Let's open our Bibles tonight
to Mark chapter 4, the gospel of Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4, we'll begin reading
at verse 35. And the same day, when the even
was come, the Lord Jesus saith unto them, let us pass over unto
the other side. And when they had sent away the
multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there
were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great
storm of wind, And the waves beat into the ship so that it
was now full. And he was in the hinder part
of the ship asleep on a pillow. And they awake him and say unto
him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose
and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased. And there
was a great calm. And he said unto them, why are
you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly and
said one to another, what manner of man is this that even the
wind and the sea obey him? At the end of a long, busy day,
our Lord and his disciples boarded a small little boat to go across
the Sea of Galilee. The Lord Jesus had preached all
day in the open air to great multitudes. And when they were
alone, he privately explained to his disciples the things that
he had taught in public. But there was one more work that
had to be done before his day's work was over. On the other side
of the Sea of Galilee, there was a little place called Gadara.
And there was a man there who is known to us as the maniac
of Gadara. A man who had been in the clutches
of Satan for many years. A man who had ruined his life
with his own hands. A man now possessed of the devil. A man who terrified his neighbors. One of those men that just kept
everyone around him uneasy. That never knew what he might
do next. He lived among the tombs, among
dead people. Ran around naked and constantly
harassing people. But now this man of Gadara being
the object of God's grace, must be called. For him, the time
of love had come, and the master's work could not be finished that
day until this Gadarene maniac was sitting at his feet, clothed
and in his right mind. The Lord Jesus had agreed to
save him before the world began. For more than 30 years, he had
lived on this earth in perfect righteousness, in perfect obedience
to the law and will of God, not for himself, but for this Gadarene. as the representative of this
gathering. This one who was also a son of
Abraham, a covenant child who must be called. But before this
man could enter glory with him, he must have righteousness which
God himself accepts and smiles upon. And the Lord Jesus lived
as his representative, obeying God's law and God's will in his
behalf. for him, to bring in for him
everlasting righteousness with which he is about to clothe him.
That same righteousness with which he clothes all his own
by the mighty work of his grace. You see, God demands of man,
walk before me and be thou perfect, for I am perfect. He says to
his own, be ye holy, for I am holy. He doesn't say be as perfect
as you can. He doesn't say be as holy as
you can. He says be holy as I the Lord
your God am holy. Be perfect as I the Lord your
God am perfect. Holiness has something to do
with wholeness. The Lord Jesus came here to make
ruined sinners whole, making us righteous before God. And
he lived in our stead for 33 years in perfect righteousness
as a man, but as a representative man, as a covenant man, and we
lived in him. We obeyed God in him. We fulfilled all righteousness
in Him. I don't mean it is as though
we did. I mean we did. We did. We often say that's how God sees
things. However God sees things, that's
how they really are. That's how they really are. We
obeyed God in our covenant head. But obedience is not enough.
God also demands satisfaction. Sin must be punished to the full
satisfaction of God's holy law and justice. And our Lord Jesus
would soon bear this man's sins in his own body on the tree. suffering all the fury of God's
holy wrath and justice in his room instead as his substitute,
dying in his place to redeem him, putting away his sin by
the sacrifice of himself. That's how God Almighty saves
sinners. Christ Jesus The Holy One of
God came into this world to be made what we are, to become what
we are, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, and at last
to be made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. And now the time of love had
come when this wretched man must obtain mercy and must obtain
grace. There is for each of God's elect
an appointed time and an appointed place beyond which he shall not
go when God calls his own by his grace. It's called a time
of love and in his sovereign predestination God Almighty ordained
all that is necessary to bring the chosen sinner, the object
of his grace, the redeemed sinner whom he will call to that place
where God meets him in mercy and overcomes his heart and gives
him life eternal creating faith in him by the revelation of Jesus
Christ. Oh may God do that for you who
are yet without him tonight. Maybe for some here You've been
hiding in a refuge of lies. May God strip away the refuge.
