May it please Almighty God this
evening to bless us together as we meditate in his word. Let's
turn to the Gospel of Mark chapter 4 and we'll read the last four
verses from verse 38. So the Gospel of Mark chapter
4 and from verse 38 to the end of the chapter. 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 you 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? This is just a short account,
isn't it? But there's a lot involved in
it. It follows on from just a couple
of verses which indicate the position that that had occurred. There had been a wonderful parable
of a psalm which had been expounded at length and was instructive
to the disciples. And we read, And the same day,
when the evening 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. Well, it seemed no doubt
a calm evening, and it seemed everything would be all right.
They'd obviously had a good day, a profitable day, a blessed day,
but they didn't know what was ahead of them. And that's just
the same for us today in our lives. God is gracious. He may be with us. He may direct
us. He may teach us. And then as
we look ahead, we think, well, this will follow and this will
be okay. Not realising what God's purpose
and what God's plans are for us. See, God leads us and directs
us in our life on this earth to instruct us, to teach us. And in this case, really, one
of the great reasons was, as the Lord says, why are you so
fearful? How is it that you have no faith? Well, faith, of course, is the
gift of God. And as the disciples needed that
faith to believe, so we today need that faith to believe. You know, we may view the scene
and think it's all right. We have the picture here of the
sea. It appeared to be all right, but they hadn't been obviously
on the sea very long, and there arose a great storm of wind. Well, in our lives, sometimes
things appear to be all right, smooth, and then suddenly there
appears a great storm. And when these things occur,
it tests our faith. It tests our faith as to whether
we're in the right way. whether we're in the wrong way
and sometimes the devil tells us well if you're in the right
way you would never have to endure such opposition and such difficulties
and so many storms but God deals with his children and deals with
you and I if we're his children in love to our souls to instruct
us and to teach us. And therefore, we shouldn't be
surprised, perhaps sometimes, if there's a great storm arises. In this case, it was a great
storm of wind. And the effect of that was the
waves beat into the ship so that it was now full. Didn't look
very good, did it? The scene looked quite dark.
And again, in our lives today, it may be like that. It may have
been like that. The scene may not have been as
bright as we expected. And we find opposition. We find
the storm arises. We find the, as it were, the
boat fills with water. And then we realize what we should
do. And often we carry on in our
own way. We carry on thinking we can deal
with the situation. No doubt the disciples who were
sailors thought they could deal with the situation. They didn't
realise how serious it was. And then because things don't
appear to improve, We wonder what we should do. And clearly,
that was the position here. The things didn't improve. And then they realized the Savior
was in the boat with them. He was in the hinder part of
the ship, asleep on a pillow. And we're told they awake him
and said to him, Master, carest thou not that we perish. Well, the Lord knew all about
them. He knew all about the storm. And that's just so today. He
knows all about you and me. He knows all about the storms
which he brings into our life. The great requirement is that
those test our religion, test our faith. And so the disciples,
as we read this, they seem to be a little bit peevish, and
they say, Master, carest thou not that we perish? Well, of course the Lord knew
about them. Of course he cared for them. And therefore, He was
in that position so that they did come and they did call upon
his name and they did as it were awake him. And so in our lives
still today we have those situations where the Lord will be called
upon. And we may have to be, in our
lives, shown that we do have a great, kind and merciful Saviour
who waits to be gracious. But He will be inquired of. Master, carest thou not that
we perish? And a number of times we find
in Scripture that the Lord doesn't respond to questions. No, he acts, but he doesn't respond
to questions. He doesn't have to give a reason. We may think, perhaps, that he
should always give reasons. Well, the Lord knows how to deal
with us. And so he knew how to deal with
the disciples on this occasion. Master, carest thou not that
we perish? But what did Jesus do? Did he
give them a lecture? Did he tell them then why hadn't
they called him earlier? Why did they need to call him?
But no, he just simply arose and rebuked the wind and said
unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased and there
was a great calm. Now that is the same today in
our spiritual lives. When things perhaps appear to
be in turmoil, perhaps we may feel to be in the midst of a
spiritual storm, the devil attacking us from every angle, and we fear
that we may make shipwreck and we won't come out of this trial
and difficulty the Lord has permitted to come into our lives. But we must remember that God
deals with his children in love to their souls. And you and I
can often think that the Lord will work in a certain way to
deliver us from the trials that he brings us into. But we must
not forget God's ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts
than ours. And we should therefore not try
and compare our way with God's way. Our way is often faulty,
often directed by our own mind. And yet God's way is perfect. And the great blessing is this.
