while the Lord is helping me
this morning I will preach from Matthew chapter 8 verses 23 to
27 please excuse my cold Matthew chapter 8 verses 23 to 27 and when he was entered into
a ship his disciples followed him and behold there arose a
great tempest in the sea insomuch that the ship was covered with
the waves, but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him
and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us, we perish. And he saith
unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he
arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great
calm. But the men marveled, saying,
What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey
him? Well, this is the account of
the miraculous stilling of the tempest by the Lord Jesus Christ. It's also recorded in Mark chapter
4 and in Luke chapter 8. So we have this account three
times in the Holy Scriptures. And the accounts do vary slightly,
but they are completely without contradiction. Now in a court of law, where
three witnesses say the same thing, and there are slight variations
in their accounts, The matter is more firmly established, and
the evidence is deemed to be reliable. You see, it is evident
that the witnesses are speaking independently of each other.
There has been no collusion beforehand as to what is to be said, and
so their evidence is deemed to be reliable. And so it is here. We have three independent accounts
of the same event. but the same spirit of truth
has inspired each. In the mouth of two or three
witnesses shall every word be established." And in this narrative
we see three things, and these three things shall be our headings
this morning as we consider the text. Firstly, the Lord's determination. And then secondly, the disciples'
difficulty and danger and then in the third place, which I consider
the Church's deliverance. But firstly, let us consider
the Lord's determination. We see here that the Lord has
determined to set sail to the other side of the Sea of Galilee,
or Lake Gennesaret, as it's also called, or Lake Tiberias, as
it's again called, the same place, and we see this from verse 18
now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him he gave commandment
to depart unto the other side now the only work which the Lord
Jesus Christ performed in the country of the Gergesenes on
the other side of the lake was the deliverance of the two men
who were possessed with devils It seems that the Lord went to
the other side of the Sea of Galilee just to save those two
men and then to return. That's all He did there. Now
what a picture this is of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ came from
heaven to earth to save His elect though they were the unworthy
fallen sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. though they were
taken captive by the devil at his will. He came from across
the other side, as it were, from heaven itself, to set the captives
free. And this is what he preached
at the synagogue in Nazareth. We see in Luke 4, the Spirit
of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. Oh, He would first bind the strongman,
that is, the devil, and then spoil his house. It was for this
purpose that He came into the world. as John says, for this
purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works
of the devil and we see the Lord's determination to save his people
from their sins in that he set his face like a flint to go to
Jerusalem and to the death of the cross he speaks through the
prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 50 verse 5 the Lord God had opened my
ear and I was not rebellious neither turned away back I gave
my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off
their hair I did not hide my face from shame and spitting
for the Lord God will help me therefore shall I not be confounded
Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that
I shall not be ashamed. And this scripture is fulfilled
in the New Testament in Luke chapter 9 verse 51 we read and
it came to pass when the time was come that he should be received
up he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem he set his
face like a flint to go to the suffering and to the death of
the cross it was by means of the death of Christ that the
devil was to be cast out now is the judgment of this world
now shall the prince of this world be cast out and I if I
be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me this he
said signifying what death he should die Yes, He spoiled principalities
and powers and made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it, that is, triumphing over them in that cross. He triumphed
over the devil and all his angels. It was by means of the cross. The Lord passed over from eternity
into time. And this He did to redeem His
elect. He crossed the great divide between
heaven and earth to deliver His people from their sins. And this
He determined to do out of the love that filled His heart for
those who were given to Him by the electing love of the Father
in the eternal covenant of grace. He came for no other reason but
to save His church. He did not come to offer salvation
to the reclamate. He came to save His church. from
their sins, His people the Lord passed over from eternity into
time to save and to redeem His elect and so here in Matthew
chapter 8 it seems that the Lord had no other purpose in passing
over to the other side but to deliver two possessed with devils
He was determined to deliver these two men and of course all
those other people asked that he would depart from them they
would have none of his ways they desired not the knowledge
of his ways and we see here also in Matthew
chapter 8 that the Lord was also determined to prove and to increase
the faith of those who were his disciples Jesus could have gone
around the coast of the lake on foot it would not have been
much further if you look at a map of the area you'll see it would
have not been that much further and it would certainly have been
far less perilous but the Lord would sift the crowd who were
following him now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him
he gave commandment to depart unto the other side you see,
he would sift the crowd and he sifts them by means of the way
which he takes and he winnows them by his word as you see from
