Turn with me, if you will, to
Mark's Gospel, the fourth chapter. Mark chapter 4. Let's begin reading at verse
35. And the same day, when even was
come, he 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? As our Lord and his disciples
were crossing the Sea of Galilee, a terrible storm arose. And the
disciples in their panic, in their terror, were filled with
unbelief. When they cried out, Master,
terrest thou not that we perish? The Lord Jesus arose and calmly
rebuked their unbelief, and by the mere power of his word calmed
the sea and the storm. Now few, if any of our Lord's
miracles, were so likely to fix a lasting impression upon the
minds of these disciples. This must have been unforgettable
to them. Convincing them, by the demonstration of His power,
that He is indeed God Almighty. In all likelihood, these disciples,
at least four of them, were experienced fishermen. Peter, James, Andrew,
and John. And in all likelihood, they were
very familiar with the terrible, devastating, often fatal storms
that would arise on the Sea of Galilee. And they had never seen
such power demonstrated, not in all of our Lord's miracles
preceding this. By the mere word of His mouth,
He stopped the storm. Now there are many, many important
lessons taught in these verses. We would be wise to ask God,
the Holy Spirit, to remind us of them. Let me just name off
six or seven of these lessons. First, understand this. Faith
in and obedience to Christ. Do not exempt God's saints from
all the storms and troubles and difficulties that other people
in this world face. You and I, like all others, must
get sick and watch our loved ones get sick. We must watch
them wither and die. We must go to the cemetery and
bury them with grief, just as others do. And until we make
our way to the grave, we too must endure continual difficulties
and trials and heartaches in this world. A second thing, the
fact that our Lord Jesus was weary and was found lying sound
asleep, needing the refreshment of rest, demonstrates that he
who is our Savior is a real man. Let us never, never, never forget
this. Our Savior is that one who described
in these words the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The word that's translated flesh
in John 1.14 is the strongest possible word that could be used
to speak of the mortality of our dying frame. And when Jesus
Christ came into this world and took on Himself our nature, when
the Son of God became one of us, He really became permanently
all that we are. He lived in this world and suffered
every difficulty, every trial, every heartache, every pain that
you and I may suffer in this world, sin alone accepted. And in a sense, not even that.
For when he was made sin for us, never did a man so keenly
know his sin as when our Savior cried, My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken us? Now I stress those things because
I want you to understand this. That man who is God seated on
the throne of grace and glory is touched with the feeling of
our infirmities. Touched with the feeling of our
infirmities as no other man can be. He is one with us. But the fact that our Lord Jesus
calls the wind and the sea to obey his voice, demonstrates
also his complete deity. This man is God omnipotent. The wind and the sea knew the
voice of their creator. Only one who is both absolutely
God and absolutely man could save us, could redeem us, and
put away our sins. Here's a fourth lesson. And it
is a glaring lesson in this passage we've read. The greatest saints
in this world are sinners still. And the strongest believers in
this world are sometimes filled with unbelief. Peter and Andrew and James and
John what exemplary characters these men were. Exemplary of
faith and faithfulness. Exemplary men who believed God,
who walked before God in uprightness. And yet here they are, all at
one time, filled with unbelief, the greatest of all sins, as
the Lord Jesus is with them in this year. And so it is today. God's people in this world, All
of them are sinners still. And we who believe are often
filled with unbelief. Would to God those two things
were not so, but they are. I say would to God they were
not so because of the pain they cause us and the dishonor they
bring to our Redeemer and to our God. But our God in His infinite
wisdom has so ordained that we live in this world not upon our
own strength and in our own righteousness, but upon the strength of His
grace and the righteousness of His Son, trusting Him whose strength
is made perfect in our weakness. Learn this too. Our Lord Jesus
is a tender, compassionate, forgiving Savior. I read this passage and
I read it over and over and over again. And our Master said to
his disciples, why are you so fearful? How is it that you have
no faith? And I don't read in that anger
or wrath or hardness in the least. but only tenderness and compassion. How is it you have no faith? Why are you so fearful? Not only is He a tender and compassionate,
forgiving Savior, our Savior has a reason for everything He
does. He sits upon the throne of absolute
monarchy holding in his hands the reins of universal sovereignty. And that means that whatever
comes to pass in this world comes to pass by his design and his
reason for it is the salvation of his elect. He went to the
other side of the sea with his disciples here, because there
was a wild lost Gadarene on the other side, for whom the fullness
of time had come, the time of love had come, and the Lord Jesus
was on his way there to save his own. And one other lesson,
and we'll see this as we go through the message tonight. All who
are in the good ship Grace with Christ Jesus, are perfectly safe. As we pass through the stormy
seas of this world, in the ship of God's grace with our Redeemer,
