In Luke chapter 8 from verse
22 we read the following account. Now it came to pass on a certain
day that Jesus went into a ship with his disciples and he said
unto them let us go over unto the other side of the lake and
they launched forth. But as they sailed he fell asleep
and there came down a storm of wind on the lake and they were
filled with water and were in jeopardy. And they came to him
and awoke him saying, master, master, we perish. Then he arose
and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water and they
ceased and there was a calm. And he said unto them, where
is your faith? And they being afraid wondered
saying one to another, What manner of man is this? For he commandeth
even the winds and water, and they obey him. What manner of
man is this? This well-known account is repeated
in Matthew's gospel, Mark's gospel, and Luke's gospel. Slightly different
wording in each. It's not recorded in John's gospel. His gospel portrays Christ in
a different light. Luke's gospel portrays Christ
as the saviour. And we see here the saviour in
the ship with his disciples in the midst of a storm. What's
common to Mark, Matthew and Luke is they speak of Christ repeatedly
as the son of man and also the son of God. Whereas John's gospel
very much speaks of him as the son of God. John brings out the
divinity of Christ. And here we see Christ as a man,
as it were, asleep in the ship. But we know that God Christ as
a divine person. The son of God. God never sleeps. Though we may feel he does. But here we see the Saviour.
In a ship with his disciples. And he sleeps. And a great storm
comes up. A tempest. described in various
ways in each gospel. But it's evidently a great storm.
Such that they were, as Luke says, in jeopardy. A wonderful way of describing
it, in jeopardy. They feared for their lives,
they fought truly, they were going to perish. These disciples
included men who weren't there living in ships, fishermen, experts
upon the waters. It took some storm for these
men to fear for their lives. They were used to storms, they
were used to what needed to be done to travel through storms. And yet these men, the 12 disciples,
feared for their lives. And they feared for their lives,
though they were gathered together with Jesus in the midst. Though the master was on the
ship with them, they still thought they might perish. Where is your faith? Jesus asked them at the end. Now this is of course a picture,
as it were, of life's journey. Of the disciples, the church,
the bride of Christ, in a vessel with Christ in the midst, going
forth on the waters from one side to the other. journeying
through time to eternity and we see the storms that come upon
God's people and we see how easily they fear. Though we see here
the 12 disciples, apostles the foundation of the church, with
Jesus in their midst. Yet when this storm comes, they
were in jeopardy. They feared that they would perish,
they were nothing. With Christ asleep in the ship,
they were as nothing. All their expertise as fishermen,
all their might as men, all their camaraderie together, their collective
strength was as nothing. Master, master, we perish. We know much about storms as
we live our lives. We will see many storms and we will know what it is to
fear. Life brings many ups and downs, many disappointments,
much opposition, persecution, trouble, trial, tragedy. illness, disease, bereavement, chaos. There are days when we
know blessing. There are days when we know tragedy. There are days as believers when
we feel that God is with us, speaking to us, leading us, guiding
us, blessing us. And there are days, weeks, months,
years at times perhaps for some when it feels like God's abandoned
us and left us to ourselves. When
it feels like Jesus is asleep and we're on our own and we don't
hear him speak. and we don't know the comfort
of the Gospel and we don't know which way to go and we're brought
to an end of ourselves and the storms and the winds and the
waves billow and rage against us and we're tossed to and fro
and we've tried all we can and we don't know what's going to
come about and we feel like we will perish Master, Master, we
perish or in jeopardy. Yes, life has its ups and downs,
it has its ups and downs in a natural sense. Financial worries, concerns,
troubles, health, the lack of health, bereavement, enemies,
opposition, wars, famines, all the tragedies that men are exposed
to. And these things are common not
just to believers but to all mankind. Everyone knows the tragedy
of life. Everyone knows storms. But this storm speaks more than
just of that which is common to all men. This is a storm that
came upon a boat in which the disciples journeyed with their
master in the midst. These are storms which come upon
the church. And very often, we feel, as the
people of God, like there are storms through which the church,
through which the children of God pass, that will destroy them. They feel buffeted, left and
right. They can't go this way or that
way. They can't go up, they can't
go down, they can't turn to the left or turn to the right. The
storms, the wind, the waves, rage wherever they are. And they
feel like they are sinking. They feel like they are drowning.