verse 19 and a certain scribe came and said unto him master
I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest and Jesus saith unto
him the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests
but the son of man hath not where to lay his head And another of
his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and
bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow
me and let the dead bury their dead. And when he was entered
into a ship, his disciples followed him. His disciples followed him. You see how the Lord separates
his true disciples from the crowd. Those who would put on or make
a profession of faith Those who would follow the Lord Jesus Christ
and join himself to the disciples must be warned of the dangers
and of the difficulties and of the cost. Matthew Henry says,
they and they only will be found the true disciples of Christ
that are willing to go to sea with him, to follow him into
dangers and difficulties. Many would be content to go the
land way to heaven, but would rather stand still or go back
than venture upon a dangerous sea. but those that would rest
with Christ hereafter must follow Him now wherever He leads them the Lord has determined to try
the faith of His elect and we see this many times in the Scriptures
and whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot
be my disciple, Jesus said again, whosoever he be of you
that forsaketh not all that he hath he cannot be my disciple and we read in Acts of Paul and
Barnabas confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting
them to continue in the faith and that we must through much
tribulation enter into the kingdom of God Peter speaks of manifold
temptations, does he not, and the trial of faith. Though now
for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious
than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appealing
of Jesus Christ. and this has been the experience
of the people of God down the ages Job could say when he knoweth
the way that I take when he hath tried me I shall come forth as
gold my foot hath held his steps his way have I kept and not declined
oh he was a follower of Christ even before Christ was manifest
in the flesh he was a follower of Christ My foot hath held his
steps, his way have I kept. Oh, but his faith was tried,
his faith was sorely tried. And in the book of Revelation
we see the ransomed church of God. These are they which came
out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb. The church must pass through
great tribulation. It's not a tribulation to come,
it's a tribulation here and now! Try telling that to the martyrs
of the Reformation who were burnt at the stake that there is a
great tribulation to come. Try telling it to those who are
being beheaded for their faith under Islamic countries. Oh,
there's a great tribulation to come. The tribulation is not
yet. The tribulation is now! It's now. We are passing through
the Great Tribulation now. And our faith must be tried. If our faith is real, it will
be tried. The Lord has determined to try
the faith of His disciples. This is what we see here. And
when He was entered into a ship, His disciples followed Him. Now see in the second place the
disciples difficulty and danger. And behold there arose a great
tempest in the sea, in so much that the ship was covered with
the waves, and he was asleep. Now the word behold intimates
the suddenness of this great tempest. Is it not the case that troubles
and difficulties and indeed dangers can come on us suddenly? one
moment all may seem calm in our lives and then suddenly we find
ourselves in the midst of a tempest I know some of you have experienced
this and you know what I'm talking about well this tempest came very suddenly
and behold there arose a great tempest in the sea and these
words great tempest in the Greek is seismos megas seismos, from
which we get our word seismic seismology is the study of earthquakes
and megas, from which we get our prefix mega this was a megaquake
like a huge earthquake but in the sea a seaquake as it were
and we are told that the ship was covered with the waves Mark
tells us and there arose a great storm of wind and the waves beat
into the ship so that it was now full there is Clearly a very
real danger, at least in the minds of the disciples, of drowning. And they were clearly afraid.
Lord save us, we perish! And I don't think that they would
have been easily scared, these men. These were hardened fishermen,
they were experienced fishermen. Oh, but now they seem to be in
great danger. Indeed, Luke says, And there
came down a storm of wind on the lake, and they were filled
with water, and were in jeopardy. They were in jeopardy. Here is
danger. And we must note what is written in the Psalms. And we sung it in our opening
praise, Psalm 107. for he commandeth and raiseth
the stormy wind which lifteth up the waves thereof he commandeth
and raiseth the stormy wind and lifteth up the waves thereof
it was the Lord the God of heaven that brought this great tempest
for he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind which lifteth
up the waves thereof the Lord is sovereign in providence as
well as in creation and salvation We preach a gospel, we preach
a salvation that is absolutely of God. God is sovereign. But
we also declare that God is sovereign in creation, we deny the theory
of evolution, and we preach God's sovereignty in providence too. The very hairs of our head are
all numbered. and when the storms come in our
lives God is sovereign for he commandeth and raiseth
the stormy wind which lifteth up the waves thereof we notice that the disciples
had Jesus with them in the boat but it did not exempt them from
danger and are we not taught here that if we are crossing
the ocean of this world hoping to reach our desired haven, the
Lord being with us. Well, yet we must expect storms
to come. Storms will come. See how the
church is addressed in Isaiah 54, O thou afflicted, tossed
with tempest and not comforted. Or it may be that we are not
sensible of any comfort. we are not comforted, oh thou
afflicted, tossed with tempest and not comforted we may not
feel any comfort in our trial and in our difficulties indeed it may seem to us as if
Christ is asleep He seems to pay no attention to our difficulties
or to our plight or to our predicament see the Lord Jesus asleep here
