We begin with verse 23. And when he, this is talking
about the Lord, Jesus was entered into a ship, his disciples followed
him and behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea in so much
that the ship was covered with the waves, but he was asleep.
And his disciples came to him and awoke him, saying, Lord,
save us, we perish. And he saith unto them, why are
ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose and rebuked the
winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. But the men
marveled, saying, what manner of man is this, that even the
winds and the sea obey him. What manner of man is this? In verse 25, they called him
Lord. Mark's account, they called him
Master. But now here in verse 27, they
called him a man. What manner of man is this? Some
people have a problem calling the Son of God a man. And other people have a problem
with the implication that Jesus Christ
was anything more than a man. That He is indeed God as well
as man. But I assure you, Jesus Christ
was both and is both God and man. There is right now a man
in a body of flesh like unto our flesh, though without sin,
that is seated upon the throne in heaven. He can sit there because
he's God, but because he's also man, He
is there as one touched with the feelings of our infirmities, feeling what we feel. And the
scripture said, he ever liveth, he's alive evermore to make intercession
for us. He's both God and man. So I'm titling this message this
morning, the pursuit of the God man, the pursuit of the God man. Now, according to this passage,
we read. When he walked this earth, he was so much man that
he could grow weary and tired in body and lay down in a ship
and go to sleep, as he did in this passage. He was so much
man that he could do that. At the same time, he was so much
God that he could get up and rebuke the wind and the sea and
say peace be still and the storm would cease and the sea become
in a moment's time as smooth as glass. Now we note with me please also
in verse 27 that although this is worded as a question what
manner of man is this note there's no question mark So it's not really a question
as much as it is a marvel. And it says here they marveled.
It's a mystery in the disciples' minds. It's not really a question
with a question mark because there's nobody to ask. Who among
men could explain this? So it's a statement of puzzlement.
Who is this man? He's the God-man. He's so much
man, he could get hungry, as all men do. But he's so much God, he could
take five loaves and two small fishes and feed a multitude of
people. He's so much man he could lay
down his life and die on a cross. But he's
so much God he could take it up again. He was so much man
he could be tempted in all points like as we are. But he was so much God he could
undo it without sin. Now some argue that for Christ
to be tempted in all points like as we are and that's what the
book of Hebrews says. Some argue for that to be so
it must have been possible for him to sin. I don't believe that. He was so much man he could be
tempted but he was so much God he couldn't yield to any temptation. In other words he endured temptation
without the capability of relief from it by giving in to sin. He could be and was tempted.
He could not and did not sin. He's the God-man, not an Adam-man,
but the God-man. He had no sin nature as you and
I do. Many have preached from this
passage on the power of Christ to perform this great miracle,
calm in the sea, but I'm interested this morning in why he did it. Why the storm came as it did,
when it did, with Christ and his disciples out in the middle
of the sea and him asleep right in the middle of it. Why did
it happen like this? Well, that he would get up and
deal with the situation is obvious. It's obvious. He did. But why did it even occur? Well,
in my mind and heart, it has to do with not just demonstrating
his power over the storm, the wind and the sea, but to
reveal through it all his commitment his patience, his faithfulness
in the pursuit of his own, moving them, maturing them toward
being conformed to his very image. His being asleep did not mean his unconsciousness of the
storm. He was very conscious of it. He did not need the disciples
to wake him up to know what was going on. But they needed to wake him up.
It was about their need, not his. He did not need them to cry for
help. He was going to handle it. But they needed to cry for help. All the need was on the disciples
part. So I want to consider just this
about Christ, the God-man, the pursuit of his people, the pursuit
of the God-man. Now, you know, and we preach
this constantly, no one comes to the Lord apart from divine
initiative. John 6, 44, Christ said, no man
can come to me except the Father which hath
sent me draw him. Now, I've had a lot of people
argue with that and say, well, you know, I believe anybody can
come to the Lord if they want to. Yeah, but they can't want
to. The want to has to come from him. No man can come. No man will come. Except the
Father, which has sent me, draw him. And I love that word, draw.