And they feel as though the master is asleep. and has abandoned
them and has left them if you consider the professing church
in our day and the circumstances in the world in our day you may feel that God has withdrawn
and that Christ is asleep in the world we see wars with Islam
and militant Islam seeking to overcome nations and peoples
and we see the wars that have developed and the response and
the loss of life and if you look upon the professing
Christian church how weak it seems how confused, how ineffective,
how divided. if you consider the professing
Christian Church how divided and scattered it is fragmented
into denomination after denomination fragmented into this group and
that group all with a different voice all with a different answer
all with a different remedy and this mass of voices are like
waves and winds that buffet the true child of God. This group
says this is the way. This group over here says, lo,
here is Christ. Another says, lo, here is Christ. One says, go to your left. Another
says, go to your right. And what is true of them all
is that every man does that which is right in his own eyes. There's
no unity. There's no power in their message. Some go this way, some go that
way. And how divided they are, how
fragmented How religious men rage against others. How he says, lo, I see. And yet the blind lead the blind. And the poor child of God, trying
to make his way across the lake as it were, is just buffeted
and blasted and blown from side to side. How can he tell who
has the truth? How can he find his way through?
How can he answer the opposition of all of these? They're like floods, they're
like waves and he sinks underneath them. They're a storm in which
he cannot stand. And today, it feels so often
in the midst of that storm, like Jesus is asleep. Because the answer to the confusion
The answer to the winds, every wind of doctrine, that blows
from left to right, by which so many are blown about, the
answer to every wind of doctrine, the answer to the confusion,
the answer to the storms and the chaos, is the Gospel. The speech of Christ in power. When he speaks, when he commands,
it is done. The disciples came to Jesus. Master, master, we perish. Then he arose and rebuked the
wind and the raging of the water. Elsewhere it says, he cried out,
peace, be still. and they ceased and there was
calm. One word from his lips and the
storms and the waves and the raging of the water is calmed. The answer's in the gospel. And
when the child of God hears that gospel from his lips in power,
There's no doubt. There's no doubt. There's certainty. It's like standing upon the rock.
It is standing upon the rock. It's that by which we will never
perish. If we're in Christ's hands, as
he says in John chapter 10, we will never perish. None shall
pluck us from out of his hands. Yet when he sleeps, and when
we don't hear his voice, whoever we are, however strong we may
appear to be, whatever our experience may have been, whatever knowledge
we may have, and however many we may be collectively, we are
as nothing. We're as nothing. These disciples
in this ship, the 12 disciples, called by Christ, who walked
and lived with the Son of God in their midst, who saw Him heal
countless numbers, they saw His miracles, they heard His speech,
were in this boat with him in the midst and yet with him asleep the storm
came and they were as nothing except he spake they were rudderless
they had no strength they had no unity they knew not what to
do they were afraid and they cried out master master we perish
and we're just the same today no matter how much we may know
of the gospel, no matter what great mighty work of grace God
might have performed in our hearts, no matter how many of his children
he may have gathered under that gospel into a congregation, no
matter what strength they might may have from their unity in
the faith and their mutual fellowship, and the wonderful blessings they
may have received from the Lord. No matter what experience as
a collective company they may have had, if Christ becomes as
asleep in their midst, if they cease to hear His voice, then
as soon as the storm comes up, they are saved. you see their reaction master
master we perish this is not just the reaction of individuals
this is not just the reaction of as it were you or I if you
or I were on this boat and a storm came up and we were there alone
This is not just the reaction of a believer on his own, who
maybe does not know many other believers, who finds the journey
through this world a struggle, who feels isolated, who longs
to be gathered with the saints but there this individual is,
he's on his own. He's heard the Gospel preached,
perhaps on a recording. He's read the Scriptures, he's
read some books, but then the storms come and he's afraid and
he's confused and he's blown about. This is not just the reaction
of individuals. This is not just the reaction
of one of these disciples. This is not just James crying
out, or Peter crying out, or John crying out. But this is
the reaction of the company as a whole. John wasn't alone, Peter
wasn't alone, James wasn't alone. These are the disciples, he called
out 12 and they followed him. And here they are on this boat
with the Lord. And they cry out, we perish.
