lot
of pain, a lot of difficulty. They bury it much alone. before
God many times because it's things that call shame. It's things
that embarrass them. And they're very much alone with
other things because it's just easier that way before God. But hear me, my brother, my sister,
my friend. In the midst of all the pain
and heartache the difficulty, the bereavement, the suffering,
the hard times, the heaviness. God didn't just allow it. God
did it just for you. Just for you. Not to you, for
you. For your benefit, for the benefit
of your soul, for the glory of his son. The psalmist said, he
performeth all things for me. What a word. What a word. He performeth all things for
me. Have you found Mark chapter four? Verse 35. The same day when the even was
come, the Lord Jesus saith unto them, let us pass over unto the
other side. Let us pass over unto the other
side. And when they had sent away the
multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there
were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great
storm of wind. And the waves beat into the ship
so that it was now full. And was on the, it was now full
that he was in the hind part of the ship asleep on a pillow. And they awake him and say unto
him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose
and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, peace be still. And the wind ceased and there
was a great calm. And he said unto them, why are
you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? and they feared exceeding them
and said one to another, what manner of man is this that even
the wind and the sea obey him? Our Lord Jesus and his disciples
were crossing the Sea of Galilee. As they did, a terrible storm
arose, a storm so great, the wind so great, that the waters
filled the ship. and the disciples were panicked.
They were terrified, as we would be, as we would be. They were out there going across
the sea, everything just fine, and suddenly a storm comes up,
and the boat they're in is full of water, and the wind's blowing,
and the waves are tossing, and they were filled with unbelief.
They cried out, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And
the Lord Jesus arose, Calmly. I find that amazing. He just
arose calmly. And calmly rebuked their unbelief. And by the mere word of his power,
calmed the sea and the storm. Now, few, if any, of our Lord's
miracles were so likely to leave a lasting impression an unforgettable
convincing impression on his disciples of his absolute omnipotence
as this. At least four of them were experienced
fishermen and seamen. Peter and Andrew and James and
John from their youth had been on the Sea of Galilee. They had
seen many of these Galilean storms. They had seen many ships wrecked
and many lives lost. They had been exposed to those
things from their youth. And here stands a man on a ship
with them, and he simply says to the wind and the storm, peace,
be still. There's not even an indication
that he raised his voice. He just said, peace, be still. And immediately, the wind quit
blowing. And the waves quit roaring. And
the storm ceased. And there was great calm. Now
there are many, many important lessons taught in these verses. We would be wise to ask the Spirit
of God frequently to remind us of them. Let me give them to
you. I'll just give you the lessons
and move on with my message, but they're worth hearing and
remembering. The first obvious lesson is this.
Faith in Christ and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ do not
in any way at any time exempt God's saints from the storms
that all other men face in this world. People have the foolish notion
because they've been taught by foolish lying preachers that
faith in Christ suddenly brings you into a life that's just filled
with roses and money and peace and happiness. That's just not
so. Faith in Christ and obedience
to Christ will not exempt you from all the pain and heartache
and trouble that other people experience in this world. Here's
the second lesson. The fact that our Lord Jesus
was asleep in the hind part of the ship is one of those many,
many wonderful demonstrations of this fact. He who is our Savior
is a real man, just like you. He really was and really is a
man, just like you. Marvin had been preaching all
day, performing miracles. And when he got done preaching,
he pulled his disciples aside, said, now let me tell you some
other things, and started teaching them. and is laying down in the
back part of the ship exhausted. You mean Jesus Christ, the Lord
was exhausted? Exhausted. He got hungry, just
like you get hungry. He thirsted, just like you thirst.
He felt pain, just like you feel pain. He got tired, just like
you get tired. He was abused, he was scorned,
he was maligned. He knew bereavement, he knew
sorrow, just like you and I do. He's a real man. A real man sits
on the throne of the universe. God in our nature, who's touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. and being touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, he bids us come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need. Here's the third thing. The fact
that the wind and the sea obeyed his word tell us plainly that
this man is God. This man is God. as truly God
as though he were not man, as truly man as though he were not
God, as fully God as though he were not man, as fully man as
though he were not God. The Word was made flesh. He must be both God and man,
or he could not be our Redeemer and our Savior. Man could not
satisfy the justice of God. And God could not die under his
own wrath, but the God man could both suffer and satisfy and he
did. Fourth, learn this, learn it,
learn it, learn it, learn it. The greatest saints in this world
are sinner still. And the strongest believers are
often filled with unbelief. I read this fourth chapter, Mark,
and every time I read it or think about it, Brother Mike, I think,
did the Lord say, how is it that you have no faith? He didn't say, why do you have
such little faith? He didn't say, why is your faith so weak?
