I love that song. Would you turn back to our text in
Mark chapter four? Verse 40. And he saith unto them, why are
you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? Now that is what I've entitled
this message. How is it that you have no faith? In Matthew's account of this,
we read, why are you so fearful, O ye of Little faith. And in Luke's account, he says,
where is your faith? And he's speaking to believers,
isn't he? He's speaking to the 12. And they all had faith. But it didn't appear to be an
operation at this time. Would that ever describe you?
You have faith. the gift of God, but there are
times where it does not appear to be in operation. You know, one of the sad things about
unbelief is it has such a low estimate of Christ at its root.
That's what's so evil about it. That's what's so sad about it.
That's what's so wrong about it. When we practice unbelief,
we are saying he is not fit to trust. That's a bad thing, isn't
it? When we worry, we're saying I
don't believe he's in control. Now, he says to the disciples, how is it that you have no faith? Now, look back up at verse 35. And the same day, when the even
was come, he saith unto them, speaking of going over the lake,
let us pass over unto the other side. Now, there were two shores
and a lake between them. And he said, let's pass over
to the other side. Question. Christ made that statement. Did they have any reason to doubt
that they would get to the other side? He said, let's pass over and
reach the other side. Now, to doubt that would be to
doubt the veracity, the truthfulness of Christ's word. He knew they
would reach the other side, didn't he? Verse 36, 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. In Matthew's accounts,
it says they followed him into the ship. And there arose, verse
37, a great storm of water. It's called a squall. It comes out of nowhere. All
of a sudden, the clouds darken, and it's like a tornado hits.
No one was expecting it. And the ship was filled with
water. Luke said it was in jeopardy.
Everybody's lives were in danger, and everybody was scared to death.
And we read in verse 37, And there arose this 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. I love to
think of that. You know, for one thing, the
Lord was and is a man and he needed sleep just like you and
I do. He was tired. And he went to
sleep. And while he was sleeping, he
wasn't worried. He'd never experienced this thing
of worry. He knew his father was in control
of everything. And there he lays asleep. The skies grow dark. A storm comes down with violence.
Waves fill the ship. Everybody's scared for their
life. And he lays there asleep. They didn't have any idea something
was going to take place when they got in the boat. Weather
looked good. You know, I couldn't help but
thinking a couple of weeks ago, boy, the economy was great. Everything
was fine. Something happened. Coronavirus. Nobody expected
it. Here it is. And all of a sudden,
there is jeopardy. All of a sudden, a great wind
comes out of nowhere and attacks you. You didn't see it coming,
and you're ambushed by a storm of sin, a storm of guilt. It took you by surprise, and
now the ship is filled with water, and it seems as if it's going
to sink. And you're going down, and there
he sleeps. He was in the hinder part of
the ship asleep. on a pillow. And they awake him,
and saying to him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? Now, what a horrible thing to
say to the Lord. The Lord came to save them. The Lord came to
die for them. The Lord came to put their sin
away. The Lord came to have mercy on
them. The Lord came to take care of
them. And they say something like this
to the Lord. Don't you care that we're perishing? And I guarantee
you, if we haven't said that, we've thought it. Don't you care
that we are perishing? And there he sleeps with no furrow
on his brow. You see, he's the master of the
seas, billows his will, obeys. Every gust of wind, every crash
of the waves is guided by his sovereign will. Him worry, what
was happening was neither more nor less than his will being
done. You see, he's the Lord. There's
something comforting about that. Master, cares thou not that we
perish? Luke's account says, Master,
Master, we perish. Are you so uncaring about us?
What a thing to charge him with. Are you so uncaring about us?
But I like what Matthew's account says. I believe they said all
these things at different times. Lord, save us. It's my favorite
prayer right there. Lord, save us. And you know, when you need saved,
you're not simply calling master, teacher. It's not as teacher
he saves, it's as Lord he saves. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when Peter was singing Beneath
the Waves, what did he say? Lord, save me. And this is the best prayer me
and you could ever pray. Address who he is. He's the Lord. Save me. Verse 39. And he arose and rebuked the
wind and said unto the sea, Peace, be still." Now, this is important. In Matthew's account, he rebuked
them first. They come in while the storm's
going on and wake him up and say, Master, we're perishing.