No one is driven to Christ. They're driven to church. They're
driven to morality, but no one is driven to Christ. That's what
religious pressure does, tries to drive people to Christ. But
all who truly come to Christ are not driven, but drawn. Drawn. And this really is a lifelong
process. This is what God's been doing
from the beginning. And he'll be doing till the end
of human history, drawing his people to him. Peter worded it
over in the first epistle, Peter, he worded it like this, to whom
coming, coming to Christ, to whom coming. There is the initial
crying out to the Lord in repentance. and faith and having the burden
of our sin lifted, oh yes. But our coming to Christ is continual. To whom coming, continually drawn,
not by anything in us, but it's the divine pursuit of the God-man. He's on the trail of his children
all the time. how blessed that is. So this
passage is to bring the disciples to trust Christ fully in spite
of the storm. Many of us have been through
many storms and we still haven't got there to be able to trust
Christ fully. But now that's what this is about.
And it's a mighty miracle he performed here. Note the word
great, if you would. In verse 24, it's a great tempest. But in verse 26, it's a great
calm. It was great to both extremes. It was an awful storm, but it
was an awesome, calm miracle. Now the account of Matthew that
we've read here is a little bit different from Mark's account
in Mark chapter 4 and then Luke's account of this same story. In both Mark and Luke, as soon
as they cried out to him, he arose and calmed the sea. But
note in the reading here in Matthew, they cried to him in verse 25. And before he arose and calmed
the storm in the latter part of verse 26, he does something else. He asked
the disciples a question at the beginning of verse 26. Why are you so fearful, O ye
of little faith? He took the time out to say to
them, This is not about me. This is not about the storm.
This is about you. What are you boys afraid of?
Why are ye so fearful? Oh ye of little faith. Christ does not need to calm
the storm to be in control. He's in control while the sea
is raging, while the storm is raging. The disciples don't need to see
the calmness of the sea nearly as much as they need to see the
calmness of Christ. And we don't so much need to
see that our troubled seas calmed as we need to see the calmness
of a sovereign God and His Son who rules over all. And He's
not missing anything in your life or mine. He's not missing
anything you face. He's not missing any mess your
family's in. He's not missing anything that
anybody's going to do to you. He's in on it all. He's in control. Before He gets up, and calms
the sea. I think about the huge forest
fires in this country, especially out west. And we'll hear announced
on the news every day and almost every hour. And I'm sure in the
areas where they're going on, the people are listening constantly
for the update and the status. And you might hear the report
for days that the firefighters are working But the fire is not
yet under control. And then one day, though the
fire is not completely extinguished everywhere, though there's still
some work to be done, after a whole lot of fighting
has taken place, the announcement comes, the fire
is now under control. Well, now that's not how it is
here. The picture is this. Christ has
control of the storm before he ever gets up to rebuke
the wind and calm the sea. Before they awake him to rebuke
the storm, he was riding the storm. riding the storm. And there's
a great lesson in that. That's how you swim. That's how
you float. I thought I'd never learned to
swim or float when I was a boy. It was so frustrated me. I thought
here I am going to grow up and not even know how to swim or
to float. I just could not do it. I was
trying too hard. And I watched my dad, he lay
in the water, flat of his back, with no struggle, no nothing. Lay there and smoke, smoke a
cigarette, floating in the water. I thought, my soul, I tried,
I tried a hundred times harder than he's trying, but I can't
float. And I can't swim. What's he doing?
