Dear Lord willing, you'll be blessed. I love to
hear Brother John preach. I listen to him a lot on Thurman
Audio. Matthew chapter 8. This whole
book is about the Lord Jesus Christ. Not just Matthew's Gospel,
but the whole Bible, or book, Just notice with me, verse 1
says, When he was come down from the mountain. Verse 5, And when
Jesus was entered into Capernaum. Verse 14, And when Jesus was
come into Peter's house. Verse 18, Now when Jesus saw
the great multitude. Verse 23, And when he, the Lord,
was entered into a ship. Verse 28, And when he was come
to the other side. Verse 32, And he said unto them,
chapter 9, verse 1, and he entered into a ship, verse 9, as Jesus
passed forth. This is all about the Lord Jesus
Christ. It really is. Our Lord said,
They are they which testify of me. From Genesis to Revelation,
Christ is the subject of this book, and the whole universe
bears witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 24 says, The earth
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that
dwell therein. Here in this story, he came down
from the mountain. He was sitting on a mountain
that he made. That was his mountain. He was
sitting on that mountain. He came to the lake, Gennesaret,
or Galilee, a sea. That was his lake. That was his
sea. He made it. found some fishermen there. He
gave them orders. He called them. Those were his
men. Those were his fishermen. Those were his disciples. He
ordered a boat, a ship for him. That's his ship. And he ordered
them to go across the sea. We're going to look at that in
a minute. He ordered them to go across the sea because he
had a meeting with another one of his elect that was in the
tombs. The Lord, everything is His.
He entered into this ship. Now, we just kind of passed over
this story and going through this chapter, and I don't want
to do that because this is a great, great story and a great blessing. And we've looked at it many times
together, but we're going to look at it again. A story of
great comfort. The Lord entered into, verse
23, a ship, and his disciples followed him. He was tired, and
that's amazing, isn't it? Scripture says that he that keepeth
Israel will never slumber or sleep. The Lord is never weary. he took flesh and became weary. And the reason he became weary
is he worked tirelessly. He worked. What he told us to
do, he said, you must work while there's twelve hours in the day.
That's what he did. All his life he worked hard.
He earned his bread by the sweat of his brow. Well, he was tired. In verse 23, he entered into
this ship. followed Him. This is the captain. Go with me to Hebrews chapter
2. This is the captain of our salvation
who came and dwelt among us, tabernacled among us, took a
body, a fellowship, entered into this fellowship with us of sufferings. Hebrews 2, I love this verse.
In verses 9 and 10 it says, we see Jesus, a man made a little
lower than the angels for the suffering of death. Made a man
to die, to live and die, but now he's crowned with glory and
honor. And that's the reason we call him the Lord Jesus. That
by the grace of God he should taste death. He became a man,
was made flesh, that he should taste death for every man or
every son of his, it became him, for whom are all things and by
whom are all things, and bringing many sons unto glory to make
the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. So he became thus and entered
into this body. Verse 14, as much as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the saying that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them
who through fear of death, all their lifetime subject to bondage
and such great fear of death, and that's what these disciples
are going to go through here in this story, as we do go through
this fear of death. Now, our Lord as a man became
our captain, and our Lord lived by faith. I love to think about
that, how the Lord lived by faith as a man. The just shall live
by faith, and He's the just one. And he lived by faith. Faith
is trust in God. Faith is confidence in God. Faith
is depending on God to provide for you, to protect you. Faith is to take him at his word
and live by faith and not doubt, but trust him. And the Lord Jesus
Christ, as a man, trusted his Father to provide for him. to protect him. To protect him. He was under the divine care
and protection of his Heavenly Father. My, my. And so he lived by faith. Whatever
we go through, the Lord Jesus Christ went through. That's a
great comfort. He touched with the feeling of
our infirmities because he himself was compassed with infirmity.
