Folks, I'm going to stand up
strong today. Stand up strong against the religious
world, the so-called Christian churches of this world. Sometimes we need to stand up
and just talk and say what is the truth against those who want
to stand up and teach lies. It amazes me Knowing what God
has shown me, and I know why. The only reason I know anything
about the true and living God is because He's been gracious
to me. And you know that, too. You know that for a fact. You
know that there was a day when you had heard all this stuff
that you hear from this pulpit, maybe, maybe it's exactly what
you're hearing from this pulpit, or some kind of a Christ ritual,
and you know that there was a day when you didn't love any of it. You know that the Lord has taught
you the truth of what He is. So it's hard for us to say, well,
I can't understand why they keep doing that. Yes, we can. Because
they don't have the grace of God in the churches around this
world. They don't have the truth. God has not given them the truth.
And anybody who stands up and says, Christ loves all man, all
mankind, and died for all mankind, and is waiting for you to receive
it, is a liar. I can't get any more bold than
that. But we're going to talk about
that through God's Word today. Don't just take John's Word for
it. We're going to look into God's Word. And maybe, just maybe,
He'll bless His people. and maybe one who's never heard
it before. I see our guests that were here last week have not
returned. I'm saddened by that. I'm saddened by that. I want
to begin this morning's message by reading all three accounts
from Matthew, Mark, and Luke on this event that happened in
the Sea of Galilee. Turn to Matthew chapter 8. And
join me, if you would, at verse 23. And when he, speaking of our
Lord, 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 of 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 seas obey
him? Now turn over to Mark chapter
4. I want you to see Mark's record
of this. We read in verse 35, and the
same day when the evening would come, He saith unto them, unto
his disciples, 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 hindered
part of the ship, asleep on a pillow. And they awake him and said unto
him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose
and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said
unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?
And they feared exceedingly and said one to another, What manner
of man is this, that even the wind And the sea obeyed Him. Now let's turn to our text in
Luke. And I'm going to ask you to leave your Bibles open on
your laps at this point. Folks, I'm going to read a lot
of Scripture today. Over in our text of Luke, chapter
8, we begin reading at verse 22, And now it came to pass on
a certain day that he went into a ship with his disciples, and
he said unto them, Let us go over on the other side of the
lake. And they launched forth. But as they sailed, he fell asleep. And there came down a storm of
wind on the lake. And they were filled with water
and were in jeopardy. And they came to him and awoke
him, saying, Master, Master, we perish. Then he arose and
rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased.
And there was calm. And he said unto them, where
is your faith? And they, being afraid, wondered,
saying one to another, what manner of man is this? For he commanded even the winds
and the water, and they obeyed him." Wow. First thing that strikes
me is, our Lord had to sleep. Did you catch that? Isn't it
wonderful? The One who is God Almighty,
the Creator of everything that is, had to sleep. He was flesh. Flesh and blood
is you and I. We're going to get to the reason
of that in a moment. I've spoken much lately about the weakness
of our faith. It always comes around to us
looking to Christ in our weaknesses, seeking His grace, in keeping
us, resting in Him and His love for His chosen people as we talk
about in our Bible study from Hebrews chapter 4. Folks, today
is not going to be any different. I was kind of hoping our visitors
last week were here so they could hear this. I actually thought
about this as I was writing it down. I thought, I'm just going
to flat out say, this is the same message every week. This
is the same message God's children need to hear every week. Why? Because we have storms that come
up in our lives all around us every day. If you're a child
of God, you know exactly what I'm saying when I say that because
the storm of your sin bothers you all the time. And it's going
to bother you until the day it takes us, the day the Lord takes
us out of this world. When it stops bothering you,
when it stops bothering you, You need to get on your knees
and pray to the Lord for grace and mercy. Grace and mercy. We think the only time we need
to pray for grace and mercy is when we're in the middle of those
trials? No. It's when it's peaceful, when
we're all okay with what we're doing in this world, that we
need to be on our knees the most. Praying out, Lord, Lord, don't
leave me to myself. Convict me. bring me to look
to my Savior and Him alone. Today is no different. Our voyage
through this world has come another mile, you could say. Our time
on the sea of life continues. For some of us, the sea has been
calm, smooth sailing. Others, a storm or two has come
down upon them. What say ye? Is your sin a storm
to you? May God the Holy Spirit now teach
you and I what he would have us to learn from this event. As our Lord and his disciples
were crossing that Sea of Galilee, there came down a storm. And
the disciples, in the panic of their terror, were filled with
unbelief. Did you catch that? Can you understand what that
is? Have you ever felt that yourself? They were filled with unbelief.