He said, how is it that you have no faith? And every time I catch
myself asking the question, did he really say that? Why would
you question that? Don Fortner, how often it is
that you have no faith? That's just fact. Well, I never
heard a preacher talk like that before. Well, you just heard
an honest one. How is it that you have no faith? The best of God's saints are
center still, and the strongest believers often have no faith. In fact, I dare say, any of you
sitting here before me who've walked in the path of faith any
length of time, immediately when confronted with something shocking,
something just, you can't do anything, you immediately
find yourself utterly without the ability to believe God until
he wears you out with trying to do otherwise. Fifth, our blessed Savior is
a tender, compassionate, forgiving Savior. He speaks to His disciples not
like I would have spoken to Him, not like you would have spoken
to Him. I would have got up in a snarl. I would have been after
Him. Now, ask folks who know me. You just catch me on the wrong
side of the bed early in the morning. And the master just calmly got
up and said to his disciples, why are you so fearful? How is
it that you have no faith? Because he freely forgives our
sins. before we ask it, often even
before we know it. He forgives freely, freely, freely,
because he redeemed us with his precious blood. Six, understand
this. Oh, God help me. God help me
to understand this. God help you to understand this.
Everything God our Savior does. Everything God our Savior does,
He does just for His glory in the saving of His elect. Why on earth did He send His,
He didn't send them. Why did He take His disciples
across this sea? Well, if you get to the next
chapter, Over yonder on the other side, there was a wild, insane,
demon-possessed gathering. Could have been making trouble
for folks for years, terrifying people for years, scaring people
for years. Insane, demon-possessed, a maniac
who was chosen of God from eternity. Loved with an everlasting love.
One for whom the Savior had lived for 30 years. One for whom he
was about to lay down his life. And for that Gadarene, the time
of love had come. He's fixing to meet up with his
Savior. He goes to the other side of
the sea with his disciples to save the wild Gadarene. One more lesson. All who are in the good ship
Grace with Christ Jesus are perfectly safe all the time as we pass
across this troubled sea. All who are in the good ship
Grace with Christ Jesus are perfectly safe all the time as we cross
this troubled sea. That's those seven lessons are
enough in themselves if you get no more. I preach them one way
or another from this pulpit very often. But I want to use this
text in a little different way tonight. I want to use this event
on the Sea of Galilee as a parable. A parable of every believer's
life. That's the title of my message.
parable of every believer's life. When the Son of God enters the
hearts of chosen sinners in his sovereign saving power and grace,
he brings us with himself into the church and kingdom of God. He brings us with himself into
the ship of grace and salvation as he does He cast his eye across
the sea to the other side. And he says, let us go over to
the other side of the sea. And we begin a trip with our
Savior unto the other side. If you'll turn back to Psalm
107 for a minute, I'll show you that I'm not just pulling this
out of my hat. Psalm 107. Here is a good biblical foundation,
a good biblical basis for me using this as a parable for our
lives in this world. Psalm 107 verse 23. They that go down to the sea in ships,
that do business in great waters, you know like Jonah did. These
see the works of the Lord, nobody else does, and his wonders in
the deep. For he, the Lord, he commandeth
and raiseth up the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
They mount up to heaven, they go down again to the depths.
Their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and
fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits end.
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble and he bringeth
them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm so
that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they
be quiet. So he bringeth them, that is,
this is the way he bringeth them, unto their desired haven. Oh,
that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his
wonderful works to the children of men. Brother Larry Brown over
here will remember several years ago, we were down in Florida
with him, Carol, My son-in-law and my daughter and our grandchildren
and Shelby were all down there. Will and Larry and Doug and I
went out fishing. Only this time we didn't go out
on their big boat, y'all had sold it. We went out on your
little boat, you remember? And we didn't go out very far,
and I'm not a fisherman, I'm not a seaman, I don't pretend
to know anything about what we was doing, but I was sitting up front
and I could see Larry real good. And we got out a little further
than he anticipated us going. And the waves in the sea were
a little worse than he anticipated. And I haven't seen this in that
fellow's eyes but once, but he was scared to death. We were
just out too far, and he couldn't get turned around quick enough.