They weren't alone. They weren't even just alone
together as twelve. They had Christ in the vessel. And they had one another. And
yet they were afraid. But were not some of them stronger
than others? Could not the stronger encourage
the weaker? We know that everyone's different.
We know that everyone's character is different. We know that in
the church we are many members of one body and each has their
role and each has their strengths and each has their gifts and
some are strong in this way and some are strong in that way.
Could not some of these disciples have encouraged the others? Could
not those expert sailors, those expert fishermen, have taken
on board what to do, have taken a lead here, and encouraged the others and
said, we know how to sail a ship. Where was the strength of their
fellowship and unity together? Could not 12 strong men stand? You might think so. They had
the expertise. they had the knowledge they had
the experience they had the knowledge and experience of living and
walking with the Lord not just their natural experience not
just their natural ability to deal with the storms of life
we have troubles and trials come upon us and we each have our
abilities We each know what to do in certain circumstances. And some can take circumstances
better than others. Some can stand in a day of adversity
better than others, naturally speaking. Some are more resilient. Some may be able to encourage
the weaker. Some may have expertise to deal
with this trouble that comes and help their brethren. And
then their brethren may help them in return when some other
trial or trouble comes that they can help with. There is a natural
ability. Yet here, as a whole, they feared. And it wasn't just the natural.
This was a people who knew the Son of God. These were disciples
who had seen and heard His speech and His miracles. Could they
not draw their spiritual pathway? Could they not draw on the blessings
they had seen? Could they not draw on the wisdom
that Christ had conveyed to them? Where was their faith? In this hour of need, in this
dawn, as Christ rebuked them later, where is your faith? Here you are, you're in a storm. You know that Christ is in the
vessel. Then why do you think you will
perish? Where is your faith? And yet
how little faith we have when we don't hear his voice. They
all feared as a company. you might have thought that they
would have strength in fellowship one with another but when this
storm came it was nothing if Christ did not speak nothing you believer today you
may gather with some of the saints you may be privileged to gather
in a meeting with what we might call many or in a meeting with
tens, or even with a dozen, or you might be on your own. But
given the knowledge of others here and there with whom you
can correspond or speak from time to time. But whatever your
circumstance today, I'm sure you might look back upon the
early church in the time of the apostles. In those days when
Paul went about preaching the gospel and writing his epistles,
in those days when the church was gathered in Jerusalem and
Ephesus and Corinth and Rome, and you might look back and say,
oh what it would have been like to have been there at that time. Oh to have been with a company
who knew the Lord, some of whom saw him personally. or with a
company who heard the apostles preach in power. Oh to have been
gathered with such a people, what strength, what encouragement,
what blessing there would be. I know today we have the gospel,
but it's such a shadow you may feel of those days. Oh to have
been there, oh to have been with the disciples, oh to have been
with the Lord when he was on the earth. You might look upon
this company of twelve disciples and as it were consider them
the perfect church. We are after all told that the
church is built upon the foundation of the twelve apostles and of
Christ the chief cornerstone. Well here's that foundation in
this ship, in this boat, on the lake. in a storm and the disciples
feared for their lives where's the faith of this perfect
church at such a time i tell you their strength their strength
was asleep in the midst. And because they could not hear
his voice, they were as it were like those who had no faith. Where is your faith? I am here
all along, Christ says. I'm here all along. Whilst he
slept, whilst he didn't speak, they were as nothing. And we're
like that today. when we hear His speech in the
Gospel. And not just in the letter of
the Gospel, not just in the audible words of a preacher, but when
we hear Christ's voice Himself, when we hear the voice of the
Son of God in power, then the blessing comes, then the strength
comes, then the faith is built up and encouraged, then grace
flows forth from heaven on high. Then we are strong. But when
he's silent, no matter what experience we have, no matter how old we
are, no matter how many years we have been in the faith, no
matter what mighty deeds we may have seen, no matter who or what
we are, we are as nothing. Because all, all, all is in Christ. All the power is in Christ. All the fullness of the Godhead
dwells bodily in Christ. The power of God is in Christ
and in his gospel, in his speech. And everything else that we may
experience which we think is powerful and of a blessing and
