Alright, turn, if you will, back
to Mark's Gospel, chapter 4. We just read the verses 35 through
verse 1 of chapter 5. Our text will be primarily verse
35. I think there is more than sufficient
in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ to occupy our time this
morning Indeed, if God will bless it to our hearts, it's enough
to occupy what time we have left while we draw this bleeding breath. The comfort of knowing that we're
in his hands. Passing over. Passing over. That's the title of my message.
And that's what believers yet in this world are doing. I preach
from this passage four or five years ago. And there are some
who were present then that aren't now. They've already passed over. Their battle is over. Their journey has ended. And
if we believe God's Word, and believers do, they are now beholding
the King and His beauty. Man, they wouldn't want to come
back. They passed over, but we who
are yet in this world are passing over right now. Now, now we're
walking through that valley of the shadow of death. We began
this journey by God's grace when he granted us faith in his son. When he, he does it all. If it's done, God does it. And
that precious gift of faith whereby a sinner beholds the Lamb of
God, that's when we began this journey. And now, at this very
moment, is our salvation nearer than it was when we first believed. We're passing over to the other
side. And it's true, we haven't arrived
yet, As Paul said, as long as we're at home in this body, we're
absent from the Lord. But not for much longer, John.
Not for much longer. Not for much longer. We received
a message from Joyce Hardeman, that many of you know, just this
morning to tell us that Ruby Elmore was called home She's
a member and has been for many, many years in the church in Crossville,
Tennessee that Brother Donnie Bell pastors, as is Joyce. But she sent us a text letting
us know that Ruby, who had been sick for a good while, she was
at least 90, perhaps in her early 90s, but now she's in glory. She's in glory. I'm happy for
her. I'm happy for her. I'm sorry
for her family, her son, her daughters, Oh, I'm so happy for
Ruby. Storms teach us, don't they?
They teach us lessons that we just can't learn otherwise. Lessons
you learn in the storm, you don't soon forget. You don't soon forget. There are so many good and profitable
things that God accomplishes in his people and for his people
when he allows them to pass through a storm. When he sends the storm
their way, we learn some valuable lessons, as the disciples did. They learned. They learned what
they should have known, but it was confirmed or reaffirmed in
them, this blessed truth by personal experience. What they went through
wasn't by proxy. Oh no, they weren't standing
on the shore watching Christ go through it. They were in the
ship with him. So this was their personal experience. They would never forget this.
I wonder how often in years after this, perhaps when Peter was
in jail or facing execution, or before James, John's brother,
was beheaded while John was cast on the Isle of Patmos. I wonder
how often their minds went back to this event. He brought us
through that storm. He spoke peace on that troubled
sea that night. I remember I thought, my soul,
what manner of man is this? Now if he did that, if he's brought
me safe thus far, he's not going to let me go now. or what valuable
lessons we learn in the storm. And they learned this, Jesus
Christ is trustworthy. Jesus Christ is trustworthy. As often being said, we don't
always trust him like we should, just as they didn't. But that
doesn't change the fact of his being trustworthy. And that's
a lesson worth learning. That will bring you a great calm
while you're on a troubled sea. When the world is tossing me
like a ship upon the sea, and it does. It absolutely does. Every one of you have had such
experiences as that, and we'll continue to have them until we
reach the other side. And there's no question about
it. We're going to reach the other side. But we learn by personal
experience that when the world tosses us like a ship upon the
sea, that's true. But this is also true. Thou who
rulest wind and water, God in flesh, my elder brother, my great
God and Savior, He stands by me. Now if that's true, If that's
true, and it is, then it is well. It is well. It must be well. How could it not be well with
my soul? Storms teach us what we are,
too. Oh, they remind us and teach
us of our great Savior and His care and His providence, and
He does all things well. But the storms also teach us
what we are, what we're made of. And it ain't much. It's not
much. Weak, weak, without strength. Notice in the reading, the disciples
had faith enough to go to Christ in this storm and wake him up
and say, Master, Master. They had faith enough to do that,
but they don't seem to have faith enough to believe that Christ
would not let them perish. He wouldn't allow that. And now
we know, as the psalmist said, he's exalted on high a prince
and a savior, and he that keepeth Israel never slumbers nor never
sleeps. I wonder, as we slept through
the night, each of us last night, how much went on outside that
we were completely unaware of? How much possible danger was
just at our doorstep? How much crime was committed?
