Mark chapter four and verse 35. And while you're doing that,
let me just say that, as David mentioned, I'll be returning
just for a short visit to Papua New Guinea in about 10 days,
I think. And just want to tell you again
how much of a blessing you have been to us. And I know you'll
continue to be, but not just in the time that we've been here
with you. And that certainly has been a
great blessing to our family, to my mom and dad, to Robin and
I. And it's such a privilege to
preach the gospel to you. And I want you to know that. And I want, too, to ask you to
remember the work in New Guinea. Remember this time as I go. It's
a short time, but ask the Lord to make it profitable. That the
gospel would, as Paul prayed, would have free course. And it
would be an encouraging time for the churches, for the Lord's
people there. And we pray above all that it
would be honoring to the Lord. I hope to encourage the churches
there more than anything else. And I was encouraged by the message
this morning that Ken brought of how it's God's purpose for
his church to proclaim the gospel throughout the world. And lastly,
what a privilege it is. It just still is a wonder to
me that God called me into this ministry. And I'm thankful to
be here with you today, and so let's consider his word here
in Mark chapter four, And let me just read that, verse 35. On the same day, when evening
had come, he said to them, let us cross over to the other side.
And this is Jesus, of course. Now when they had left the multitude,
they took him along in the boat as he was, and other little boats
were also with him. And a great windstorm arose,
and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.
But he was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke him
and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? And then he arose and rebuked
the wind and said to the sea, peace, be still. And the wind
ceased and there was a great calm. But he said to them, why
are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?
And they feared exceedingly and said one to another, who can
this be? What manner of man is this that
even the wind and the sea obey him? Now, this is a remarkable
story, as every story is about Jesus. And I know I say that
all the time, but it's true, isn't it? It's true. It's a short
story, but it's full of great things. All the elements of the
gospel are here. A great storm, a people in great
need, a great savior, a savior who is a man sleeping in the
stern of the boat. A savior who is God, the Almighty,
whom even the winds and the sea obey. a savior who cares, and
so much more. Why am I preaching from this
portion today? Well, I want us to consider,
above all else, what is Jesus like? What manner of man is this? From time to time, I've been
bringing messages, as David alluded to, on the first chapter of Philippians. And we're up to the portion where
the Apostle Paul makes this statement, to die is gain. And then he tells
us why. He says, to depart and to be
with Christ is far better. Far better to be with Christ
than anyone in this life, far better than anything in this
world. far better than everything in this universe. The ultimate
of glory is to be with Christ. In recent years, I've realized
how little I really know about that. But I do know that the more we
know of Christ, what he's like, the more we'll love him. And
the more we love him, the more we'll desire to be with him,
and the more we'll understand when Paul says it's better to
be with Christ. We could in fact say that the
Bible in its entirety is given to us for this specific purpose,
to tell us about the Lord Jesus, to tell us what he's like. We
know that Jesus himself said, all the scriptures testify of
me. He was referring to the Old Testament
scriptures. And of course, we know that all
the New Testament revelation is an entire account of the gospel
revelation of Jesus Christ. There are portions in this word,
portions in the word of God, which we would call more doctrinal,
more theological, which reveal to us this great work of redemption
which Christ accomplished in great detail. And I think of
the book of Hebrews as an example, just one example. And I remember
once preaching to the pastors and teachers of the churches
in the Minami region of Papua New Guinea on this, on the first
few verses of Hebrews 1. And one of the men, one of the
pastors was so moved by the things here which tell us of what Christ
is like. That God has in these last days
spoken to us by his son, whom he has appointed heir of all
things. Through whom he made the worlds,
who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of
his person, upholding all things by the word of his power. When he had by himself, by himself,
purged our sins and sat down at the right hand of God." You
hardly even need to preach, do you? To have those verses speak
to you. And you know, when I was finished
preaching, tears were streaming down this man's face and he said,
he is a different kind of man. And that's true, isn't it? That's
true. What manner of man is this? But
you know, there are other scriptures and the Gospels and the Psalms
in particular give us much greater insight into the more intimate
details of the words that Jesus spoke, the things that he did,
the thoughts that came into his mind, the emotions and the desires
of his heart as he lives a life and dies a death like no other
man ever has or ever will or ever could. The disciples exclaim
in amazement, what manner of man is this? And that's an important
question, isn't it? Who is this man and what is he
like? Well, as you know, this story
tells us a little about Jesus. It has three major parts, a great
storm, a perishing people, and a wonderful savior. It began
on the same day when evening had come. He said to them, let
us depart and go to the other side. And when they had left the multitude,
they took him along in the boat as he was. They took him along
as he was. Now that seems like a strange
statement, and you know, I wasn't sure exactly what The Lord intends
in that. They took him along as he was.