He took a body. And he had to live by faith like
we do. Yes, he did. Yes, he did. But he's not just touched. The
Lord is not just touched with our infirmities. He doesn't just
go through what we go through. He went through it as our substitute. Because we fail. We fail in living
by faith. We fail to trust our Lord. And
he's our representative. But look at verse 24. Behold,
there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship
was covered with the waves. But he was asleep. A great tempest arose. A storm. Where do storms come from? Where
do earthly storms come from? these hurricanes and tornadoes,
where do they come from? Well, scientists, the wise of
this world will say things like this, that the wind in the, let's
see, what part of the ocean, over Africa is where they come
from. Waters, warm waters mixed with air and cold air and creating
a circular pattern and those collide And this and that and
the other, they have an explanation for it all, don't they? And those
things form into a hurricane or a tropical storm or a tornado
or whatever. Well, here's what the Scripture
says. It says, God commandeth and raiseth
the stormy wind which lifted up the waves thereof. The Lord
sends it. Scripture says He has His way.
in the whirlwind. He sends a tornado and a hurricane
when he will, because he will, to whom he will, where he will. It takes the path that he sets
forth, the course that he sets forth. He commands it. And so
it is with everything in our life. Whatever storms of life
or trials that we go through, the Lord commands it. We are going to look at these
storms as the troubles that we go through, the storms of life. And the Lord sent them. There
is a passage in 1 Peter 1 that says that we go through manifold
trials if need be. Here it is. you greatly rejoice
in salvation, though for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness
through manifold temptations." The trial of your faith. You
go through trials and afflictions. It says, if need be. Now, who
determines if it need be? The Lord does. You see, if it
need be. If it be, whatever it is, it
need be or it wouldn't be. You see, whatever it is in regards
to us, it need be or it wouldn't be. Because all things work together
according to his purpose. That's prior good. Prior good. So he's the one that sent these
that sends his trial. And he sent this storm. Now,
they all went through it. Every one of these disciples
went through this storm. And I was reading to you from
Psalm 107 where he commanded the stormy wind. It says in verse
23 of Psalm 107, they that go down to the sea in ships that
do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord.
and His wonders in the deep. Everyone in Christ, every believer,
every one of His disciples, they go down to the sea and ship.
They're in this fellowship with Christ. And they see His wonders
in the deep. They see His works. They see
His wonders in this sea of life. The sea of life. It's a mysterious
thing, isn't it? There are deep, dark waters,
aren't there, in this sea of life. Deep, dark waters. Mysterious, complex things, aren't
there? We won't understand. There's
life. There's danger. There's everything in this sea
of life. Violent storms. And God's people,
they all go through it. Together, fellowship of this
mystery, fellowship of the gospel, these see the works of the Lord.
We don't understand it all, but we see and we need to see for
our comfort that it's the Lord. These disciples are going to
see when it's over, the Lord did this. The Lord did this to
show His power, to show them who He is, to show them that
in their greatest peril, They really don't have anything to
be afraid of. At the time when they think it's their greatest
danger, it's no different than any other time, really. The Lord
ordered it. For their good, that they might
trust Him more. That they might see what manner
of man this is that rules the waves and the sea. and rules
everything about them. They all went through this great
storm. If you don't know these verses, turn with me. 1 Corinthians
10. If you don't know this, you need
to mark it. Memorize it. 1 Corinthians 10. These Scriptures are so, so very
comforting. They all went through this storm
together. And every one of God's people
are going to go through the same things. The same thing to a different
degree, perhaps, but every one of God's people are going to
go through the same trials. Verse 13, it says, There hath
no temptation taken thee, no trial, no temptation, no testing,
but such as is common to man. But God. Don't you love but God? But God
is faithful. Who will not suffer you, not
allow you to be tempted or tried above that you are able. I remember talking to a believer
one time who was going through a terrible, terrible trial with
his wayward son. a rebellious son, and I've never
had one, but I know it's got to be one of the hardest things
you could possibly go through. Many of God's people do it, if
not most, go through it. Both of his sons were nothing
but trouble. Ask Samuel. Both of his sons were nothing
but trouble. Ask David. He had a son that
wanted to kill him. His son, Mac, chased him and
wanted him dead. His son that he loved with all
his heart. Can you imagine? And some of
God's people go through that. They sure do. And I remember him saying to
me when he was going through that, I don't think I can take
any more. But he did. He did, because God
is faithful. And he said he won't allow you
to be tempted above that you're able. Verse 13, look at it. But
with the temptation, how are you going to get through it? That means you run and hide somewhere. You run somewhere for refuge
from your troubles. How do you escape your troubles?
