Thank you. Thank you Robin. Let's go to
Luke chapter 8 now. Gospel of Luke chapter 8. A story
that I have heard many, many times,
some of you as well, that I told my wife it's like I heard it
for the first time. Amazing, blessed, glorious story
of our Lord in the ship in a storm with his disciples, still in
the stormy wind and raging waves. You know, you will know soon
why we read Psalm 107. But we haven't looked at the
three verses previous to this, not very carefully, verses 19,
20, and 21. To the naked eye, sometimes things
look like they're not connected. In our ignorance, we don't understand
that everything that Christ said and did was absolutely, vitally
joined and connected. in sequence, in order, and bears
witness of each thing. The Lord just spoke the parable
of the sower, and he talked about the word
being the seed, and it fell on four types of ground, and only
one out of four was good ground. What's he saying? Many are called,
few are chosen. Few are chosen to receive the
Word, and many as received Him, to them gave He the right, the
power to become sons of God, which were born of God, the Word. Then he said in verse 17, or
verse 16, he talked about the candlestick and the light. Christ
is the light. The purpose of the church, the
purpose of every person in it, is to bear witness of Christ
the light. Alright, and he says in verse
17, nothing secret that won't be made manifest. Our Lord has no secret disciples.
And there are those that appear to be, and they're not. That's what the Lord said. Here,
that's what he's saying. That the true disciples of Christ
are going to be known. That's what he's saying. Right?
This is all connected. They're born of the Word of God,
and the true people of God have light, and they bear witness
of Christ, that light. Not themselves, but Christ. All right, verse 18, our Lord
said, take heed how you hear. Whosoever hath to him shall be
given, and whosoever hath not from him shall be taken that
which he seemeth to have. So our Lord is saying that he
that hath the Son hath life. He that hath light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the person of Christ, they have light, the
light of life. And they're witnesses of him. That's
how they're known. And it's going to be known. It's
going to be revealed. The day shall declare it. God
has appointed a day in which He will judge all men in righteousness
by that man whom He hath ordained. All are going to be judged by
Him. Whether they're in Him or not. Whether He is in them or not. It's going to be made known.
That's what our Lord is saying here. It's going to be made known.
It's going to be made known. It's going to be made known. It's going to be
made known. It's going to be made known. It's going to be made known. It's
going to be made known. It's going to be made known. It's going to be made known. It's
going to be made known. It's going to be made known. It's going to be
made known. It's going to be made known. It's going to be made known. It's
going to be made known. It's going to be made known. It's going to be
made known. It's going to be made known. It's going to be
made known. It's going to be made known. It's going to be made
known. It's going to be made known. It's going to be made known.
It's going to be made known. It's going to be made known.
It's going to be made known. It's going to be made known. It's
going to be made known. Then came his mother and his brethren. Alright? Stay with me. Look at
verse 19. Then came his mother and brethren
and could not come at him for the prayer. And it was told him,
someone said, your mother and your brethren stand without desiring
to see thee. And he answered, and this is
recorded three times, Is it important? He said, my mother and my brethren,
my family, are these which hear the word of God and do it. Those that are my disciples,
my family, whom I came for, who I came to die for, live for,
who I reveal myself to. They have light, the seed, they're
born of God. These are they which hear and
do. Do you see the connection? Alright? A few things to learn
from these few verses. These mother and brethren. The
Lord's true disciples were always with Him. Peter, James, John,
right? Bartholomew, Matthew, where were
they? Right there. At his feet. Unless they were
out preaching. When they weren't preaching,
they were right there at his feet. They were always with him. Always
hearing him. Where was Mary Magdalene? Right
there. Rejoicing. Following him. Why weren't his brethren there? He's in their hometown. Why weren't they sitting listening?
Why wasn't Mary? A multitude of people were sitting
listening to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I believe Mary was a believer
and yet there's no good reason to miss hearing the words of the Son
of God. I don't care who you are. There's
no good reason. Right? He didn't excuse her.
