Good morning. Let's open this
morning's service with the hymn that's on the back of your bulletin.
We'll all stand together and sing the hymn that's on the back
of your bulletin. The head that once was crowned
with thorns is crowned with glory now. A royal diadem adorns the
mighty victor's brow. Blessed be the name, blessed
be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord. ? Blessed be the
name, blessed be the name ? ? Blessed be the name of the Lord ? ? The
highest place that heaven abhors ? ? Is his, is his by right ?
? The King of kings and Lord of lords ? ? And heaven's eternal
light ? Blessed be the name, blessed be the name, blessed
be the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name, blessed
be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord. ? The joy of all
who dwell above ? The joy of all below ? To whom he manifests
his love ? And grants his name to know ? Blessed be the name,
blessed be the name ? Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed
be the name, blessed be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord. The cross he bore is life and
health, though shame and death to him. His people's hope, his
people's wealth, their only hope is him. Blessed be the name,
blessed be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name, blessed
be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord. Please be seated. Good morning. Their only hope is him. Let's pray together. Our merciful Heavenly Father. We come before the throne of
grace. Looking to the Lord Jesus Christ is our only hope of acceptance
before they. and what great hope it is in
knowing that he has successfully accomplished everything necessary
for our salvation, for our righteousness, for our justification, for our
sanctification. Father, we ask now that in this
hour you would bless us with your Holy Spirit, that you would
unlock the mystery of the gospel of your grace and enable us once
again to fix all the hope of our salvation on thy dear son,
our Savior. We pray that you would lift him
up in our midst and cause us, Lord, to find our hope and our
comfort, as we've just sang, all our salvation in him. And Father, we want to pray this
morning for little Wade, and we thank you for having him here
on his first Sunday, and oh, how we pray for all of our children
that your hand of mercy would be upon them, that you would
give them ears to hear, cause them, Lord, to find their hope
in Christ. Oh, we ask it in his name. Amen.
I want to welcome Wade Dunbar. his first Sunday breathing in
church. It's good to know that our children
spend nine months in church before they come into this world. Will you open your Bibles with
me to mark the sixth chapter? Mark chapter 6. This past Wednesday
night we studied Psalm 23 and and dealt with the subject of
fear. Psalm 23, you know, is that psalm where the Lord says,
David said, speaking on behalf of Christ, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me, thy rod
and thy staff, they do comfort me. Now the rod is a symbol of
God's Word, and so is the staff. The difference is that the rod
was used for a weapon against the enemies of the sheep, and
the staff was used gently to keep the sheep together in a
flock looking to the shepherd. And both of those represent the
Word of God. God uses His Word to warn us
against false Gospels. and false Christ and false spirits. And God uses his word to gently
draw his people to himself so that James was able to say of
his own will begat he us with the word of truth. And so our
hope this morning is that the Lord will open our ears and enable
us to hear his voice as he speaks by his word. In Mark chapter
6, if you'll look with me to verse 50, this is the title of
this message this morning. The last three words of verse
50, be not afraid. Be not afraid. Now, fear is a
very natural emotion. that we've all experienced. And
yet, the Lord tells us that perfect love casteth out fear. And so, the only time that we're
not afraid is when we are enabled by the Spirit of God to look
to Christ, to set our affections on that one who is himself perfect
love. God is love. If we're not looking to Christ
and we're not afraid, we're foolish. We're foolish. We ought to be
afraid if we're not looking to Christ, afraid of everything. Let the proud and the self-righteous
talk about their fearlessness, but there's only one who ever
lived who was fearless. I mean absolutely fearless. He
never feared anything. Never feared man. Never feared
his circumstances. He did not fear death. He had
a reverential fear of his father and the only thing that enables
us not to be afraid. When David spoke in Psalm 23
and he said, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
that's not just talking about physically dying, it's talking
about everything in this life. This world is a valley of the
shadow of death. This world died when our father
Adam rebelled against God. Sin entered into the world. And
everything in this world is a valley of the shadow of death. And the
Lord Jesus Christ, in every step of the way, was able to say,
I will fear no evil. for thou art with me, thy rod