all is well, all the time. Did you hear me? All is well,
all the time, and we are perfectly safe. Those lessons are a sermon
in themselves and I frequently preach the sermon in one way
or another. But tonight I want to use this
event at the Sea of Galilee to give you a parable, a parable
of every believer's life. When the Son of God enters the
hearts of chosen sinners in his sovereign saving power and grace,
he brings us with himself into his church and kingdom. He brings
us with himself into the ship of his grace and salvation. And
as he does, he casts his eyes and ours across the waters of
time and says, let us go over to the other side. Let us pass
over to the other side. So Brother Don, you're taking
license with this passage. I remind you what we read in
Psalm 107. This is exactly how the psalmist
speaks. 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. He commandeth and raiseth
the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof, they mount
up to the heaven, They go down again to the depths. Their soul
is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro like a drunken
man. They stagger and write their
wits in. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble. And He
bringeth them out of their distresses. The fact is, whether we're speaking
about one in the trouble of sin's conviction, under the sense of
God's wrath, or we're speaking about one of God's own, a believing
child in trouble in this world. I don't know that we ever pray,
not really, until he brings us to our wits end, until he fixes it so we can do
nothing and we know it. until he fixes it, so we recognize
nothing, nothing can be done by us. Then they cry to the Lord,
and then he maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof
are still. So he bringeth them to their
desired haven. Let me make five brief statements.
I won't be very long. I believe I've got something
for you. Number one, every believer's life is a voyage. As we embark on this voyage,
the Son of God takes us into the good ship Grace and says,
let us pass over to the other side. The fact is, death is often
spoken of poetically as passing over. The crossing of the sea
or the river. We often sing at home, He will
keep me till the river rolls its waters at my feet. Then He'll
bear me safely over where my Savior I shall meet. However,
this passing over the sea is not something we shall do someday. It is something we are doing
every day. We are right now walking through
the valley of the shadow of death. What is your life? It's even
a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away. Job said, My days are swifter
than a weaver's shuttle. Now are my days swifter than
a post. They flee away. They are passed away as the swift
ships, as the eagle that hasteth to the prey. Many of you I recognize I will
see never again, in all likelihood, until eternity. And as I prepare
to minister to you today, working on this message last night and
today, I pray that God will give me grace to preach to you, as
the old writer put it, a dying man to dying men, soon. You and I will meet God in eternity. You may think, well, that's a
long ways off. Don't be so foolish. Soon we
are going to pass from this changing world of time into the unchanging
world of eternity. Here, everything is temporal,
changing, and vanishing. In that world where we're headed,
Everything is eternal and unchanging. How will it be for you in the
swelling of the Jordan? How will it be for you when you
come to meet God Almighty face to face? All right, this is the
first thing. Our life in this world is a voyage.
Second, I want you to see that not only is our life compared
to a voyage, but it's a voyage across the stormy sea. Look at
verse 37 of our text, Mark 4, 37. There arose a great storm
of wind and the wave 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
assures us of safety, no matter the storm. Now, don't fail to
notice this. These disciples were not acting
in disobedience. They were following the master
into the ship. Following his command, he said,
let's get into the ship and go over to the other side. And he
knew exactly where they were going, the storm they must face. He is the one who raised up the
waves. He is the one who raised up the
wind. He is the one who raised up the
storm. And he orders his disciples into
the ship and sends them right smack dab into the eye of a storm
that appeared to be most certainly fatal. Loyalty and obedience
to Christ is often the surest way to difficulty. I know we
live in this day when preachers get on television and beg for
you to send them some money so they can stay on television and
beg for you to send them some more money. And they promise you health,
wealth, and prosperity if you will just believe in Jesus. Let
me tell you something. The path of faithfulness is always
right through the eye of the storm. You won't follow Christ
without difficulty. You will not obey the direction
of God without trouble. It's not possible. Though our
storms are many and varied, really, basically they come from just
two sources. We have to deal with the contrary winds, of our
circumstances without. And those are difficult. But
there are more difficult trials. You turn, if you will, to Romans
chapter 7. I want you to look at two passages
with me. Something more difficult than
the outward circumstances that cause us sorrow and pain. For the believer, for one who
is born of God, the waves of sin and unbelief are far greater. Romans 7, verse 14. Paul, speaking
of the believer's free justification in Christ, says, For we know
that the law is spiritual, But I'm carnal, sold unto sin. For
that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that I do not.