God never makes a mistake in his dealings with his children. Sometimes we may be perplexed. Perhaps the disciples were perplexed. Why had this storm arisen? Why had they to pass through
it? Sometimes it's the same in our
lives. We may think, why am I having
to pass through this trial? Why am I having to endure this
opposition? And we should not forget that
the Church of God pass through trials. Trials don't overcome
them. We pass through trials. And in that trial, just like
the disciples were here, they saw the power of God. It's a great blessing for us
today to realise that God is still the same today, and as
he was all those years ago. And power belongeth unto God. And as we read, he arose, and
rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still." A
very simple command, wasn't it? That's all the Lord did. He just
spoke. And it was done. And what a mercy
today God sometimes just speaks. just speaks into our hearts.
Speaks sometimes into our hearts by a word from the Scriptures
as we read the Word of God. And you know, when you and I
come into times of difficulty, storms of life, what should we
do? Mope around? Try and find some
solution? No, what we should do is turn
to the Word of God. and read the Word of God and
to bless God when He speaks to us through His Word. Again, how wonderful it is that
God speaks through His Word and instructs us and shows us what
we must do. doesn't leave us in a vacuum. He tells us you will be inquired
of by the house of Israel to do these things for them. And
we should not forget to cast all our burdens upon the Lord. It's very strange, isn't it?
But naturally we try and fight on ourselves. We rely on our
own abilities, our own wisdom, our own strength, instead of
coming and committing our way unto the Lord. And so, to be
able to come here with the disciples, they were clearly concerned,
weren't they? Master, carest thou not that we perish? Well,
the Lord did care for his disciples. And he does care for the Church
of God still today. But in his caring, He directs
us. In His caring, He instructs us. And what does He do? He draws
us nearer to Himself. And such times, testing times,
are a benefit to us. What do they do? These times
strengthen our faith. Our faith may have been very
weak. We may almost have given up. But what a mercy it is that
God doesn't allow us to give up. He enables us to continue. As it were, he takes us by the
hand and leads us on and leads us in that right way. And by
faith, we view the path that he's leading us in. You see then,
to understand that path is not a broad one which leads to destruction,
perhaps the one that we fancied, the way that we thought would
be very pleasant for us. No, God leads us, like he did
Israel. He led them about. He instructed
them. He kept them as the apple of
his eye. And so he does to his people. He leads us about. He instructs
us. He shows us the dangers. He delivers us from them. He
leads us in a plain path. How kind and gracious our God
is. And so here was this position
that we have here. as the disciples came to Jesus
and he arose and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, peace,
be still. When God gives peace, my friends,
who then can make trouble? It's the peace of God which passes
all understanding and you and I can rest in that position because
we know that God is leading us in the right way. We have those
wonderful words in the 107th Psalm. He led them forth by the
right way that they might go to a city of habitation. And that is still the same today.
He leads us in the right way to bring us safely home to glory. We should always have that in
the back of our mind that God is leading us. He's not leaving
us. He's leading us. He's directing
us. And what is he doing? Preparing
us for our eternal home. We don't always realise that,
do we? As we journey on. But to think that our gracious
God is a compassionate God, He sees us, He sees how we perhaps
wandered away, gone into that broad way, and then by His grace,
He brings us back. Well, here was a situation, wasn't
it? We're not given the details,
but what we know is this, that they got into this ship, and
they started sail, and they didn't know that this great storm of
wind the waves were going to come upon them. God knew and
God was going to instruct them and God was going to teach them.
So as you and I perhaps set sail in our life in some way whatever
that may be in our natural life we may set sail and we think
well this is good and wonderful well it may be But God may be
teaching us in that way. He may bring us into a stormy
scene. And in that stormy scene, cause
us to come to the Saviour. That's just what these disciples
did. They came to the Saviour. They cried to Him. And did He
turn away from them? No, God is kind and gracious.