and thy staff." And now the Lord speaks to his disciples and he's
speaking to us and he's saying, be of good cheer, it is I. You see that verse in verse 50
where it says, it is I? The literal translation of that
phrase is I am. And so the Lord's saying, be
of good cheer, I am. I am. Be not afraid. Be not afraid. Oh, my God, give
us the grace to look to the Lord Jesus Christ that we be not afraid. Now, man-made religion is all
based on fear. Primarily, it's based on the
fear of man. You know, people hypocritically
pretending to be something that they're not because they fear
the opinions of other men. And what a freedom there is in
being with believers who all believe themselves to be the
chief of all sinners and are not trying to figure out a way
to impress one another with their righteousness. They know that
all their righteousness is in the Lord Jesus Christ and that
they have none. But man-made religion is based
on fear of man, fear of the law, and we know that Christ has satisfied
every jot and tittle of the law. Everything that God required
in the law was provided by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we're
not to fear the law. That avenger of blood, as long
as we're in the city of refuge, the avenger of blood can't get
to us. And in the death of the high priest, that one who fled
to the city of refuge was free. And so our high priest has died. And that's why the Lord says,
be of good cheer. I am. Be not afraid. Be not afraid. I've satisfied
the demands of the law. You don't have to worry about
what men think of you. And man-made religion is based on the fear
of judgment. The fear of wrath. People doing things they really
don't want to do in order to try to avoid hell. And the judgment of God is satisfied. Christ has met all the divine
requirements of God's holy justice. Sin's been put away. So we don't
have to fear man, we don't have to fear the law, we don't have
to fear judgment, we're left with what? Fearing God. Fearing God. And it's not the
same kind of fear. It's a bowing in reverence and
worship to a God who has done everything necessary to satisfy
the demands of our salvation. And that's really what faith
is. A lot of people think that faith is believing that God's
going to do something for me. I shared Wednesday night that
somebody that I was talking to briefly this week, we were looking
at some jewelry and he made this statement. He said, I was just
messing with him. I said, well, you know, you ought
to get your wife two of those. And he said, well, God, I have to
put a lot of money in my bank account in order for me to do
that. And then as soon as he said that, he said, then I know
he can. I know he can. And I wish I had thought about
it at the time. I wish I had said, you know, if you really
had faith, you'd go ahead and buy that and then trust God to
put the money in your bank account. That's not faith at all. Believing
that God's going to do something for you in the future is not
faith. We don't know what God's plan or purpose is for our lives. Faith is believing that God has
already done everything necessary for our salvation in the person
and accomplished work in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's faith.
Faith is not looking at your circumstances, it's not looking
at your future, it's looking back, not to an experience that
you've had, but looking back further than that, looking all
the way back to Calvary's cross and believing. hanging all your
hopes of acceptance before God on that one who hung suspended
between heaven and hell and bore all the sins of all of God's
people and satisfied God's divine wrath and justice, fulfilling
the law and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt
be saved. That's faith. And that's the
only thing that calms our fears. God said to Abraham, Abraham
is called the father of the faithful. I mean, he's the symbol of faith
in the scriptures. And when God first speaks to
Abraham in Genesis chapter 15, verse one, he says, fear not,
Abram. Why did God have to say that?
Because Abram was afraid. Fear not, Abram. for I am thy
shield and thine exceeding great reward." I'm going to protect
you, Abram, and I'm going to be your reward. And then one of the last times
that the word fear, that's the first time the word fear is used
in the Bible. Genesis chapter 15 verse 1, when
God said to Abraham, Abram, fear not. I am thy shield and thy
exceeding great reward. And then one of the very last
times that the word fear is used in the Bible is found in Revelation
chapter 1 when John sees the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven and
all the splendor of His glory. And John says, when I saw Him,
I fell at His feet as dead. I was afraid. I was afraid. And that's exactly
the experience that Isaiah had. I saw the Lord high and lifted
up. Woe is me. I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean
lips. I've seen the king. I'm a dead man. How can I live
in the presence of a holy God? And then John said, and he laid
his right hand upon me, saying unto me, fear not. I am the first
and I am the last. I am he that liveth and was dead,
but now I live forevermore, and I have the keys of hell and death."
