Dear Lord willing, you'll be blessed. I love to
hear John preach. I listen to him a lot on Sermon
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. And he said unto them, chapter
9, verse 1, and he entered into a ship, verse 9. And 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 Sea. That was his lake. That was his
sea. He made it. He 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. And 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 to God's people. The Lord entered
into, verse 23, a ship. And His disciples followed Him.
He was tired. That's amazing. that Scripture
says that he that keepeth Israel will never slumber or sleep.
The Lord is never weary. And yet, 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. Disciples 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, fellowship, entered into this fellowship with us of sufferings. Hebrews 2, I love this verse.
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 bring him many sons unto
glory to make the captain of their salvation, perfect through
suffering. So He became us 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 same, 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. 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? 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 sea, 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
said. It says, God commanded. 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 hurricane
when He will, because He will, to whom He will, where He will.
So it takes the path that He sets forth, the course that He
sets forth. And so it is with everything
in our life. Whatever storms of life or trials
that we go through, the Lord commanded. We are going to look
at these storms as the troubles that we go through. Storms of
life. And the Lord sent them. There's
a passage in 1 Peter 1 that says, that we go through manifold trials,
if need be. Here it is, it says, 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, 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 prayer good. for our good. So he's the one that sends these
trials. 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 in ships.
They are 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 is a mysterious
thing, isn't it? There are deep, dark waters,
aren't there, in this sea of life. Deep, dark waters. Mysteries. Complex things, aren't
they? 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. A 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 you, 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 terrible, terrible trial with
this 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? Will with
the temptation make a way to escape Escape, 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.
It could 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. Death. 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 despises
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. 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 threw 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. 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. 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 did they take care of
what they were doing? When you're asleep, you're soundly
resting. Soundly rested. 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. Now,
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. What they were doing was striking
sails. You don't have any sails up when the storm's going on.
You don't want the sails up. You'll tip the boat over. They
were bailing water. Anybody ever bail your 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. Said, 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 call on
the Lord. Why didn't they call on Him before? You've got to bring them to their
wits end. 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 and needy. Until
we're helpless. Until we're lost. Until we're
undone. That's just 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 have 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? 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're dependent upon. The same One that keeps
you keeping me. Look, can't 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, have you considered my servant Job? He said, yes,
I have. He said, I can't touch him. You've got a hedge about
him. I've tried to get at him, 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 over there. Every one of God's people
have a guardian angel. That's not fable. That's Bible
in itself. Angel of the Lord leads, guides
the Holy Spirit of God, keepeth his people. Lord save us, we
perish. Save us, we're goners. Verse 26, 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 His
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. We didn't live like that. We
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. While I was with you, did you
lack anything? And they all, 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? 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 friend. 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? Huh? 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 got out
on the bow of that ship and amidst the hurricane forces, gale winds
and hurricane forces, and said to the wind, hush up now, said
to that raging ocean, be still. And it laid down at his feet. I don't know what he did then,
but he went back to sleep. But they, verse 27 says that men
marveled, oh my, 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, we 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 manifest in the flesh. And he's the same yesterday,
today, and forever. 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're human, because we're frail. But 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 kinds
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 we are. We forget God. That's the next
message. We forget God. How soon? Not yet. What for? Leeks and onions. And 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. You've 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.