How much evil went on? But we just slept right through.
We weren't aware of it. You know why? You know why the
comfort lies in this? Because Jesus Christ never slumbers. He never sleeps. He's watching
over His own always. Oh, they teach us to trust Him
more and more. Christ would not let them perish.
Oh, these words. These words, this question that
they put before the master after they woke him up. Master, master,
I believe it's Matthew account gives it, they spoke twice. Carest
thou not, carest thou not that we perish? My soul, how dishonoring
such a thought was of the trustworthy Savior. How dishonoring a thought
to entertain, much less to speak it. And how insulting to ask
such a question. And I'll tell you what, I've
done it many a time. Many a time. I'm guilty of the
very same thing. To entertain the very same thoughts
that the disciples did. To have the same doubts without
a reason. the same groundless fears, to
think so little and so dishonor my Redeemer, to think that after
all the mercy passed that He would let me sink at last? Oh,
God forgive me. God forgive me, and He does.
As we're told in Scripture, though we deny Him and we do so by actions
and little faith and so forth, Yet he that is Christ abideth
faithful. I like that. He abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. And to deny one of his own, to
forsake one of his own would be to do that very thing. It
would be to deny himself. And that he cannot do. He will never do. I'm reading
a couple of verses from Psalm 73, the 73rd Psalm. The writer concludes, the way
he behaved during a temptation, the way he envied lost people,
godless people, he envied them. My, my, my. After God brought
him back to his senses, he says in verse 22, so foolish was I. and ignorant, ignorant, I was
as a beast before thee." A beast. I didn't behave no better than
a stupid beast. But look what it says in verse
23. Oh, I love this word. I love this truth. Nevertheless,
nevertheless, I am continually with thee. He
can't deny himself. Nevertheless, thou hast holden
me by my right hand. Nevertheless, not because of
myself, but in spite of myself. Nevertheless, thou shalt guide
me with thy counsel, and afterward, afterward, receive me in glory. Nothing's changed. Nothing's
changed. God Almighty is always with His
mercy and grace. It's always, always multiplied
mercy and multiplied grace. Bobby has sang this song to us
on occasion. He giveth more grace. That's
what Peter said in both his epistles, didn't he? May the multiplied
grace and mercy of God be with you. He giveth more grace. When? the burdens grow greater. He sendeth more strength as the
labors increase. To added afflictions, he addeth
his mercy. To multiplied trials, his multiplied
peace. When we have exhausted our store
of endurance, and that doesn't take long, when our strength
has failed before the day is half done, When we reach the
end of our hoarded resources, our Father's full giving is only
begun. How do you like that? I like the chorus. His love has
no limits. His grace has no measure. His
power no boundary known unto man. For out of his infinite
riches in Jesus, he giveth and he giveth and he giveth again. And this sinner is living proof
of that. This sinner can say amen to that. That's exactly so. The same storm
that revealed their weakness revealed to them the power of
Jesus Christ and his faithfulness. Look at verse 39. And he arose. He arose. Oh, can you picture
that? He arose. robed in flesh, true,
made likened to his brethren, true. Oh, but he arose as the
mighty God that he is. He arose with healing in his
wings. He arose the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace, the mighty God. He arose. He always does. He'll arise. And he rebuked the
wind. and said unto the sea, peace,
be still. The language used here is like
a master speaking to their servant. That's enough. That's enough. Quiet now, quiet. Peace, be still. And the wind ceased and there
was a great calm. The wind ceased and there was
a great calm. Psalm 89 and verse 9. Thou rulest
the raging of the sea. When the waves thereof arise,
thou stillest them. No wonder they said, what kind
of man is this? What manner of man is this? Psalm
93 verse 4. The Lord on high is mightier
than the noise of many waters. Yes, than the mighty waves of
the sea. I ran across this hymn that I
hadn't known of before. It was written by a man named
Samuel Medley. It was written in 1775. I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that my Redeemer lives,
what comfort this sweet sentence gives. He lives, he lives, who
once was dead. He lives, my ever-living head. He lives to silence all my fears.
