Let's take our Bibles now and
turn to Matthew chapter 8. Matthew chapter 8. Last week we looked at the Lord's
command to His disciples to follow Him to the other side. Talking
about the other side of the sea. which we used as a picture and
a figure of the believer, of the disciple of Christ who follows
him. And what that following was all
about. They follow him no matter what
the circumstances of life appear to be. Things are not always
as they appear. And especially in the believer's
life. Things appear hopeless. but they're not to the believer.
They appear often to be the end for him, but they're not to the
believer. And so they follow him no matter
what the circumstances of life appear to be, and they follow
him in spite of earthly ties and relationships. And they follow
him supremely. He is their Lord. We don't just
follow a man, even a famous man or a beloved man. Isaiah was
a beloved man. I love his writings. And there
was a time when old Isaiah followed the king. He loved him. He wrote everything that king
did in a book. He thought he was the most godly
man who ever lived. But when king Uzziah died, he
saw the Lord. And so we follow Him supremely.
He's not just a man, even a beloved man, but He is the God-man, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And we follow Him supremely as
the Lord because all that He does is righteous and good. He cannot do evil. Everything
He does is good. It's good and righteous. trusts Christ. It finds confidence
in His love. It finds confidence in His power,
and it finds confidence in His wisdom and direction. Now, having
said these things and given us these examples that we looked
at last week, today we're going to look at the experience of
all those who follow the Lord. There's three accounts of the
events that we'll be looking at this morning here in Matthew
chapter 8. First of all, right here in Matthew 8 verses 23 through
27 tells us the story of the disciples and the Lord at His
command getting into this little ship and setting sail for the
other side as He commanded them to do. The second account of
this, if you're taking notes this morning, is in Mark chapter
4, verses 35 through 41. You can read there and he'll
fill in a few gaps for you over there, I'm sure of which you're
not going to be made aware of over here in the book of Matthew.
And then the third account is over in the book of Luke, chapter
8, verses 22 through 25. You can read these accounts at
your leisure this afternoon. But for now, let me just sum
up the events as they're recorded in the scriptures. When his day's
work was done, Christ had put in a full day of preaching and
exhorting, talking to the people, commanding the people, teaching
the people. And when his day's work was done,
he said to his disciples, let us pass over to the other side. And as he entered into the ship,
his disciples followed him. That's what disciples do. They
follow the Lord. Now Luke tells us that there
was also with them other little ships. The Lord and His disciples
got into this larger vessel, and as they began to launch out
into the deep. Several other people got into
smaller ships to follow and rode along beside. And now it's dark. It's evening. Evening had come. The end of the Sabbath. And they
launched out into the deep. And the Lord went back to the
rear of the ship and rested from the days later. Laid his head
on a pillow. Now sometime during the night,
a storm arose on the sea. If you read these three accounts,
you'll find out that one calls it a tempest of wind, and he
says that the waves began to beat about the ship, and the
water filled the vessel, filled it up. And it appeared like everyone
was going to drown. Luke uses this phrase. He said,
they were in jeopardy, in jeopardy. Now, I'm going to tell you something.
Storms are frightening, even on land and even in the safety
of your own home. I remember the first time down
in Ball, Louisiana that I was ever in a hurricane. And it was
just a little bitty thing, it was just a one. And that thing
was coming in and they were talking about it and I told my wife,
I said, well there's nothing to worry about, we're 200 miles
inland, they ain't gonna bother us up here. Until it come in
and it come in just far enough and it stalled out. And so those
winds, the Iowa winds, those fierce winds was coming around
and hitting us and then The commentator said that its feet was in the
water. It'd go back out into that water and pick up some more
moisture and come in and it was just literally drowning us. I
mean, we just getting the wind, but the wind was constant and
it When it hit that house, that was a brand new house, a brick
house. I built it myself. I know how well it was built.
