Do you like your job? My son-in-law was telling me
how much he loved his job, and I said, very few people can say
that. It's a blessing. But I love my
job. And though sometimes I think
some get tired of hearing me, and it's just natural. You know,
the same old voice all the time kind of mesmerizes you. I don't
get tired of this, and when other men stand here and preach to
you, I think it's a good thing. You need to hear from other men,
and I enjoy it, yet I just chomp at the bit to get back in the
saddle. These stories, we've looked at
these stories time and again. Matthew chapter eight, go over
there, Matthew eight. We just looked at this story
seven months ago. For some reason, I felt compelled
to deal with this seven months ago. And now here it comes up
in our study of Matthew. And I thought, well, I'll just
skip over this and go to that. And I started reading it, and
it was like I'd never seen it before. So to preach the same
things to you is not grievous to me. And I hope this will be
a blessing to you. This is a remarkable story of
our sovereign Lord, the sovereign of the seas. But this is a story
of his salvation. Verse 18 of Matthew 8, and we
didn't deal with these verses last week, so it says, When Jesus
saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart
unto the other side. As it said in verse one, when
he came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him
wherever he went. Great multitudes, vast throngs
of people followed him, and he told his disciples, he gave commandment
to his disciples, Simon, James, John, so forth. Let's get out
of here. Let's go, let's depart from this
moat and go the other side. Everything our Lord says is significant,
right? I quoted it twice this morning.
He said, come ye out from among them, be ye separate, saith the
Lord. Let's go, therefore, unto him without the camp. He's not
in this mass and this mess and this multitude that's called
religion today. Let's depart. There was a man
over in Mark, chapter eight, I believe it is, a blind man
whom the Lord, no, a man who had a, who's deaf and dumb. And it says the Lord grabbed
him by the hand and took him out of town, away from everybody,
and healed him, opened his mouth, opened his ears. Then a blind
man, the very next chapter, the very next chapter, it says the
Lord laid hold of his hand and took him out of town, away from
the mass of people. The Lord gave commandment, let
us depart and go to the other side. The whole world pretends to follow
Jesus. We're going to see a man who
said he would. But God's people, true worshippers
of the Lamb, they followed the Lamb. And look at verse 19. A certain scribe came and said unto him, Master, the
word is teacher, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. Will you? In other words, this
fellow said, Master, teacher, I have decided to follow you.
Does that sound familiar? I will follow you, I have decided
to follow you. Will you now? Well, we'll see. You see, true disciples follow
him. They don't tell people, announce,
blow a trumpet that they're going to. They just did it. It says Peter
and all of them, they just followed him. They didn't say, we've decided
to follow you. No, no, no. Well, look at verse 20. Our Lord
said, foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests. The Son
of Man hath not where to lay his hand. You're going to follow
me? It's not health and wealth like
you think it is. It's not a bed of roses. It's
not going to live a good life and. It's called that the children
of Israel pass through wilderness. Oh, so it seems that that man
did not follow. Like the rich young ruler, remember,
the Lord said, OK, you know, follow me, sell everything you
have and follow me. That's too costly. Here in verse 21, another, it
says, and another of his disciples said unto him. That man was not a disciple,
a scribe. But this fellow was. And another
of his disciples said unto him, Lord, different way of referring to
him, but Lord. Now, he said, suffer me or allow
me, permit me first to go and bury my father. Now, self-righteous scribes boast
of following the Lord, most of it, but sometimes true disciples
hesitate. That happened often in Scripture,
didn't it? Jonah, he knew the Lord, but he pled,
didn't he? Moses kept saying, Lord, don't
send me. Don't send me. Send somebody
else. And make excuses. Sometimes make
excuses for whatever. In verse 22, our Lord said, follow
me. imperative, express command,
the Lord gave the command, follow me. He didn't tell that other
fellow, did he? Again, he didn't tell him the first time, follow
me. And he didn't tell him again, follow me. Did he? He tells this man, follow me. Did you reckon he did? Sammy,
he didn't say, would you like, but would you like to follow
me? Follow me. And then he said something
strange. He said, let the dead bury their
dead. Let the dead bury their dead. The Lord is certainly not forbidding