He lives to wipe away my tears. He lives to calm my troubled
heart. He lives all blessings to impart. He lives, my kind,
wise, heavenly friend. He lives and loves me to the
end. He lives and while he lives, I'll sing. He lives, my prophet,
priest, and king. He lives, all glory to his name. He lives, my Jesus, still the
same. Oh, the sweet joy this sentence
gives. I know that my Redeemer lives. Oh, that is a comfort, is it
not? Let's consider not so much what
happened on the sea, but the blessed truth that they crossed
over to the sea. That's enough, as we said in
the beginning. passed over. Look again at verse 35. The words
of our Lord, let us pass over into the other side. And regardless of what happens
after that, we read in verse 1 of the next chapter, and they
came over into the other side. Oh, it's easy to pitch tent there,
is it not? Let us pass over, Christ said. and they passed over. Verse 35
actually begins this way, and when the same day, and the same
day rather, when the evening was come, when the evening was
come, I read that and I thought the day was drawing to a close. And I remembered certain scriptures
that compare our life to a day. Just today. Psalm 90, for example. Verse 5, Thou carriest them away
as with a flood. They are as asleep. In the morning
they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourishes
and groweth up. In the evening, the same day,
it's cut down and withereth. all in the span of a day. That's
how our life is. Most of us here now, most of
us here this morning, with maybe one or two exceptions, are in
the evening of our day. We are. We have arrived at that
time. Oh, in the morning, in the morning,
oh, we had to do of our youth. Remember? Can you remember back? 16, 17. Man, I didn't think I'd
ever get old. Never thought I'd be young forever. I called my grandson the other
day. It was his birthday. He's 21 years old. And I said, Billy, you can't
appreciate what I'm going to say to you now. You just can't. It's not possible. I don't expect
you to. But I said, God willing, God willing, you're going to
be amazed. If he allows you to live, how
fast you'll be where your grandfather is right now. Now, he can't appreciate
that. But I have the, I tell Robin
sometimes, honey, you've got perfect hindsight. I've just
never seen nobody like that. But now, I stand here and with
hindsight, I can look back and say, my soul,
where has the time gone? Where has it gone? Oh yes, it
just seems like yesterday I had the dew of youth, but now the
evening has come. The evening has come. I mean
the evening of my life, the twilight of life. And as I said, most
each of us are there. Also now from Psalm 90 verse
12, in light of that, we sang it just a moment ago. while I
draw this fleeting breath, when mine eyes shall close in death,
O rock of ages, cleft for me, when I soar the world's unknown
and I behold thee on thy throne, O rock of ages, captain of my
salvation, let me hide myself in thee." In light of that brevity
of life, in light of this vapor of our existence, The psalmist
said, so teach us the number of our days, teach us the number
of our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Notice first the speaker, the
speaker. Child of God, it's he who spoke
as never a man yet spoke. He says unto them, let us pass
over unto the other side. When we read, Jesus said, whatever
he says must follow. It must be realized. Now that's not the case with
anyone else. Oh, but he who speaks is that
one who controls all things. He who speaks is that one who
sets up on the throne of everlasting dominion. It's he who controls
and rules everything, who has his way in the armies of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth. He who speaks, none
can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? So when
he says, let us pass over unto the other side, we shouldn't
be surprised to read, they passed over unto the other side. I saw on the news the other evening,
or on the internet, a news clip that that nut down there in Virginia,
Beach, Virginia, Pat Robertson, he's the one founded that, what
is it, CNN or CBN something, Christian, so to speak, network,
and he rebuked Hurricane Florence. How about that? How about that?
