We are still in the book of Matthew,
if you'd like to turn to Matthew chapter 8. And other than our
text in Matthew chapter 8, everything else is in the handout. I know
there are some who prefer to look at the scriptures in their
Bibles, so if you want to mark Jeremiah 31, we'll be looking
at several scriptures there in Jeremiah 31. And when we get
to that, if you want, you can look at it through your Bible,
or you can follow along in your handout. But for now, we're going
to start by reading our text. Matthew chapter 8, beginning
at verse 18, if you'd like to join me there. Now, when Jesus
saw a great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart
unto the other side. 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 saith unto him, Follow
me, and let the dead bury the dead. And when he was entered
into the 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?" Now, we'll turn to our handout, if you would, and we'll
begin at the very top there. Our text of Matthew 8, 18-27.
We covered last week 19-22. of which we spend our time on
the title, Son of Man, and the purpose of God becoming flesh.
Now I opened with a brief statement about the cost of being a disciple
of Christ, here in verses 23 through 27, and we're given a
wonderful picture of God's people going through the storms of life.
the costs of discipleship, knowing what God has taught us of our
weaknesses, that our only hope is to seek our salvation in Him. And what is sure hope for those
who seek Him, for He is Lord of Lords, the Master of all that
is, for that we can read with all confidence. for that, because
He is Master of all things, because He is Lord of lords, we can read
with all confidence that nothing shall separate, shall be separate
from, shall separate us from the love of God which is in His
Son, Christ Jesus our Lord. And that's what we read in Romans
8 39. Now, before we go to the next set of scriptures there,
1 Timothy, I want to back up for just a second and talk about
this, the cost of discipleship and how this is a picture of
that. Now, I want to remind you of
a day before the Lord called us out of darkness. There are
things that bother God's children now that never bothered them
before. Number one, our sin. The very sin that plagues this
flesh, this body. That will never get any better. Our sin of this flesh will always
be the sin of this flesh. We will continually have that
battle between our flesh and our spirit. But thankfully, our
spirit is where the Lord Jesus dwells. He dwells in the spirits
of his people. He dwells in the heart. And He
will conquer the flesh. The flesh cannot win. But that
doesn't mean we don't battle with it. It doesn't mean the
waves of sin that goes through us doesn't cover our heads. When I talk about the cost of
discipleship, this is a cost. This battle is a cost. And we
never had that battle before. So that's what it's talking about
here. And you can look at this picture that we've seen where
the waves were crashing over their ship. It says there, and
the ship was covered with the waves in verse 24. that insomuch
that the ship was covered with the waves. You can take, you
can interpret that and apply that to a lot of different things.
You can apply it to our attitudes about what's going on in the
world. We look at things differently now that God has moved into our
hearts, that God has taken up residency in us. We see things
different. We see our sin, but we see the
world and how we were once just like
it. You know, I don't know about
you, but I find it so much easier to be forgiving, knowing that
my God has forgiven me way more than I need to forgive anybody
else. I can't see how any of God's
people wouldn't see it the same way. When we see how much the
Lord God Almighty, the Holy God of all creation, forgiving you
and I for what is within us. I just, I can't help but think
that everyone, all of God's people are just like me. I just, I look
at it and say, I'm so sorry for you that you're, that the Lord
hasn't moved in your heart and shown you what forgiveness truly
is. So let's pick up there again,
back in that and how we're gonna look at that finishing scripture
there. Now, mid-page of our page one,
1 Timothy 6, verses 15 through 16, of which I doubled there,
I'll have to talk to the guy who inserts those things and
talk to him about his error there. It says these words, which in
his times he shall show, the blessed and only potentate. Kevin Thacker and I were talking
today and I was telling him about where we were going to go tonight.
He goes, he goes, I remember, I remember when I was a little
kid. I can't remember what year, I think it was Don Ford. But
he said, he remembers hearing that word potentate. Well, what
does that word mean? It means, it means of great power,
of great authority. And he goes, he goes, one word
pops into my mind when you tell me what you're going to talk
about tonight, John. Potentate. And it's only mentioned once,
and it's right here in 1 Timothy. It says, which, now let's start
again there. Which in his times he shall show. We see that what's going to be
shown is in his times, don't we? The blessed and only potentate. The King of kings, the Lord of
lords, who only hath immortality dwelling in the light which no
man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see, to
whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. The blessed and only potentate. Mine, I love that. What a powerful
word it is. Potentate, it means ruler or
officer of great authority, mighty. This is the one of whom we're
speaking of who sleeps in the bowels of this ship. This one
who sleeps when no one else can, because he is the one who knows
all things. We looked at this last week,
how he's the son of man, and the son, when he talks about
the son of man, he capitalizes the word S because the deity
of God. He's the son of God and the son
of man, but he became flesh, and we looked at that in depth
last week. He knows because he's purposed
all things, it says. He's Lord. He knew the storm
would come because he would be the one to send it. I am the
Lord, he says, and there is none else. There is no God beside
me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun and
from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and
there is none else. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. Now, I want to stop there for
a moment and make sure everyone understands what that means.