Did he? No mama's got things to do. She
needs to be sitting there listening to the truth. It says of his brethren, now
listen to me, Mary did not remain a virgin. She had children. There's lots of controversy,
some say they were Matthew plainly says that Joseph
did not know her until after Christ was born. Then he knew
her. That is, they had a relationship.
And she had children. They said that. They named four,
James, Josie, Simon, and Jude. Now we believe two of them, we
believe Jude and James are the ones in the Bible. But the Lord
revealed Himself to them. But the Scripture says that at
first they did not believe in Him. His brethren, His earthly,
they didn't believe in Him. And His sisters, they said, His
sisters, they are with Him. Where are they? And our Lord gave a parable in
Luke 14, later on, He said, a man made a wedding. And he bid them
to come to the wedding. And they all with one consent
to make excuses. I've married a wife. I've bought
me some land. And the Lord said, there's not
one single excuse. None of it. So he said, you go
out in the highways and the hedges. And you find under the highways
and the scrubs and the bushes the unworthy. And you compel
them. You bring them in. Oh, what a
picture that is of those whom Christ has chosen, sent the gospel
to, and a compelling, all-powerful, sovereign gospel word that comes
and brings them to Christ. And that's where they are from
then on. That's where they are. Here's
the lesson to learn. That Christ's disciples are with
Him. They that are with Him, Scripture
says, are called, the chosen, and what? Faithful. Simon Peter said, where are we
going to go? To whom shall we go? We're going to go home? He
had a wife. He had children. I've got to have this word. Where
are you going today? I'm going to worship the Lord.
Your wife's not coming with you. Then she's going to be left out
of the kingdom. See, salvation is not of blood
or the will of man or the will of flesh. Here's another. Looks
like they would have had a real advantage being blood kin to
the Lord Jesus Christ. No. Salvation is by sovereign
electing mercy and grace. He saves whom he will. He might
not have saved Josie and Simon. Might not. His sisters. He might
not have saved them. It's up to him. Ain't that a picture? Mary, here's
a couple more things to learn from it. Mary's not to be worshipped. She has no power, no influence
over anybody. She has no pull with Jesus Christ. This is what Catholics believe.
They believe we pray to Mary who in turn prays to Him. She
has a special, she's kind of like the mediator between us
and Christ. No! There's one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Mary has no influence with Him.
Mary's a sinner saved by grace, saved by Christ. She must pray
to Christ. She had to pray to Him. He is
not at her beck and call. She's at His. Like all human
beings. They said, your mother wants
to see you. Who is my mother? Oh, how this just destroys all
this free will and man-glorifying false gospel that has a Jesus
outside hoping men will let him in. Mary was outside and she
didn't get in. Mary! I said, who is my mother? This is my mother. This is my
family. He's showing us, too, exactly what He said. If any
man come to me and hate not his father, his mother, his husband,
his wife, his son, his daughter, his brother, his sister, his
own life, he's not my disciple. And our Lord proved that Himself.
He said, My family is not blood kin. My family is the people
of God. He proved that right there. And our Lord did not justify
his blood kin. He did not make excuses for his
blood kin. She's a good woman. That doesn't
mean she's saved. Because she's my mother doesn't
mean she's saved. She's a child of God if she belongs
to the Lord Jesus Christ. If she knows him. If she's saved
by his blood and his righteousness. Alright? Oh, there's a lot to
learn there. Then, how is this next story
connected? How is this? The disciples are
with him and they're going to go through a storm. How is this
connected? Because every single child of God is brought to the
light. There's light in them. who knows
Christ, alright? Every single one is at His feet,
worshipping His disciples that know Him, believe Him, love Him,
trust Him, follow Him. Everyone that really does believe
Him and trust Him, they're His disciples, they're at His feet,
worshipping, rejoicing in Christ, worshipping God in spirit and
truth. No confidence in the flesh that hear the Word of God and
hang on His Word and do it and believe Him and trust Him. Every
one of them are going to go through trial. Go through tribulation,
all of them. None of them are being without
these trials and tribulation. And they're gonna be known. He's
gonna make himself known and he's gonna make them known. All his disciples, all right?