Yeah, Terry, he rebuked him. He said, I rebuke Hurricane Florence. We demand that you not come ashore. Well, we see how that worked
out. It didn't hear him. Didn't hear him. The hurricane
didn't listen to Him. He's not the Creator. Oh, but
Jesus Christ is. Everything was made by Him and
for Him. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. He's that Creator. And the creation's
voice must hear Him. Must hear Him. Oh, when we hear
Him say to each child of God, as we journey through this world
to the heavenly portal of everlasting glory. When he says, let us pass
over into the other side, oh, child of God, be comforted. It's
bound to happen. Yes, storms will arise. But he's
the master of the sea. Billows his will obey. Jesus is the star of the sea.
And though there might be sorrow on the sea, Jesus is there as
well. And that gives us joy in tribulation. May our hearts make Jesus their
anchor, their rudder, their lighthouse, their lifeboat, and their harbor. May he be to us all in all. He's the master. When Christ
speaks, creation hears. Hears the voice of their creator. It was the same voice, the same
will, the same power that created it in the beginning. In the beginning,
God, this is God in flesh, the same glorious person, God, created
the heavens and the earth. And John tells us that was Jesus
Christ. The Word was made flesh and that
Word created all things and without Him was not anything created
or made that was made, which is greater. Now I know we live
in a day of frog kissers and tree huggers Earth worshipers,
don't they have a day now? Earth Day or something? I like
what John Chapman said up there in the conference a few weeks
ago in Danville. He believed in global warming. God's gonna burn it up. Gonna
burn it all up. No, the creation is evidence
of its glorious creator. Which is greater? Their creation? Old men, as Paul tells us in
Romans 1, are so blinded that they worship the creation rather
than the Creator. Instead of being brought to the
place where they look at the creation and say, Oh, what great
Creator did this! Oh, how great Thou art! When
I see the skies, the stars, when I hear the rolling thunder, what
does that evidence, what does that display? The power of the
great Creator behind it. Listen to what the prophet said.
The Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will not at
all acquit the wicked. And as we have evidenced in our
text, in this passage in Mark 4, the Lord had his way in the
whirlwind and the storm and the clouds are the dust of his feet. When he commanded the stormy
sea to stop, it's roaring and the winds to cease, look what
happened. Again, verse 39, peace be still
and the wind ceased and there was a great calm. Just like that. Just like that. My soul, what a Savior. Wouldn't that have been something
to see? Matthew in Matthew 8, his account,
he introduces it this way, behold, behold, There arose a great tempest
in the sea. Behold this wonder, behold this
power, but behold He who is greater. He speaks and there's a great
calm. But child of God, I know of a
greater miracle, don't you? A greater calm that He produced. We read of it in the very next
chapter, chapter 5, the storm. that raged in the heart of this
poor lunatic. Look at verse 2 of chapter 5.
And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him
out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling
among the tombs. And no man could bind him, no,
not with chains, because that he had been often bound with
fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him,
and the fetters broken in pieces, neither could any man tame it.
And always, always, day and night, night and day, I'm sorry, he
was in the mountains and in the tombs crying and cutting himself
with stones. What a hopeless, hopeless case. What a sad, sad spectacle. But he who is mighty to save
speaks. He just speaks. Just like he
did to that stormy sea, he speaks in verse 8 and says, come out
of the man, thou unclean spirit. And look what happened. Look
at the great calm that came over this raving lunatic that Christ
himself produced with just a word of his power, the expression
of his will. Verse 15 of Mark 5, when they
came to Jesus, and saw him that was possessed, if any man be
in Christ, he's a new creature. He was possessed with the devil
and had the legion setting in clothe and in his right mind
and they were afraid. So what a calm, what a difference. I know this man. Do you, John? I know this lunatic. I can identify
with him. He reminds me of something. It's
like looking in a mirror. I see my own reflection in this
man. I was once like him, insane with
my pursuit of sin. And nobody could tame me. I dared
them to do it. My father's threatening didn't
do it. My mother's tears didn't do it.