But what I hate, that I do. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then, it is no
more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." What's he talking
about? He's talking about a man himself
with two distinct diametrically opposing natures. Every child
of God is born of the flesh and bears the flesh, but is also
born of the spirit. And that which is that holy thing
created in him cannot sin, but that which he is by nature can
do nothing but sin. Paul says, I consent to the law
that it's good. Now verse 17, now then it is
no more I that do it, no more I that commit the evil, but sin
that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is
in my flesh, in my 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 that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would
not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not,
it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I found
then 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.
This new creature delights in the law of God. 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. Now with that fresh on your mind,
turn back to Psalm 73. Let me give you an example of
the struggle. David says in Psalm 73 verse
1, truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean
heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had
well nigh slipped, for I was envious at the foolish when I
saw the prosperity of the wicked. David's sitting in his home and
he sees his household. His wife despises him. His sons
have rebelled against him. It appears that only Abigail,
Bathsheba, and Solomon reverence David's God. The whole house
is a house full of rebels. It's a constant turmoil, constant
war, the kingdom never at peace. And David looks out over at his
neighbor, the pagan, idolater, who has no regard for God, no
regard for the worship of God, no regard for the things of God.
And there he sits every Thanksgiving day with his family sitting around
the table, their eyes bugging out with fatness, everybody getting
along and doing fine. And David said, I was angry. Oh, I wish I had that. He said
to himself, I've washed my hands in innocence. That is, what good
is it to me to serve God? What he said. You ever wonder
why when you find an old believer, a man or woman, one of God's
saints, you pick up their Bible, the Psalms, the pages in the
Psalms are so thick, We're allowed, Brother Potts, to go with the
man after God's own heart into his closet and hear him say what
we want to say but don't dare say. To cry out to God in honesty. And David goes on in verse 21.
He says, thus my heart was grieved and I was pricked in my reins.
He said, I went into your house and I saw therein, I realized,
God, I've been so foolish. I was as, so foolish was I and
ignorant. I was as a beast before Thee.
Verse 23, Nevertheless, I am continually with Thee. Thou
hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven
but thee? And there is none upon earth
that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. All right, here's the third thing. Our life in this world is a voyage,
a voyage across a troubled sea. But it is a voyage with Christ
our Savior. Blessed be God, we are in the
company and constant presence and protection and care of the
Son of God. Our Lord does not say, go over
to the other side and I will meet you there. He says, let
us pass over unto the other side. And though there arose a great
storm and the waves beat into the ship so that it was now full,
we read that the Lord Jesus was in the hinder part of the ship.
He was silent, but he was there. So it is with us. Our Lord may
appear to be asleep, He may be silent. He may even at times
appear to our feeble, sinful hearts not to care if we perish. But He's always with us. How
I pray God to teach me and teach you to believe Him. Did not our
Savior say, Lo, I am with you always? Did he not promise, I
will never leave thee nor forsake thee? He says, Fear not, for
I am with thee. Be not ashamed, 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. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. and through the rivers they shall
not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. Paul says, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say,
Rejoice. Let your moderation be known
to all men. The Lord is at hand. The word
that's used for moderation in Philippians 4 is only used one
of the time in the scriptures. where Paul speaks of the gentleness
of Christ. He says, children of God, rejoice
in the Lord. Rejoice! Let your gentleness
be known to all men, because the Lord is with you. The Lord's
at hand. Be careful for nothing. No need
to fret and worry. No need to pace the floor. No
need to bite your fingernails. Be careful for nothing. but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving that your requests
be made known unto God and the peace of God which passeth understanding
shall keep your hearts like a guard around you and minds through
Christ Jesus. Alright, here's the fourth thing.
Ours is a voyage marked by miracles. Look at Mark 4.39. 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. Now the Charismatics talk
about miracles. We experience them. They put
on a sham show of tomfoolery the God Saints of men and women
whose biographies are the histories of God's miraculous works. Oh, what a miracle is redemption. God himself took into union with
his being our nature. Jesus Christ, God's darling son,
came into this world as a man. and this one who came here to
redeem us was finally made sin for us and suffered all the wrath
of God in our room instead was slain by the sword of justice
and arose again the third day and there he sits in that same
human body which he assumed when he came into this world. Regeneration,
the new birth, It is not something that's accomplished by me talking
you into something or persuading you of something or by logic
and reason. Oh, no. The new birth is that
which is the work of God the Holy Spirit giving life to the
dead sinner. And the miracle of the resurrection.
Oh, what a miracle that shall be. But still there's more. It is upon the background, the
dark background, of our troubles, that our Lord most clearly displays
His wondrous power and grace. In the fiery furnace of adversity,
He makes known His preserving power and His presence." Those
three Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, cast into the fiery
furnace And he said in Isaiah, the flame shall not kindle upon
thee. What did they lose from that?