Where do you go? There's only one place. There's only one place. Hide thee, O my Savior, hide,
while the storms of life are nigh, that ye may be able to bear it.
Every one of these disciples came through safe and sound. They all reached the other side. Oh, and I love that. I'm getting
ahead of myself, but that's okay. Something might happen. It says,
when they reach the other side, they're so glad. He brings them
to their desired haven. And then he says, oh, that men
would praise the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works
to the children of men. You know, storms make peace to
be peace. You don't appreciate peace until
you've had war. You don't appreciate... Brother
Henry went through the Korean War. Buddy, when they said the
war is over, was that a happy time, buddy? I wasn't there. I don't know, but you were, weren't
you? Were you happy, Roberta? Henry's coming home. You don't
appreciate peace unless there's war. You don't appreciate health.
You take it for granted unless you're sick. You don't appreciate
anything until you've lost it, until you think you're going
to go without it. Sickness, all of God's people
go through it. Every one of God's people is
going to suffer loss, whether it's a spouse or parents or children,
whoever. Family troubles, wayward children,
marriage troubles. Every one of God's people. Loss
of things. And the Lord gave us the story
of Job to show that you can go through all of those things at
the same time. And his grace is still sufficient. The Lord heaped on Job all of
that. They were no sooner said, everything
you had is taken until all your children are dead. And then the
Lord struck him with boils all over his body, and he's sitting
scraping. He doesn't have two pennies to rub together. He doesn't
have anybody in his family left except the wife that bespies
him. And he said, Blessed be the name
of the Lord. Now, that's not humanly possible, is it? But
with God, all things are possible. His grace is sufficient. He said
that. We don't believe it until we
go through it. And then he proves himself. A
great tempest, verse 24, says, A great tempest came in so much
that the ship was covered with the waves. Covered with the waves. And we go through trials that
are so great, we feel like we're completely overcome. We are overcome,
we think, with sorrow, with grief, with worries, with fear, and
we think it's over. It's over. David, and that's
why psalms like this are some of our favorites, he said, David
said, My iniquities are gone over my head. They're too heavy
for me. I can't take it anymore. Job,
throughout the book of Job, Job said, I can't take it anymore. Job even said at one time, I
wish I'd never been born. I wish they had aborted me. When my mother had me, I wish
they'd have thrown me out rather than go through this. This ship
was covered with the waves. Covered with the waves. Now,
the Lord went through the same storm. He was in the ship. Wasn't
He? He was in the ship. Come on in. He was in that ship. And the Lord went through everything
that we go through. Everything. Everything. But what
was He doing? He was sleeping. Sleeping. It's amazing that he slept. He
that keepeth Israel never sleep. But he did. And yet more amazing
is this storm that was the worst that the disciples had ever been
through. They had been through some storms.
These weren't fair-weather fishermen. These men had been through some
seven-, eight-, and ten-foot seas. And this was it. They thought
it was all over. This was the one. The big one. We're going down. Mark's account
and Luke's account says the ship was full of water. Full of water. We're going down.
It's over. What was the Lord doing? Sleeping. Soundly resting. You know when
you're asleep, when you're really soundly resting, nothing can
wake you up. You can be full of water. Your
tent can be full of water. One time, John and Kelly and
Ron and I went camping in a tent, and there was a most horrendous
storm to come through, and the water, a river, was running through
the tent. Apparently. I didn't know. I
was asleep. And they rudely woke me up. Wake up. They're trying to cover the tent
and trying to do all sorts of things. I'm sleeping. I don't
know why they had to wake me up. Why didn't they take care
of what they were doing? When you're asleep, you're soundly
resting. Soundly resting. Why? Because
our Lord was sound in the faith. He believed God. He went to sleep.
There was a man one time suffering with insomnia. He couldn't sleep.
And somebody read to him Psalm 121. He read it for himself.
