Go with me, if you would, back
to Mark chapter 4. Mark 4. Let's read these verses
again. Mark 4, beginning in verse 35. In 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
you 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?" We've looked at this story before.
We know this story. This is an amazing story. I love
this story. It shows the absolute power and
authority of our Lord over all things. His absolute power and
His absolute authority over all things. Even the wind and the
sea obey Him. That's amazing. And that's wonderful. That is wonderful. What manner
of man is this? What manner of man is this? Clearly,
this is God. Clearly. Only God can do that. Only God can command the wind. Only God can command the ocean
and with just His Word, they obey Him. He just causes them
to obey Him. Only God can do that. Let me
show you something in Job 38. Job chapter 38. Job 38 verse 1 says, Then the Lord answered Job out
of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel
by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a
man, for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast
thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou
hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof,
if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line
upon it? Whereupon are the foundations
thereof fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone thereof? When the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy. Or who shut up the sea
with doors when it break forth as if it had issued out of the
womb. When I made the cloud the garment
thereof and thick darkness a swaddling band for it. And break up for
it my decreed place and set bars and doors. And said hitherto
shalt thou come but no further. and here shall thy proud waves
be stayed. Hast thou commanded the morning
since the days, and caused the day spring to know his place,
that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked
might be shaken out of it?" He said, can you do any of that,
Job? Job said, well, let me tell you what I think. And the Lord
said, can you do any of that? Look at verse 22. Hast thou entered
into the treasures of the snow, or hast thou seen the treasures
of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
against the day of battle and war? By what way is the light
parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth? Who
hath divided a water course for the overflowing of waters, or
a way for the lightning of thunder, to cause it to rain on the earth
where no man is, on the wilderness wherein there is no man, to satisfy
the desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of the tender
herb to spring forth? Who's done all that? Verse 33,
he said, knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? Canst thou set the
dominion thereof in the earth? Canst thou lift up thy voice
to the clouds that abundance of waters may cover thee? Canst
thou send lightnings that they may go and say unto thee, here
we are? Can you demand for it to rain
and it rains? Can you demand for the lightning
to strike? And it says, here we are. Only God can do that. Only God. Why are we so fearful? We're
so afraid. Well, lightning's striking, I better get out of
the way. It's on course. It's all on course. Only God can do that. In our
story, every person who was in the ship said, Who is this? Who is this? This is God. This is God. Man cannot do that. Only God can do that. All right.
But look at this. Turn with me to Psalm 121. Psalm 121 verse 1 says, I will
lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help my
help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth now watch
this he will not suffer thy foot to be moved He that keepeth thee
will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. God does not sleep. He said He will not sleep. Therefore, he cannot sleep. He cannot go back on his word.
He cannot lie. Not one word will fail. Not one word. All right, now
go back with me to Mark 4. Mark 4 verse 35 says, 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." How can that be? Was he really asleep? How could that be? How could
he be asleep? This is how he could be asleep
and he was asleep. If it says he was asleep, he
was asleep. Alright? He could be asleep and
he was asleep because he was a man. I mean a man. He wasn't like a
man. He was a man. In this amazing story, we both
wonder, who is this? And we clearly see exactly who
this is. A man cannot command the wind
and the sea. Only God can do that. And God cannot fall asleep. Only a man can do that. This
is the God Man. This amazing man is the God Man. This is God Manifest. This is God in perfect, absolute
union with man. I mean perfect union with man. And as the God-man, because He
is the God-man, this is what He has to say to us. Verse 38,
He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow,
and they awake Him, and saying to Him, carest thou not that
we perish? And he arose and rebuked the
wind and said unto the sea, peace be still. And the wind ceased
and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, why are
you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? All right, now this is what they
said to him. Carest thou not that we perish? Master, Lord,
do you not care that we're dying? This is the gospel. This right
here is the gospel. Do you know why God became a
man? It's because He cared about the
fact that we were dying. It's the whole reason God became
a man. He cared about the fact that
we were dying. I want us to go into His heart. He cared On his throne, from
his throne, he cared. Oh, he cared. Let's go into his
heart for just a moment. Turn with me to Psalm 86. Psalm 86 verse 15 says, But thou,
O LORD, art a God full of compassion and gracious, long-suffering,
and plenteous in mercy and truth. That's what is in His heart.