wonderful is a consequence of that. It's wonderful to gather
with the saints. It's wonderful to worship. It's
wonderful to fellowship. But the only power and encouragement
we find in these things are a consequence of the speech of Christ by His
Spirit in the midst. If He's asleep, we become as
nothing. You see, the Saviour was there
all along. he was there all along and you might think in any kind
of rational sense it's easy to stand outside of the circumstance
and to look back on it and you might think in a sort of rational
way well here's the disciples they've got the master saviour
in the boat they really have nothing to fear but in the circumstance whilst
he slept, they thought they'd perish. And if I put you or I,
if you or I were put there in that ship, in that circumstance,
if we're put in a circumstance like it, if we're brought to
pass through a storm in this life, and we don't hear the voice
of Christ bringing comfort in his gospel, we think we'll perish. We're afraid, we're as nothing,
we're as fools. Everything we do to try to make
it right makes it worse. Every attempt to bring our wisdom
or our strength to bear on our circumstance makes the circumstances
worse. We look at the chaos of the churches,
we see the faults and failings of everyone on this side and
that side and we seek to remedy it and we make it worse. If Christ
does not speak, he must calm the storm. You can shout as loud
as you like at the storm. You can shout as loud as you
like at the storms, the winds of false religion all around
you. But if it's your voice, it will
do nothing. But when Christ speaks, by his
gospel, through the Spirit, through those whom he sends to preach,
when he speaks, The storm is calmed. There is power. Yes, the Saviour was here all
along but they acted like he wasn't. And the Saviour is with
his people all along. How fearful we are on our journey
through life as we go, as it were, across this lake of time. How fearful, how weak, how faithless. Even though we've been promised
as believers that Christ has said he will make his abode with
us, he dwells with his people, he is in his people by his spirit. Even as individuals if we've
been born again We are temples of the Holy Ghost. God dwells
within. Anywhere you go, any circumstance,
any tragedy, any trial, when you're in the worst of circumstances,
when the worst news comes unto you, believer, Christ is in you. You may feel you cannot hear
him. You may feel like you face that alone. You may feel like
you have this tragedy, this trial to cope with alone as it were. But he's in the vessel. He's
made his abode with you. He's not at a distance. He's
not in heaven's glory far, far away. that you must go up as
it were into heaven to bring him down or go down into the
depths as it were to bring him up. But he's there as it says
in Romans 10. He's there in your mouth. He's
there in you. He's there to be called upon. He's nigh. Just call, Lord, help
me. Lord, help me. Lord help me. He dwells with his people. He's in the midst, he's in the
vessel. Yet we need to hear him. When
he's silent, we're fearful. When we don't hear his speech,
we resort to our own strength and our own wisdom. And so much
that is done and said in the churches, so much that is done
and said amongst the true Church of God, so much that is done
and said by true believers is of their own strength and their
own wisdom and is not the speech of Christ. conveyed by the gospel
unto their souls by which they live. We need his speech. Everything outside of him is
nothing and powerless. Sometimes, often it feels like
he's asleep. It often feels like he's abandoned
us. It feels like he's abandoned
the church. It's to let everyone do what
they think is right. To let them all squabble. To
let them all fight. To let them all argue. So this
group does that and that group does that and the other does
that and they have that error and they have the opposite error
and they have this other error and there's no unity and there's
no guidance and there's no leadership. And so used are they to finding
faults and failings from those preachers and those preachers.
So used are the children of God to having to come out from this
group and that group and the other group and to judge rightly.
That they've begun to judge everything and they no longer to listen
to anyone. and they become their own guides
so that truly as it was in the time of judges every man does
that which is right in his own eyes and as soon as the storm
comes they all cry out master, master we perish is it any wonder? is it any wonder? there's no
answer in self there's no answer in man We need his gospel. And where that gospel's preached
in power, truly, a people will be gathered and united and will
speak as one. And when that gospel ceases to
be preached, they will dwindle and scatter. We need that speech. Sometimes it feels like he's
abandoned us, but he hasn't. He's there all along, he's in
the vessel, he's in the ship. He was there all along, he just
slept. And he does this on purpose because
he will bring his people to call upon him. Anything we do in religion
which is in our own strength brings trouble. So he leaves
us to ourselves. He leaves us to our own strength.