in the storm Mark tells us and he was in the hinder part of
the ship asleep on a pillow it's written in the Psalms and God
giveth his beloved sleep here is the father's only begotten
son his beloved son in a real human nature he sleeps he is
touched with the feeling of our infirmities as the apostle says,
yet without sin he is a real man and we see him here tired
after the labours and after the business of the day and so now
he sleeps he is a real man see his sinless sacred humanity his
conscience allows him to sleep yes he is able to sleep even
in a storm now I know that Jonah slept in a storm didn't he? But you know, we don't read of
Jonah having a pillow. His conscience was rather deadened
as he ran away from the work which the Lord had called him
to do. But it was not so with Christ. He was asleep in the
hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow. Conscience, a good
conscience is like a pillow, is it not? On which to rest our
heads. do we not see here that the son
had complete trust in the father he has complete and absolute
trust in his father he could say in the words of the psalmist
I will both lay me down in peace and sleep for thou only for thou
Lord only makest me dwell in safety he could sleep even in
the storm because he trusted in God his father now what do the disciples do
in their difficulty and in their danger we read and his disciples
came to him and awoke him saying Lord save us we perish now in
Mark there is this pitiful rebuke as it were and they awake him
and say unto him Master cares thou not that we perish? and
in Luke the urgency is recorded And they came to him and awoke
him saying, Master, Master, we perish. The repetition of the
word Master, Master, Master, it suggests the urgency of the
situation. The more desperate the situation,
the more fervent our prayers must be. And sometimes the Lord
will bring us into those desperate situations that He might extract
fervent prayers from our hearts. You know, this is the only occasion
in the Bible where we read of the Lord sleeping. At this time
of great difficulty and great danger, the Lord is sleeping. Now here, there is clearly a
trial of the faith of the disciples. He sleeps, but it is that he
might be awakened. He sleeps, but it is that he
might be awakened. Again, as I said just now, sometimes
in the believer's experience, it can seem as if the Lord is
sleeping. The Son of Man, in His sacred
humanity, while He was here upon earth, He slept, He ate, and
He drank, and He walked, and so on, because He was a real
man. Oh, but as God, as God, He never
sleeps. He never sleeps. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. But sometimes in the experience
of the Lord's people it may seem that the Lord is asleep. And
so in the Psalms, in several places, too many to quote, we
find the Psalmist pleading with God to awake. And I'll just give
one example in Psalm 44 verse 23. Awake! Why sleepest thou,
O Lord? Arise! Cast us not off forever! You see, in the believer's experience
it may seem as if the Lord is asleep, He's doing nothing. And we must call on Him to awake
as it were. In Isaiah we see the church addressing
Christ as the arm of the Lord. Awake! Awake! Put on strength,
O arm of the Lord! Awake as in the ancient days,
in the generations of old. And there again you see the urgency
of the prayer of the church. Awake! Awake! In desperate situations our prayers
must be the more fervent. The Lord our God is not asleep. He never sleeps. But it can feel
as though He is asleep in the experience of the believer when
He is in the stormy tempest. This is the trial of faith. Now
what is the believer to do in his troubles? Well, he must awaken
the Lord. He must awaken the Lord, as it
were, by prayer. So let us consider, thirdly and
finally, the Church's deliverance. The deliverance, you see, begins
with prayer. Prayer is the forerunner of deliverance. the Lord save us we perish of
verse 25 comes before the rebuking of the winds and sea and the
great calm of verse 26 and so it is written in the Psalms
and call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and
thou shalt glorify me this is the order you see and
this has ever been the case in the history of the church think
of the children of Israel in Egypt and the children of Israel
sighed by reason of the bondage and they cried and their cry
came up unto God by reason of the bondage and God heard their
groaning and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac
and with Jacob and God looked upon the children of Israel and
had respect unto them This was the beginning of their deliverance.
Prayer is the prelude of deliverance. And so it is written again in
the Psalms, for the oppression of the poor, for the sighing
of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord, I will set him
in safety from him that puffeth at him. And we see it throughout
that Psalm that we sang just now, Psalm 107. verse 6, then they cried unto
the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of their
distresses verse 13, then they cried unto the Lord in their
trouble and he saved them out of their distresses verse 19,
then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble and he saveth them
out of their distresses verse 28, then they cry unto the Lord
in their trouble and he bringeth them out of their distresses
It's a continual refrain in this psalm. And that last example
is very interesting, verse 28, because it's in that part of
the psalm which seems to match exactly what we have here in
Matthew chapter 8. And it matches so precisely that
some have suggested that this scripture in Psalm 107 is actually
a prophecy, which had its fulfilment in Matthew chapter 8 and Mark
4 and Luke 8 of course just look at these words Psalm 107 verse
23 They that go down to the sea
in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works
of the Lord and His wonders in the deep. For He commandeth and
raiseth 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 up 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
the waves thereof are still then are they glad because they be
quiet so he bringeth them unto their desired haven we see that the church's deliverance
is in and by the Lord he bringeth them out of their distresses
He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. But notice the method he takes.