us to bury our loved ones, to conduct a funeral in their honor
and so forth. But right here, this is one of
his disciples. I don't know who it was. It might
have been one of the apostles. whom he has put into ministry,
and he sovereignly orders this man to follow him without regard
to anything or anyone, no matter how important it may seem. No matter how close someone is
to you, how important the duty is, He says, you follow me, forsake
it all, drop everything. And you know, one who truly loves
Christ above all else, it will be revealed. It will truly be
revealed when it comes to family. That's where the rubber meets
the road. It always is. It always is. I prefer flesh
and blood family, no matter how it is over, but will follow Christ. I told you the story of Walter
Groover. Who left his home and family
and so forth to go to Mexico? Told you that story, and this
is what the Lord means When he said, if any man hate not his
father and mother, husband, wife, son or daughter, cannot be my
disciple. Hate not. You know, the Lord's
not telling us to hate our family. The Lord's not telling us you
can't bury your family, is it? But if there's a choice to be
made, if it's an urgent matter of following Christ or doing
what is, he says, you follow me. Walter Groover, the Lord
was leading him to go to Mexico as a missionary 35, 40 years
ago. And he had four small children
at the time. And he had a good job and a home
and so forth. You'd have to have a good job
and a home to support four children. Well, the Lord was leading him
to Mexico. It's obvious it was of the Lord,
isn't it? It's obvious. So he sold out. No regard to
anything or anyone. Sold out and left. He was leaving,
and his mother and father, his family, the relations there where
he lived in Houston, said to him, you don't love your children. You don't love your family if
you do something like that. If you take them down to a hostile
country like that, leave, forsake everything and everyone and go
down there to a place. You don't love your family. In
other words, you hate your family. Oh no, you don't hate his family. He just loves God and loves Christ
supremely. You know what the Lord has done
for Walter Gruber and his family. So the Lord's not forbidding
that which is lawful here, but he's telling his disciples to
drop everything and everyone. Now it says in verse 23, when
he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. He entered
into a ship. Did you read with me? Would you look again at Psalm
107? Psalm 107. If you read this Matthew
8 before, you knew what we were going to look at. Reading Psalm
107 should have made your heart leap a little bit. Did it, anybody? He entered into a ship with his
disciples. His disciples followed him. Mark's
gospel, Luke's gospel say he entered into a ship with his
disciples. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Tabernacle among us. Joshua went in the tabernacle
and never came out. Our Lord entered into this ship,
this body with his disciples. He entered in, he took up on
this fellowship of suffering. Discipleship following the Lord
Jesus Christ is like entering into a ship. Know that? Following the Lord Jesus Christ
is like entering into a ship, like Noah's family. Noah went,
they went under Noah in that ship. Anybody ever been in a
ship? Very late at the time, Henry?
Troops were transported or something? It's total commitment, isn't
it? I mean, once you're on a ship, what are you doing? You're leaving
dry land. You're leaving home and family.
You're leaving creature comforts. You're leaving the shelter, the
safety, the refuge that you had before. You're leaving all that. It's total commitment. You're
going to get on this ship with a bunch of other fellas just
like you. And now your life from then on
is going to be on board that ship. Everything you do is going
to be related to that ship. You can't go a day without thinking
about the ship. You can't look around you without
being reminded of, I'm on a ship. And you're going on a voyage,
that is, you're headed someplace, you're on a journey someplace.
When you get on a ship, you don't just sit and dock. These people
down at Smith Mountain Lake, they don't have ships. They've
got boats. Because they don't go anywhere.
And they sure ain't been in no storm. A little squall come along
Smith Mountain Lake and raise the waves afoot, and people think
we're going to sink. That's a good picture of religion. We just float. Look at us. Now,
look at Psalm 107. It says in verse 23, they that
go down to the sea in ships, They do business in great waters,
deep waters. What did we read in 1 Corinthians
2? About the deep things of God. Deep waters. This thing of fellowship
of the gospel, discipleship, following Christ is total commitment. It's a leaving all else, denying
self even. You deny yourself, don't you?