You've taken no consideration of eternal things. May God awaken
your soul, reveal Christ in you, and cause you this hour to believe
on the Son of God. Only He can do so. as he must
needs go through Samaria at the time he did because there was
a Samaritan adulteress there for whom the time of love had
come. So the Lord Jesus must cross over this Sea of Galilee
at this precise hour and he crosses over with his disciples because
the time had come to call this Gadarene and cause this Gadarene
to sit at his feet. to bow to him, sit at his feet
clothed, clothed not only in physical garments, but clothed
with the garments of salvation and in his right mind. He had been out of his mind all
these years. By the time I was 15 years old,
I had ruined my life. I had ruined my life. My parents
didn't ruin it, I did. My sisters didn't ruin it, I
did. My neighbors didn't ruin it,
I did. By my willful rebellion, I had
deliberately spurned everything I knew to be right and ran headlong
into hell itself until God stopped me by his grace. I was out of
my mind. And then just before I was 17
years old, God stepped in. He said, hitherto shalt thou
go and no further. And I found myself suddenly sitting
at the Savior's feet, clothed in the garments of salvation
and in my right mind. And I've been sitting there wearing
those garments and in my right mind for nearly 44 years now. May God do that for you who yet
know not our Redeemer. But before the Lord and his disciples
reached this wild Gadarene, they had to cross this Sea of Galilee.
And as they were crossing, we read here in Mark 4 that there
arose a great storm of wind and the waves beat into the ship
so that it was now full. What a description. They're out
on this Galilee Sea, and the waves, it's not one of our little
lakes we have in Kentucky or Tennessee. This was an inland
body of water, but it was a great sea. And often, tempests would
arise. The disciples Peter and James
and Andrew and John certainly were familiar with it. And they
are now in the midst of this terrible tempest. beating their
little boat so much that the water has filled the boat. They're bailing water out, hysterical
with fear. And as they do, they find the
master asleep in the back part of the ship. And in despair,
probably in anger, with disgust, they go and say, Master, carest
thou not that we perish? What a word to speak to the Son
of God who came here to seek and save his own. What a word
to speak to the Son of God who is on a mission of mercy specifically
to save his own. Master, carest thou not that
we perish? And he arose and reduced the
wind. Isn't it marvelous? Doesn't say
he arose and rebuked them. He arose and rebuked the wind
and said to the sea, peace, be still. And the wind ceased and
there was a great calm. And then he gently reproved his
disciples, those fearing, unbelieving disciples, and the story ends. But this is one of those few
incidents in the life of our Lord on this earth. One of the
few incidents involving His disciples that is recorded by three of
the four gospel writers. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, all
three are inspired of God the Holy Spirit to give us the story
of our Lord in this event on the Sea of Galilee with His disciples
and they're being terrified and Him calming the sea. Matthew,
Mark, and Luke each give us the same story, but each one gives
slight details that the others don't give, giving us the complete
story. Obviously then, the Spirit of
God means for us to learn lessons, important lessons from this event. Let me give you six or seven
of them, and then I'll wrap the message up with a few statements.
First, learn this. faith in Christ and obedience
to God do not exempt God's saints from the storms that other people
face in this world. They don't. These disciples were
in this storm because the master said let's get in this boat and
go across the sea. They were acting in complete
obedience. There was no hesitancy on their part. The master said,
get in the boat, we're going to cross the sea. They got in
the boat and headed across the sea. Faith in and obedience to
Christ do not exempt God's people from trouble and heartache and
trial and storms. In fact, we're specifically told
here that there were with him other little ships. I presume
there were people in those ships. all going across the sea, going
through the same storm. But his care and concern was
not for those other people and those other ships. They had no
thought or regard for him, and frankly, he had no thought or
regard for them. They were as he saw. These were
Jacob's in the ship with him. His concern was for them. These
disciples were following him across the sea. They were in the ship in obedience
to him. and their obedience brought them
directly into the eye of the storm. Brad, I promise you, you
follow Christ, you're going to follow Christ through trouble. You're going to follow him through
trouble. There are no exceptions. If you follow Christ, you will
follow Him through dark valleys and raging storms and fiery persecutions. You will follow Him through trouble.
You remember Job's three friends? Job's miserable comforters? Those
men came to see Job because they had heard that Job had lost all
of his sons, and all of his daughters, and all of his cattle, and all
of his wealth. His wife finally said to him,
why don't you just cuss God and die? He had even lost the esteem
of this woman who had admired him so greatly. And the esteem
of his neighbors and friends who now looked at him, as Job
said, scraping his boils. And his friends came and they
sat down and were astonished when they saw Job. They couldn't
speak a word. But they presumed something.
They presumed something that all self-righteous, particularly
self-righteous religious people presume. If you suffer trouble,
you did something and God's going to get you. And they sat down and were convinced
Job must have really messed up. Now we didn't see it, Job. We
didn't hear what you said. But we know you did something.