He leaves us to fight and to argue and to bring everything
to nothing. Until we come to our senses and
the storms come and we realise that without him we're going
to perish. And then we cry. And then we
call out, Lord, help me. And then He speaks and calms
the storm. He will bring us to call because
he will have his people know that he is all in all. That all
the power is in Christ and his gospel. That he is all sufficient. And that we are nothing without
him. Nothing. All the power is in
Christ and his gospel. Is there a power in the church?
Yes, when the church is gathered by the gospel, there is power. But the power
is in the gospel. Is there power in fellowship?
Yes, there's wonderful blessing and encouragement that comes
when the people of God are gathered together. and admonish one another,
and encourage one another, and exhort one another, and speak
of the things of Jesus Christ one with another. But the power,
the blessing which they share is the gospel, is Christ and
his speech. Everything else is just a social
club. And when his gospel ceases to
be spoken, they become as nothing. and their faith becomes as nothing
where is your faith? where is your faith? while he
slept while he slept when they could not hear his speech they
became as nothing now this sleeping in the midst of his people is
a picture of something far greater This sleep is a picture of that
sleep which Christ would enter into when he was nailed to a
cross. This sleep is a picture of that
sleep of death that Christ entered into when all men abandoned him
and when he was given up to be crucified and when he was handed
over to the authorities and nailed to the cross. and his disciples
on that day, though they loved him, in the end, they abandoned
him. One way or another, they were
all scattered. Even Peter, who wanted to be
with Christ, and who said that he was willing to die with Christ,
in the end, one way or another, he denied him. And Christ was
led alone and nailed to that cross and entered into the darkness
of death alone for a people who abandoned him and rejected him
and deserted him but for a people whom he loved. And Christ as
it were on the cross went into a vessel and he took a company
with him and he said to that people come let us go let us
go across let us go to the other side of the lake let us go through
the lake of death let us go as it were through the lake of fire
let us launch across through the lake of fire to the other
side of death and enter into eternal life and he took a people
whom he had called and he took them upon a vessel on a ship
and they went forth and the storms came upon that ship as he slept and they saw the storms and they
were afraid and they thought they would perish and they deserved to perish If
you or I were on that ship with Christ because he was slain for
you or I and slain for your sins or my sins, then we deserve to
perish. We deserve those storms to swallow
us up and destroy us. But they destroyed, they poured
out on the one who slept in the midst. they would never perish
because he was the one that died that they should live and when
he was crucified the disciples were full of grief they thought
all had come to an end yet it was that crucifixion which delivered
them which brought them life And they'd had this picture of
that death and that salvation given to them in this storm. They needed the spirit of God
to open their eyes and to remind them that the manner of man that
was nailed to that tree, who was asleep in the midst, is the
one who commands. and even the winds and the water
obey Him. When Christ went into the depths
of death upon the cross, He took His people through a storm and
took them safely the other side, where no storm will ever touch
them, where their sins were washed away, where the judgment of God
had fallen down not upon them but upon Him. and they will never
perish because of the manner of man in the midst who slept
for a time that they with him should live forever. Were you
there on that ship with him at that time? Is he in your vessel
today at this time? Do you face storms? Do you hear
the winds blowing? Do you know the confusion? Do
you feel the disappointment in the church around you? Do you
feel disappointment in the people of God? Do you see world events
and wonder what's coming? Do you see the rise of wars and
famines and tragedy and wonder where God is? Where is your faith? Jesus is in the midst. He may
seem to be asleep, but he's working out his purposes. When he was
asleep on the cross, he was bringing about his greatest victory. Don't worry when Christ is asleep.
Rest, wait, call upon him, master, master, and he will arise. He will arise, and he will rebuke
the wind, and the raging of the water and they will cease and
there will be calm. What manner of man is this? For he commandeth even the winds
and water and they obey him. Are you in jeopardy? Are you fearing the tempest?
Look by faith to a savior who commands and it is done. who speaks by his gospel and
dead sinners come to life, who says Lazarus come forth and the
dead man comes forth, who touches the blind eyes and the blind
man sees, who touches the ears of the deaf and the deaf are
brought to hear, who says live and the dead live. who rebukes the winds and the
waves, and there is calm. Look by faith unto Him, the Saviour,
the Saviour of sinners. What manner of man is this? For
He commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey Him. Amen.