Henry, when you went in the army, It's like Henry Sword ceased
to exist, didn't it? Didn't it? He then became private
in the army, in the service of your country. You will do what
we say. You will go where we go. You
will go on board this ship. I brought up old Noah. Noah,
when you get on a ship like Noah did and his family, You were
dead to the world. It's like the world didn't exist.
I told you about my one experience out to sea, and I got out on
the ocean 150 miles out to sea in that little sailboat with
six other fellas. I didn't, I thought the world
was flat. I didn't think land, I left land,
dry land. Will I ever see it again? Ever
see it again? In other words, the world ceased
to exist, the world that I knew. dead to the world. And Noah was
dead to the world, and the world was dead to him. And it's not easy. Deep waters
are rough waters. Deep waters are rough waters. Deep waters. They that go down
to the sea in ships, they do business in deep waters. Deep waters are rough waters,
seldom calm for any length of time. Deep waters, overwhelming
waters, waters that you would drown in if you had to tread
the water or try to keep yourself afloat. You can't make it. Deep waters are far out, away
from earthly refuge. Well, how are you going to make
it? You better be on a good ship. And better yet, you better have
you a good captain. That boat I was on, that fellow
was a good captain. He was headed out in the waters.
I had no idea where we were going. The sky was black. The waters
were rough. I didn't know what we were doing.
I wondered why I got on that boat. I know now, so I can use
it as an illustration. But that captain, we went through
some rough waters. We made it to the desired haven. He was a good captain, experienced
captain, good captain. Scriptures, Hebrews says Christ
is the captain of our salvation. And it's not treading water,
it's deep water. And if we fell in, it'd go over
our head like sin. And the troubles that we get
into would overwhelm us and we'd drown from them. How are we going
to get through? Captain's in the ship. Captain's in the ship. Look,
would you read it again? This might mean more to you now.
It says, These, they see the works of the Lord. He commandeth and raiseth the
stormy wind. I'll stop there. Let's go back
to our text. He raiseth the stormy wind. Alright,
it says in our text, He entered into
a ship, verse 24, and behold, there arose a great tempest in
the sea. A stormy wind. When every stormy
wind that blows, we sing that song. Where does it come from? Where do these stormy winds come
from? Where are these tempests, strong
tempests, come from? Huh? Winds and waves. Where do they come from? Well,
I'll read to you what I read on the Internet, a meteorologist's
definition of a hurricane, okay? That's a strong wind. Hurricanes Go through the southern United
States they get their start tropical waves off the west coast of Africa
warm waters give rise to clusters of thunderstorms that move miles
of warm ocean currents and as these winds and these storms
move in colliding directions they form a circulation over
an area of low pressure and the condensation of water vapor feeds
that storm and it continues to grow in strength. As long as
it's over warm water or warm, moist air and develops into a
hurricane. It said back there in Psalm 107,
he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind. In Exodus 15, in
the song of Moses that they're singing in heaven right now,
it says, with a blast of his nostrils, the waves bellow and
the winds blow. But ignorant man, as we quoted
recently, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in
unrighteousness, the things of God that are clearly seen, yet
man does not see it. Well, a warm ocean current comes
from Africa and it blows over and meets the colliding God says
he blows his nostrils and causes the wind. Man doesn't think the
fool of sin. No, God. The wrath of Katrina. Oh, we fear the wrath of Katrina.
Yeah, they fear Katrina more than God. Who makes us different? Who makes
us today? This stormy tempest arose in
a great tempest arose. Who sent it? The very one that
was in that boat, that ship. The very one that was in that
ship sent this tempest, this great, it was sent by the Lord. He was in the ship with them. But they're not going to go through
it alone. He Himself is going to take part
and remove from them this fear of death, which they've all their
lifetime been subject to. How? Because He Himself took
part of it. He's in the ship. What's He doing? Sleeping. These were fishermen. They'd
seen storms all their lives, hadn't they? They'd been through
howling storms. Great wave, but now it says,
Mark's gospel, Mark's gospel says the wind, the boat was full
of water. It doesn't say it was sinking.