He was, he was riding it. I finally learned how to ride
a bicycle. I had the same problem with that. You don't ride it,
it rides you. It carries you, you don't carry
it. The great hymn writer, William
Cowper, or Cooper, as some pronounce it, who wrote the blessed hymn,
There is a Fountain. He wrote this, God moves in a
mysterious way his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps
in the sea and rides upon the storm. You faithful saints, fresh
courage take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. The storms are ordained not without
purpose. A great writer, R.C. Trench,
he wrote these words about this passage of scripture we're looking
at. He said, we see here no doubt the chief ethical purpose to
which in the providence of God who ordered all things for the
glory of his son, this miracle was intended to serve. It was
to lead his disciples into thoughts ever higher of that Lord whom
they serve. more and more to teach them that
in nearness to him was safety and deliverance from every danger. The sea throughout scripture
is the symbol of restless and sinful humanity, a troubled world,
and the disciples need to understand that they're on board with one
not like them. And you and I need to realize
that this morning. God has not left us to make it through this
life alone. We're on board with one that's
not like us. Thank God. And they needed to understand
they're on board with the one who sent the flood back in Noah's
day. And he sent the storm in Jonah's
time. And he sent this storm in their
time. And you and I need to understand
that he sends the storm in this time. Not without purpose. After all,
this woman on board that was laying in the back of the boat
asleep, he's the one that made Noah's
ark float. Same one. He's the one that made the great
fish to swallow up Jonah when they threw him out. You see, these disciples had
missed the statement that Christ made before they left the land. Both Mark and Luke say this.
Here's what he said to them. Let us pass over to the other
side. He never said, let's see how
far we can get. That's us. I just don't know
how much further I'm going to make it. You didn't make it this
far. There's one carrying you. Storm or no storm, the destination
is the other side. And Christ is not struggling
to get there. Oh, no. He's riding the storm. Those disciples are under the
gun. Boy, the storm's riding them, not our Lord. He's riding
the storm. Oh, yes. It's all His purpose
to win their trust, their dependence. They're looking to Him. Now when
the Lord performed this miracle, look at what the disciples said
in verse 27. This is a statement we're talking about. What manner
of man is this? Wow. And I did a little study on that
word manner. If you'll bear with me a few
minutes and look at the scriptures. The Greek word, it occurs five
other places in the New Testament. And I want to read these five
scriptures to get the emphasis or the impact of this word, manner. Mark 13, 1, and as he went out
of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what
manner of stones and what buildings are here. That was the disciples
admiring the beautiful temple there in Jerusalem that Herod
had remodeled and so made it so wonderful, glorious. See what manner of stones and
buildings. So the emphasis of the word manner
there is the magnificence and the beauty of this temple. Luke 129, this is spoken by the
angel to Mary. And when she saw him, she was
troubled, it is saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation
this should be. The emphasis is the unusual about
it, the remarkableness of it. Luke 7, 39. This is where the
Pharisees are condemning Christ for treating this sinner woman
as he did. And they said, this man, Christ, if he were a prophet,
would have known who and what manner of woman this is. that
toucheth him, what manner of woman, for she is a sinner and
the emphasis is on her character and on her forbiddenness to be
there as part of this religious party and dinner. 2 Peter 3.11, Peter's exhortation
to us What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy convocation,
conversation, and godliness? The emphasis is on discipline
in our lives and upon a conduct more honorable than the world's
conduct. And then the fifth scripture,
1 John 3, 1. Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us. that we should be called the
sons of God. And the emphasis there is on the quality of His
love. The transcendence of His love
going so far beyond anything humanly imaginable. Now I want
to take those 10 descriptive words I just gave you. Magnificence,
Beauty, Unusual, Remarkable, Character, Forbiddenness, Discipline,
Honorable, quality, transcendence. We can apply all that to the
marveling minds of the disciples right here on this boat. What
manner of man is this? Magnificent in power and authority. What beauty of compassion for
us and control of the situation. What unusual conduct. No other
man ever did anything like this. What remarkable conduct. No man
could do it. What character above ours. What a forbidden thing. No man's No man I ever knew, or you ever
knew, walking around bodily and seen physically in this life
would take it on himself to stand up and say, peace, be still.
You stop, you storm. No. But here's one that did it. It's forbidden, but not forbidden
to the God-man. What discipline. He's in absolute
control of himself and of every situation. What superiority unlike
any other. What quality of conduct. He did exactly what needed to
be done. What a transcending work. So far beyond the imagination,
the ability of any other. And yet here's one who they call
a man. He looks like us. He talks like
us. He eats like us. He sleeps like
us. Who could speak a word and do
this? What man could do only what God
could do? The God-man. That's who. The
God-man. What manner of man is this? He's
not just demonstrating his power because he can. It wouldn't have
bothered him for the storm to rage on. He's riding it, remember?