That's what was in His heart. Compassion, compassion, grace,
patience, mercy, truth. Look with me at Isaiah 49. Isaiah 49 verse 13, it says, Sing, O heavens, and be joyful,
O earth, and break forth into singing, O mountains, for the
Lord hath comforted His people and will have mercy upon His
afflicted. But Zion said, The Lord hath
forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget
her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son
of her womb? Yea, they may forget. Yet will
I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon
the palms of my hands. Thy walls are continually before
me. He said, can a woman forget her
own child, her own baby? Yes, she can. But he said, I'll
never forget you. I'll never leave you. Every time
I look at the palms of my hands, I'm reminded of you. Go with me to Mark chapter one. Mark 1, verse 40, And there came a leper to him,
beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto
him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus moved
with compassion. put forth his hand, and touched
him, and said unto him, I will be thou clean. And as soon as
he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and
he was cleansed." What manner of man is this? Even disease
obeys the word of his mouth as soon as he spoke it. Go with me to John 11. John 11 verse 1, Now a certain
man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary
and her sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed
the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose
brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sister sent unto
him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. Verse
14 says, Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Verse 32, Then when Mary was
come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet,
saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had
not died. When Jesus therefore saw her
weeping, and the Jews also weeping, which came with her, he groaned
in the Spirit and was troubled, and said, Where have you laid
him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. And can you imagine
the scene of watching our Lord standing there weeping? Our Lord
stood there. And he wept, head in hand, wept. Because verse 36, then said the
Jews, behold, how he loved him. He just stood there and wept.
He just wept. Verse 37, some of them said,
could not this man which opened the eyes of the blind have caused
that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again
groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave and
a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, take ye away the
stone. Verse 43, And when he thus had
spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth,
bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound
about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose
him, and let him go. Why did God make Himself to be
a man? Why did God humble Himself? Why did He bring Himself from
His throne all the way down to the grave? It's because He cares
whether or not we perish. He cares whether or not we perish. And He cried, Peace, be still. Peace, be still. Moses said in
Exodus 14, Stand still. and see the salvation of the
Lord. The Lord said in Psalm 46, Be
still and know that I am God. That's the thing to do. Be still
and know that I am God. Naomi told Ruth, Sit still. for your kinsman redeemer will
not be in rest until he has finished this thing today. Sit still. Peace, be still. Our Lord came and suffered a
violent wrath so we could have peace and be still. He took the
raging war of our sin into Himself so we could have peace and be
still. When our Lord rebuked the wind
and the waves, it says back in our text, if you go back to Mark
chapter 4, Mark 4 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? 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. When he brought peace and rest
to the wind and the sea, He brought peace and rest to everything.
I mean everything. It says, as soon as he cried
his rebuke, the moment that he engaged, there was a great calm. And that doesn't mean things
died down slowly. That means the wind stopped and
the ocean became as still and as flat as a pond. It went from
howling and raging and beating to absolute quietness and peace
and rest. And when that storm stilled,
the disciples stilled. When all that that was going
on around them, when that stilled, they stilled. In one mighty command,
it went from absolute chaos. Can't you envision this? Sailors,
when they, it's got to be bad for a sailor to know the ship's
going down and I'm dying. It has to be bad. And it has
to be loud. And they're hollering to hear
each other. And they're doing everything
that they can do. And it's absolute chaos and it's just hollering
and screaming to... They're whispering to each other.