Here they were in the presence of the Almighty. They had seen
him do all the miracles that we've been reading about in the
Book of Luke. They had seen him heal a centurion's servant without
even going to the house. They had seen it. They saw the
conversation between the Lord and the centurion. They had heard
that the servant had got up and everything was fine. Or the woman,
they had seen the Lord as the woman's, as the procession of,
a funeral procession had passed by in front of all of them. They're
all walking along, Christ and his men, his disciples, and here
comes a funeral procession. A woman's son had died. And the
Lord healed him right there on the spot. He got up and walked.
They had seen this! With their eyes! And they're
on the ship, and the waves come up, and their faith falters!
Has that ever happened to you? When they cried out, as Matthew
records it, Lord save us, we perish. And then Mark reports
their cry, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And then
in Luke, He tells us that they cried, master, master, we perish. Now I suspect, I suspect that
those 12 terrified men and that small boat, tossed to and fro
by the waves, there were probably more cries than what are recorded
here. Now I imagine if you saw waves splashing up over the side
of your boat, you'd be a little bit concerned and probably crying
a little more. Where's Christ at? Where'd he go? I'd be crying
before I got down to the bottom to wake him up, that's for sure.
These three men that we see this recording of are recording the
terror in their hearts. When sin rises up in us, does
it not bring terror to our hearts, Lord? Is it I? Am I the one who's
going to stab you in the back? Am I the
one who's going to sell you for 30 pieces of silver? Is it I? These men show us the terror
that was filled in their hearts. Even though the Lord had provided
the ship for them, even though he had promised to always be
with them, They trembled at the sin of doubt that swells up in
them. I ask, do you? I can't help but
think how smooth the sea is at times and how it could seem to
be before the Lord taught me of my own sin before the storms
came down upon me. That every time my Lord, when
He seems to be asleep, He arises calmly. He arises calmly and
He rebukes my unbelief. John, it's not your belief or
your unbelief that saves you. It's my Son, the Lord Jesus.
That's what coming to the table is all about, isn't it? Rebuking our unbelief. rebuking
the weakness of our faith? It seems he rebukes my unbelief
and then the mere power of his word calms the sea and the storm
around me. And I say to myself, what manner
of man is this? What manner of man is this that
we read about? Isaiah describes him like this
in Isaiah 53 verse 2, he says, For he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath
no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no
beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we are hid And
we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and
we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our grief
and carried our sorrow. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. This is what manner of man he was. He was a man sent
of God. The Lord himself, in his priestly
prayer, says this in John 17, verse 4. He says, I have glorified
thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. O now and now, O Father, glorify
thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they
were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.
Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given
me are of thee. For I have given unto them the
words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and
have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have
believed that thou didst sin. He was a man. What manner of
man was he? He was a man who was sent of God. Christ was sent, folks. He came willingly, yes, but he
was sent of the Father. You see, long before anything
was ever created, in the eyes of the great three-in-one, God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, they had
chosen a people to love for eternity. called the covenant of grace.
Knowing that those people left to themselves would sin against
God. Knowing that that was gonna happen.
So God the Father says, well they can't be in the presence
of me. I'm holy and I cannot be in the presence of sin. Something
must be done. Go. He sent his son to save that
people. What manner of man is this? He's
God Almighty in the flesh. That's what manner. We have to
have a perfect sacrifice to wash away the sins that we have in
this flesh. People don't like to hear that.
I'm not the sinner that you think I am. I'm a good person. I've never killed anybody. I've
never done anything wrong. I've never lied. Do you know
that's a lie? To say that I have never lied
is a lie. I don't care who you are. You may not have lied to
me or someone else in this room or somebody else in your life,
but you've lied to God. When you said, I'll not have
that one to rule over me, you're lying. Because he already does. He already rules over all that
is. That's the sovereign God that we worship, the sovereign
God who has called us out of the darkness that we once walked
in into the marvelous light of his Son, the Lord Jesus. What manner of man is this? He's
the God-man. He's sent of God as a tender
plant. As God, he could not die. As
God, he had all the glory of all the strength and all the
power. But as flesh, he was subject to its weaknesses. What did you
say about the Lord Jesus? As flesh he was subject to the
weaknesses. Did he not hunger? Did he not thirst? Was he not
sleeping in the boat? He was subject to the weaknesses
of the flesh. He was tempted yet without sin. People want to confuse that.