Because God wouldn't deal with a man like this if he wasn't
correcting you for sin. The passage in Job, though, The
book of Job begins with God stating three times that Job was a perfect
man and upright. One that feared God and discussed
evil and there was none like him in all the earth. That was
God's testimony. God had made him a perfect man
in Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
God had made him an upright man, giving him a new nature. Planting
Christ in him in the new birth. God had created him anew in Christ
Jesus. And God said there's none like
him. And now Job is stripped and laid bare. And he's condemned
by men because of his obedience to God. The Lord God said, have you considered
my servant Job? Go test him. You do whatever
you want to, only don't touch his life. Don't touch his life. You see, God orders Satan. God orders Satan. There's not a rivalry or a competition
between the Lord God Almighty and the devils of hell. God rules. He has his will everywhere and
the demons of hell are his vassals as surely as the angels of the
glory though they serve him unwittingly and unknowingly. And Satan goes
out and does God's bidding against Job. And when he's done Job now
speaks to God. Job was given a good sight of
himself. He saw what Job is by nature. And Job's response when it was
all over is, I have heard of you with the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye seeth thee, and I abhor myself. Oh God, teach
us thus to abhor ourselves. Obedience to Christ, faith in
Christ takes us into the storm and brings us through the storm
and makes us better because of the storm. Here's the second
lesson. The fact that our Lord Jesus
was weary and required sleep demonstrates clearly that he
is a real man. Oh, how it solaces my heart to
know that he who loved me and gave himself for me, he who sits
yonder on the throne of heaven, sits there in a body just like
this. A man just like this. A man who has gone through the
same heartaches, the same trials, the same troubles, the same temptations
as I go through in this world. So that it's impossible for me
to feel a pain. It is impossible for me to feel
a pain. That he doesn't know from experience
Oh, but he Had no sin. He was tempted in all points
like as we are yet without sin. Yes But before it was over Daddy,
he knew sin like you and I can't possibly know it He was made sin for us and he
is touched with the feeling of of our infirmities. Oh, what
encouragement. Not only that, but the fact that
there is a man in glory tells me maybe another one shall be. There is a man in glory and he
opened the gates of glory for men such as we are. He must be
a man or he could not obey and he could not suffer and he could
not die and he could not bear our sins in his body on the tree. But blessed be God, there's more
here than that. Our Lord Jesus arose and spoke
to the wind and said, peace be still. And there was a great
call. Because you see, this man is
God Almighty. He is God in human flesh. really
and truly God. As much man as though he were
not God, as much God as though he were not man. And the creation
obeys the voice of the Creator. He who is our Savior must be
God and man in one person. For man could not satisfy, but
God in our flesh has satisfied all the demands of righteousness
and justice in the stead of his people. Here's the fourth lesson,
and we need to learn it. The greatest saints in this world, the strongest believers in this
world, I've had the privilege in these 43 plus years, knowing
the grace of God, I've had the privilege of having as my close
intimate friends, some of the greatest men and greatest women
who ever walked on this earth. That's something. That's something.
I'm talking about men and women who believed God. Men and women
who walked with God. I've had examples set before
me after example of men who daily hazarded their lives for the
gospel sake, who committed themselves daily to Christ until the day
Christ took them to glory. Oh, what a privilege. But learn
this, learn this, the greatest of God's saints, the strongest
of believers are sinners still, and we're full of unbelief. full of unbelief. God's people,
as long as they live in this flesh, are sinners saved by God's
grace, constantly forgiven through the blood of Christ, and constantly
accepted in Christ the Redeemer, constantly upheld and preserved
by the hand of God's grace, held by the right hand of His righteousness.