Now let's look at it. Let's look at verse 22. It came
to pass on a certain day that he went into a ship with his
disciples. Stop right there. He, Christ, went on a certain
day, chosen by the Lord, and He chose these... Why were these
twelve men His disciples? Why? He chose them. He chose them that they might
know Him. He chose them that they might believe Him. He chose
them that they might be with Him. Where were they? With Him.
Worshipping Him. Hearing Him. Believing on Him. They left everybody, didn't they?
They left their families. And they're with Him. You see? Now, all of them are going to
go through deep waters. All of them are going to go through
dark times. Stormy seas. All of them. On
a certain day. The Lord chose this day. I think it was the same day. Before this, these men grew up
on the lake. They were in Galilee. They grew up on this sea of Galilee. It was calm before this. It was
calm. But these men had been on these
waters for years. And they knew that a wind could
come up any time. And then that little calm lake
could become treacherous. So there was a calm before the
storm. Storm is coming. And notice it
says it came to pass. It didn't last long, but it was
a great storm. I guess the point I'm trying
to make here is that our Lord said, boast not thyself of tomorrow. You don't know what a day may
bring. If it's calm right now, believer, just wait. Storms are coming. If you're
a child of God, In a day of prosperity, be joyful. But adversity is coming. And you just don't know, do you? It might be tomorrow. Boast not thyself of tomorrow.
We ought to say, if the Lord willing, we'll do this, we'll
do that. James said that. We should take no day for granted.
We should take nothing for granted. Don't take any grace, any time
of calm for granted. Don't do it. Be thankful. Be a thankful people. All right,
he went into a ship with his disciples. Oh, how much the scriptures
talks about the fellowship with the saints. The Lord was always
with them. They were his fellows. He was
theirs. They were his companions. He
came down from the mountain in the company with his disciples.
I've always loved this passage ever since I read it. David said
it, but this is Christ. He said, I'm a companion of all
them that fear thee, of them that keep thy precepts. Didn't it just say that? This
is my family, those that hear the Word of God and do them.
I'm a companion of them that fear thee and keep thy precept. On down it says in Psalm 119,
They that fear thee will be glad when they see me. These disciples, when they saw
him, they were glad. I'm a companion. He was always
with them. He was fellowship of the saints. You love this Psalm 46, don't
you? Some of you, those of you who
know it. Brethren, every Psalm I turned
to look at, it was this story. God is our refuge and strength,
the very present help. Though we will not fear, though
the earth be removed, though the waters roar and be troubled,
the mountains shake, God is in the midst of her. She shall not
be moved. God shall help her, and that
right early. The heathen raged, the kingdom
removed. He uttered his voice, but came
to stand. That's Psalm 46. Oh my, on and on and on the Psalms
go. Psalms of Christ, they all speak
of Him. So He was always with them. He
came down from heaven. Our Lord was with them in the
ship. He came down from heaven for them. He came down. He came into this world. Oh,
what a faithful saying this is, that Christ came into the world
to save His people from their sin. To come down into this world
is a sea of trouble and turmoil to save His people from their
sins. Isaiah 63 says, in all their
afflictions, He was afflicted. Oh, the many Psalms and the volume
of the book is written of Him who came down from above for
His people, entered into union with them. Not only did He go
through these tribulations Himself. We have not a high priest who
cannot be touched with the feet of our infirmities, but was at
all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Oh, in that
the children were subject to this fear and all He came to
deliver them, who all their lifetime were subject to fear of death. He went through these things,
not just to know what we feel, but He came down to this world
to show His people their utter helplessness, to show His people
His absolute glory and power over all things, to show His
people His purpose, His love and His grace, I am come for
you. to bring you out of these storms
into your desired haven. I'm taking you out. I love it.