I just was hell-bent to have my way. Most people that knew me in those
days, and please don't misunderstand me, I don't glory in this at
all, but they expected that I would end my life pretty soon with
an overdose. They'd find me like they found
friends of mine that I used to run with. that died that way. Just a lunatic. But God, suddenly, I can't explain
it. Couldn't explain it now. Can't
really explain it then. Can't explain it much better
now, but suddenly, I felt the billows, the waves of sorrow
roll over my soul. I heard for the first time in
my life the roar of God's law saying, the soul that sinneth,
it must die. I heard the thunder of His justice. And it was like I awoke out of
a deep sleep and I thought, man, I'm lost. I'm lost. The great shepherd had come to
me. Imagine that. I'm lost and I
can't save myself. Just like this poor demoniac,
all I could do was hurt myself. And I couldn't take the first
step. I was lost. I couldn't find Christ. I was
lost. He found me. He came to me. And he saved me. Glory to his
name. And he spoke these sweet words
to my troubled heart. Peace. Peace. Be still. Be still. Thy sins are all forgiven
thee. And there was a calm a peace
I've never had before, that passeth understanding, the calm produced
by having peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us,
let us circle that word, us, Passover. I am with you always,
Christ said, even unto the end of the world. I'll be brief here.
Let me express the thought this way. One when he died, one when
he arose, one when he triumphed over his foes, one when in heaven
he took his seat and heaven sang all hell's defeat. Believers
are one with Jesus Christ. Let us pass over. Child of God, I'm happy to repeat
this. Jesus Christ would have to drown
before those with him would drown. They would have to devil whoever
would have to get to Christ before they get to him or get to us. They would have to defeat him
before they can snatch us out of his hand and glory to his
name. That can never happen. That can
never happen. We are one with our Redeemer.
Oh, blessed comforting thought. His righteousness is my righteousness
too. That's exactly right. His acceptance
before the Holy Lord God that He did all things to please and
to fulfill the law and to bring in an everlasting righteousness
and to put away sin, His acceptance by God Almighty is my acceptance
too. My forerunner is already entered
into heaven, now to appear in the presence of God for us. There's no separating Christ
from his people. You can't separate the head from
the body. You cannot separate the sheep
from their shepherd, or the bride from their bridegroom. We are
with our Savior one. So when he says, let us pass
over, Glory to his name, we'll pass over, all the way over. And his victory is our victory
as well. His victory is our victory. Isaiah chapter 43, you know this
verse very well. Verse 1, but now thus saith the
Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, I have redeemed thee. Redemption means something. Those
Christ redeemed don't go to hell. Those Christ redeemed will never
perish. Those Christ redeemed are going
to be with him in glory. I've redeemed thee. I've called
thee by thy name. Thou art mine. Thou art mine. I am his and he is mine. When
you pass through the waters, I will be with thee. And through
the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee." Child of God, this is no figment of our imagination. We have a real Savior. And He
saves real sinners. And He gives them real grace. And He will keep each and every
one of us storm or no storm. We right now are passing over
to the other side. And if we don't land in glory,
you know who it will reflect on? the captain of our salvation. It will be his fault. We're his
responsibility. And glory to his name, he will
never allow that. He will never be so dishonored. No, they'll all be gathered around
the throne. They'll all sing, worthy is the
Lamb. I ran across this the other day.
Brother Maurice Montgomery wrote it many years ago. He's with
the Lord now. He's passed over. He said lately,
this is when he was sickly, feeble. He said, lately I've noticed
that my memory is not nearly as good as it used to be. I find
it hard to recall sermons that I heard only a short while ago,
and very difficult to remember people's names. And this leads
me to wonder if there may come a time when, through the natural
deterioration of sin, I'll become incapable of loving God. worshiping
God, calling upon God, clinging to God, and confessing Him publicly. Will my hope of salvation in
heaven be forfeited? He said, no, not at all, because
my salvation is of the Lord. He will never forget those whom
He knows, those whom He chose, those for whom Christ died, those
whom He calls and converts to Christ by His Spirit and grace.