He got up and he read Psalm 121. He that keepeth Israel shall
never slumber or sleep. And he thought, huh, what am
I worried about? God never sleeps. I think I will
go to sleep. So he's resting. He believed
God. Everything is on purpose. God
sent this on purpose. Again, as a man, our Lord lived
by faith. And so in the midst of the greatest
storm, he's showing his disciples, you have nothing to worry about. Nothing to worry about. Yeah,
but somebody's got to keep this ship afloat. Who is that somebody? He's asleep. Luke's account says they were
sailing. They were sailing. What they
were doing was striking sailing. You don't have any sails up when
the storm is going on. You don't want the sails up.
You don't tip the boat up. They were bailing water. Anybody
ever bailed a ship? Your boat gets full of water
and you're bailing. It was coming in faster than
they could bail it. They were bailing, sailing and bailing,
sailing and bailing. We've got to keep this ship afloat.
Who's keeping that ship afloat? They weren't keeping that ship
afloat. They weren't saving themselves. Finally, when they did all they
could do, they realized, we're going down. We can't save ourselves. And that's when they called on
the Lord. Why haven't they called on Him before? He's got to bring them to their
wits' end. We've got to bring them to the
point. You know, we'll never really call on the Lord until
we think it's over. We'll never really pray until
we're poor in need, until we're helpless, until we're lost, until
we're undone, until we're... This is more than I can handle.
We never will. We'll go through the motions.
We'll pray with our lips. We'll say grace. But boy, if
we go through a real storm, we'll ask for grace. We'll plead for
grace. Well, you know, the message not
long ago about weeping for the children, you
know, how the Lord sent whatever happens, no matter how terrible
it may seem, the Lord sent it. Are you protecting your children? Do you protect your children?
No, you don't. You never have and you never
will. The whole point is God reigns. God reigns. Everything is in His hands. We are to fear Him, not man.
Fear Him. We've never provided for our
family. Everything we have comes down
from above. Okay? We've never protected them. We've never kept them for one
minute. It's He that keepeth us and not we ourselves. Remember
that. Why? Because we've got to give
Him all the glory. The minute we think we can keep
ourselves, whatever, He'll try us on that. He'll show us. So they were bailing and sailing
and bailing and sailing and bailing and sailing, you know, until
they finally think, we're going down. And they came to Him. And He was asleep. And His disciples came to Him,
verse 25, and awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us. We perish. I can hear their anxiety. I can hear their fear because
I've cried this. Many times, haven't you? Mark's
account says that they said, don't you care? Why are you doing this to us?
Why don't you do something? That's what they said. Why don't
you do something? Do you see what we're going through? Has
anybody ever said anything like that to the Lord? Why have you
brought this on me? Don't you care? My, you know
why he's on this cesspool called planet earth? Because he cares. We're perished. That's not possible. It's not possible. That's why
he came, so that they wouldn't perish. That's why he came, so
that they wouldn't perish. That's why he came, because they're
subject to fear and everything. And he's showing them you don't
need to fear. Fear me. Fear nothing else. He's asleep. Watch me. I'm asleep. I'm going through the same thing
you're going through. I'm trusting my Heavenly Father. Where's your
faith? I'm going through the exact same
thing you're going through. I'm dependent on the exact same
Father that you depend upon. The same one that keeps you is
keeping me. Look, can this boat go down? It will fill full of water, but
it still can't sink unless He decides, unless He purposed it. It can't. I love what Satan, you know,
Satan is the enemy and all. He's the adversary. He's on a
cane. And Satan said to God, he said,
Job. And the Lord mocked Satan then.
He said, you consider my servant Job? He said, just a half. He
said, I can't touch him. You've got a hedge about him.
I've tried to get in, but you've got a hedge about him. I can't
get near him. Is that just Job? Is that Job the only one the
Lord put a hedge about? No, he's not. Every one of them. God said this, and this is not
just some sentimental saying that religious people, he giveth
his angels charge of the day. Every one of God's people have
a guardian angel. That's not fable. That's Bible
in itself. Angel of the Lord leads God's
Holy Spirit of God to keep His people. Lord, save us. We perish. Save us. We're goners. Verse 26. And he said unto them,
and I believe he's still lying there, wiping the sleep out of
his eyes. They woke him up. He wipes the sleep out. He's
a man. Amazing, isn't he? Where is your faith? Why are you so fearful? Why are you so fearful? Oh, you have little faith. We just don't have much faith
at all. We really don't. The Lord has
kept us, some of us, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 years. And then we go through
some of the same things we've gone through before, And we think,
this is it. It's over. After all this time, why are
you so fearful? The Lord was with them for three
years. At the end of that three years,
He said to them, while I was with you, they didn't work a job. I talked
about that we don't provide for our own. We don't protect ourselves.