We're going to sing in closing, on Jordan's stormy banks I stand
and cast a wistful eye to Canaan's fair and happy land where my
possessions lie. I am bound for the promised land. Oh, who will come and go with
me? Look at the next line, it says,
he said unto them, let us go over unto the other side of the
lake. Is that not prophetic? Is that not where we're going?
In Psalm 107, did he not say that he's going to bring us to
our desired haven? Let us go over unto the other
side. How are we going to get there?
Our captain's going to take us there. in the ship, all those
in the ship, like that ark of Noah. How did they land in that
new land? How did they land there? That
ship brought them, that ark brought them. That ark is Jesus Christ. And they all went through it,
these storms. Let us cross over. Let us cross
over. Now, here's a little side note.
They were in around Capernaum. and they see a Galilee, Lake
of Gennesaret, 8 miles wide, 13 miles long. OK. We've got to go across. Have
you ever rowed or sailed in a boat? I've rowed, I've paddled a canoe
about 7 miles, 8 miles. I've done that. How long did
it take you? A long time. What if the wind's contrary to
you? Oh, you think you're never going to get down. One time we
got caught out with the girls in a horrible storm in a canoe.
There was four of us in that canoe. And the wind and the waves
were going, and Sophie just singing, and it's rains falling and blasting,
and the wind and the waves are lapping on the boat, and I'm
back in the back. You know who's steering that boat? I am. And
they're just singing and happy in the rain and all. Here's the point. They're going
all the way across this lake. What for? They never knew what the Lord
was going to do for one moment. You know why? Dan, you know why
they go across this lake? There's one fellow, a demon-possessed,
no-good, worthless sinner living in the tombs. A vile, filthy,
foul-mouthed fella in the tombs, in this town of Genesaret, living
in a tomb, the Lord must save him. He's got to go to great
length, all the way across that sea, through storms, to find
this one fella, reveal himself to him, then he's gonna get back
in the ship and go back. And there's not one single person
in that town that knew him, but that man. What's that showing us? The salvation
of the Lord. He saves whom He will. And He
goes to great lengths. He's able to save to the uttermost.
Showing us what great lengths our Lord goes to to save one
sinner. And He must save them. He must
find them. He must reveal Himself to them
or they'll be lost forever. Demon possessed. He must. He
must do it. And oh what He went through to
do it. Do you know how far Jerusalem was from Galilee? 78 miles. He walked back and forth everywhere. Every step our Lord took was
in the direction of saving one of his own. He must find her.
He said, other sheep I have which are not of this flock, I must
bring you. That's who he came to save. Christ
must save his elect. He must save his own. And oh,
what he goes through to save them. We're going to see that
in a minute. Our Jonah. Jonah. Let us go over to the other side.
We're crossing over. And we're not going to get there
unless he gets us there. He's the way. All right, as they
sailed, verse 23, they launched forth. As they sailed, he fell
asleep. There came down a storm of wind
on the lake. They were filled with water and
were in jeopardy, peril. As they sailed, who was sailing? Who was sailing this boat? Huh? They thought they were sailing
this ship. He sent one little wind. You think you're in charge? He
was sailing it. Matthew and Mark says he was
asleep in the hinder part of the ship, the back of the ship.
Why is that? Why does it say that? Anybody know anything about
ships? By the way, a ship is a vessel
that goes in deep water. A boat is one that goes down
Pig River. A ship has to be in deep water,
an ocean-going vessel. ship. They that do business in
deep waters, ship, Christ. These see the works of the Lord,
the glory of the Lord. But, oh, if you know anything about ships,
the captain's quarters are always in That's where the captain is,
because no enemy is going to come up from behind. He's watching. And the boat, where do you steer
a ship from, Mike? The back. So that's where he is. Is he
asleep? Brethren, stop and think about this a minute. This is
a display of the mystery, the great mystery, the great grace
of God, the great faith of Christ, the great peace, a great mystery. This is He that keepeth Israel,
that never slumbers or sleeps. There He is asleep. That was God hanging on that
cross, but He died. Or did He? Yes, He's dead. No, He's not. Well, He's asleep. No, He's not. Well, I see him. They all saw him. He's asleep.