And that's the only difference between you who believe and those
who believe not. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? And if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Here's
the fifth thing. Our Lord Jesus is a tender, compassionate,
forgiving Savior. He forgiveth. Isn't that a wonderful
term? present tense continual, forgiveth. He forgave. He shall forgive. He forgiveth all thine iniquities. He cleanseth us with his blood
from all our sins. Our constant acceptance with God
doesn't hinge in any way upon our faithfulness, our obedience,
our goodness, our restraint from evil, but rather it hinges altogether
upon his faithfulness in forgiving our sins. Though we deny him,
he cannot deny himself. God is faithful. And He keeps us by His grace
and constantly forgives. Constantly forgives. If we confess our sins, He's
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. Here's the sixth lesson. Our Savior's reason for crossing
this sea Our Savior's reason for carrying these disciples
with him across this sea was to reach the other side and save
that Gadarene maniac by his grace. Saints of God, pray for grace
to remember this every moment of your life. Everything God
does Everything God does he does for
the salvation of his elect We know that all things work together
for good to them that love God to them who are the called according
to his purpose They work together for good to you whom he has called
according to his sovereign purpose of grace. Everything God does
in time and in eternity is for the saving of his people. Well,
what all does that include? If it happens, God did it. If
it comes to pass, God brought it to pass. For of him and through
him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever and
ever. Amen. God does everything for
the saving of his people. And now let's look at this last
lesson. Keep your Bibles open here at Mark chapter 4. All who are in the good ship Grace
with Christ are perfectly safe as they pass through the stormy
seas of this world. I put an article, just a brief
statement by Robert Hawker in our bulletin a few weeks ago.
Some of you saw it. I hope you remembered it. If
not, write it down now and remember it. Hawker made this wonderful
statement. He said, if Christ is in the
boat, we can smile at the storm. If Christ is in the boat, we
can smile at the storm. Now those seven lessons are a
sermon in themselves, but I want us to use this story as a parable,
if I might. And if you'll hold your Bible
here in Mark chapter 7 or Mark chapter 4 and turn back to Psalm
107, I'll show you my justification for it. Psalm 107. We have before
us a parable of every believer's life. When the Son of God comes
into the hearts of chosen sinners, giving them life and faith in
Christ, turning them from running to hell to seeking heaven. He cast his eye over the sea
of time and cast our eyes over the sea of time and says, let
us cross over to the other side. And he brings us with him into
his church and kingdom, into his salvation, into the good
ship of his grace and salvation. And we set sail across the sea
of life. Now look at Psalm 107 and verse
23. Let's see if this is not exactly
what our Lord tells us. 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. Before God raises you up, he
will bring you down. Before he clothes you, he will
strip you. Before he exalts you, he will
abase you. Before he comforts you, he will
break you. I remember my dear friend, Brother
Harry Graham. I learned so much from him as
a young man. Shelby and I would go over to him and his wife's
house. I was 19 years old. We'd just gotten married. I'd
learn everything I could learn from a wise, faithful servant
of God, much my senior. He said to me, he said, Don,
When God begins to deal with a man in grace, if you could
see what's going on, you'd say, I wouldn't treat a mad dog like
that. Before God brings you up from
trouble, he gonna put you in trouble. I'm talking about soul
trouble. I'm talking about trouble in here. He will bring you into
the depths and make you see his works, his wonders in the deep. Look at verse 25. For he, the
Lord God, commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth
up the waves thereof. They mount up to heaven. They
go down again to the depths. Their soul is melted because
of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger
like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. Oh, bless God
when he brings a sinner to his wits' end. When you've made your
last shift and you can do nothing else, what happens then? Then. Then. As long as you've got any
refuge. As long as you can flee to something
else. As long as you can find some
other thing in which to give yourself a little hope. You will
never seek the Lord. But when God brings you down
to your utter wit's end, then they cry unto the Lord in their
trouble. And. What a wonderful word. And. He bringeth them out of their
distresses. He maketh the storm a calm. All those things that plagued
your heart and troubled your soul and caused your guilty conscience
to scream with guilt, he makes now a calm. And the waves there
are still, then are they glad because they be quiet. So he
bringeth them unto their desired haven. Now watch this. Oh, that
men would praise the Lord for his goodness. You call that goodness? If you ever experience it, you'll
know why. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness
and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Now let
me make five statements about this picture and I'll be done. First, understand this. As we embark on life in Christ,
our life in this world as believers, as the sons of God, is a voyage. passing through this world is
often compared to a voyage or passing. We speak of it frequently
that way and the scriptures teach us that. We sing frequently,
he will keep me till the river roses waters at my feet then
he'll bear me safely over where my loved ones I shall meet. But understand this, I'm not
suggesting that we shall one day pass over. I'm telling you
that we are right now passing over this troublesome sea unto
eternity, right now. And the voyage is very short,
very short. This morning, I got an email
from a friend in Cottageville, West Virginia. An old lady I've
known for a long, long time. She's 94 years old. She and her
husband and another man and his wife built the church building,
folks at Cottageville median right now. On her way back from
the doctor Friday afternoon, her nurse was driving. A drunk
ran across the highway, ran head on into him, and she's gone. Oh, that's wonderful. God took
her to glory like that. Like that. Like that. Said she
apparently died instantaneously. Well, yeah, but she apparently
began to live instantaneously. Last week, my son-in-law got
a call. His first cousin, 30 years old, blew his brains out. You see, it is appointed unto
men once to die, and after this, the judgment. We are crossing
over this sea rapidly. How does James describe it? What
is your life? What is your life? It is even a vapor that appears
for a little while and is gone. Not like the fog in the mountains
that may hang around half the day. A vapor. Go home tonight
and get your tea kettle, set it on the stove until it starts
to roar and the steam is just rolling out of the spout. Set
it off the stove and watch how long the steam keeps rolling.