It doesn't say, I looked this up, it doesn't say it was going
down. It does not say it was sinking.
It can't. It can't. If the Lord had not got up and
calmed it, it wouldn't have gone down. Why? Christ is in the ship. Those that are with Him can't
die. Nothing can harm them. But it looks like, it says they
were in peril, perilous water. in danger, it said. Yeah, they
were in danger. Yes, they were in peril. Yes,
the boat was full, but it's not going down. Do you remember the
story of Paul? Do you remember the story of
Paul in that ship? He was a prisoner. He was a prisoner in the ship. Did the irony of that just strike
you like it did me? Who was the prisoner? We'll find
out. They're going down in a storm,
a great tempest blew. And the ship began to be, the
sails broke off. And they had some lifeboats and
were going to put the lifeboats down. Paul said, cut the ropes.
Don't get in those lifeboats. He said, except you stay in this
ship, you'll all perish. But whoever stays in the ship, They're not going to be hiding
their hair if you're lost. We're going to make it. By the time that the whole thing
was over, they were all speaking in this prisoner's help. You
really think it's going to be all right? I know it is. You can't be saved except you
abide in the ship. You reckon the waves covered
Noah's ark? He reckoned the waves covered Noah's ark, covered the
whole earth. It was a great tempest, an overflowing scourge of what
was it? God's wrath against a sinful,
God-hating world. It was giving what they deserved.
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and everybody with
him in the ship. And though the waves roared,
and the wind blew, and the rain beat, one day that ship sat on
a mountain. It didn't land in a valley. It
landed on a mountain. And all the waters abated, and
they opened the door, and the sky was blue, and they all looked
down. Would you look at this? The Lord brought us home then. Look at this. Great tempest arose
and the Lord was with them. Everything they went through,
he did too. Right? Everything they went through,
he did too, but without fear. He's asleep. Was he sleeping? Well, there was a man. This is
such a mystery. This is such a mystery. There
was a man asleep in that ship. But he that keepeth Israel shall not slumber or sleep. There was a man asleep in that
ship to show us that you can rest in the everlasting arm. Come what may. Come what seems
like your undoing. you can just fall asleep. It'll be all right. But he that keepeth Israel, God
doesn't sleep. He that was keeping that boat.
There was a man who lived by faith, a man who lived by faith
in God, totally, so totally confident. trusting, resting in his God
who upheld that ship on those waters, fell asleep completely
confident that his God would see him through the roughest
tempest that could be thrown at him. But God was in that ship,
and he never sleeps. Oh, what a picture. Like that
baby in the arm of that mother? Who was who in whose arms? There
was a woman who had a baby in her arms. A mother of our Lord. Who? What? Who? What? Mother
of the Lord? Oh, that child, yes. A child,
a baby is born. A child is born. A son is given. But here's what you call him.