What manner of man is this? Just calm. Calm. That wind and those waves represent
our sin. That's what it represents. It
represents our sin. It represents God's judgment
against our sin. And the moment that Christ brought
peace and rest to the sin and to the judgment against the sin,
He brought peace and rest to His people. In one word, in one
word, when the Spirit whispers, Christ, it brings absolute peace
and rest to His people. That moment of peace and rest
took place on Calvary. That's where it took place. But
that moment also takes place every time God's Spirit reveals
it to a sinner. Every time. God's child lives
his life in sin, and God starts dealing with him. And He reveals
the sin and He reveals the judgment against the sin. And the noise
of that sin and the judgment starts beating on His soul. That's what happens. It starts
beating on His soul. And the child of God, seeing
the condition He's in, seeing He's a sinner, knowing He's going
to die for His sin, seeing that He must face a holy God, realizes
there's no way out. There's no hope, no hope left. And by this urgent faith that
has been given to him, God in that moment sends faith, by that
urgent faith he cries out to God, carest thou not that I'm
dying? And then in mercy his eyes are
opened to see the God-man. And God reveals to him that through
the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, Peace with God has been
made. The sin, the judgment for sin,
it's all been stilled and that brings a great calm. A great
calm. That brings a great calm to everything. It brings calm to us and everything
around us. Everything. Knowing that sin
and judgment has been stilled brings peace and rest to everything
else. Every other storm this life brings
to us. Every other storm. There are
a lot of storms out there. There are a lot of storms out
there. When sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever our lot,
if we're convinced, if we're at rest with the fact that it's
well with our soul, it's well with everything else. Everything
else. If there's a stillness here,
there's a stillness everywhere else. Now this morning I was
going to quote, I was going to read Psalm 23 to you, and we
didn't do it. I quoted a little bit of it.
Let's go read it, alright? Turn with me to Psalm 23. Psalm 23 verse 1 says, The Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, 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 comfort me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies, thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever." Wouldn't you love to walk through this
life with that peace and that stillness? Wouldn't you love
that? The Lord is my shepherd. I don't
know how it's all going to fall out. I don't know what the end
is. I don't know. But I know the Lord is my shepherd
and I'm not going to lack. Am I going to get out there and
get myself out in the ocean that I can't get out of and drown?
No. No. He's going to leave me beside
still waters. There's nothing to fear. Surely goodness and mercy is
going to follow me. That is peace, that's stillness. That's true quietness. Now, I
wanna take two things from this message. I want us to take two
things that we can apply every day from this message. If God
has given us faith to believe that Christ has brought absolute
peace to our sin and to the judgment against our sin, if he's called
us to be believers, followers of him, Then as the storms of
life come, every pew in this building has people in it who
are either coming out of storms, currently in storms, or about
to head into storms. And when they come, number one,
let's remember, as the disciples did in the ship, let's remember
to cry out for help. We forget that little detail. We forget that little detail.
Let's remember to cry out for help. They cried and He saved
them. Psalm 107, I love that Psalm. It keeps saying how they got
themselves into trouble. Then, finally, they cried unto
the Lord and He delivered them out of their distresses. They
that do business in deep waters, They see the terror of the Lord.
They reel to and fro. They stagger like a drunken man.
Then they finally cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He
delivers them out. Let's remember to cry out for
help. And number two, as we cry, let's
do this, and let's remember this. Go with me to 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter 5 verse 6, Humble yourselves
therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you
in due time, casting all your care upon Him. For He careth
for you. Does He care whether or not we
perish? He most certainly does. He most certainly does. He is
not willing that any of His own should perish. Spiritually, physically,
eternally, temporally. So let's cast our all on Him
and let's cry out for help. Cry out and cast it all because
He cares for us. That's what He said, He cares
for us. If we will do that, if we'll
honestly do that, everything will be still. Everything will
be at peace. There'll be a great calm and
we'll marvel. Saying what manner of man this
is. We will what manner of man this is. Even the storms of life
obey him. And we know it. So have you ever
been in the middle of a storm? And truly cried out to him for
help. And everything was fine. He like,
well, that worked out well. If we'll do that, there will
be peace. Even the storms of life obey
him. Peace be still. All right, let's
all stand together.