Now it's up to us. That's what they thought. He's
asleep. It's up to us to get over there. Now he's resting, but he's still
in control. Nothing's going to happen to
the ship. A display of great mystery. God was manifest in the flesh.
There God is asleep. Oh, a display of His great grace.
He wearied Himself, walking miles, hundreds if not thousands of
miles to save worthless sinners. Oh, great grace, huh? Great grace. He wearied Himself. He troubled
Himself. And so God, In great mercy, He
giveth His beloved sleep. Sleep, son! The work is great
and it's all on your shoulders! Sleep! Isn't that a wonderful
thing? Giveth His beloved sleep, deserving
of rest. Oh, what great faith! He's sending
this storm. They were in peril, they thought.
A storm to beat all storms. Endangered. The ship is going
to be full of water. What is he doing? Sleeping. Oh, that's the faith of the Son
of God. Peace. He had to live by faith.
So do we. Oh, what great peace. Great peace,
rest, comfort, peace, even in the midst of great storm. I want
that, don't you? All right? Verse 23 says, it
came down a storm of wind on the lake. Who sent the storm?
We just read it. Psalm 107, the Lord commandeth
the way, the wind, and it comes down, the storm. He commandeth.
Matthew and Mark says the wind was contrary to them. No. No. There's nothing contrary. to God's people. It's all for
us. Everything works together for good. Although it might be
contrary to what we're trying to do, might be contrary to what
we plan to do, what we think we need to do. No, he's going
to spoil our schemes. He's going to spoil our hopes
and our dreams. If we belong to him, he's going
to show up. I'm the one who's going to bring you to where you
need to be. And I'm going to send this and that and the other
that you might know me. Trust me. It wasn't contrary
to. It was for their good, it was
for His glory, it was for their faith. Verse 23 says they were
filled with water, the boat, the waves. They were in jeopardy. It means peril. It means in peril. They were in peril. Were they?
Yeah, to them. It was real. It was real danger.
They felt it. Listen to Paul the Apostle tell
about his perils. Listen to this, if I can find
it. I think it's 2 Corinthians. Oh, 2 Corinthians 11. He said, I was in journey as
often, in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils
by my countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the
city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils among
false brethren, weariness, painfulness, watching, hunger, thirst, cold.
Was it real? It was real. And people wanted
to kill him. David, his whole life. People
wanted him dead. Was that real danger? Yeah. His
enemies were many and they were lively. Most of his enemies were
eight feet tall. Giants wanted him dead. Where is his salvation? Where
is his strength? And his strength? Where is his
hope? Where is his comfort? Where is
his salvation? Who is his protection? These sailors have been on this
lake many times. Mike, they've been through many. We know how to get through this.
Not this time. We're goners. God's people are going to have
to get to the point where they realize, I am nothing. I have
nothing. I know nothing. I can't do nothing.
I am poor, miserable, blind, naked, wretched, helpless, hopeless,
damned, and doomed, and I will perish. If Christ doesn't do something
for me. There came down a stormy wind
from the Lord. Blow away the wind of God. The
providence of God is going to just blast away all our dreams
and all our hopes and all our schemes. Stormy wind. They were filled
with water. Listen, every one of God's people
go through this. All of these disciples went through
that. All of Christ's disciples, our Lord said, you must through
much tribulation enter the Kingdom of Heaven. They were all filled
with fear. They were all filled with doubt.