The mighty God. The everlasting Father. The mother
of the child. The child was the father of the
mother. There's a man asleep in the ship,
but the very one asleep had the ship in his hand. I've just spoken things too wonderful
for me. Well, go back in Matthew 8, it
says in verse 25, now this storm arose
and his disciples says the ship was covered with weight, but
he was asleep and his disciples came to him and you can imagine
their fear. They were scared. They thought
they were going to die and they awoke him. Now they had been
doing everything they could to keep this ship going. You know
that these were sailing, they were bailing water, they were
striking sails, they were lashing down the helm. You know these
terms by now, don't you Darnell? Lashing down the helm, bailing
water, lashing down their goods so they won't lose their food
and everything. We don't want to lose the food,
you know, where are they going to get it? They were striking
sails, They're doing everything they
can to keep the ship afloat. Could they have? They're experienced
sailors. No way. They never did. All their lives, they never kept
one ship going. They just hadn't been through
the big one yet and found out. And they're so distraught. They're
so distraught. Mark's gospel says they came
running to him and said, Master, don't you care we're dying? Master,
don't you care that we're perished? Carest thou not? They were going
through this one that they'd never been through before. Great
tempest. And they, Lord, don't you care? And as we read, Trial of your faith. Faith in what? Faith in what? Faith in your faith? Faith is
in a person. Faith is trust in Christ, in
the Lord. Believe in God. Faith is in a
person. Trial of your faith. Worketh
patience. Patience being waiting on the
Lord. We know. Have you ever been so
distraught? In a trial that you said, Lord,
why? Or why are you doing this? That's what they said, Lord,
don't you care why? Why is this happening? Are you
asleep? You see, we've said the very
same thing. Lord, why don't you do something? The first thing he's showing
them. Is that you can't do anything,
this is going to have to have its perfect work. Trial of your faith, trial means
something deep, difficult. Your faith worketh patience,
that is, wait on the Lord. They were at their wit's end.
They'd done everything they could, and now they couldn't do nothing.
What are they going to do? They're going to have to wait.
The Lord's going to have to save them. We'll have to get them through it.
But let patience have her perfect word. You see, they weren't calling
on the Lord before this big storm went. What about when the wind picked
up? What about when the wind's picked
up? What they think? Oh, it'll pass. We'll get through
this. We're pretty good savers. And
they picked up and waved. One wave hit them. Phew! Well, should be all right. They weren't calling on the Lord.
Are you with me? You understand here? They weren't
calling on the Lord. When did they call? You read Psalm 107,
wasn't it? They were brought down. Since
they went up, they were rolling down in the depths of the sea,
and their hearts failed. In other words, they thought,
we're going to die. We're going to die. I'm not going
to make it through this one. I can't do anything. Lord, save us or we perish. My, my. They didn't call on the Lord
in the minor storms. You see, great power is only
needed in great tempests. Great glory is only shown in
stilling great seas. A great salvation is only needed
and appreciated and seen for great sinners. I mean, those
that have like Psalm 38 centers. You know what Psalm 38 centers
are. That's the ones the Lord saves. The Lord saved me, or
I perish. Lord, if you don't save me, I
try. I can't. If you don't save me,
I perish. I'm going down. The waves are
over my head, and I can't swim a lick. The Lord saved me, or
I perish. The Lord saved me. Salvation's
of the Lord. Jonah knew it, didn't he? When
he was in that whale's belly. The Lord saved me. Salvation's
of the Lord. Great glory is only seen in great
tempests. Only a sovereign Lord and Master
can still such great troubles as this. Well, what did he do? Verse 26 says he arose. Well, I'm not here, but Matthew,
Mark and Luke, it says that he arose. Yes, it says that. Verse 26. Then he arose. Why are you so
fearful, he said? Oh, ye of little faith. My, my. That's convicting, isn't
it? But Lord, I mean, this is a great
storm. Anybody would be scared to death. Do we just believe the Lord in
a little storm and not a big one? Do we just believe the Lord
when, you know, we stump our toe or when the horrible traumatic
thing? When do we believe the Lord? Oh, you have little faith. Then
he arose. How did our Lord Jesus Christ
deliver us from this overwhelming, overflowing scourge of God's
wrath and the sin that overwhelmed us? How did he deliver us? He
arose. He died, made sin for us, was
buried, put away our sin by the sacrifice of himself. But if
he hadn't And going back to the right hand
of the majesty on high to put that blood on the altar, our
sins would overcome us. The wrath of God would overflow
us. But when God said, God said, I see the blood, so he passes
over. He arose. Every word is significant.
Then he arose, and it says, he rebuked the winds and the sea. I wouldn't begin to. In Mark's
Gospels, he said, Peace, be still. I wouldn't begin to try to emulate
his voice, because no man spoke like this man. But he stood out
on the bow of that ship. Now, I failed to bring this up. You've heard it before. But it
says the Lord was in the hand of the ship, asleep. Why? Well, he's back in the back. The captain's quarters in every
boat is in the back of the ship. The rudder is in the back of
the ship. Right? He's in the hinder part of the
ship. Made it very clear, where is he sleeping? Back in the back. The hinder. He's still in control.