Save us. Do something for us. And he rebuked
them then. I'm in the boat. What is there to worry about?
I am in the boat. Whatever's raging going on right
now, don't forget who's in control of it, and he is in the boat. I'm in the ship. I'm the one
who sent the storm. What kind of low estimation we
have of Christ, no matter what's going on, when we know he's in
the ship. when he is in control. Now, notice it says in our text,
and he arose. Now, in Matthew's account, we
know that he rebuked them first, and he's going to rebuke them
again afterwards, after they see the call. But he arose. I can't help but thinking of
the only comfort that I get in this raging storm is that he
arose. What is my confidence of salvation? Did Jesus Christ rise from the
dead? That means He did what the Father sent Him to do. And
that's all my salvation. That's all my comfort. That's
all my joy. That's all my peace. I love that scripture. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who is He that condemns? It's
Christ that died, yea rather, that's risen again. who's even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. He arose and he rebuked the wind and said
to the sea, peace, be still, be muzzled. And the scripture
says the wind ceased. Now try to put yourself in their
place. When you're seeing a raging storm,
and the water's filled with, the boat's filled with water,
and the waves are crashing against the sea, or against the boat,
and the wind, and he gets up and says, peace! Be still! And all of a sudden, the water
is like glass, and there is no wind at all, not even a bit of
breeze. How eerie that must have felt. to watch the wind and the sea
obey his voice. You see, when he speaks, winds
will cease and there will be a great calm. And after they
witness this, he rebukes them again. Why are you so afraid? Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? Why are you so fearful? This question is renewed. Why
are you so fearful? I remember a few years ago, Lynn
and I had gone out to eat at a restaurant on Jefferson Street,
which there's some kind of questionable Jefferson Street Well, if you've
ever been there, you know what I'm saying. And we left the restaurant. We had pretty good ways to go
to get to the car. And we were walking along there,
and two kind of questionable characters came toward us. And
Lynn said, you reckon we ought to go to the other side of the
street? I said, Lynn, I'm here. And her reply was, you don't
exactly impose a very intimidating figure. You know how that made
me feel, you know. But the point is, I don't, somebody
looks at me and they're not going to think, oh boy, we better not
get away from that. No. We're not talking about somebody
like me being in the boat. We're not talking about somebody
like my presence being there. We're talking about the eternal
son of God. We're talking about the creator
of the universe. We're talking about the absolute
sovereign of the seas, the one who controls everybody and everything,
the one who is omnipotent, the one who is good all the time. He's never cruel. He's good all
the time. Whatever he does, is good. Now, why are you so fearful?
The one who is gracious, the one who saves for his own sake
and doesn't have to find a reason in you to do anything for you.
He finds the reason in himself and that's the way he acts. Why
are you so fearful? Where is your faith? Now, let me remind you, lack of faith has as its Source,
a low view and a low estimation of the Son of God. And anytime
my faith is weak and wavering, it's because I have a way too
low a view of the glorious Son of God. That's so it. You know it's so. Verse 40. And he said unto them, why are
you so fearful? How is it you have no faith? And they feared
exceedingly. Now this is a different kind
of fear. This is what is called the fear of God, the fear of
reverence, the fear of awe at the glory of his person. They
just witnessed this. What manner of man is this? that even the winds and the crashing
of the waves obey his voice. What manner of man is this? Well, may the Lord give me the
grace to answer that question, the God-man. The God-man. who is fully God, he who is fully
man, the God-man. Colossians 2 verse 9 says regarding
this one, who the winds and the sea obey his voice, in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Great is the mystery
of God. God was manifest in the flesh. What manner of man is this? The
God man. Now there was a time when he
wasn't man. He didn't become man until he
came into the womb of the Virgin Mary. but he's always been the
eternal son of God. Now, way back before time began,
before there was a creation, before there was an earth, before
there were sun and moon and stars and galaxies, before there were
any angels, when there was nothing but God, God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. worshiping one another, adoring
one another. One God in three distinct persons. Now, the only reason we know
this is because the Bible's made it known. No one would ever know
that God is one God in three distinct persons, but he's made
it known in his word. Now, this one God in three distinct
persons made a covenant for his own glory. Now, he didn't create
man because he was lonely. He didn't create man because
he had needs. He created man for his own glory. But there was a covenant made
before the creation. God the father said, we'll create man in our
own image. God the son said, we'll create
man in our own image. God the Spirit said, we'll create
man in our own image and he will fall. He will fall. The fall of Adam was according
to God's purpose. He will fall. Now, if you look at it any other
way, you're looking at it the wrong way. The fall of Adam. was all according to God's eternal
purpose. He said, in the day you eat thereof,
you shall surely die. He didn't say if you eat. He
said, in the day you do. Now God's in control of everything.