We don't keep our children. We don't do any of that. We don't.
We really don't. And the Lord proved that. He
had His disciples who, when He found them, they were working
men. They were independent men. They were men who prided themselves.
Like Peter. He was a man that did everything for himself and
took matters into his own hands. You know he did. He prided himself
in being his own man and had a business, fishing business
and all that. Gave all the orders and all that. Well, he had to
start following. He had to start trusting. He had to start believing
the Lord. He never worked a day for three
years. Never worked a day. Never earned
a penny. Left his home, his family, left everybody to travel around
with the Lord. Didn't know what the next day
would bring forth. That was so hard for him, wasn't
it? It's impossible to live like that. But he did. And after three
and a half years, the Lord turned to them and said, while I was
with you in this world, did you lack anything? Did you miss a
meal? And all the danger. Everybody
wanted the Lord dead from the day He started preaching. They were after Him. And whoever
was with Him was in danger too, weren't they? While I was with you, did you
like anything? And every one of them, twelve of them said,
nothing. Not one single thing. How about us? Not three years,
thirty-three years, forty-three years, fifty-three years, sixty-four
years. You lack anything? Seventy-four,
eighty-four. You lack anything? Have you missed
anything that you need? Why? Did you provide it? Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will
provide. He said He would and He has. Where's your faith? You'd think after so many years,
you'd have a little faith, wouldn't you? But thankfully, he knows
our pride. That's why he kept calling them,
even though they were grown men, he kept calling them, my little
children. Aren't you glad? Don't you love
Psalm 103? As a father pities his children. Don't you love
that? He knows our pride. He's just flesh. Just flesh. Just flesh. I know. But he's
rebuking. We need to be rebuked. Why don't
we believe Him? Why don't we believe Him? Well,
He arose, verse 26, and rebuked the winds and the sea. And there was a great calm. The
winds and the sea. He got out on the bow of that
ship and amidst the hurricane forces, gale winds, the hurricane
forces, and said to the wind, said to that raging ocean, be
still. And it laid down at his feet. I don't know what he did then.
Maybe he went back to sleep. But they, verse 27 says, the men marveled. Oh my, Mark and Luke's account
says they were greatly afraid. Mark and Luke's account says
they feared exceedingly, exceedingly afraid. Of what? Storm? No, it's calm. Of Him. And they said, every one of them
to one another. They looked at one another and
they said, What manner of man is this? Even the winds of the sea obey
him. Now, people, I want you to listen
to them if you haven't heard a word yet. If you and I will ever see
what manner of man this is, it will greatly allay our fears
and our worries. It will give us great peace if
we ever see what manner of man it is that sits on the circle
of the earth, who reigns and rules. If we ever
really believe that this man is unlike any other man, he's
more than just a man. I'll tell you what manner of
man this is. This is the God man. God was manifested in the flesh.
And He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If we believe what manner of
man He is, if we ever see, get sight of that, it will greatly
ease our doubts. We won't be completely without
them because we are human, because we are frail. But it will greatly, if we keep
looking to Him. It will greatly ease our doubts,
our fears, our worries, and our unbelief. And the Lord did all
of this on purpose. What they went through was all
according to His purpose. Even their peril was on purpose. And their peril was on purpose
to show His power. And that peril that was on purpose
to show his power was so that they might praise him when it's
all over, you see. They're not going to give him
a thought until he comes to them, chooses
them, reveals himself to them, sends them through all kind of
trials. They're not going to give him a thought. They're not going
to call on him. Like Psalm 107, they're not going to call until
they get in trouble. That's just what they are. That's
what they are. That's what we are. We forget God. That's the
next message. We forget God. How soon? Not
yet. What for? Leeks and onions. Then we call. And what does he
do? Every time, he answers. And they're
going to praise him. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord. He's got to send us through trouble. Just to think about
Him, to call on Him, to recognize what we are and who He is. We're sad creatures, aren't we? We've got a wonderful Lord.