The evil that is spoken of here is the earthquakes, the things
of the world, diseases, the things that come upon this world, the
earthquakes and hurricanes and storms and things that we would
consider are evil. They're terrible. And so, that's
what it's talking about there. I create peace, I make peace,
and I create evil. I, the Lord, do all these. And
that's in Isaiah 45, verses 5 through 7. Bottom of page 1. He knew
the men would cry out and that he would calm the thieves. Why?
Why would God bring a storm to one for whom he loves that he
shall show the blessed and only potentate? When the Lord said
He raised up Pharaoh to be the mighty man that He was in the
world, He gave him this reason, to show the world the power of
God. Let me quote that properly. I'm going to turn to Romans 9
here and read that correct, because I didn't say it word for word. Let me just turn there real quick.
You know me and my memory. It's not very good. For the Scripture saith, this
is Romans 9 verse 17, For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh,
even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might
show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. So we see here, why would the
Lord bring a storm upon one of his peoples? Why would he have
the waves? Why would he bring them to the
point of thinking they're going to die? that he shall show the
blessed and only potentate the King of kings, the Lord of lords. Page 2. In Psalms 89 verses 8
through 9, we read this, O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong
Lord like unto thee, or to thy faithfulness around about thee.
Thou rulest the raging sea. When the waves thereof arise,
thou stillest them. We give praise and thanks that
the Lord knows and acts on the things that are for our good.
Things that bring us to lift Him up. And that's exactly what
this was all about. The Lord brought that storm so
those men wouldn't go down into the ship, into the bottom of
the ship, and say, Lord, do you care? Look, Lord, we're surely,
we're gonna die, we're gonna perish. Do you care? They came
to the Lord because He's the only one that they can come to.
And that's exactly what He does to each and every one of us.
You got trials in your life? Praise God for it. I know that's
hard. I know that's hard. Because I've
had the same trials. I've gotten down on my knees
and cried, Lord, why me? And I'm sure each and every one
of you have done the same thing. Lord, why me? Isn't that what
these men were crying out? Lord, will we perish? Why me? We give praise and thanks that
the Lord knows and acts on the things that are good for us, the things that bring us to lift
Him up. The Apostle Paul puts it this way, and lest I should
be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelations,
Speaking of those things that God had revealed unto him, there
was given unto me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan,
to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this
thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. And Paul says this, he says,
Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities
that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmity, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distress, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. Paul's not strong in himself.
He says, for when I'm weak, when we're at our weakest is when
we're at our strongest in the Lord. That's when we're turning
to Him who is strong above all things. Psalms That brings us to the feet of
Jesus, praising Him for His Lordship, praising Him for His sovereign
rule over all things. In Psalms 107 verse 21 through
31 we read these words, Oh that men would praise the Lord for
His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men.
Do you remember a day when you didn't praise the Lord for troubles
and trials? When you took them with vanity
in your mind and cursed God? Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children
of men. And let them sacrifice the sacrifices
of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing. They that
go down to the sea and shift, 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 the heaven. They go down again to the depths. Their soul is melted because
of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger
like drunken men. and are 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 are they glad, because they
be quiet, so he bringeth them under their desired haven. Oh,
that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his
wonderful works to the children of men. Page three. We see in
our text the disciples with the Lord Jesus crossing the Sea of
Galilee, and he gives us a lesson about fear. Fear is inconsistent
with faith. Let me repeat that. Fear is inconsistent
with faith. When our faith is strong, there
is no fear. When our fear is strong, our
faith is weak. If you've been given great faith,
the gift of God, it drowns out the fear of the flesh. Yet the
two often live together in the same heart. Brother Don Fortner
wrote this, he said, true saving faith is often mingled with fear,
weakness, and infirmity. This is a humbling lesson, but
a needful one. Many standing upon the shore
may laugh at and chide these terrified disciples, but experience
tells me, writes Don, that very few behave more confidently when
they are in the storm themselves. Many who believe Christ and love
Him, who gladly and truly forsake all to follow Him, are full of
fear in the face of danger. I find myself there more frequently
than I would desire. Many have faith enough to cry
out, Lord, save us, we perish, who do not have faith enough
to ride out the hurricane at sea in the little fishing boat
with tranquility. We will never know the weakness
of our flesh, I'm sorry, of our faith until it is tried. But do not think in error that
weak faith is false faith. We may not rejoice and rejoice
May we not, man, I'm telling you, I'm just blowing it on my
reading here, aren't I? May we not rejoice in reading
David's words in Psalms 56-3, even as our heart breaks with
the understanding of our fear and unbelief? What time, I am
afraid, I will trust thee. Arise, David. Isn't that a wonderful
word? Can we not rejoice in reading those words along with David?