So here the Lord Jesus Christ speaks to that one who is afraid,
puts his right hand on him, says, I'm the first, I'm the last. I'm the one who ordained your
salvation in the covenant of grace before Adam was ever made.
I'm the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world.
This is all of my purpose, and I'm the one that's going to bring
it to fruition and receive you into heaven. I've got the keys
of hell and death. You don't have them. I've got
them. Look to me. Look to me. You want to not be
afraid? Look to me. If you're not looking to Christ
and you're not afraid, it's because you're a fool. for hell is real death is real the circumstances of this life
for greater than we can we can figure out i want us to look at this passage
of scripture and ask this question why were these disciples afraid
and then uh... what was it that calmed their
fear? And I think that we will see
in our own experiences that the things that cause them to be
afraid are the same exact things that cause us to be afraid. And
the thing that calms our fear is the very same thing that calmed
their fears. So go back with me to verse 45,
verse 45. and straightway he constrained
his disciples to get into the ship and go to the other side
before on to Bethsaida and he sent away the people. Now this is the story where the
disciples already the second time in the book of Mark, the
first time you remember the Lord was actually in the boat with
them asleep and they thought they were going to die and they
asked him, Lord care if not that we perish? And he rebuked them
for their little faith. But now this time he sends them
off to Bethsaida, which is on the other side of the Sea of
Galilee. And in the fourth watch of the night, which would be
the early hours before dawn, there's only four watches in
a night. And so the fourth watch would have been the last watch
of the night before daylight came. And they'd been out in
the Sea of Galilee rowing against the waves. and the Lord comes
walking on the water to them and they saw him and thought
that he was a ghost and they were afraid. And my first point
here is that they had forgotten that it was the Lord that constrained
them to get in the ship and go to Bethsaida. Now the word constrained
does not mean that he asked them to get into the boat or that
he suggested that they should get into the boat and go to Bethsaida
or that he invited them to get into the boat to go to Bethsaida. Now we know this boat is a picture
of the church and so they had forgotten that it was the Lord
that constrained them. He made them. He told them with no, he's not making an offer,
he's telling them, get in the boat, go to Bethsaida. Now, this
word constrained means to make me, to make me. A defiant child may challenge
the misplaced authority of a sibling by saying, make me, make me. We've all had that experience,
haven't we? Older sibling telling us to do something when mom and
dad's not around, make me. But a child of God, a child of
God is always aware of his need for the Lord to make him. Psalm 23, make me to lie down
in green pastures. Lord, you're going to have to
make me. If I'm going to rest, if I'm going to find any hope,
you're going to have to constrain me. And then the scripture says
that he, now did they go defiantly? Did they go, did they get in
the ship and head to Bethsaida because they were reluctant? No, they, in the constraint that
the Lord makes on his people, with that constraint is their
willingness. And so the scripture says that
he makes us willing in the day of his power. Lord, you're going
to have to make me willing. I am like that defiant child
who would say make me unless Lord you make me and make me
willing. Job said in Job 13 verse 23,
make me to know my transgressions and my sins. Lord, if you don't send your
Holy Spirit, when the Lord said, it's expedient for you that I
go away, for if I go not away, the Spirit of God will not come.
But when he comes, he's going to convict the world of sin,
of righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they believe not
on me, of righteousness because I go to my Father, and of judgment
because the prince of this world is judged. Lord, you're going
to have to make me a sinner. Otherwise, I'm going to feel
pretty good about myself. I'm going to believe that I've
got some righteousness if you don't make me to be a sinner.