That's your life. Oh, but I'm planning to make
something of myself. It won't be much. It won't be much. But I'm, I'm
gathering wealth and land and property. You know, if I went over to Tony
and Rita's house and I saw Alexis and Grayson playing with paper
dolls, wouldn't surprise me a bit. If I saw you playing with paper
dolls with them, wouldn't surprise me. But I want to tell you something,
if I went over to their house and I saw Tony and Rita playing
with paper dolls, I'd be calling somebody to check
them out. Because something's wrong. And yet, that's exactly
how we are with this world. Killing ourselves to gather the
bubbles of this world. Killing ourselves to gather something
here and hold on to it until God breaks your fingers in death
and says, now what's it worth? We're crossing this sea rapidly. And we're leaving this world
where everything is temporary, transient, changing, and vanishing
away. Everything here is. Everything. It's temporary. It's transient. It's constantly changing. It's
vanishing away. Everything. And we're going to
a world where everything is eternal and unchanging, permanent. When you leave this world as
written, he that is holy, let him be holy still. You die in
Christ in perfect holiness with his spotless garments on, holy
as the Holy One. You live forever to the bliss
of your soul in holiness with God. He that is filthy, let him
be filthy still. You die without Christ, you die
in your filth. And what you are, that secret
tormenting filth that you hide from everybody, that filth that
you can't stand, you will be forever with increasing consciousness
to the everlasting torment of your soul. Number two, let me
show you that this life is not only comparable to a voyage,
it's a voyage through a stormy sea. Look at verse 37, and there
arose a great storm of wind and the waves beat into the ship
so that it was now full. We must often sail into the tempest
of sorrow, affliction, adversity, and grief. But Christ's presence
with us assures us of safety no matter what the storm may
be. I remind you again, these disciples were not acting in
disobedience. They were not acting in rebellion.
The master had commanded them to get in the ship and go to
the other side and loyalty and obedience to him brought them
right in the path of the storm. The fact is The path of faithfulness
is always right through the eye of the storm. Now the storms
come from many areas. They come from many directions.
But basically the things that give us trouble, real trouble,
have two sources. The contrary adverse circumstances
around us, trials and temptations from without. Those things give
us difficulty, but those things don't really cause us a lot of
trouble. That's not really where the trouble is. The other source
of trouble is far more difficult to deal with. And that's the
waves of sin and horrid unbelief within. You see, every believer
is a person with two diametrically opposing natures. Turn to Romans
chapter 7. Romans the 7th chapter. The Apostle Paul is a man of
some age and some experience. And he's telling us about these
two natures. These two contrary natures in
every child of God. They're called flesh and spirit.
The old man, the new man. Adam and Christ. This holy thing
created in you that cannot sin because it's born of God. And
that old man that can do nothing but sin because it's born of
Adam. Paul says in verse 14 of Romans 7, we know that the law
is spiritual, but I'm carnal, sold under sin. He didn't say
I was carnal, he said I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which
I do, I allow not. The things I do, I wouldn't do
them for the world. I wouldn't do them for the world.