And so we read these wonderful words, as he rebuked the wind
and said unto the sea, peace, be still. When God makes peace,
it is peace. And all the turmoil and all the
roughness of the journey and the hardness of life take second
place. And we realize that our God is
dealing with us. in love to our souls. And that is a very humbling consideration. He hasn't left us just to carry
on in a journey which is wrong and not good. But I think he
takes us in hand and leads us and brings us into these times
of peace. Peace, be still. It's a glorious
word, peace, isn't it? We like peace, don't we? We like
to live in a peaceful way. Well, what a mercy when God brings
peace into our life. And the storm ceased, and there
was a great calm. Almost instantly, God can do
that which you and I can't do. God can bring about an amazing
change. And so he did here. And so he
can in our lives. And perhaps he has in our lives. Brought about amazing changes. Very quickly. Very suddenly. And so the Lord then says to
them, have you brought that about? There they are then. One moment
in a storm, the next moment, in a calm sea. And the Lord asks
him a question. Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? Well, when we see the storm around
us, and often in a storm you can't see very far. And that
may be the case in our lives. We're brought into a stormy situation.
We can't see the future. It's misty. There's a lot of
spray. And we can't observe where the
direction is. But then when God brings it calm,
everything dies down. And then we can see plainly. We see plainly now the way, the
direction, the goodness and the kindness of Almighty God. Why are you so fearful? How is
it that you have no faith? You know, we have these simple
statements in the Word of God to direct us and to encourage
us in the day in which we live. The Lord knows exactly what we're
doing, what we're thinking and what we need. How kind and gracious
that God is. And we're told here, and they
feared exceedingly. They feared exceedingly. I don't know if any of you have
been in a great storm in the sea, but it is a frightening
experience. Because we realise we have no
power over the waves. It's only God that controls it
in a natural way and it's the same in our spiritual lives. We may be in a great storm and
we can't control that storm. But what a blessing it is when
God gives us faith to believe the way that we're walking is
the right way. He led them forth by the right
way that they might go to a city of habitation. And because they
were led in that way, they would arrive in that city of habitation
prepared to enjoy that glorious exchange and to be a partaker
of that wonderful scene of glory. Why are you so fearful? Well,
we can look back, can't we? We can read this account, and
we can think, well, why were they fearful? Why were they fearful? Well, they were human. My friends,
left to ourselves, we fear. And especially as you and I view
ourselves, and view our sinful condition, and view how we disobeyed
God, and turned our back upon Him, and said, perhaps in our
heart, we will not have this man to reign over us. We're going
to plan our life. We know what is good for us,
and we're going to do that well. The disciples clearly thought
to go on this boat into the sea was good and right and proper,
but it proved to be very difficult, but there was a good ending. And isn't that wonderful? to
think that in your life and my life, as God deals with us, as
sons and daughters of the Most High God, it may be a stormy
passage, it may be a difficult journey, but be sure of this,
there'll be a good end. There'll be a good end. And the
Lord will receive us unto himself. And we read part of the 14th
chapter of John this morning. And again, the Lord in those
glorious words speaks to his disciples, and he tells them,
peace, I leave with you. His peace, my peace, I give unto
you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid. What a mercy then to have a kind
and gracious God who does come and does indeed look upon us
in love to our soul. And as we've already commented,
it's all part of God's preparation for you and me to inherit our
eternal home. We don't pass out of time into
eternity. as an unprepared people. We are
prepared by the glorious work of the Spirit in our lives to
take up our cross and to follow Him, to not be left to ourselves
No, we might perhaps think that we can choose our own way. Well,
God chooses the way. God chooses that which is good
for us. And we see all around us the
power of God. Sometimes it's wonderful to observe
a thunderstorm. What do we see there? We see
God's power. Man can't produce lightning like
we see in a thunderstorm like we see it's the power of God
and my friends is exactly the same power of God which comes
into our lives and changes us and reveals to us where we are
where we've been where we're going and in love to our soul,
deals with us and brings us into the fold of Christ as one of
his sheep. We're willing then, we're willing
and we're thankful, are we not? Just like David was able to say
in that 23rd Psalm when he said, the Lord is my shepherd, He had
that confirmation that God was leading and directing him. And
what a mercy it is to have that evidence. He says, he maketh
me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. If you know anything of David's
life, we have a good record of David's life. We see how he fell,
how he turned his back upon God, as he desired to please himself,
and yet we see God's love and mercy towards him. The next verse
is very real. He restoreth my soul. We may have wandered away, far
off from God, gone down that broad way, And yet, here we have
a God, as David was able to express, he, no one else, restoreth my
soul. And he leadeth me in the paths