They were all filled with worry. They were all distressed. Listen,
Paul said this, Paul believed, Paul trusted. One time he was
in a ship that wrecked, didn't he? Oh, what a story that is. And Paul said it as a type of
Christ, except you stay in the ship, you'll perish. He said, I believe God, I trust
God. Oh, what a type of Christ Paul
was in that story. But Paul said this in another
place. He said, we have the sentence of death in ourselves. Paul said,
we have the sentence. Me, Paul, Silas, Timothy had
the sentence of death. He said, we're in perils of this
and perils of that, but we're just ready to die. We're going
to die. It's going to happen some way or somehow at some time. When the day comes, nothing and
no one's going to stop it. But it won't be death. It's going
to be better than birth. But he said, we trust in God
who hath delivered us, who doth deliver us, and shall deliver
us. David said, whom shall I fear? The Lord is my life, my salvation.
Whom shall I be afraid? Though a host should encamp against
me, I'll fear nothing. Why? God is my salvation. Do you believe that? Do you believe
you're protecting your family? Do you believe your guns are? We're going to perish. They thought. They were in jeopardy. Oh, brethren,
let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. They can't, they can't perish
if they're with Christ. It can't happen. It cannot happen. You know how, the only way they
can perish? If He perishes. Are you with
me? But they thought they were going
to. And there's not a child of God who's not, like Psalm 38
says, mine iniquity had gone over my head. All these tribulations
and troubles and trials, I'm not going to get through this.
My sins are going to undo me. This world, I'm overcome by it.
I'm going down, I'm sinking, I'm going to be lost. When it's
all over, I'm going to be lost. It's not a child of God who doesn't
feel that way. Hasn't felt that way, does not
now feel that way, or will yet feel that way. Not a child of
God who doesn't go through that. Every one of these disciples,
so what do they do? They called on the name of the
Lord. Master. They called on the name of the
Lord. Can you hear them? Can you hear them? Yeah, I can hear
them. I've hollered just like them. Master. Lord. Savior. Verse 24. Came and woke him. Say, Master,
Master, we perish. Here's a good lesson for you.
They were praying for each other. We're going to go down together.
Unless the Lord saves us. We perish. All their hopes, every
one of their hopes were in Him. They called on the name of the
Lord. We perish. Master, we perish. We perish. That can't be. Like I said, it
can't be. Didn't the Lord say maybe before
this or maybe a little afterward? Our Lord said, I give unto them
eternal life. And they shall never perish.
Didn't He say that? The only way they can perish
is if he perishes, because they're one with him. They belong to
him and he belongs to them. Now listen, here's the gospel.
All right, here's what I want you to say. Everything else has
been the gospel today. Good news. But here's the point. If Christ is in the ship and
you're in the ship with Christ, you cannot perish. I'll tell
you why. Go to the book of Jonah with
me. Go to the book of Jonah. Give you time to find it. I got
it marked. The book of Jonah. Go over there,
okay? Here's the gospel. And all through the Psalms, all
through the Scripture, in the volume of the book, it is written
of him who in all their afflictions was afflicted. The one who came
to be made sin for his people. a substitute for his people.
Nearly everybody knows this story of Jonah, but few people know
what it's all about. The story of Jonah is all about
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Our Lord, one time, they said,
they said, show us a sign. He said, no sign will be given
but one. One sign. He said, this evil
and adulterous generation wants to see something. Show me something.
Show me something. Show me some miracles. Show me
some signs. Show me some wonders. Our Lord said, the greatest wonder,
the greatest sign, the only sign, the only true sign for God's
people, and this is a certain sign, and they're going to see
it, is Jonah. Now, do you know what he said? Do you know what he meant by
that? Jonah was God's prophet. Jonah
was God's preacher. Jonah was God's mercy. First,
he's judgment. Wasn't he sent to declare judgment
on Nineveh? Wasn't he sent to declare judgment? But through the preaching of
the judgment, they repented. And Christ came as a repent. Christ is the Preacher, capital
P. The Voice of God, the Son of
God come, the Word of God. He came, the Son of God, that
Prophet. And they didn't believe Him. It all doesn't perfectly
fit. He was in this ship with a bunch of heathens. These fellows
that were in this ship with Him were a bunch of worthless, no
good, unbelievers. God sent a storm. Raging storms. So they start having to throw
everything out of that ship thinking that we're going to go down.