And that house shook and you could feel the vibration in the
concrete floor from that wind. And it pounded that house and
pounded that house. Storms are frightening even on
land and even in the safety of your own home. But now you take
an old time sailing vessel that's only, it's not as long as this
church is. and got eight or ten men on there,
or twelve, and it's out in the middle of the sea, and a tempest
comes up, and the waves begin to fill it up, it's a frightening
thing. It's a frightening thing. And
sometime during the night, a tempest arose, and they were all in jeopardy. That wind, and lightning, and
thunder, you know you're sailing out there one minute in the breeze,
And you're looking up and you see the stars, and you can see
the water passing by from the lamplight there on the ship,
and the wind's in your hair, and boy, it's just, it's a pleasant
ride. And the next thing you know,
the lightning begins to crack, and the thunder comes, and the
stars fade out of sight, and then the ship begins to be in
jeopardy. No trees out there to break the
wind, nowhere to hide. No cellar to crawl into. Completely
at the mercy of God. Of course, we know, I hope we
do, that we're always at the mercy of God. Even in our houses. Even in our cellars. Even in the most safe place we
can crawl, we're at His mercy. But he chose the sea to take
away all the vain hiding places and shelters that we all think
will protect us from the wrath of God. That's why he preserved
and sent this stone. I wonder sometimes, do we really
believe we can control our destiny? Do we really believe that or
are we following the Lord? You can't do both. You only do
one or the other. Do we really believe we can prolong
our days and stretch out our lives beyond the purpose of God? When He tells us, a sparrow can't
fall to the ground without your Father. Do we still believe that? The Lord took His disciples out
to sea to teach them that He is the Lord. no matter where
you are and no matter what comes your way. In Psalm 107 verse
23, it says, They that go down to the sea in ships, that do
business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord and
His wonders in the deep. That was the reason why He took
them where He did. and why the events of that night
unfolded as they did, to see the works of the Lord and His
wonders in the deep. And I believe, as I looked at
this, that this is the story of every believer. I know for
sure it's mine. It's the story of every believer
who follows the Lord on the sea of life. There's a sea that lies
out before, and we follow Him. We follow Him. There's a lot in these verses,
much more than I can talk about in just 30 minutes. So let me
just give you a few of the things that the Lord showed to me as
I studied these verses. First of all, I see in this story
that the way of obedience lies through the storm. This was all
about obedience. This was all about discipleship. This was all about submitting
to yourself into the hands of an all-wise, all-seeing, all-knowing
God-man. That's what it is. Trusting Him,
following Him. Wherever He goes, I go. He says,
go here, I go there. I don't say, now wait a minute,
what about? No, you follow Him. You follow Him. The storm, are
you listening to me? The storm will reveal who is
Lord. That's going to tell you who
the Lord is. Now I think there was a scrambling
in the ship there for a little while, thinking that they had
control over this or they could do that or something they might
could do to save themselves, but that didn't last very long.
Then they knew who was Lord, they went back to wake Him up.
He's Lord. So the storm's going to reveal
who's Lord. And we act most of the time like
we are. I know that we do. We talk most
of the time like we are, and we walk most of the time like
we are, but not when the storm comes. Huh? Not when the storm comes. Now
you might say that sitting under the apple tree, but out in that
ship, and the water's almost to the top, and the waves where
you can't see over them, and then the darkness of the night
and that fierce wind, huh? You're not Lord anymore. But oh, when the dark clouds
arise, well, God awakens in us our need of His presence and
power. So the way of obedience lies
in the storm. What are some of these storms?
Persecution. You know, the man who truly believes,
truly confesses what he believes is going to be persecuted in
this world. He's going to be persecuted.
I'm not talking about somebody that throws out a few names at
you and walks off. I'm talking about divisions that
cut into the heart. I'm talking about relatives and
friends and people that you love and that you believe love you.
And I know this, we're going to feel the sting of religion. They label you a fraud. A fraud. Now you can go in there with
about anything wrong with you and they'll accept you and put
their hand out of fellowship and welcome you into the building
and everything, but not when you confess the truth. If you
confess the truth, it goes contrary to what they believe. contrary
to their hope, and you're going to feel the sting of it. They might not do it to your
face, but they're going to do it. And you'll feel the sting
of it. They'll label you a fraud and
a traitor and an enemy of men's soul. And I believe you'll feel
the sort of separation from your own kin. Matthew 10, verse 36
says, a man's foes shall be they of his own household. And I believe their remarks might
be the cruelest of all. Because you love them. And you
believe they love you. But not when it comes to this.
Not when it comes to this. And for sure there'll be persecution
from this world. John 15, 18, he said, if the
world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love its own. But because you're not of the
world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you. Persecution. It's a storm that
can sink the strongest ship, especially when it arises out
of them that you believe truly care for you. It'll sink the
strongest ship. And then what about sickness?
You know, one minute you're sailing across the sea with the wind
in your hair, and the next minute your whole life is in jeopardy.
One minute you're on top of the world, and the next minute you're
hanging on by a thread. What about sickness? What happened? Well, I'll tell
you what happened. God sent a storm into your life.