And I was scared. I thought, we're in trouble.
We're in trouble. And that's just a little thing.
There wasn't even any store. We were just out where we ought
not to be in that size boat. Got out too quick. And that caused
fear. The fact is the believer's life
in this world is like a voyage. A voyage in a vessel across troubled
sea. But it's a voyage to our desired
haven and this is the way our God has chosen to take us to
glory. Across the troubled sea, through
the midst of storms. Let me show you this parable
in five things. First, understand this. Every
believer's life is a voyage. As we embark on the voyage, the
Son of God takes us into the good ship, Grace, and says, let
us pass over to the other side. Death is often spoken of as passing
over, poetically spoken as crossing a sea or crossing a river. We
often sing, he will keep me till the river rolls its waters at
my feet. Then he'll bear me safely over
where my savior I shall meet. But this passing over the sea
is not something to be looked at as a future thing. No, no,
no. We're passing over the sea right
now. We are right now, every one of us, walking through the
valley of the shadow of death. The sea is a pretty good picture
of our lives in this world and all the circumstances of it.
How quickly we pass across the sea. What is your life? It's a vapor. A vapor. My wife makes coffee. for us
both at the house and here at the office every time I request
it. And she does it a special way.
Oh, she does everything special for me. She uses a French press,
and she grinds fresh coffee. But you've got to put the water
in a kettle. And I know when it's about time to have coffee,
because I'll hear that thing whistle. And I've been back there
and seen it, the vapor coming out. Do you know how long it
takes to stop the vapor from going out? How long? Set it over
there. That's it. The vapor's gone.
That's your life. Just a puff of water. Just a vapor. Just a little puff
of steam. And it's gone. My days are swifter
than a weaver's shuttle. My days are swifter than a postman. They're passed away as the swift
ships. I watched a lot of people die.
And I try to preach with your faces in my mind and recognize
that you are ships crossing the sea and crossing the sea rapidly. Soon, you're going to meet God. There is but a breath between
you and eternity, but a breath between you and judgment. but
a breath between me and the grave. That's how we ought to live all
the time. All the time. That could be it. We ought to live all the time
in the immediate anticipation of eternity. We live in this
world where everything is temporal. Everything is changing and everything
is vanishing away. All those things you set your
heart on when you're young and keep on setting your heart on
when you're old. All those things you just got
to have, I've got to get. All those things are so important
to you. They're just a vapor. Nothing else. And you're soon
going to leave them. and it'll be totally meaningless totally
meaningless you're going to a world where everything is eternal and nothing ever changes heaven's glory heaven's bliss
whatever it is and I have it in my imagination as to what
it is heaven's glory Heaven's bliss, heaven's happiness, heaven's
perfection is all permanent and unchanging. Permanent and unchanging. And hell's darkness. And hell's
fire. And I don't have a clue what
it is. And don't want to know. Whatever
it is, it's unquenchable. It never dies. It never changes. It's forever. How will it be for you in that
day? How will it be for you in the swelling of the Jordan? Oh,
God give you grace to trust his son, to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ now, and all is well. Come on into the ship, everything
perfectly all right here. Second, let me show you that
this life is not only comparable to a voyage, it's a voyage across
a stormy sea. Look at verse 37. There arose
a great storm of wind and the waves beat into the ship so that
it was now full. We must often sail into tempests
of sorrow, affliction, adversity, and grief. But Christ's presence
assures us of safety, no matter what the storm may be. Now, notice
these disciples were not acting in disobedience. They followed. They followed the Lord Jesus. into the boat, into the sea. They were following him. They
stepped into that little boat at his command. They launched
out to sea at his command. The Lord Jesus led them right
smack dab into the eye of the storm on purpose, on purpose. I wouldn't do that. I really
wouldn't. I wouldn't do it with you. I
wouldn't do it with myself. But I'm not very smart, and I
can't control the storm. But he led them on purpose right
into the eye of the storm, and they unhesitatingly followed
him. Bruce, they had no faith when
the storm arose, but they have plenty right now. They have plenty
right now. The master says, get in the boat.
Get in the boat. Let's go over to the other side.
How come? I don't need to know that. He just said, do it. What's
going to happen? I don't need to know that. He
said, get in the boat. What's he going to do over there?