They had forgotten that the Lord had constrained them to get in
to the ship. David said in Psalm 39 verse
4, make me to know mine end and the measure of my days. Now,
I know age has something to do with it, and the older I get,
the more I realize how few days we have in this world. But I
stand amazed at people of my age and older than me who don't
give it a second thought. They think they're going to live
forever, and they don't even consider the reality of death
until it's right there at their nose. I've watched them. In their
dying moments, they realize what's in front of them. David said,
Lord, make me to know mine end. I'll be like that if you don't
make me to know mine end and the measure of my days. I'll
be just like that. I'll live in this world as if
this world was my home and give no thought to eternity. Lord,
make me to think about the reality and the brevity of life. And then David said in Psalm
51 verse six, make me to know wisdom. Make me to know wisdom. And God has made him to be our
wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification and our redemption. Lord, make me to know Christ.
If you don't make me to know him, I'll set my affections and
my heart on everything but him. Lord, constrain me. These disciples
had forgotten that it was the Lord that constrained them to
get into the ship. Lord, make me a part of your
church. Put me in the ship. Constrain me to be a part. of
of your what did that first we just read he constrained his
disciples to get into the ship and had the best data and the
rest of them he sent away or I'll be those you send away I'll
be a part of those that you constrain to get into your ship and then David said in Psalm
51 Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast
broken might rejoice. Lord, if you don't give me joy,
I'll find my happiness in worldly things. I'll find my contentment
in the pleasures of the flesh. Lord, make me to hear that joy
and gladness that only you can give to the heart. And then in
Psalm 119 verse 27, David said, make me to understand the way
of thy precepts. Lord, if you don't make me to
understand how it is that your scripture, and this is, as a
preacher, I'm brought to this realization regular. Lord, if you don't show me Christ
in the scriptures, I won't see him. Make me to understand the
way of thy precepts. And every child of God, as we
turn to God's Word, Lord, make me, make me to see Christ. Otherwise, I'll read it and make
a law out of it, or I'll read it and impress myself with how
much I know, or I'll read it for historical value or for argumentative
sake. I'll read it for every wrong
reason. Lord, make me to know the way
of thy precepts. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
way. of God's Word in the volume of the book. It is written of
me. Lord, teach me as I read your
word to see Christ. And then David went on to say
in Psalm 119, make me to go in the way of thy commandments. This is his commandment. that
you believe on him whom he has sent. That's the commandment
of God, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And David said,
make me. Lord, make me to come. Make me
to believe. And then in Matthew chapter 8,
that leper said just the opposite of what the religious man would
say. The religious man would say, that God wants to save you
but he can't without your approval. And what did that leopard say?
Lord thou canst make me whole. Lord make me clean, make me whole. These disciples had forgotten
The reason they were afraid is because they had forgotten that
it was the Lord that put them in that ship and sent them on
that journey. We lose sight of that, don't
we? We get afraid when we lose sight of the fact that it's God
that put us in Christ. It's God that put us in the circumstances
that we're in. And you know, you know that all
things work together for good for them that love God and those
that are the called according to his purpose. God made me to
be where I am. And so the Lord says, be of good
cheer. I am, I am, I am everything you
need. I am everything God requires.
I'm the first and the last. I am the resurrection and the
life. I'm the bread of life. I'm the light of the world. I
am the self-existent one. I am. They forgot... Now, let's go back to our text.
Look at verse 46. And when He had sent them away,
He departed unto a mountain to pray. Now there's only one person that
can go up on a mountain. This mountain, you remember Mount
Sinai, the mountain of the law? Moses went up on that mountain.
He's the only man that ever went up on that mountain and survived. But the only reason he survived
is because God put him in a cleft of a rock. The only way you and I are going
to survive the mountain of the law is to be placed in Christ,
the one who has satisfied the demands of God's law. But here
we have the Lord Jesus to himself going up on a mountain and praying. And these disciples had forgotten
that the Lord came in order to satisfy the demands of the law.
The law had no more claim on them, has no more claim on you. The law can't touch you if you're
in Christ. It's been satisfied. And they
had forgotten that the Lord Jesus Christ was praying for them.