Wouldn't bother him at all. But it's all part of his pursuit. He's after the hearts. He's after
the trust of his disciples. He knows how to send the storm,
what kind of storm and when. He knows what it takes to conquer
stubborn will foolish mind, unbelieving heart. He's that big. He knows how to bring his elect
children to bow at his feet in full trust, belief of who he
is. Oh yes, that's our Lord we're
talking about. Many are the examples in scripture
we can talk about See how it's worded here. It's so like a coincidence. I think about Moses in the Stephen
preaching in the book of Acts chapter seven. About Moses. And he talks about Moses back
there. And here, here's what he said. Moses was brought up as the adopted
son of Pharaoh's daughter. She nourished him as her own
son. He was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was
mighty in words and deeds. And when he was full, 40 years
old, don't miss this now, he'd grown up as an Egyptian and in royalty, though really he
was an Israelite peasant. And he was learned in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians, mighty in words and deeds. He'd made
a name for himself as an Egyptian prince. He's destined for the
throne. But then the Bible says, verse 23 of Acts 7, when he was
full 40 years old, here's the statement, it came into his heart. You want to read the Bible real
carefully, look for these little lines and statements. It came
into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. Didn't
say it came out of his heart, but it came into his heart. Where'd
it come from? It came from the God-man in pursuit
of his child. That's what we're talking about,
his pursuit of us. came into his heart. Nobody had
the key to his heart but the Lord. I hear preachers say now, just
open your heart. Nobody had the key but the Lord. This is worded Like a coincidence,
it just happened. It came into his heart. No, it's
not a coincidence. It's easy to say, well, something
came into my mind. Even that's not a coincidence.
There's a cause. But nothing just comes into the
heart without a strong force touching and tendering and moving
and swaying that heart. What is that force? It's the
pursuit of the God-man. It's the good shepherd running
down one of his sheep. That's what it is. Moses' heart
was moved. And while he was living in the
finery of the palace of Egypt, rather than just turning up his
nose at those slave people loathing the Israelites, he longed to
be with them. Why? Because he was one of them. He couldn't have longed to be
with them if he wasn't one of them. And you cannot long to
be God's child unless you're one of them. This is big stuff, folks. There's a cause. The divine pursuit. Putting something in our heart
that wasn't there before. Aren't you glad of that? Oh,
yes. One other, the book of Acts chapter
16. Paul and his company had crossed
the sea, they'd come through some towns there in Europe, come
into Philippi. Philippi, this city. And you
don't need to read into the scripture now, you just need to read out
of it. Okay? There's no church, Philippi. There's No assembly. But they hear about a group of
women, Paul and his men do, that on the Sabbath day, they're still
living in the Old Testament now, on the Sabbath day, they would
go down by the riverside and have a prayer meeting every Sabbath
day. And when Paul and his fellows
heard about this, they went down there. And Paul preached Christ
unto them. And Acts 16.14 says that there
was one well-to-do woman there by the name of Lydia. She was
a seller of purple. She was a successful businesswoman. And the Bible said that when
they preached to her, it referred to Lydia and said, whose heart
the Lord opened. Whose heart the Lord opened. It will be said for many pulpits
today, now just open your heart. You don't have the keys to your
heart. You can't help loving what you
love and you can't help hating what you hate. We talk about falling in love. That's what we call it. Huh? And that's how it is. That's
how it is. You that are married this morning. You never just
decided on it. You ladies never decided to love
that man. You men never decided to love that woman. You thought
you did. You thought it was something
you did. But no, it was something that took hold of you. It was
a can't happen thing. You see? And such is the pursuit
of the God-man. He opens our hearts to receive.
Him, His gospel. There was nothing in us to choose
Him until He birthed a new creation in us to cry to Him. Regeneration precedes faith.