I don't need to know that. He said, get in the boat. Now
I say that with all the stress I can so that you and I may understand. The path of faithful obedience
to the will and word of God is always directly into the eye
of a storm. I chose my words deliberately. of faith and obedience to the
will and word of God is always directly into the eye of the
storm. Never goes around it. Never bypasses it. Never. Though our storms are many and
varied, basically all of our trials All of our troubles in
this world arise from two sources. The one is very easy to recognize,
the other not so easy to deal with. All our troubles, all our
trials arise from one of these two sources. The contrary winds
of circumstances without. and events and things. The contrary winds of circumstances
from without include with that sickness and sorrow caused by
people and events and things and bereavement and pain. All things outside of what we
can do anything about. But our greater troubles come
from the waves of sin. and unbelief within. Every child
of God recognizes, as the Shulamite confessed in the Song of Solomon,
I am, as it were, the company of two armies. I know that in me, in my flesh,
dwelleth no good thing. I know that there is nothing
in me but sin. Nothing that comes from me but
sin. Nothing I can do but sin. That's what I am. Sin is my name. Sin is my middle name. Sin is
my last name. And sin is always my game. Always. Always. David one night, Psalm 73, I suppose it's in the evening
when he wrote his psalms. He's standing on his porch and
he's looking out over the kingdom. And he spies the land of a wealthy
pagan and the herd. And he sees them out with their
lights on their porch. And all his family's gathered
around him, all his children and grandchildren. And David
thinks about Absalom and Amnon and all his children. And he
said, it's a foolish thing to serve
God. He said, I've washed my hands
in innocence. He said, I would have said this
out loud, but then I would have offended against the generation
of your children. And he said, then I went into the house of
God. And I still had that pagan, rich man whose eyes bug out with
fatness. He'd never been sick a day in
his life. Children never caused him any trouble. His grandchildren
all love him to death. His wife loves him. Everything
going well for him. And I realized that God set him
in slippery places. God's fattened him as a calf
for the slaughter. Oh, how foolish was I and ignorant. I was as a beast before them.
That's the way we are. That's our nature. That's our
nature. We are by nature nothing but
sin. Thank God for the gift of a new
nature that's righteous and holy and cannot sin. It's called Christ
in you, the hope of glory. Here's the third thing. Our life in this world is a voyage. Be sure you write this down so
you won't forget it, will you? Our life in this world is a voyage
with Christ. With Him. With Him. With Him. All the time. With
Him. With Him. He says concerning
himself, the angel of the Lord campeth round about them that
fear him. He said, lo, I am with you always. He said, I'll never
leave you. I'll never forsake you. I'll
never, no never, no never, no never leave thee nor forsake
thee. He said, when you pass through
the waters, I'll be with you. And through the storm or through
the fire, I'll be with you. He said, the water won't hurt
you, and the flame won't burn you. I'm with you. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. Let your
moderation be known to all men. Oh, God, give me that moderation,
your moderation. That word's only used one at
a time in the entire word of God. The gentleness of Christ. The moderation of Christ. His
gentleness. What's that talking about? Well,
he was such a gentleman. Well, I'm sure he was that, but
that's not what it's talking about. He was such a nice fellow. I'm sure
he was that, but that's not what it's talking about. What is the
gentleness of Christ? It is the ease of his mind. The ease of his heart. The ease of his nature all the
time, in all circumstances, even when his heart breaks in Gethsemane
and is forsaken at Calvary. It's the ease of his being. Well, how can that be? You can't
have that kind of moderation and still feel things. Go to
Gethsemane and see. Go to Calvary and see. Yes, he
felt. He felt everything. But he was
gentle, easy. Let your moderation be known
to all men. The Lord said, hey, what is that
moderation? This is OK. No, it's good. This is the best
way it could be. This is the best way it could
be. This is the best way it could
be. This is the best way it could be. And it's not going to change
anything. Rejoice evermore. Rejoice in the Lord. He's with you. And in the midst
of difficulty, When storms and trials and heartaches come, they
will cause you no real trouble. Fourth, ours is a voyage marked by miracles. Look at verse 39. And he arose and rebuked the
wind, and said to the sea, peace be still. And the wind ceased,
and there was a great calm. Every now and then, I see those
fellas on television, those Pentecostal charismatic fellas who are trying
their best to get all the money out of your wallet and your bank
account too. Lying thieves, every last one of them. Lying thieves. Benny Hinn, he's gonna heal you
of cancer. If he could heal you of cancer,
it looks like he'd do something about his hair, doesn't it? He could heal you of cancer.