That's what he was doing. He was praying to the Father
for those disciples out there in the boat. Peter, before the cock crows,
you're going to deny me three times, but be of good cheer.
I've prayed for you. I prayed for you. The only difference
between Peter and Judas is that the Lord prayed for Peter. He
didn't pray for Judas. They both did the same thing
that night. Don't we forget that we have
an advocate with the Father who ever lives to make intercession
for us. We have one praying for us. John
chapter 17, Father, I pray not for the world, but I pray for
them which thou has given me out of the world. We have the
Lord Jesus Christ interceding for us. And these disciples lost
sight of that. They were in the midst of a turbulent
sea and they were afraid because they forgot that the Lord had
constrained them to be in the boat. and put them where they
were and they forgot that the Lord Jesus Christ was praying
for them. Oh, don't forget what the Lord prayed on Calvary's
cross when he said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they
do. You and I don't have a clue how
evil our sin is before God. The closest understanding we
come is when we see what it took for God to put it away. If you
think that you're going to bear the full guilt and shame of sin
sufficiently to satisfy God, to express your full sorrow to
God, it's not going to happen. God saw the travail of His soul
and was satisfied. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only one. He's the only one. that ever bore the full burden
of the guilt of sin. We can't do it, but we have one
who prayed for us. And what did he say? Father,
forgive them. They don't know what they're
doing. They don't know how evil this is. They don't know what
they've done. But I do. I do. And Father, I stand before you
in their stead, bearing their shame. And God said, I'm satisfied. Verse 47, and when evening was come, the
ship was in the midst of the sea and he alone on the land. They thought because they could
not see him, that he could not see them. You ever feel that
way? David felt that way. Lord, is
your mercies clean gone? Lord, have you forgot me? And
we get this idea, and this is what causes our fear, we get
this idea because we can't see him, he can't see us. The Lord
alone was on the shore, he's watching them. He knew exactly
what they were going through. I will never leave you nor forsake
you. No, he never sleeps nor slumbers. He always sees us. Verse 48, and he saw them toiling
in rowing for the wind was contrary unto them. And it was about the
fourth watch of the night. And he cometh to them walking
upon the sea and would have passed by them. One thing that causes me to fear
is when I trust in the arm of the flesh and war against the
wind of the spirit. There's not a day goes by I don't
find myself doing that. I can fix this. And the more
we row against the wind, The more difficult things become
and the more fearful we become, the more fearful we become, the
more motivated and the harder we work. Don't you know that's
the way it is? We just paddle all the harder,
don't we? Turn to me to James chapter 4,
verse 1. From whence comes wars and fightings
among you? You talk to any of our young
men that have been in war, our older men that have been in war,
they'll tell you war is a fearful thing. It's a fearful thing. You know, let those proud men talk about how fearless
they are, but you've got bullets whizzing by your head. It's a,
it's a, what causes fightings and wars among you. So you don't
have to be in combat to be afraid, do you? We fight and they come
not hence even of your lust that war in your members you lust
and have not, you kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. You
fight and war yet you have not. Why? Because you ask not. You
ask not. And then when you do ask, you
ask amiss that you might consume it upon your own lust. You put
a pretense of prayer into your efforts in order to get what
you want. And the Lord says, you adulterers
and adulteresses, know you not that the friendship of the world
is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do you think that the
scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth
to envy? What were they doing? They were
rowing against the wind. What's the wind a picture of?
It's a picture of the spirit of God. It was the mighty Russian
wind that came on the day of Pentecost. It's the wind that
fills our sails. It's the wind of God's spirit.
But we trust in the arm of flesh and we fight against the spirit
of God And the Spirit of God is lusting,
He's lusting after our submission and He will bring us, He will
make us after we've wore ourselves out and come to the end of our
abilities. Then and only then does the Spirit
of God provide. But, verse 6, James chapter 4,
He giveth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud,
but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourself therefore to
God. Resist the devil, he'll flee
from you. Draw near unto God and he'll draw near unto you.