But why? Why would God send a storm into
a the life of one of His disciples, one who's trying to follow Him.
Why would He send a storm into your life? To shut you up to
His mercy and grace. That's why. What if the Lord
just let us go in this old fallen nature? I'll tell you what we'd
do. We'd be just like everybody else
in the world. There'd be no separation. There'd
be no division. There'd be no seeking the Lord.
You just find something out there that pleases you, and that's
what you do until you die. He does these things to shut
us up to his mercy and grace. And he does these things, secondly,
to remind you of who preserves the vessel. I often give you that illustration
of my little daughter. We bought one of them little
car seats that had a steering wheel on it. She'd get in there,
boy, and as long as she had her hands on that steering wheel,
she thought she was driving the car. We go down the road and
she's happy as a lark sitting there at that little steering
wheel and drive the whole time. And that's the way we are. When
we think we've got to hold the wheel, we're just driving happy
as a lark. All of a sudden, he shows us
we're not doing anything. He pilots the vessel and he preserves
the vessel. And then thirdly, he does it
for the good of your soul and the glory of his name. And you
could go on and on with these trials of divorce and bankruptcy,
the death of a child or a dear parent. You can go on and on
with these storms, all these storms. In the end, it's the
way of obedience, and it lies in the storm. And God will try
our faith and purge us from the dross of this flesh and of this
world. In 1 John 2, verse 15, he says,
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but
is of the world. The way of obedience lies through
the stones. And then secondly, I also see,
I want to tell you this that I've seen in this story, is that
whatever storms may come our way, we've got this confidence
Christ is in the vessel. Now that's what's being taught
here. Christ is in the vessel. And often, he withdraws himself
from believers and he goes back to this place of rest. And we
don't even know he's gone. We don't even realize. They were
just going across the sea. They were doing what the Lord
commanded them to do and out they went. They weren't conscious
of him even. He's gone from their presence.
Now he's back in the back asleep. And they're just going until
a storm arises. And then they say, well, where
is he? Where is he? Huh? Isn't that the first thing
we ask when something comes? Where is he? Where is he? He's still there. He's still
there. Oh, whatever it is that sees
the vessel and calls your alarm, the Lord of glory rests in the
vessel. Now listen to me. We look at
this in this picture, this is not the ascended Christ as of
yet. This is not the exalted Christ
yet. This is not the victorious Christ
yet. This is the condescending Christ
who's numbered with the transgressors, who's one with the sinner. He's
living in His weakness, subject to the winds and waves, and tempted
like as we are, yet without sin. And He's as much in the storm
as you are. That's the first thing He shows.
He is as much in the storm as you are. He's affected as much
by the storm as you are. And he has much more to lose
than you do. Yet perfect love and perfect
trust sleeps calmly through the storm. That's what he's teaching
us. Perfect love, well, the vessel filling up never woke him up. The winds tossing the ship never
woke him up. The waters, fierce, the lightning,
the thunder, all of the things that throw fear into the hearts
of those men which were his disciples, all of those things that gripped
them and caused them to fear, didn't even arouse him from sleep.
Didn't even arouse him. Oh, there's a part of me overwhelmed
when the storms come. Defeated when the enemy assails
and downcast when the bad men arise, the old bad news and the
evil men arise. But then I'm reminded that the
resting of Christ, he who rests quietly in the ship, is the Lord
of glory. What a consolation. Come what
may, seem what may, Christ abides in the ship and sleeps through
the storm. And these disciples were alarmed. The disciples feared
for their life. The disciples scrambled for whatever
they thought might save them. Everything but the right thing.
The right thing they sought last. They sought last. The one consolation
was the last thing they went to. And I thought as I read that
how accurately this describes the experience of us when we're
under trial, while we fret We panic. The Lord of Glory sits
expecting till His enemies be made His footstool. Whatever
be the storm that assaults your vessel, the reason for it is
for you to enter into His rest. They were His disciples. They
were on the ship with Him. He was resting. The problem is
they wouldn't enter into His rest. They wouldn't enter into His
rest. The storm's not there for him to enter into your alarm. That's what they wanted him to
do. Curse not that we perish. They wanted him to enter into
their alarm. No, he said, you come and enter
into my rest. Enter into my rest. Where's your
faith? Isn't that what he asked him?