Don't you love it that way? He is in control of everything. He said, we'll make man in our
own image. He'll fall. And for my glory,
the glory of the three persons of the Godhead, We'll save him. And he elected a vast number
out of Adam's race, not all of Adam's race, but a vast number
out of Adam's race and gave them to his son. His son took full,
complete responsibility for their sins and the word was made flesh. You see, man sinned. Man must
die. For Christ to save me, he had
to become flesh. God was manifest in the flesh. In the flesh, he kept the law
for me. In the flesh, he took on my sin
and it became his. In the flesh, he died. In the flesh he was raised from
the dead because God was completely satisfied with what he did. I
love that scripture in 1 John chapter 4 where it says, whoso
confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. is not
of God, that's that spirit of antichrist. You see, we confess,
I'd like to confess this every time I preach. He was before
he came. He's the eternal son of God.
He never began to be. He came in the flesh, God was
manifest in the flesh, and in the flesh he did what he came
to do. He came to save his people from
their sins, and that is exactly what he did. What manner of man
is this? The God-man. What manner of man
is this that controls the weather? The word that was made flesh. And as God-man, he has absolute
authority. Now what does absolute mean?
That means he's in control of everything. And he's the first
cause of everything. There's nothing that is not included
in that statement. He has absolute authority. The winds and the sea obey him. He has absolute power to cause
his will to be done. What manner of man is this? The
God-man. He has the power to say to the
wind, cease. To the waves, be still. Literally,
be muzzled. I like that. Be muzzled. You're
going to do what I say. And that's true with regard to
everybody and everything. He has absolute sovereignty as
the absolute Lord of creation, as the absolute Lord of providence.
Now remember, providence is everything. Everything that happens is his
providence. I hope none of us will say, well, that was providential,
because we're denying what providence is in the first place when we
make a statement like that. Everything is providential. He is in complete
control of everything and everybody in every event. He is the absolute
Lord of salvation. Now, the sun refused to shine
when he was on the cross. Why? He told it to. It had to be what he said to
do. The earthquake, the rocks went, rent. Why? He told them
to. The graves of dead saints were
opened up and they walked out. Why? He told them to. Somebody says, explain that to
me. I'm not even going to attempt it, but I know it's in the Bible
and I believe it. Whatever happens, it's because
he told it to happen. Everything and what joy I what
peace I have from that You see this one who is the first cause
behind everything is the one who can bring good out of evil
The only one who can bring good out of evil and the one who always
does bring good out of evil he controls the winds and the rain
and the sea and everything else and he is the absolute They said,
Lord, save us. We perish. That's the one good
thing they said. Do you know before there was
ever a sinner, there was a Savior? He's called the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Before there was ever a sinner,
there was a Savior. Now that lets you know that the
fall was ordained of God according to His purpose for His glory.