When they were brought out of the furnace, they didn't have
on their clothes the smell of smoke. The only thing they lost
were the wreaths by which they had been bound when they were
cast into the furnace. When Daniel is thrown into the
lion's den, he was made to see the Lord's dominion over the
lions. The Lord God who is with us and for us. Is God able to
deliver us? God alone. He is God indeed. One last thing. This life is a voyage. It's a voyage through troubled
seas. It's a voyage in the company
of Christ. It is a voyage full of miracles. And it is a voyage that ought
to be free of fear. Verse 40, He said unto them, Why are you
so fearful? Fear is the rank weed of our
nature. It grows wild in the soil of
unbelief. These poor disciples were so
much like us. They should have been perfectly
calm. And it's easy enough to say that when you're standing
on the rock and everything's dry and no wind blowing. I recall
years ago, many years ago now, The man was in our congregation,
he's a dear friend. He had been recently converted,
a brilliant man, he was a surgeon. And one of our men was dying
with cancer and we were all hurting, his wife especially. And he made
the statement, he said, I don't understand why there's such sadness. And I sat him down when nobody
else was around and I said, You've not been married to somebody
30 years yet and watched them die. Hang on a little while. We are much like these disciples.
So easily brought to fear and unbelief. These disciples should
have been perfectly calm. They were on the master's business.
They were in the master's presence. They had repeatedly seen and
experienced the Master's power and goodness. They should have
most reasonably looked to Christ, but they didn't. Instead of looking
to the Lord God Omnipotent, they looked at the terrible storm. I've had a little experience
along this line. Some of you heard a message I
preached at our place a while back I had a little concern for
my wife. And all I could see was a terrible
storm. Difficulty. They saw nothing
but their own weakness before the storm. The apparent frailty
of their little ship before this great storm. And that's very
much the way we are. The Lord brings us graciously
to our wits end, and sweetly forces us to cast all our care
on Him. And I promise you, you won't
if He doesn't. We will not cast our care on
Him if He doesn't graciously force us to do so, knowing that
He cares for us. Our Savior is the sovereign God
of providence, omnipotent, wise, and good, and He's in the boat
with us. He is Christ in you, the hope
of glory. We sometimes are overly concerned
for God's church, but the church of God, the true church of God
is always safe. She will pass over this sea and
all her members as well. She will be brought to her desired
haven. She will reach the other side.
And not one passenger on board the good ship Grace will be lost
at sea. Our Lord Jesus, is not only in
the boat of providence, he's at the helm. He who is the captain
of our salvation is the captain of all things. He's got the whole
world in his hands. Oh Lord, teach us to trust you. as we ought in the totality of
our lives, in the totality of our beings. Now, let me finish
by applying this story to you who are yet without Christ. I trust that God has brought
you into the deep waters and you begin to reel to and fro
like a drunken man by reason of your soul's trouble. because
the storm of God's wrath beats against you and a screaming conscience
torments you. Cry out from your soul to the
Son of God. Appeal to his great compassion,
Master, carest thou not that I perish? May God the Son arise
and speak peace to your soul. If He will by His Spirit speak
His word of grace and bring you in great calm, He will bring
you to your desired haven. And you will see it and rejoice
in all iniquity shall stop her mouth. And we who are made wise
by His grace will observe these things and understand the loving
kindness of the Lord. Our Lord Jesus said, how is it
that you have no faith? You remember what happened when
Lazarus had died, Martha and Mary sent to him, and the Lord
Jesus came after Lazarus had been dead for three days, and
they kept arguing with him. Martha said, Lord, I know my
brother will rise in the resurrection. And the Lord looked at her and
said, Martha, You're looking at the resurrection. He that
liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Believest thou this?
And then he went out to the tomb to raise Lazarus from the dead.
And he said again to Martha, said I not unto thee that if
thou wouldest believe thou shouldest see the glory
of God. Now hear me, if right now you
believe on the Son of God, you will see the glory of God in
saving sinners by the sacrifice of His Son. You read it earlier,
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. If you will
believe, children of God, you will see God's glory in all things. Martha, if you just trust me,
you'll see God's glory in your brother's sickness, and in his
death, and in his resurrection too. Children of God, believe
Christ, and I promise you, you will see the glory of God displayed
continually before you until at last you live in the presence
of His glory, glorified like the Redeemer. Amen. O Lord God, will you be pleased
to bless your Word to the hearts of these immortal souls for the
glory of your Son. Amen. Thank you very much for
your attention.