Say, oh, that's the same thing. No, it's not. Not at all. He was subject to the weakness
of death. As man in the flesh, he was subject to the weakness
of death. It says, and as a root out of
dry ground, he hath no form nor comeliness And when we shall
see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. We had
no desire for a man to rule over us. Maybe if he had come in all
of his glory. Maybe if he had come like he
shall in the second coming. In all of his glory with all
the angels of heaven. Maybe if he had done that the
first time. Maybe then. Maybe if he had pulled up with
a white stallion, had a magnificent chariot pulled by a white stallion.
Maybe if he had been dressed in beautiful robes, maybe then
we would have had him as our God. I doubt it. Not this man, though. Not a humble
child who was born in a manger. We won't have that to rule over
us, shall we? What manner of man is this? Listen
to how John describes this man. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God, and all things were made by Him, and without Him
was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the
life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the
darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. He was in the world, and the
world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto
His own, and His own received Him not. And then in verse 14, and the
word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory,
and the glory is the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. What manner of man is he? Jeremiah
describes him this way, the Lord hath appeared of old unto me,
saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. What
manner of man is he? He's a man who has loved his
people from before the world was. Aren't you thankful for
that? Didn't that make you just want
to praise God for loving you at all? He's loved his people. I have
loved thee, he said, with an everlasting love. Therefore,
with loving kindness, I have drawn thee. You know, one of
the most wonderful things the Lord revealed to me right off
the bat was that I would have never chosen him. I said, that's right. Why? Same reason you did. The Lord
had revealed it to us. He revealed how dead we were
in trespasses and sin, unable to do anything that pleased God.
Unable to even reach out and take the so-called medication
that's on the nightstand. If you just reach over and take
it, they say, no, no, God's people know I was dead. I couldn't do
anything. And if it wasn't for his love
for me from before the world was, I'd still be dead in trespasses
and sin. If he hadn't have chose me and
his son before the world was ever created, I'd still be dead
and deserving his wrath against me. This is the manner of man that
came to this world and put his glory aside for a moment. out
of love for his people, out of his love for you. You know, the
world stands up and they say, oh, God loves everybody. If you'll
just let him. That's offensive to God's people. That's offensive to us, and we've
got to stand up against it. We've got to declare it as a
false gospel. Because people are going to go
through that door marked death thinking that. Now, I'm going
to have to stop myself for just a moment because I just about
got away from myself. Those who go through the doormark death,
thinking that, were those that God did not love from the foundation
of the world. He says, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. So you can't go through that
doormark death unless God doesn't love you. But it's our duty to stand up
and declare his love for his people. How do we know who they
are? How do we know those visitors
that stopped by last week aren't children? Maybe they'll come
back. Maybe what they heard here, maybe they'll go visit somewhere
else and say, that's not what that guy preached last week.
This is nonsense. Maybe that's where they are today,
listening to a preacher say, God loves you if you'll just
come forward and pray his prayer. Oh, how I pray. Oh, how I pray
that that is the truth for those folks. What manner of man is this, who
came to this earth and shed his own blood for you? Philippians 2 verse 5, we read
these words, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. What manner
of man is this? He made himself of no reputation,
He put his glory aside and he took upon him the form of a servant,
as it says in Philippians 2.7. And was made in the likeness
of men. And being found in the fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. That's what manner of man this
is. He's a man who loves his people, and as God in the flesh,
he'll have those people. And nothing, including you, if
you belong to him, can stop him. Oh great, that means I can just
sit back and do nothing, right? That's what John Reeves would
have done if left to himself. Right on, cool. That was too
much work for me to do anyway. Oh, that's not the way it works,
though, is it? No? Next thing you know, we're walking
out the door on a Sunday morning, and Kathy says, where are you
going? I'm going to church. Why? I don't know. I just got
to go. How come you're not staying home
sick, James? I don't know. I just got to go. Been away from
it too long. I need to hear it again. I need
to hear about my failure some more. This is what this manner
of man is. Listen to the words of Ephesians
2, verse 4. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened, that means made alive, hath made
alive us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved, and he
hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. What manner of man, this is what
manner of man this is. Listen to Ephesians 5 verse 2,
and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given
himself for us, and offering a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling
Savior. That's what kind of man this
is. That's what manner he is. He gave himself for us. He laid
down his life. He shed his blood. He became,
he was made sin for you and I, that we would be made the righteousness