Oh Lord, I'm trying to cross this sea with arm of flesh. They were rowing against me.
the wind and he walked up to them, go back with me to our
text, he walked up to them as if he were to pass by. The Lord
does that. He does that. Did he not do that
to those disciples on the way to Emmaus in Luke chapter 24? He had been talking with them
about who he was, their eyes were withholding, they could
not see him and And when they got to their house
in Emmaus, he would have continued on. And they constrained him
to come and eat with them. And it was in the breaking of
bread that their eyes were opened and they saw him for who he was.
God's doing the same thing for me and you. Why does he act as
if he will go on? Why does he make us to ask? You have not because you ask
not. in order to prove that it was him that constrained us to
ask. You see, if we don't ask, then
he's not constraining us. If he's constraining us, we'll
ask. I used the analogy last Sunday about a baby taking its
first breath. Does a child breathe in order
to be made alive or does it breathe because it is alive? And breathing
is faith and that birth is our new birth. That's what Lord said
to Nicodemus. It's regeneration. It's a new
birth. And we breathe because we are alive. Faith is the result
of salvation, not the cause of it. here they forgot God's not gonna save
us without no salvation apart from faith but faith comes as a result of
the new birth so it is with me Lord's not going to You're not
going to calm our fears without us asking him. Lord, save me. Lord, have mercy
upon me. But it's his constraining grace
that caused us to ask. Verse 49, go back with me to
our text. Verse 49, and when they saw him
walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit and cried
out, They mistook the Lord Jesus Christ
for another spirit. And so they were afraid. And
you and I do the same thing. We get in the midst of circumstances
where we begin to doubt our, and we think, well, that's the
devil. The devil did that. And we get
afraid. We forget that the Lord is the
one directing us. He's the one ordering our steps. They forgot who he was. They
lost sight of the fact that he was God, able to walk on water. Now, what is it that calmed their
fears quickly? Look at verse 50. And they all
saw him. That'll calm your fears. That
will calm your fears for the Lord to open the eyes of your
understanding and enable you to see Christ. Lord, cause me
to come, enable me to see. And they were troubled and immediately
he talked with them. Now there's another thing that
will cause your fears to be assuaded is for the Lord Jesus Christ
to speak. for him to speak, and that's our hope every time we
come together, isn't it? Go, Lord, speak to my heart.
Lord, take your word and make it effectual to my heart. When
God speaks, all is well. All is well. When God speaks,
he talked to them. Lord, talk to me. Don't leave
me to myself. Don't send me away like the crowd.
Put me in the ship. And he said unto them, be of
good cheer. God speaks and says be of good
cheer. You can be of good cheer. It's all well. It's all well. I'm here. I'm here now. You can rejoice in me. You rejoice in the Lord. Always
and again I say rejoice. Regardless of your circumstance,
I'm here. I am. It is I. I am. I'm able. Be not afraid. God says be not afraid. You don't
have anything to be afraid of. And the Lord's there. It's good. We're like that little
child, aren't we? A little child becomes afraid,
what does he do? He jumps up into daddy's arms
and buries his head in daddy's neck and he's not afraid anymore.
Not afraid. That's the only time you and
I are not gonna be afraid. We've got our heads buried in our father's
neck. And the Lord says, it's I, I'm
here, don't be afraid. For they, look at verse 52, they
considered not the miracles of the loaves for their hearts were
hardened. When did the miracles of the
loaves take place? About 10 hours before this. It had just happened the evening
before and it's a wee hours of the morning the next day and
they had forgotten. And the Lord had already calmed
the seas for them once on the ship, on the boat. But now the
way we are, we forget. We forget what God's done for
us. The Lord hasn't brought you to where you are to leave you
now. He's gonna finish what he started. Don't forget what he's
done. There's loaves and the fishes. Don't forget what he accomplished
on Calvary's cross. Don't forget the graces that
you've enjoyed all of your life. Be not afraid. I am. Be of good cheer. All right, let's take a break. th th