Before he rebukes the wind and the sea, the Lord rebukes the
fears of his disciples. You see, there is not only the
storm outside, there is a storm in their hearts. They are so
distrusting. They are overwhelmed with fear.
And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? And he says it even while the
tempest is still raging. Why are ye fearful, O ye of little
faith? He rebukes their fear before
he rebukes the wind and the sea. Sometimes our fears threaten
to overwhelm us. They come like waves beating
into the ship. Our hearts fill up with worries
and concerns like the ship filling up with water and before we know
it we are covered with soul perplexing fears like the ship covered with
the waves. The Lord will deal with our hearts
before he deals with the situation into which he has brought us in his sovereign overruling providence.
And his disciples came to him and awoke him, saying, Lord,
save us, we perish! And he said unto them, Why are
ye fearful, O ye of little faith? This is why the Lord brings the
storm. It is that he might deal with
our fears. That he might deal with our fearful
hearts. That he might increase our little faith. we see here that the disciples
had some faith it was by faith that they awoke him and called
upon him to save them is this not the beginning of faith in
the regenerate sinner? he sees that here is one who
is able to save him from his distresses who is able to save
him from the sin which perplexes him and which he knows will drown
him in hell forever and faith calls upon the Lord
and ask him to save. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. Oh, they had faith that it was
little faith. It was a little faith. But we
note this, that even little faith is rewarded with an answer of
peace. Little Faith is rewarded with an answer of peace. Then
he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a
great calm. And Mark says, and he arose and
rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. Now literally it is silence,
be muzzled. As a man puts a muzzle on a dog,
So the Lord puts a muzzle on the raging forces of nature,
and that nearly by his word. And the wind ceased, and there
was a great calm. Oh well, might the disciples
marvel and say, what manner of man is this, that even the winds
and the sea obey him? Now think for a moment as we
draw to a conclusion. What manner of man What manner
of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him, why
He is true, almighty God? We read in Mark's Gospel that
the disciples feared when they saw this miracle. Now, it says there, you see, and they
feared exceedingly and said to one another, what manner of man
is this that even the wind and the sea obey Him? They feared. when they saw the Lord work this
wonder. But this is a different kind
of fear to which they had previously experienced. A different Greek
word is used. This, you see, is the fear of
reverence. This is the fear of reverence.
The psalmist says in Psalm 89, God is greatly to be feared in
the assembly of the saints and to be had in reverence of all
them that are about Him. O Lord God of hosts, who is a
strong Lord, like unto Thee, or to Thy faithfulness round
about Thee, Thou rulest the raging of the sea, when the waves thereof
arise, Thou stillest them. O what manner of man is this,
that even the winds and the sea obey him? It is our incarnate
God. It is the same one that we read
of in the next chapter, the Son of Man who hath power on earth
to forgive sins, and who can forgive sins but God alone? Who rules the raging of the sea? And when the waves thereof arise
who stills them but God alone? Oh what manner of man is this?
He is the man who is God and you know He is able to deliver
you from your sins he who subdued the raging of the sea who muzzled
the forces of nature is able to subdue your iniquities and
he is well able to muzzle all the forces of your old nature and we notice finally that the
ship made it to the other side and when he was come to the other
side we read in verse 28 the church is like that little ship
crossing over the tempestuous waves of this world she seems
to be threatened with destruction by the winds of false doctrine
and the waves of persecution which beat against her how is
it that the church has survived in this perilous sea and has
crossed over towards the other side even into the 21st century
well there is one who is with her there is one who is with
her God is our refuge and strength and very present help in trouble
therefore will not we fear though the earth be removed and though
the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea though the
waters thereof roar and be troubled though the mountains shake with
the swelling thereof God is with us that's His name
it's Emmanuel and they shall call His name Emmanuel which
being interpreted is God with us this is the assurance that
we have that we shall be brought to our desired haven it is Emmanuel
God with us God with us it is God for us if God is for us who
can be against us? it is God in us Christ in you,
the hope of glory. Oh, and it is God with us, Emmanuel. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
hope and our confidence and we can trust in none other. He who
subdued the winds and the waves is able to subdue all our enemies.
He who brought that little ship to the other side safely is able
to bring us to our desired haven. We look to Him, we trust in Him.
The Lord Jesus Christ is in this ship. This is our hope and this
is our confidence. He will bring us safely to heaven
by His grace and by His sovereign power. The Lord bless His word
to your soul and to mine. What manner of man is this that
even the winds in the sea obey Him? Amen.