I hate them. For what I would, that is the
things I want to do, that do I not. But what I hate, that
I do. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent to the law that it's good. Now then it's no more
I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Sin that dwelleth in me. No more I, but sin. In Galatians
2.20 it says, The life that I now live in the flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for
me. The I that does not do this is Christ in you. Christ in you,
the hopeful glory. That new man created in righteousness
and true holiness. That thing that's born of God
that cannot sin. That new creature, Christ Jesus
in you. But it says the things that I
hate, that's what I do. Verse 18. For I know that in
me that is in my flesh, in my nature, what I am by nature,
dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good
I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that which I would
not, is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
I find then a law. I find something in me. The Song
of Solomon calls it, as it were, two armies. A law that when I
would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the
law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin, which is in my members. Oh, wretched man
that I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Oh, thank God! Christ Jesus shall. Christ Jesus shall. But for now,
This is how we live. David described it like this. He said, I was envious at the
prosperity of the wicked. He said, so foolish was I. I
was as a beast before you until I went to the house of God and
then I understood their end. I realized, Lord, you're just
fattening them like calves for the slaughter. And I was envious. I was envious. Nevertheless what
a word I am continually with thee In spite of all that I am
in spite of all that I do I am continually with thee whom have
I in heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire
beside thee All right. Here's the third thing Our life in this world is a voyage
A voyage through stormy seas. But blessed be God, it is a voyage
in the company and constant presence, protection and care of the Son
of God. He said, Lo, I am with you always. Sometimes it appears that he's
asleep. Sometimes he's silent. Sometimes he will not speak. Sometimes he will act as though
he doesn't hear you speak, but he is present all the while. How I pray that God will teach
me and teach you to believe it. Our Savior promised, I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee. He says, fear not thou worm Jacob,
for I have redeemed thee. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee,
yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. I just read the other day. I
haven't checked it out for myself. I'm going to. If it is, you can
expect something coming soon. But I'm told that these words,
fear not. Do you know how often they appear
in the word of God? 365 times. Harold, that's a fear
not for every day. Fear not. I've redeemed you. Fear not. I've called you by
thy name. Thou art mine. Fear not. I'm with you. When
you pass through the sea, they shall not overflow you. When
you pass through the fire, the flames shall not kindle upon
you. Fear not. I am the Lord your God. Here's
the fourth thing. Ours is a voyage marked by miracles. Look at verse 39. and he arose
and rebuked the wind and said to the sea peace be still and
the wind ceased and there was a great call now just every little
bit I'll run into somebody who finds out I'm a preacher and
they'll say do y'all believe in miracles out there at Grace
Baptist Church and I know what they're talking about do you
believe in this whoopee stuff where folks fake it all the time And I'll respond, yes sir, yes
sir. I am a living miracle. I am a
living miracle. Everything I experience from
God is a miracle. The scripture says, he is a God
that doest wonders. The scripture also says, thou
only doest wonders. That's all he does, is wonders. Wonders. Let me give you a few
miracles. Miracles are something beyond
natural. Supernatural. Miracles are something
that cannot be imitated. Miracles are things that are
performed in an unexplainable, unscientific way. Miracles are
things that defy logic. Is that right? Is that right?
Well, consider for a moment the miracle of redemption. God became a man. Now, I've read a good many theology
books. I'm not sharpest knife in the drawer, but I'm not quite
the dullest one either. And I know the theologians try to take the
edge off that and they say, well, God didn't become a man. He assumed
our nature. That's not what the book says.
The book says the Word was made flesh. God became one of us. How can that be? I don't have
any idea. I don't have any idea. In him,
in that man, in that man Christ Jesus, that baby that was born
at Bethlehem, that man who died at Calvary 2,000 years ago, in
him, that man who now sits on the throne of glory, in him,
in his body dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead in a
body. The incomprehensible God, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, and all the fullness of His being resides
in the man, Christ Jesus. This man knew no sin. He's the Holy One of God. He's
the Lamb of God. He did no sin. He knew no sin. He committed no sin. But in order
to redeem our souls, He was made sin. Would you like to try to explain
that to anybody? Every explanation I've ever heard
tries to explain it away. He was made sin. Brother Singleton,
he became what you are. And it broke his heart. My iniquities, he cries, are
more than the hairs of my head. They cannot be numbered. I cannot
look up. That's his words, not mine. He
was made seeing. This holy one of God. That we,
who are nothing but seeing, might be made the righteousness of
God in him. He became what I am. To make
me all that he is. And here I am. One with him. One with him. I'll give you another
miracle. In the new birth, we are made
partakers of the divine nature. Christ comes. and takes up residence
in the hearts of sinners. He comes and lives in this body. It's called Christ in you, the
hope of glory. This is a new nature. This is
that new man created in righteousness and true holiness. Christ in
you. Christ in you. Explain that for
me. Explain that for me. It's called
a miracle of grace. The hymn writer said it took
a miracle to put the world in place. It took a miracle to hang
the stars in space. But when he saved my soul, cleansed
and made me whole, It took a miracle of love and grace Here's a fourth thing I'm sorry fifth thing last thing
Our life here is a voyage It's a voyage through stormy seas
It's a voyage with Christ in the ship with us It is a voyage
marked with miracles every day. God doing wonders. God doing
wonders. I wonder what wonders he's going
to perform for us tomorrow, Chris. God performing wonders every
day. It ought to be a voyage free
of fear. Our Lord said to his disciples
in verse 40, Why? Are you so fearful? How is it
that you have no faith? They should have been perfectly
calm. Should have been. Why, they had seen him turn water
into wine. They had seen him multiply loaves
and fishes, take a little boy's lunch and feed 5,000 people.