But he went out on the bow of that ship now, the head of that
ship, the front of that ship, facing those waves that were
crashing. They were crashing when he arose. And he walked out on the bow
of that ship and gave commandment to that raging billow and the
wind, heaven itself, be still. And that ocean laid down at his
feet like a barn barn. There wasn't even a ripple. It
says there was a great calm. As great as the tempest was.
It says a great tempest arose. Then it says at his command,
at his word, at the voice of him that's upon the waters, it
says there was a great In other words, as great as the
tempest was greater. We're never going to get through
it. Isn't this wonderful? Isn't this peaceful? I could just float here all day. I don't want to go back, man. Is anybody getting a hold of
this? As great as the tempest was, the calm was greater. They've never been through so
great a tempest. And yet the Lord commanded everything. He's the one that brought it.
He's the one that stopped it. And they had never been through
so great a calm. They've never seen a siege like
that. They've never seen the wind. And don't you know, to a man,
every one of them thought, Why were we worried? What were
we worried about? We didn't have any faith, did
we? And they marveled at him. You ever marveled at anything?
You ever seen people marveling at things? The Scripture says there's going
to be silence in heaven for the space of thirty minutes. That
is, after it's all over, after it's all said and done, after
God wraps up this earth like a vesture and casts it away,
this scripture says, the earth shall melt away with a great
noise, a great and fervent heat. It's all going to be the most
cataclysmic thing ever. Well, we've never seen anything
like it. We haven't either. But in heaven,
there's going to be silence for thirty minutes. What were we worried about? You
getting this, Barbara? We ain't going to make it. Are you in Christ? Is Christ
in you, the hope of glory? Christ in you is the hope of
glory, isn't it? Oh, but this is, I'm not going
to make it through that. I remember telling that to a
believer who's gone now. He's gone. He's going through
a great trial, and he said, I don't think I can take any more. And after it was all over, I
told him, you did. You did. He promised, God promised,
you're not put on you more than you're able to bear. But we're
with the trial make a way to escape what's it like. Christ
said out of the way. He's in the ship for our comfort. What manner of man. What manner
of man is this they say. Who commandeth the winds and
the waves and they obey his will. What manner of man is this? It's
more than a man. Listen to this. God moves in
a mysterious way. His wonders to perform, He plants
His footstep in a scene and rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable
minds of never-failing skill, He treasures up His bright design
and works His sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take! The clouds ye so much dread!
are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind the frowning providence
he hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err
and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter, and
he'll make it plain. And so, he maketh the storm a
calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then they are glad
when they be quiet. And so, he bringeth them unto
their desired behavior. Psalm 107. Which one? Who? Who did he bring? Who got there?
All of them. All of them. The most fearful and the strongest. The weakest, the strongest. The
youngest, the oldest. Whoever was with Christ. Made it to their desired. Last
storm may go through. Oh, no. It happened again, didn't
it? Happened again. OK, let's sing
a closing hymn. Number 441 and let's stand together. Change the words. To Christ lifted
me. He's the master of the sea, billows
his will obey. Be your Savior, wills to be saved
today. First and last verse, number
441. I was sinking deep in sin, far
from the people's shore. Very deeply staying within, sinking
to rise no more. But the master of the sea heard
my despairing cry. From the waters lifted me, now
safe am I. Christ lifted me. Christ lifted me. When nothing else could help. Christ lifted me. Christ lifted me. Christ lifted me. When nothing else could help. Christ lifted me. Last verse. Souls in danger look
above, Jesus completely saves. He will lift you by His love
out of the angry waves. He's the master of the sea, billows
His will obey. Be your Savior, who's to be,
be safe today. Christ lifted me. Christ lifted me. When no one else could help,
Christ lifted me. Christ lifted me. Christ lifted me. When no one else could help,
Christ lifted me. so so So,