What stupidity. They talk about miracles. They
talk about miracles. I'm 69 years old. And that 69 years is 69 years
of constantly experiencing the miraculous. I'm talking about things a man
can't do. Things a man can't think. Things only God can do. Redemption? That's a miracle. How can God
become a man? How can God suffer and die? How
can the Holy Lamb of God be made sin? How can one man drink the
whole of God's infinite hot wrath. Consume it at one time by the
sacrifice of himself. Only if that man is God my Savior. Regeneration, that's a miracle. It'll take something more than
walking down an aisle and repeating the sinner's prayer, or going
to an altar and ballot answering questions, or signing a decision
card, or going with some fella in drag to a room in a Catholic
church and confessing your sin. It'll take something more than
that. Well, I pray to you I'll not
talk like that. If I could belittle them and talk more scorningly
of them, I would. I would. What's it take to save
a sinner? Ah, it takes the miracle of omnipotent
mercy. It took a miracle to put the
world in place. It took a miracle to hang the
stars in space. But when he saved my soul, cleansed
and made me whole, it took a miracle of love and grace. And we live in the constant experience
of the miracle of providence. It is on the back, black, black,
dark background of our great troubles that our Lord displays
his most wondrous power and grace. Let me tell you where you learn
about his power over roaring lions. You can't learn that at
the zoo. You can't learn that at the circus
watching a fellow with stools and a whip trying to get lions
to do stuff. I'll tell you where you can learn
about his power over roaring, raging lions. That includes the
fiend of hell. That's in the lion's den with
Daniel. You can't learn it anywhere else.
Can't learn it anywhere else. Let me tell you about the wondrous
power of God to preserve, protect, and bless his people. How are
you going to learn anything about that? I'll tell you where you
can learn that. You can learn that in a burning, fiery furnace. There were three Hebrew men.
who refused to bow down and worship the idol in Babylon. And they
were thrown into an exceeding burning fiery furnace, made seven
times hotter than it was intended to be. And when they walked around
in the furnace, the king looked over and he said, how many men
we put down there? Three? He said, I see four men
down there walking around. One of them looks like the son
of God. Looks like it to me, too. And when Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego came out of the burning fiery furnace, do you know what
they lost? Anybody know what they lost?
All they lost were the cords that tied them. That's all. That's all. Just the stuff that
troubled them. One last thing. Our voyage with Christ across
the stormy sea of life is a voyage that ought always to be free
of fear. Why are you so fearful? How is
it that you have no faith? These poor disciples, their fear arose from unbelief. Fear is the rank weed of nature
that grows wild in the soil of unbelief. The disciples were
so much like us. They should have been perfectly
calm. Let me tell you why I say that. They were on the master's
business. They were in his presence. They
had repeatedly, not once in a while, they had repeatedly, for three
years, they had repeatedly seen his power. They had seen him
perform wondrous miracles over and over again. They had seen
him open the heavens and shut the heavens. They had seen him
multiply loaves and fishes and feed thousands. They had seen
him cause the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear,
and the dead to be raised. They'd seen all that. Kind of
like you and me. Kind of like you and me. And
yet they were fearful and had no faith. Why? Because all they
could look at was that terrible storm. The Lord Jesus is right back
there, but they're just looking at the storm. All they could
look at was their trembling knees, their weak hands, themselves. Christ is right here. But they
refused to look at Him. All they could see was the storm
and their weakness. They looked at their little boat. We can't survive. We can't survive. The Master is right here. And
finally, they cried, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
And the Lord Jesus rose up. and calm the storm, and taught
us one more time what it is to live by faith. O Spirit of God, give faith to
dead sinners, and give faith to this preacher, and to these,
my brothers and sisters, to our troubled Broken-hearted, heavy-hearted
friends, give faith. With every trial, give faith. We recognize that we cannot believe
at any moment, in any circumstance, under any pressure, we cannot
believe except you work faith in us. Helpless we are, but not you. Weak we are, but not you. Oh God, give us grace and faith. second by second, moment by moment,
day by day, in storm and in calm, to consider our Redeemer, to
believe Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. Amen.