of God in him. I've said this before. I'm going
to repeat it. Have you ever stopped and tried
to wrap your mind around that? God made his son sin. He who knew no sin. He never
did any sin. He never committed. In fact,
everything he did pleased the Father, including being made
sin. We'll see that in a moment, Isaiah. This is what manner of man this
is. Listen to 1 John 4, 10. Herein is love. Not that we love
God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. Isn't that good news? Isn't that
good news for a sinner? Here's one in Revelation 1, verse
5, And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and
the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of
the earth, unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins
in His own blood. What manner of man is this? He's
my Savior. Is He yours? Is He your Savior? This is what manner of man He
is. He's the Son of the living God. sent of the Almighty Father,
sent to be born of a woman, sent as a servant to redeem his people
that he has loved, loved for before the foundation of the
world, sent to pay the price of their sins in full, sent to
wash them in his own righteous blood, and only the God-man can
do that. Back in Isaiah 53, we read in
verse 6, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone
to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him, speaking of
his son, speaking of this man, what manner of man is this? He
had laid on him the iniquity of us all. That means everything. You know why I'd like to leave
the world today the most? I mean, obvious reasons we want
to be with the Lord Jesus, right? Obvious reasons. I don't want to sin against Him
anymore. All the iniquity that I will
commit tomorrow and the rest of this day and every day till
the Lord takes me out of this world was laid on the one that loves me. In verse 7 it says he was oppressed. He was afflicted. Yet he opened
not his mouth. He didn't speak up against it.
They charged him falsely and he never said a word. You know why? Symbolically, he was guilty. He had my guilt
upon him. He had your guilt, your iniquity
laid upon him. He was oppressed, he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shears,
so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment, and who shall declare his generation, for he
was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgressions
of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked and the rich in his death. You know what that means? He
died with those who were wicked. He was hung on that cross with
those who were guilty for what they were hanging on the cross
for. But he was laid in a rich man's
grave that had never been used. He made his grave with the wicked
and with the rich in his death because he had done no violence,
neither was there any deceit in his mouth. Verse 10 says, yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. It pleased God to punish his
son for us. This is why I need to stand up
against those who say God loves everybody. No, he doesn't. Because if he did love everybody
and somebody went to hell, his love would mean nothing. God's love for me means something. It grabs a hold of me and it's
hard for me to hold back the emotional effect that God's love
has upon me. Why? Because why would a man,
why would God come in the form of a man to save me. Because he's loved me, like he
says. And that's the only reason. There's no reason in me. There's
no reason in this flesh. There's nothing that John has
done to merit God's love. He's just loved me. And that means something, doesn't
it? Does God's love mean something
to you? If it doesn't, you need to get
on your knees and cry out, Lord. It pleased the father to bruise
his son for us. That's what manner of man this
is we're talking about. That's what manner of man we
have come to worship today. The God-man, our Lord, Jesus
Christ. We worship him because he has
loved us from before the world was and gave himself, shed his
blood for us, that we will be with him for eternity. It goes on in 5310 to say this,
he hath put him to grief, When thou shalt make his soul an offering
for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and
the pleasures of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. That's exactly
what's going on right now. Everything, everything is in
the hand of our Savior, because death could not hold him. Was
he man? Could he die? Absolutely, but
he was also God. He was God manifest in the flesh. And as God, he's God even over
death. This event in our text, upon
the sea, is another picture of our daily salvation. Did you
catch that? Did you grasp a hold of that?
Our daily salvation. What are you talking about, John?
Wasn't I saved on the cross 2,000 years ago? Christ went to the
cross to pay for your sins. Absolutely. But I need saving
from that sin that's in this flesh every day, every moment. We are but weak vessels of mercy
traveling in our time. We are on our way across the
sea to the other shore, yet we belong to him. He will never
leave us nor forsake us. How many do you think, how many
do you think were on the sea that day? Have you ever stopped
to think about that? As you're reading these words
from the Lord, have you ever kind of pictured yourself in
the same situation? Maybe I'm picturing myself on
a boat and I see Peter get out and walk across the water and
I see him begin to sink. Or maybe I'm picturing in my
mind what it would be to see him on the ship with these men
and the waves rolling over him, and they're wondering are they
going to die, and he gets up and calms the ocean. Have you
ever thought how many other ships are out there in that ocean,
in that sea? Were there other ones? Well,
I'll bet you there were. How many were on the sea that
day that may have perished, yet God saved a few? a few centers,
a remnant. There's a man over in the Philippines
who's been communicating with me via email. He had heard about
Rescue Badger Church through Rick Ward over in Yuba City.