And, you know, I love saying that because I think if people
say, well, you're saying God's the author of evil. You can say
whatever you want, but I say God's God. He's sovereign. He
controls everything. He said, I form the light. I
create darkness. I make peace. I create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things. Somebody says, well, that's talking
about calamities. Well, maybe, but it's talking about everything
else, too. He is Lord. and he's most especially the
Lord of salvation. I love 1 Timothy 1 15, thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. When he said it is finished,
every one of his people were saved from their sins. Now I'd like to close by looking
at Psalm 23. Now at this time, their problem
was too low a view of the Lord Jesus Christ. That was all their
problem. And you know, that's the worst
thing that anybody can be guilty of. You know, if I, I've said
this before, but it goes out to, I've got a real, Problem
in my life. I've got I've got great sin in
my life and you'd be thinking what's he doing? Is he being
unfaithful his wife? Is he robbing banks? Is he? What's
he doing? if I said Unbelief you think
that's not I'm glad it's that no, that's the worst thing that
could be said about me Worst thing that could be said about
you unbelief lack of trust of the glorious Son of God. But
here, David says, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Because my shepherd is the Lord,
I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. You know what that means? I shall
not want rest. I shall not want rest. The rest
of believing. What are you doing when you're
resting? You're not working. You're resting. You know, somebody,
I think it was, I think it was Rachel's daddy that said to this,
Paul Harry said this to me Sunday. I love this statement. He said,
I used to hear repent and believe the gospel, and I'd think, try
harder and believe the gospel. And then when the Lord taught
me what that means, that's quit trying and believe the gospel.
I like that. That's rest. Rest. And then he
says, he leads me beside the still waters, waters of quietness,
waters of peace. Because the Lord is my shepherd,
I will not want peace. As long as he's on the throne,
peace. As long as he was raised from
the dead, peace. You see, all my salvation was
accomplished and God was satisfied with what he did and everybody
he did it for. That means God is satisfied with me because
my shepherd is the Lord. I'm not going to want peace. Verse three, he restoreth my
soul. How many times have you needed
restoration? I need restoration every day. He restoreth my soul. I'm not gonna lack restoration. He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's sake because my shepherd is the
Lord. I'm not gonna lack righteousness. I've got that glorious breastplate
of His righteousness and I'm never going to lack righteousness
because His righteousness is my righteousness. It never goes
sour, it never goes smaller, it never can be anything but
what it is, perfect righteousness, the righteousness of God. Because
my shepherd is the Lord, I shall not lack righteousness for His namesake. I shall not
lack a reason for Him to bless me. I shall not lack righteousness
for his namesake. That's the only reason God gives
me what he gives me, but I need no other reason. He does it for
the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. He saved them for his namesake.
Verse four, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I'll fear no evil for thou art with me. I'll never
lack companionship. Lord's with me. because my shepherd
is the Lord. The Lord is always with me, whether
I feel it or whether I don't feel it doesn't make any difference.
The Lord is with me. The Lord is there. And then he
said, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. I'm not going
to lack comfort as long as He arose, I've got
every reason to feel fullness of comfort because of what he
did. He that spared not his own son
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not? What could
prevent him from freely giving us all things? Because my shepherd
is the Lord, I'm not gonna lack comfort. Verse five, thou preparest a
table before me in the presence of mine enemies, I'm not gonna
lack provision. He prepares a table for me, a
table of grace, a table of mercy, a table of love in the very presence
of my enemies. Who are your enemies? My sins. And he prepares this table right
before him, even now. Thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over. I'm not going to lack joy because
the Lord is my shepherd. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. I'm not going to lack perseverance. He's going to have goodness and
mercy following me, prod me along, not let me go. I'm not going
to lack perseverance. I'm going to continue all the
way to the end, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I will not lack a place to abide
forever." Now, look at the difference of this and, Lord, carest thou
not that we perish? These fellows were believers.
This was Peter and John and James. As a matter of fact, I dare say
their faith was greater than ours. But here they come across
with this statement. And that's why the Lord said,
how is it that you don't have faith? Where is your faith? I'm here. And that's enough. May the Lord give us that assurance. Let's pray together. Lord, how we thank you for the greatness of your person.
and for what a shepherd you are. Our father, we thank you for
giving us your son as our shepherd. And we thank you for your spirit
that causes us to believe him. Lord, we confess our constant
tendency toward unbelief. We pray for forgiveness and cleansing.
And Lord, enable us to enter into the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. Bless this message for Christ's
sake, in his name we pray, amen. Matt Cumley's son.