Your fellows say, now just have faith and believe. No, no. If you have any faith, you already
believe. Faith is a gift of God. Regeneration precedes faith. A baby don't cry to be born.
The baby cries because it's been born. That's the order. No one cries
to become a child of God except they are a child of God and have
been given a heart to cry with. That's the gospel of this Bible. In John 3, why didn't Nicodemus
just go along with the rest of the Pharisees and the rulers? What made him come out at night
and find the Lord Jesus? There was something working inside
him that wasn't in the rest of them. Was it something he put there?
Was it something he decided on? Oh, no. It was the pursuit of
the God-man. That's what it was. What about you this morning? Why are you here? It's obvious
that our thinking, our assembling, our subject, is contrary to the
popular opinion of the day, the popular religion of the day.
Why didn't you stay home this morning? I mean, there's bigger
churches. You could get in on all the food
and the fun and the excitement. Some of them have a pretty good
matchmaking program, you that are looking for a mate. Some of you good ladies could
find you a man. But why are you here? Why are
you here? I hope it's because, I hope it's because this God-man
we're talking about has come to your heart and you want to
hear about him from this book. As we come and wait before him,
Long to hear a word from him, speaking to our hearts, a word
of comfort, a word of love. And if you have such a heart
this morning, that's not something you did for yourself. It's his gift. It's the pursuit
of the God man. And it won't end till you're
through this life and in his presence forever. Our time's
gone. If you go back and read Genesis
6, the whole world was corrupt. There were no churches. There
were no preachers. There was nobody seeking the
Lord. Every thought of the imagination of men's hearts was only evil
continually. And that picture is not as foreign to us as it
once was in this country. We can almost envision such a
society, the imaginations of men's hearts, only evil continually.
But then you read a couple of verses later, Genesis 6, 8, but
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Not because he was looking for
it, but because the God-man pursued
him. The Lord told Jeremiah in Jeremiah
chapter 1, you were mine before you were ever conceived in your
mother's womb. Jeremiah, I've been on your trail
all your life. And then Jeremiah says, sorry
to disappoint you, but you've got the wrong man. And the Lord
said, I'm not disappointed. I don't have the wrong man. I've
been on your trail all your life. And I can say that to you this
morning, to me, and how blessed this is when we realize this,
that our God's bigger than this little wishy-washy stuff that
he may or may not know what's going on. No, he knows what's
going on. He's right in on it. He's sending the storm, calming
the storm, converting his people in the storm. We praise him for it. David got
a hold of this, 139th Psalm. Thine eyes did see my substance,
yet being unperfect. And in thy book all my members
were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there
was none of them. David said, Lord, you knew all
about me before there was anything about me to know. Oh, that the Lord would increase
our faith in these things, to look to Him when all is so dark
around us. I want to tell you, it's not
over until it's over and it'll never be over until we're home
with the Lord. He's doing all right. The God-man
is faithful in his pursuit. He won't quit. No matter how strong any believer
claims to be, or any preacher claims to be, the only reason
we don't quit on him is he won't quit on us. Now that's it, folks. And I bless his wonderful name
for it. Boy, that really rubs some people raw. Oh no, bless
God, I'm determined. I'm going to hang in there. I'm
going to stay with it if everybody else quits. I've had men to stand up in this
assembly years ago and say, Preacher, I'm with you. I'll stand behind
you if everybody else quits. It wasn't three months until
I felt something sliding around. It was an ice pick ready to do
me in. And guess what? I'm not depending on you and
you better not be depending on me. Our trust is in this God-man,
Jesus Christ, faithful in His pursuit, able to get the job
done and will get it done. So just remember this as we go.
You're not anywhere that He don't know about. You're not anywhere that He don't
care about. There's nothing happening to
you that He's doing to you Everything that's happening to you, He's
doing for you. There is a design. There is a
purpose. And there is an end. Just hang
in there and trust Him. Blessed be His holy name. Let's
stand together. I better quit while I can.