They had seen him heal the blind. They had seen him cause the lame
to walk. They had seen him make the deaf
to hear. They had seen him cast out demons. And here they are
afraid of the wind and water. As though somehow he might cease
to care or cease to control. And I know what the problem was.
I know because I ain't there so much of the time. Instead
of looking to him, the omnipotent God our Savior, they were looking
at the storm. Instead of looking to Him, they
were looking at their own weakness, trying to empty that boat. Trying to bail out water with
a teacup while it was coming in by tubs full. Instead of looking at Him, They
looked at the apparent frailty of their ship. Why are you so fearful with such
a God, with such a Savior? Oh God, take away my unbelief
and teach me to walk in peace in this world. But what do you
do in the face of trouble? I keep telling folks what I keep
wanting to do. I get calls from preachers, especially
younger ones. Sometimes older ones are having
difficulty. How do I handle this? I say don't.
Don't. Don't handle it. Get your hand
in it, you'll mess it up, I promise you. You handle it, you'll make
a mess of it, I promise you. Don't handle it. Don't handle
it. Everything I ever tried to fix daddy in my life, I messed
up. Don't handle it. Don't handle it. I'm not a handyman. I get my toolbox out and my wife
says, please call somebody. Because I'm going to mess it
up. But that's true of all things of trouble and difficulty, adversity
and trial. Conflicts, difficulties come
up. What do you do? Wait. Just wait. Just wait. I don't mean be irresponsible.
I mean be responsible. Wait. They that wait upon the
Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. Hang on now. They shall walk
and not faint. Now, when you're full of emotion
and excitement, you're sore like the eagles. Ah, you're in the
air all the time. You don't have good sense, but
you can fly high. And after a bit, you run. And you run with patience,
and you're not weary. But when you can walk in the
midst of storms and trouble. When I was a boy, things were
different than they are now. And I was, boy, you didn't dare
show fear. I mean, you just didn't dare
show fear to anybody for anything. And I happened to be the biggest
boy around. I'd go over the mountains here in Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
My grandparents lived up in a holler, just a tar road. You folks have
seen them. A shack on the side of the road.
And they'd send me out at night. They'd tell stories about convicts
escaping and hiding out in those mountains for years. And they'd
send me out expecting me not to be afraid. And they had a
little old, I can see it now, but a five watt yellow light
hanging on the back porch between the house and the well house.
And they'd send me up the holler to the mountaintop to my aunt's
house to get something in pitch dark. And I'd walk out there
just like I was the biggest thing going. I'd walk out whistling
until I got out of sight of that little five watt yellow light.
And I ran up that mountain as fast as a chubby boy's leg could
carry him. Scared to death. And I'd get inside of my aunt's
house and I'd stop. And didn't realize I was actually
sweat pouring off of me and I'd try to whistle. Because I didn't
want anybody to know I was afraid. As I got older, I'd walk up the
mountain and take my time. Sometimes folks had to come looking
for me, wondering where I was. Because I wasn't afraid anymore.
I just walked. They that wait on the Lord shall
walk and not faint. Teach me Lord to wait. And when he gets done We will
sail in the vessel of his grace to our desired haven. And we'll
look back over the sea of time. You know what you say now, when
you have an accident or you nearly have an accident or you go through
some real difficulty, some real problem, you wipe your brow and
say, sure, I'm glad that's over. Not then, not then. We'll look
back across the ranges of history. And we'll say, God, how good,
how wise, how gracious. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. For this is the way you brought
me here. Amen. You're dismissed.