Once more, seeking the Lord's
blessing upon the reading of his word, I would like us to
turn to the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 4, beginning
to read at verse 21. The Gospel according to Mark,
chapter 4, beginning to read at verse 21. And he said unto them, Is a candle
brought to be put under a bushel or under a bed, and not to be
set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid which
shall not be manifested, neither was anything kept secret but
that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear,
let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed
what you hear, with what measure you meet it shall be measured
to you and unto you that hear shall more be given and he that
hath to him shall be given and he that hath not from him shall
be taken even that which he hath and he said so is the kingdom
of God as if a man should cast seed into the ground and should
sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and
grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth
fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear, after that the
fall corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought
forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest
is come. And he said, whereunto shall
we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what comparison shall
we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard
seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all
the seeds that be in the earth. But when it is sown, it groweth
up and becometh greater than all herbs. and shooteth out great
branches, so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow
of it. And with many such parables spake
he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without
a parable spake he not unto them, and when they were alone he expounded
all things to his disciples. And the same day, when the even
was come, he saith unto them, 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 he was in the hinder 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
ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? and they feared exceedingly and
said one to another, what manner of man is this that even the
wind and the sea obey him? May the Lord bless to us the
reading of his holy word and may he help us to consider this
evening verse 38. And he was in the hinder part
of the ship asleep on a pillow, and they awake him and say unto
him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? Those who were here on Lord's
Day evening will remember that we spoke from the account in
Matthew when the Lord Jesus Christ came walking on the sea to his
disciples as they were in a storm. And he speaks to them and says,
Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. And I mentioned even this account,
how that Jesus could have reminded them, why are you afraid seeing
that I appeared unto you last time? And I dealt with the wind
and the storm and I brought everything under control. And he could have
reminded them and spoke comfortably to them as the good shepherd,
the compassionate shepherd. We read in this account of Mark,
about that first storm that they were in and the Lord Jesus Christ
was in the boat with them yet he was asleep and there was another
storm. And so it is, isn't it, with
the life of a Christian, there is one storm after another storm,
one difficulty after another difficulty. And it is through
much tribulation, the scripture tells us, we must enter the kingdom
of God. And so as the disciples were
in one storm and then another storm, as the Lord was teaching
them different things about themselves and about himself. So we, in
the Christian experience, go through various storms of life,
What I wanted us to notice really was their response or their words
to the Lord Jesus Christ, how they accuse him of not caring
that they're about to die. And it's really quite amazing
that they could accuse the Lord Jesus Christ of not caring for
them. And 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? Although they
were in the boat with the Lord Jesus they had been listening
to his ministry and yet they felt at this time abandoned by
him. He was asleep seemingly having
no concern and they were worried about their lives. They saw the
ship filling with water and they began to panic and they saw the
Lord Jesus Christ not doing anything and so they believed that he
didn't care about the situation. He didn't care that the boat
was sinking. He was fast asleep and they were
struggling. And we read accounts like this
in the scripture of Christians and believers who are brought
to the extremity of their hope and they don't know what to do
and they almost accuse God of not caring about them, forgetting
about them, not hearing their prayers and they begin to doubt
that God even loves them or has a concern for them. in the book
of Psalms. Psalm 107. We have that psalm
which goes through various scenes and they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble and he delivers them out of their distresses. But verses 23 on seems to picture what is taking place
with the Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles as they cross the
Sea of Galilee and they encounter this storm. It says, and they
that go down into the sea in ships and do business in great
waters, they see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the
deep. For he commandeth and raiseth
the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves thereof. They mount
up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths, their soul
is melted because of fear. They reel to and fro, stagger
like a drunken man 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 they are glad, because they be quiet. So he bringeth them
to their desired haven. And we almost see this acted
out upon the Sea of Galilee as the Lord Jesus is asleep And
the apostles are rising up to the tops of the waves. They are
plummeting down again. Their soul is melted because
of trouble. They reel to and fro. They're
staggering like a drunken man and they're at their wit's end.
They don't know what to do. They see that Christ is asleep.
All their hope is gone and they accuse him of not caring that
they're about to die. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble and he brings them out of their distresses.