What time, I am afraid, I will trust in thee? If you have the
strong faith of Job at times that can say, though he slay
me, yet I will trust him, do not despise that weak and trembling,
fearful faith that cries, master, carest thou not that we perish?
That's what we read in Mark 434 regarding this event. The men
cried out, master, carest thou not that we perish? The Lord
Jesus did not despise such faith, but was compassionate towards
it. Let you and I, let us, be the same. Let us give thanks
to God for a great high priest who is compassionate and tender-hearted. He knows our frame. He remembers
that we are dust. He considers and is touched with
the feeling of our infirmities. He does not cast us off because
of our defects. He reproves, but he pities those
whom he reproves. And even the prayer of fearful,
those of little faith, does not go unheard and unanswered by
him. Page four. In these verses, we are given
a beautiful and clear and instructive picture of our Savior's two-fold
nature as the God-man and our mediator. Here is Christ the
man sleeping because He's tired, the Son of Man, as we read last
week. And here is Christ our God, the
one by whom all things were made, rebuking the winds and the sea.
Who but the Creator could thus command the mighty waters? What
sweet consolation this passage ought to bring to our souls in
every time of trouble, to hush all the winds and the storms
of our lives, the winds and the storms of sin within, the sin
that rears up its ugly head inside of us in a moment's notice. God
is not the author of that sin. That sin is ours. We alone are
responsible for our sin. We sin, though, because we are
sinners. Yet He is God, the first cause
of all things. God allowed man to sin for His
purpose in revealing His grace to an undeserving people. Listen
to Ephesians 2 verses 4-7, But God, who is rich in mercy for
His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened made made alive us together with Christ
by grace are you saved and hath raised us up together and made
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus and here comes
the reason that in the ages to come he might show Why did God
allow sin? Why did God allow man to sin?
So that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches
of His grace in His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. Aren't you thankful? It's like
I said in my prayer, oh how thankful we are, how much we praise our
God that he did not leave us to ourselves, because that's
exactly what the majority of mankind have been left to, to
themselves, and you and I deserve the very same thing. Yet God
is merciful, he's gracious, and he has loved a people from before
the world was ever created. Oh, what grace that God would
come down to earth. Heaven came down. Heaven came
down in glory. Filled my soul. Our great God, our great and
all-wise God and Savior sometimes appears to be asleep, inattentive
to us. Uncaring, especially when our little boats
are filling up with water. And our distressed souls cry
out, Lord, save us. Save me. I perish. But ever remember this, dear
brothers and sisters. He is with you in the midst of
your storm. He will keep your little boat
safe, and at the appointed time He will deliver you. He that
spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
He not with Him also freely give us all things? He will raise
and rebuke the winds and the sea, and there shall be a great
call. Storms of fear and storms of temptation must all subside
to the command of our omnipotent God, our Savior. Matthew 26-27,
we read these words, 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?" Do we not marvel on the things
of God? Do you not marvel that He who
knew no sin was made sin, that we would be made the righteousness
of God in Him? Do you not marvel that God became
flesh and walked this earth as one of his creation? John Gill wrote this, he said,
Mark says they feared exceedingly. And Luke says that they, being
afraid, wandered. They were filled with astonishment
and fear or reverence. There was such a shine of majesty,
such a luster of divine power appeared in this affair. The
two other evangelists seem to refer to this to the disciples,
which Matthew seems to ascribe to men, the mariners that were
in the ship, it is likely it had the same effect on both.
And both were abundantly convinced of his deity, indignity, saying,
what manner of man or person is this? Well, I ask you, what
manner of man is this? What manner of man is this that
we're reading about? Let's put ourselves in the position The Ethiopian eunuch, where Philip
came to his chariot, and he heard him reading. And he turned to
Philip and he said, who is this talking about? Is this the Lord? Is he talking of himself, or
is he talking of another man? What manner of man is this, the
creator of all? All of creation, that's who this
is. The creation. The Creator, the
Lord of all creation, is who... The Creator, the Lord of all...