of righteousness for his name's sake. Those paths of righteousness
which bring glory and honour to the Saviour. We're not our
own. We're bought with a price. And that's very humbling, isn't
it? Yea, thou 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 comfort me. There was a holy confidence in
his God. And again, a blessing for us
today, if we have a confidence in our God, that he is leading
us in the right way, that we may come to a city of habitation. And then he carries on. Thou
preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. You see, God's able to do that,
which you and I can't do. He makes a way where there appears
to be no way. Prepare the table before me in
the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over. Runneth over with the blessings
of the Lord. Runneth over, realising his mercy,
his compassion, his love toward us. Oh, it's a wonderful blessing
if that occurs. My cup is its personal. Your cup, my cup runneth over
and therefore is able to conclude with this confidence. Surely
therefore, having testified of God's pathway for him, surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. and I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. That's a glorious conclusion,
isn't it? And what a blessing it is if
you and I can walk through this psalm and realise the gracious
words of it and the application of it and be able to say with
David with that humble confidence in that positive way, surely,
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. He had a gracious anticipation. And what a mercy if you and I
have a gracious anticipation of God's goodness and mercy toward
us, in that he's led us and that he's directed us. And perhaps
then the question is put to us, why are ye so fearful? David was fearful in his life,
but he was able to pen that psalm. in a humble confidence that God
was with him and God would be with him and God would indeed
graciously direct him. You know, as we think of this
God, the greatness of this God, how humbling to think that almighty
God who created all things and controls everything that occurs
in this vast world looks upon you and me and cares for us and
takes us in hand and doesn't cast us off as a comrade of the
ground, as someone who is worthless. But because he has loved us with
an everlasting love, he draws us to him. And as we think of
the greatness of God, as we look all around us, don't we, we see
his marvellous creation. Proves to us how great God is. And we see the glory of God in
the firmament, in the sky, All around us, indeed, David tells
us the heavens declare the glory of God. How good it is sometimes
on a clear night to look up at the sky and see the myriads of
stars and planets and realize our God created all those things. so great and yet he looks upon
me unworthy me and to think therefore that he's
leading us in that right way he's called us out of the darkness
of nature he's called us away from following the ways of satan
caused us to consider our ways, cause us to seek his face. Isn't that really humbling? The hymn writer says, what was
there in me to merit esteem or give my creator delight? Nothing at all. But how merciful
is our God to us. and how gracious is our God to
us. In the Proverbs we read this,
when a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies
to be at peace with him. And this is so glorious, to give
all the honour to our God. Our God enables us to do those
things which please the Lord. And then, you see, he makes our
enemies at peace. The Lord is a great God. He always
has been and he always will be. He is the eternal God. Oh, my
friends, let us always have great views of God. Let us never have
little views. Let us never think that God is
a small God, but God is a great God. He is able and willing to
do far more, exceeding abundantly, than you and I can even ask or
think. And what a great blessing it
is. Because of his love and mercy toward us, He leads us to Calvary. You and I can't get there ourselves. But what a blessing it is when
the Saviour leads us to Calvary. And we see there the suffering
Saviour giving His life so that we might receive the great gift
of eternal life. He bore the punishment instead. What was it? Love to our souls. I often think of those words
in the epistle of John, not that we love God, but that he loved
us. God always started, we never
did. And so tonight, can we trace
out God's love to us? Just like we see in this account
here, God's love to his disciples in demonstrating to them his
power and to think that God still demonstrate his power in the
salvation of our souls, to come alongside us, to reveal what
we are, a fallen sinner, unworthy of any favour, and then to show
us himself as that great and glorious one who has suffered,
the hymn writer says, all incarnate God could bear with strength
enough and none to spare in order to redeem our souls. Well, when you and I might be
in the stormy seas, but if God reveals himself to us like that,
what's the result? The result's before us, peace,
be still. We have the wonderful evidence
that the glorious God has given his life so that we might receive
life. It's really beyond our comprehension,
isn't it? To understand the love of God
in redeeming such unworthy sinners, and yet true it is. And so as
we have this account before us here to realise God's mercy and
God's love to his disciples on this occasion. And how he so
easily rebuke the wind and calm the sea. So he's able to do just
that today in our little lives. Rebuke the winds, the winds of
evil and calm the sea perhaps of anger and resentment and to
bring peace into our whole, our heart. My peace I give unto you,
my peace I leave with you. Well, may God bless us indeed
with such a wonderful favour and meditate on these words and
give God all the honour and all the glory. Amen.