He will never leave me, nor forsake me. Again, the prophet Isaiah,
Isaiah 46, hearken unto me, God says, O house of Jacob, and all
the remnant of the house of Israel, which are born by me from the
belly, which are carried from the womb, and even to your old
age. I was with you in the dawning
of your day, I'll be with you in the evening of your day. To
your old age I am he, and even to whore hairs will I carry you.
I have made and I will bear, even I will carry and will deliver
you." He was there at the first and
he'll be there at the last. He brought me into this world
and gave his angels charge over me to keep those who shall be
heirs of salvation, ministering spirits, guardian angels if you
will, until he called me by his grace. He was there when I entered
this world. He brought me forth from my mother's
womb. Billy's going to be there when
I go out. Oh, what a day that will be.
He was there when I came in, and he'll be there in my old
age. He'll be there to take my hand and lead me across Jordan,
where I shall ever be with the Lord. I am the first and I am
the last, he said. I'll be there for you. I was
there in your infancy and I'll be there in your old age. You
change, oh how we change. Change and decay all around we
see. God says you change but I don't.
I'm the same. I'm he that promised to be and
I will carry you, I will bear you, I will bear you up and I
will bear you out and I will carry you on your way and carry
you all the way home. all the way my Savior leads me. Last of all, let us pass over
unto the other side. Unto the other side. Oh, the other side. Let not your
hearts be troubled. If you believe in God, believe
also in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there ye may be also." And Paul tells us,
the trump of God shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall
rise first, and we which are yet living shall be changed and
be caught up together with them in the air, and so shall we ever
be with the Lord. John chapter 16, Christ said,
in the world you'll have tribulation, but be of good cheer. Revelation
chapter 7, and I saw a multitude that no man can number. These
are they which came out of great tribulation. John chapter 17,
our great high priest says, Father, I will also that those whom you
have given me be with me where I am that they may behold my
glory. And the last book says they passed
over. John says, I looked and lo, a
lamb stood on the Mount Zion and with him, with him, with
him. A number representing all of
his elect, having his father's name written in their foreheads,
with him. Let us, let us pass over into
the other side. These are they which were not
defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they which
follow the Lamb, withersoever he goeth. These were redeemed
from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And
in their mouth was found no gout, for they are without fault before
the throne of God." Imagine that. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Christ will bring us over every
stormy sea and every rolling billow. And when the last evening
of our life is over, Christ takes us to be with Him in the Father's
house. And as the bulletin article says,
I'm reading from it, then when He says, let us pass over, Then
when we enter glory, then every heartache is going to be over. Every tear is going to be over. Every pain of whatever sort is
going to be over. All the former things will all
be over. But beholding Jesus Christ, the
one who loved me and gave himself for me, Seeing Him with an unsinning
heart, that's never going to be over.
It's never going to be over. When we enter that city that
has no need of the sun, for the Lamb is the light thereof. I asked you last Sunday to remember
my good buddy, dear, dear friend, one of my best friends, Brother
David Cone. to remember him in prayer. He
now developed a staph infection. They won't put him in the hospital.
He's in such a weakened condition already, they're afraid he'll
catch something else. His wife, Teresa, is treating
him at home. And when I saw him at the conference,
spent a little time with him, as I told you last Sunday, he
could only be there for one service. He looked at me and said, Larry,
it's tough. It's been tough. He's so weak. Oh, such a voice. He had such
a voice. Y'all heard him sing. He sang here. He joked about
that when I was visiting with him. He said, man, Larry, at
that time I was down there, y'all about sung me to death. He said,
I used every song I think I had. He may have sang this. I've heard
him sing it. I don't remember whether he sang
it here or not, but he's wayfaring stranger. I am a poor wayfaring
stranger while traveling through this world below. There is no
sickness, toil, no danger to that bright world to which I
go. I know dark clouds will gather
over me. I know my pathway is rough and
steep. The golden fields lie out before
me where weary eyes no more shall weep. Let us pass over. I'm going there to see my Savior
who shed for me his precious blood. I'm just a-going over
Jordan. I'm just a-going over home. What a blessed, blessed hope. God bless you. Thank you for
your attention.