All of creation is his to do with as he sees fit. And saving
a people unto himself is just what he has seen fit to do. Hath not the potter power over
the clays of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and
another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show
his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? and that he might
make known the richness of his glory on the vessels of mercy
which he had aforeprepared unto glory, even us. whom he hath
called, not the Jews only, but also the Gentiles." Aren't those
wonderful words that we read from Romans 9, 21 through 24? What manner of man is this? He's
the spotless Lamb of God. The one whom God had sent to
redeem his loved ones. Those he has loved with an everlasting
love. Those whom he is in loving kindness
has come to them in the day of his power and draws them unto
his self. Jeremiah 31.3, the Lord hath appeared unto me of
old. hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee. But it goes on to say more than
that, doesn't it? I very rarely quote from this
in these other verses, but they go right along with what we just
read. Let's continue on in verse 4. Again, I will build thee,
and thou shalt what? Be built. Why? Because He's God. And He says
it'll be done. He says, I will build thee, and
thou shalt be built. O virgin of Israel, thou shalt
again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances
of them that make merry. The waves of sin, the waves of
the world are crashing above us, but we shall go our way once
again when the Lord comes to our hearts and says, peace, be
still, just like he did the sea. Verse five, thou shalt yet plant
vines upon the mountains of Samaria. The planter shall plant and shall
eat them as common thing. Verse six, for there shall be
a day that the watchman upon the Mount Ephraim shall cry,
arise ye and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God. For thus saith the Lord seen
with gladness for Jacob and shout among the chief of the nations,
publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the
remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from
the north country and gather them from the coast of the earth,
and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and
her that travaileth with child together, a great company shall
return thither. They shall come with weeping
and with supplications. Will I lead them? I will cause
them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein
they shall not stumble. For I am the Father of Israel. I am the Father to Israel, and
Ephraim is my firstborn. Hear the word of the Lord, O
ye nations, and declare in the isles afar off, and say, He that
scattereth Israel. Did you catch that? Did you catch
that? The Lord scattereth Israel. He that scattereth Israel will
gather him and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock. I think of the
Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Verse 11, Jeremiah
31, 11, For the Lord had redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from the
hand of him that was stronger than he. Folks, wickedness and
the devil are stronger than anything we can be in the flesh. Those
waves, those men on the boat had no control over them whatsoever. If God had not stepped up, if
the Lord Jesus had not intended to be the one to shine His power
at that moment, those men surely, surely would have perished. Verse
12, Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion,
and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord. For wheat,
and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and
of the herd, and their souls shall be as a watered garden,
and they shall not sorrow any more at all. What manner of man
is this? He is God, manifest in the flesh. That's what we read about in
Hebrews 10, 4-5. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when
he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering
thou wouldest not, but a body. What matter of man is this? He's
God in the flesh, but a body hast thou prepared me. Hebrews
10, verses 4-5. Page 7. Christ came to lay down His life
and die the substitute for those who belong to Him, that we may
live and have eternal life in Him, saying, The Son of Man must
suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and the chief priests
and the scribes, and be slain and be raised the third day.
That's Luke 9.22. Every time the Lord talks of His death,
He brings in the resurrection. What manner of man is this? The
Apostle Peter, writing under the Spirit of God, puts it this
way, Acts 2, verse 22, Ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God. What manner of man is this? Peter
says He's a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders
and signs which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves
also know. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain, and then here comes the resurrection,
whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because
it was not possible that he should be holden of it. What manner
of man is this? The Apostle Paul, under the same
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote these words, he said, But
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down at the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool, for by one offering,
He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Kevin and
I were talking about that as well today. Perfected forever. Or no, I'm sorry, it was Marvin,
Marvin Marston, when I called him. We were talking about how
can you make something that's perfect already more perfect? If it's already perfect, if he
has perfected his people forever by his one offering, not by something
we have done, but by the one offering, What could we do to
make it any better? You can't, it's already perfect.
In fact, if we try to do anything, we mess it up. Okay, some of
you might not, but I know I do. For by one offering, he hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. What manner of man
is this? Last paragraph, page seven, the
Apostle John, again in the same spirit as Peter and Paul wrote
these words, he says, and I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne,
and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood
a lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven
eyes, which were the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the
earth. That's what manner of man this
is, according to the Apostle John. Turn to page 8. And then in verse 11 through
13 of that same chapter, John goes on to tell us this and he
says, and I beheld and I heard the voice of many angels round
about the throne and the beast and the elders and the number
of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands saying
with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive
power and riches. and wisdom, and strength, and
honor, and glory, and blessing, and that every creature which
is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and such are
in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, blessing,
and honor, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. This is what
manner of man he is. As we read in 1 Timothy, the
blessed and only potentate. This is the assurance of God's
people. Christ came to save sinners of
whom I am chief. If I am His, then He is mine,
and absolutely nothing, especially the storms sent of Him can separate
me from the love of God that is in His Son, Christ Jesus,
the Lord. Amen.