And if you go through the psalms you will find that there are
many who enter into that type of experience as though God,
his ear is deaf to their cry. Psalm 10, sorry. begins, Why standest thou afar
off, O Lord? Why hidest thou thyself in times
of trouble? And you can imagine the apostles
are thinking something like this. Why is Jesus asleep? Why is he
far off in our time of trouble? Why doesn't he care about us
in our difficulty? He's there having a peaceful
sleep and we're struggling, petrified that the boat is going to go
down. Why don't you care? And as we go through the storms
of life, we can be tempted to think in such a way. that the
Lord Jesus Christ is not looking, he is not hearing and he doesn't
care about our situation. And my mind went to Joseph. Remember Joseph had those dreams
about his brothers and his family bowing down to him and ended
up being sold into slavery, then going into Potiphar's house and
becoming the chief ruler of that household and then being thrown
into prison. And you could almost imagine
him sitting there in prison thinking, well, you know, I had all of
these dreams. What is going to come of them
now? Everything has gone from bad
to good to worse and then even worse as the butler and the baker
have forgot all about me. And so he's in that almost a
providential storm. Genesis 40, 23. Yet did not the
chief butler remember Joseph but forgot him. That was his
hope. When you go, when you are delivered,
speak to Pharaoh about me. But he forgot him. And it came
to pass at the end of two full years that Pharaoh dreamed and
behold, he stood by a river. Two years after interpreting
the dream, you could almost imagine Satan tempting him. It's all
come to nothing. God doesn't care about you anymore.
He's forgotten about you. You're just down here in this
dungeon. You're not one of his people. You can imagine all of
these thoughts coming into his mind and Satan abusing the situation. Two years, Joseph, they've forgotten
about you. But God had not forgotten. God's purposes were working out,
his plan was unfolding, he was waiting for his specific time,
his appointed time, to deliver Joseph from the prison. What about Moses? Moses, after
all that God had led him through, saved him from the river, put
him into Pharaoh's palace, then appears to him in the wilderness
with the burning bush, reveals himself to him and commissions
him to go into Egypt to deliver the people of Israel and he goes
there. And everything gets worse. He's in the work of God. He's
on a commission from the Lord to deliver these people. He gives
the message that God tells him to do, to say. And everything
gets worse, not better. And he complains to God. Chapter five, verse 22. And Moses returned unto the Lord
and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evilly entreated this
people? Why is it that thou hast sent
me? You see, you see that despair
coming from his prayer. He is at his wits end. He doesn't
know what to do. I've done the will of God and
it's got worse. Pharaoh's against me. The Jews
are against me. And why? Why? Since I came to Pharaoh to speak
in thy name, he has done evil to this people. Neither hast
thou delivered thy people at all. From bad to worse. God has forgotten me. I've made
it all up. God doesn't care. I'm just left. He's not hearing my prayer. I
thought I was doing God's will. I've gone forward and it's all
falling to bits. It's not getting better. It's
actually getting worse. But he must be brought to that
extremity, that end, his wits end. before God steps in. It's not you, Moses. It's me. It's not you, Joseph. It's me. It's not you, apostles. It's me. And I do care about
you. And to doubt Christ caring for them is to
doubt the very nature of Christ himself. Christ is love as God
is love and then to say that he doesn't even care is to undermine
his very character. Of course he cares for them. He did care for them. and he
does care for them. He did care for you and he does
care for you because he says I am the good shepherd. On the Lord's Day evening That
same line of thought came with the Lord Jesus Christ being the
good shepherd and speaking comfortable words or kind words to his timid
sheep. Be of good cheer. It's me. Don't be afraid. Don't you care? How can the good
shepherd not care for his sheep? John 10, as we read the other
day. And then said Jesus unto them,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. You see, this shepherd is no
ordinary shepherd. This shepherd lies across the
door of the sheepfold. He is so concerned. He is so
protective over his sheep that he becomes the very door of the
sheepfold for them. He totally cares for them. not only does he be the door
of the sheepfold to open and close and to shut them in but
he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. All that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers but the sheep did not hear them. I am
the door By me, if any man enter, he shall be saved and go in and
out and find pasture. The thief cometh not but to steal
and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for his sheep. what greater act of compassion
could ever be done to anybody than Christ laying down his life
for his sheep. There's no greater demonstration
of love that has ever appeared upon this earth than Christ descending
from glory, coming to earth as a man and laying down his life
for his children. And then to accuse him of not
caring is to undermine the very nature of who he is. He cares
much for his sheep. He lies across the door and he
laid down his life for them. There is no greater love than
the love of the Lord Jesus Christ and there is no greater carer
than the caring Lord Jesus Christ. There's no greater shepherd than
the good shepherd which is the Lord Jesus Christ. It was his
love and his compassion and his care that brought him down from
heaven to die upon the cross, to put on flesh that he might
be enabled to die. He did so because he cares much
for his sheep. And so there's no way, no way
a believer can ever come to the Lord Jesus Christ and say, you
don't care. Because he does care. He cared
enough to come down from glory to save his people. He cares
enough to be at the right hand of the Father, interceding for
them even today. He continues his work for them
as his great high priest. He cares for them. So who is it then that whispers
in your ear, Jesus doesn't care about you? Who is it that says, Master?