And they all thought, why? Why? What is this? And they thought,
God's doing this to us. God's punishing us. We're going
to die because God's punishing us. You know what Jonah said? Throw me in the water. I'm here for your sake. God sent me for your sake. Throw
me into that raging ocean and the wrath of God will be appeased.
Throw me into the depths of that dark ocean and let the waters
flood me and come over me and let me go down into the depths
and it'll all be calm and you'll have peace and God's not angry. Do you see? That's Christ and
Him crucified. He said, I have come that they
might have life, to spare them the wrath. He that spared not
his own son, delivered him up for us all. We won't perish because Christ
did die on the cross. Look at Jonah 2. Jonah prayed
unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly. This is Christ
on the cross. He said, I cried by reason of
my affliction unto the Lord. He heard me out of the belly
of hell, cried I. Thou heardest my voice. Thou
cast me into the deep sea. God made him to be seen. In the
midst of the sea and the floods that compassed me about, all
thy billows and thy waves passed over me. All the wrath, all the
judgment, all the punishment, the iniquity of all of God's
people was laid on Christ. Verse 4, I am cast out of thy
sight. He said, my God, my God. And I'll look unto thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about.
That sin that we think covers us, Christ took it. The depth
closed me around about. The weaves wrapped about my head.
I went down to the bottom of the mountain. I heard a preacher
preach from this one time. He never mentioned Christ's name. A so-called grace preacher. He
never mentioned Jesus Christ's name. Verse 7, My soul fainted within
me, I remember the Lord. My prayer came up into His holy
temple. My prayer, John 17. You know
why we have peace with God? Because Christ prayed for us.
Because Christ died. Verse 8, they that observe lying
vanities forsake their own mercy. If you observe, you believe anything
or anyone else but Christ and Him crucified, you have no mercy. Verse 9, but I will sacrifice
unto thee. Who did the sacrifice? Who made
the sacrifice? Christ, by one sacrifice, by
one offering. Paid it forever. I will pay.
I will pay. Christ said that I vowed. Brethren,
here it is. Salvation is of the Lord. So Christ came out onto the bow
of that ship. Since when he arose, he was asleep. Christ died, yeah, but he arose. And he came out on the bow of
the ship. He was behind them, now he's
before them. Now they can look at him, John. Now they can see
him. There he is, awake! You know what he did? Peace.
Hush, weight-raging billows, at my command. Hush, wind, don't
blow. Now, seas, death, where's thy
sting? O grave, where's thy victory?
Christ died. Be still. And it laid down at
his feet like a farm. Silent. Silent. There's 12 men in that shed. That's God. That man is my salvation. That man is my Lord. That man is Lord over everything
and everyone. Just to think that I thought
I was sailing. Just to think that I thought
he was asleep. Just to think that I thought
I would perish. That man, that one, is my hope. He's all. Why could I have ever
doubted him? And isn't that what he said in
verse 25, where is your faith? That's a good question, isn't
it? Where is your faith? Where is your faith? If I were
to ask you that, could you answer it? Where is your faith? Sister said, who? They that know thy name will
put their trust in thee. And so, let me read it to you
again, you read it with me before. It says that he commanded the
stormy wind and they mounted and they reeled and they cried
unto the Lord in their trouble but he brought them out. He made
the storm calm, the waves were still, and they're so glad they'd
be quiet. And he brought them to their
desired haven. They made it. They made it. They arrived at the country of
the Gadarenes over against Galilee. They made it safely. Why? They didn't have anything to
do with it. If the Lord hadn't been in that
ship, they'd have perished. If they hadn't been with him,
he hadn't been with him, they would have perished. And so we
went. But brethren, God is with us.
Those that trust in the Lord, he's with them. Trust in the
Lord. OK. Brother John, come and lay
your sentence in closing here. So I'll stand and turn.