And I don't know if he, I don't talk to Rick about his conversations
with Bayro. I think that's how he pronounces
it. It's spelled B-E-Y-R-O, Bayro. I've never spoken to him on the
phone, just through email. And he sent me a letter the other
day asking me, what about this Catholic Church who claims that
the Bible is theirs and that we have no right? We have no
right to speak. And I responded with much. I gave him a pretty lengthy letter,
but I want to make one point from it, and that is, folks,
God's people are remnant. There's a whole world of people
that are going to die in their religion. And I point this out
to you again, because we could be right there with him. It is
only by his grace that we're here today, worshiping him in
truth and in spirit. It's because of him. It's because
of what he's done. It's because of his love for
his people. The words, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, mean something. Chosen few, vessels of His mercy,
sinners saved by His grace, going on in Isaiah 53, 11, see the
travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. God saw the death
of his son. He looked at the blood of his
son, spread upon his people, and he says, my justice is satisfied. Your sin's been paid for, Mike.
It's done. God looks for you, looks at you
as perfect as his son. Isn't that wonderful? I know
it's boggling to our minds, but that's the way God says it is. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Listen to Matthew 3.17. What manner of man is this, this
one who laid down his life, this one who the Lord saw the travail
of his soul of? And he's satisfied up, he says
this in Matthew 3, 17, and lo, a voice from heaven saying, this
is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. He's not pleased
in you, Mike, he's pleased in his son in you. He's not pleased in me, he's
pleased in his son in me. What manner of man is this? The
man who commits miracles for those that he has loved. Listen
to the songwriter John W. Peterson's words where he says,
it took a miracle to put the world in place. It took a miracle
to hang the stars in space. But when God saved my soul, cleansed
and made me whole, it took a miracle of love and grace. Brother Don Fortner wrote this,
he says, it is upon the dark background of our great troubles
that our Lord most clearly displays his wondrous power and grace. It is in the fiery furnace of
adversity that we know the preserving power of his presence. It is
only in the lion's den that we see the Lord's dominion over
the lions. The Lord God who is with us and
for us is the God who is able to deliver us. He is God alone. He is God indeed. Is the storm
of God's wrath beating upon your little boat today? I pray the Spirit of God may
make this parable a call to faith in your soul. Cry out from your
soul to Christ the Master. Appeal to His great compassion. Carest thou not that I perish,
O Lord? May the Son of God arise and
speak peace to your troubled heart. If He will speak by His
Spirit, His word of grace will bring great calm to you. Listen to this song. Actually,
you know what? You've got a second. We've got a second. I'm going
to close with this anyway. Turn to Psalms 102. May the Lord bless you with this. In Psalms 107, beginning at verse
23, It would help if I got there. They that go down to the sea
and 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. When those
waves come passing against your ship, remember who it is that
commands the winds. Verse 26. They mount up to the
heaven. They go down again to the depth.
Their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and
fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. Then they come cry unto the Lord
in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses."
How did Paul glory in the troubles that came against him? The same
way you and I do. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for
not leaving me to myself. Thank you for that trouble that's
come upon me, reminding me I can do nothing, that it is you that
I must seek to. Verse 29, He maketh the storm
to calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad,
because they be quiet. So He bringeth them unto their
desired haven. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for His goodness, and for his wonderful works in the children
of men. Now look over at verse 42. The righteous shall see it and
rejoice, and all iniquity shall stop in her mouth. Who is wise
and will observe these things, even they shall understand the
loving kindness of the Lord. Believe Him, folks, only believe
Him, and you will see the glory of God. That's what we read in
John 11, verse 40. The Lord Jesus is speaking to
Martha at the stone of His grave. And He said unto her, said I
not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe, Thou shouldest see the
glory of God. What manner of man is this? He
is the glory of God. He is the glory of God who stood
before Martha that day. What manner? What manner of man
is this who has saved me from my sin? He's all glory. All glory goes to him. everything. What say you of Christ Jesus
the Lord?