Who is it that sows those seeds of doubt into our mind that Jesus has forgotten all about
us, that Jesus doesn't love us anymore? It is Satan. Satan sows seeds of doubt and
lies into the minds of his people so that they accuse the Lord
Jesus Christ of not caring for them. He makes them forget all the
blessed promises of the word that Christ has said about them.
And so they say to him who is love, You don't care about me. You don't care what I'm going
through. You don't care that the boat is sinking. You don't
care that I'm losing control. Christ does care and he never
stops caring and it is Satan who whispers those seeds of doubt
and those lies, those tears in the promises of the word. so
that you accuse your saviour of not caring about you. John 8. Jesus tells us that Satan is
a liar. Ye are of your father the devil
and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer
from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there
is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie he speaketh
of his own for he is a liar and the father of it. And so as Satan
sows those seeds of doubt, those accusations of Christ towards
Christ that he doesn't care, faith must look to the very nature
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who he is. to lay hold of who he
is and not look to the situation that is being walked through. Satan will sow and he will say
and he will lie but faith must look beyond that. The shield
of faith must look beyond that and lay hold of the good shepherd
who laid down his life for the sheep. And it always cares for
he lays across the door of the sheep pen. He is the door. And so he can never stop caring. Master, carest thou not that
we perish? And he arose and he rebuked the
wind and the sea and said, peace be still. And there was a, the
wind ceased and there was a great calm. Then he said to them, why
are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? He was almost confused. Why is it that you don't have
any faith? I am sitting here in the boat with you. I have
called you to myself. I am your shepherd. I am with
you. I'm guiding you. Why don't you have any faith?
Why are you accusing me of not caring? For I totally care. I have loved you with an everlasting
love and therefore I have drawn you to myself. You are mine.
I will never leave you nor I will never forsake you. But Satan
fires those arrows to accuse Christ of not caring. Those accusations, they come
into the mind, don't they? And you think. And I've been thinking about
this quite a lot recently, of thoughts. And in 2 Corinthians 10, it tells
us there that our warfare is not a carnal warfare. 2nd Corinthians 10 says, For
though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through
God to the pulling down of the strongholds, casting down imaginations
and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge
of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ. And so as Satan almost implants
those thought, those accusing thoughts about Christ, well,
he doesn't care about you. Look, he's not answering your
prayer immediately. Look at the truth. If you were
a Christian, you wouldn't be going through this. Oh no, all
of these things are coming upon you. Christ doesn't care about
you. He's forgotten about you. You're not one of his. What are
they? They are tears. They are arrows
that have been thrown into the mind and they spiral out of control. And the scripture says we are
to take them and captivate them and bring them under the obedience
of Christ. Every thought to the obedience
of Christ. Slay them before they take root
in our minds and destroy us. Cast them out. Master, we perish
is the thought. What counteracts that? What's
the water that is thrown onto the flame? It is Jesus can never
stop caring for his people. Jesus is the good shepherd. That
is the thought that suppresses the fire. And it's a lifetime work. a battleground of the mind, Satan
wanting to destroy our faith, Satan wanting to cause us to
doubt and to fear and to stumble, but to take captive every thought
and place it under the obedience of Christ that our faith may
increase, that we may never accuse the Lord Jesus Christ of not
caring for us. Peace be still, he says, and
may those thoughts that are in our minds, may they be spoken
to by Christ and then may there be a calm. Peace be still. And there was a great calm. Master, carest thou not that
we perish? We can never accuse the good
shepherd of not caring for his people for he lays across the
door of the sheepfold taking care of them night and day and
will bring them through to eternity where they will be with him forever
and ever. Amen.