I thought you believed. You said you believed when you
got in the ship. Now, where is your faith? Hebrews 4, verse 3 said, For
we which have believed do enter in to rest. And all through that
fourth chapter of Hebrews, he talks about that rest. And he
says, Come unto me, all you that are weary and heavy laden, and
I'll give you rest. Rest. And then thirdly, let's
just look briefly at the response of the flesh. In Luke's account,
when they awakened the Master, they said, don't you care that
we perish? That's what the flesh always
says, isn't it? I always want to put a question
mark on God's love. I always want to put a question
mark on God's wisdom. I always want to put some kind
of question mark on God's purpose, on His righteousness, on His
justice. always wants to question, cares
not that we perish. This is always the response of
the flesh. And it's to doubt and fear and
to question and accuse and to find fault with God. What a thing
to say to a condescending Savior who's entered into your flesh
and your bones forever. who took your place before that
awesome law of God and that awesome justice of God and was even with
his head on a pillar fulfilling the righteousness of God on your
behalf. Don't you care for us? What a
thing to say to a resting Savior. And he said unto them, why are
you so fearful? What are you afraid of? What
are you afraid of? How is it that you have no faith?
And then here's the fourth thing. He that was in the ship not only
comforts with his presence. His presence should have been
enough to comfort. But he not only comforts with
his presence, but he delivers with his power. He stood up. even with their unbelief. And it's nothing but unbelief
that would look at this condescending Savior, the God of glory, who
had become a man, who was out on that ship on their behalf,
leading them, caring for them, saving their soul. It's nothing
but unbelief that would challenge Him and ask Him if He cared for
them. That was all unbelief. And yet,
He answered their prayers. And he stood up and he said,
peace be still. He was the only one on that ship
that could do that. Peace be still. So he not only
comforts with his presence, but he delivers with his power. With his power. That's what Paul
said when he looked at the Thessalonians. He said, I know your election
of God. My gospel didn't come in word only. It didn't discomfort
in my presence only, but in power and in the Holy Ghost. And I'll
tell you this, there can be no comfort in His presence if He
has no power to overcome the difficulty. Some, I believe, are still laboring
under the idea of a Savior who is not sovereign God. But you
listen as those who have seen His wonders in the deep give
their faithful witness After they saw what he did, what did
they say? What manner of man is this? Even
the winds and the waves obey his voice. Isn't that what we
say after the trial is over? So what manner of man is this?
He commands providence. He commands providence. He delivers
from things that we thought no deliverance could come. Oh, I'll tell you what man or
man he is, he's the God-man. He's ever wet man, flesh of our
flesh and bone of our bones, yet he's overall God-blessed
forever. Paul talks about this redeemer
to the Colossians and he tells them this, he said, he is the
image of the invisible God. Is that the kind of Christ you
hear preached down here in the average pulpit? Turn your TV
on some Sunday morning. I dare you, turn it on, listen
to it. Hear what they say. I don't care who they are. Listen
to what they say. They're not talking about Him
who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature,
He that created all things. By Him, He said, were all things
created that are in heaven, that are on earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions, principalities or powers. All
things were created by Him and for Him, and by Him all things
consist. Is that the Christ you hear preached
on there? No. Everything that is by His sovereign
power is arranged for the good of those who love Him. who are
the called according to His purpose. And then, very quickly, let me
tell you the results of passing through the stone. First of all,
they marveled. Now, my friend, you haven't heard
the gospel and the power of God's Spirit until you marvel at this
Savior. They marveled. They marveled. They feared, Mark said, I think
I would too. In the middle of that great storm,
that vessel all but gone, standing in there, waist deep in the water,
that thing ready at the next wave, ready to go under. And
he stands up. I don't even think he said with
a loud voice, but he said, peace be still. And them waves laid
down like a sheet of paper. Calm, perfect peace. They feared. And Luke says this,
they wondered. They wondered. They were filled
with wonder. Aren't you filled with wonder
as you look around and see how the Lord takes these storms and
turns them for your good and His glory? Aren't you filled
with wonder? I tell you, I read His Word,
and I see what the Lord's done for His saints in the Word of
God, and it fills me with wonder. I see what they are. I see myself
in them, and I see what they are. And yet, He preserves them
in these times of storm. That fills me with wonder. The
results of those who've passed through the storm, whether they
stay in this world or appear in glory with Him, seem to take
on these things. They're filled with gratitude.
They're filled with admiration. And they're left worshiping God
all around that throne. Who are they? Who are they? Who
stand here and worship God? Who are they? Oh, these are they
that come up out of great tribulation, washed their robes and made them
clean in the blood of the Lamb. Now Paul says in Jude verse 25,
he said, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty
and dominion and power both now and forever. Amen.