What does it mean? I think it's like the statement
that we read in John 4. You remember when Christ comes
to that well, the woman of Samaria, and he's tired, and he's weary,
and he's hungry, and he's thirsty. And we read there that he sat
thus by the well, meaning that's how he sat. And I think the same
is here. They took him into the boat as
he was. Well, how was Jesus? He was completely
exhausted, utterly exhausted. Why? Because of his ceaseless
labor on that day. On that same day in the evening
they went into the boat and in the preceding chapters we see
all that Jesus had been doing in that day and previous days. If you glance back you see an
account of continuous activity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
went about doing good and only doing good, doing works of mercy
and grace preaching continually the words of the truth of the
gospel. Just look back in Mark 3, just
as an example, in verse 7 there. Mark 3 in verse 7, we read, but
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude
from Galilee followed him from Judea. and Jerusalem, and Edomia,
and beyond the Jordan, and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great
multitude, when they heard how many things he was doing, came
to him. So he told his disciples that
a small boat should be kept ready for him, because of the multitude,
lest they should crush him. For he healed many, so that as
many as had afflictions pressed about him to touch him. Following this, he goes up on
the mountain with the disciples and sets apart those 12 men.
And then scribes come down from Jerusalem, harass him. He's preaching
in all the midst of this. Then his family comes. And then
in chapter four, it says he again began to teach by the sea. And
a great multitude gathered to him so that he got into a boat
and sat on it in the sea and the whole multitude was on the
land facing the sea and he taught them many things by parables. And then you see the Lord is
preaching the entire day. Preaching in these parables.
Now in all of this Jesus is out in the sun, out in the elements,
of the day being pressed by this multitude of people constantly
preaching until the evening had come and he's exhausted. The
Lord goes about this work as if these things were matters
of life and death. And they are, aren't they? Have
you thought about that when we read these accounts of the ministry
of Christ in the Gospels? It's remarkable, remarkable all
that Christ did. And here he is, he lays his head
on a headrest in the stern of the boat and as soon as they
depart for the other side we read in the other accounts that
Jesus immediately falls asleep. And this great windstorm arose
and Jesus continues to sleep. In the midst of this tempest,
think the crash of the seas, the pounding of the waves against
the boat, the howling of the winds, the shouts of the terrified
disciples as they strive with everything they have to survive. And Jesus sleeps. Think of this. He who never slumbers
nor sleeps, sleeps. Here in the stern of the boat
is a man just like you and me, physically, emotionally, psychologically,
and mentally exhausted, in this case, beyond measure. How true that statement is that
we have not a high priest who has not been touched with the
feelings of our infirmities. He understands. He knows. Why is he even here? Why is the eternal son of God,
the Lord of glory, the creator and sustainer of all things,
who upholds all things by the word of his power? Why is he
even here? A man in the stern of this boat,
in a storm, being drenched by waves on the Sea of Galilee. Because he cares. He cares for
poor sinners. He came to save his people from
their sins. Why is he in this state of complete
and utter exhaustion? Because he cares for his people.
This is one of the chief attributes of the Good Shepherd, isn't it?
This distinguishes him from all others. The hireling flees, we
read there in John 10, don't we? The hireling flees because
he is an hireling and cares not for the sheep. But not Christ,
not the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd cares for the
sheep. He gives his life for the sheep. Jesus said to them, let us cross
over to the other side. Verse 36, now when they had left
the multitude they took him along in the boat as he was and other
little boats were also with him and a great windstorm arose and
the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling
but he was in the stern asleep on a pillow and they awoke him
and said, teacher do you not care that we are perishing? You know when they set out the
weather was good. They set out upon a tranquil
sea in the calm of the evening without any thought of the coming
storm. They launched out and as they
sailed over the sea, the wind began to pick up and the sea
became rough. But there were at least four
experienced fishermen by my count in this boat. Peter, James, John,
and Andrew. They had spent their whole lives
on this very lake. They are at home at the sea and
there's no doubt they had weathered many storms. This was their strength. They were expert sailors and
no doubt they went about doing what they knew how to do and
felt that they had it under control. But this was a great windstorm. A storm like they'd never experienced
before. Matthew says it was a great tempest. The waves became huge and the
driving gale and beat into the boat and the boat begins to fill. These disciples have exhausted
all their abilities, all their strength, and they knew that
everything was beyond their control. It would have been a terrifying
experience. They knew that they were at the
point of perishing. You know, without control, there's
chaos. And with chaos, there's death.
If the sailor is not in control of the vessel, he'll perish.
If the farmer is not in control of the farm and there's chaos,
there'll be no food. And he'll perish. You can take
anything. Anything is an example. Control is important. But what
we need to learn is that we're not in control of anything. God is in control. Without him,
we can do nothing. It is in him we live and move
and have our being. I'm not just speaking about the
Lord's people have been saved by his grace. I'm speaking about
every living thing. We tend to think that we can
do things without Christ. We do. We act that way. But without
him, we can do nothing. Nothing. And I've been learning
this from the day the Lord first saved me, and I'm learning still. This whole week, I struggled
with this message. Up until yesterday morning, this
message was like the chaos in that boat. And as I was preparing,
the Lord showed me, I'm doing exactly what the disciples do.
I can't prepare a message. Without him, I can do nothing. running in our own wisdom and
our own strength. Well, the situation is desperate. The disciples have done all they
can. The boat is in a grip of this monstrous storm. The waves
are crashing in and filling the boat and they know, they know,
they're fishermen, sailors, they know the boat is going down.
Then they do what? Then they think of Jesus. Where
has he been? He's been with them the whole
time. Why then, in the midst of this great trial, a life-threatening
trial, a terrifying trial, did it take them so long to think
about Jesus and to cry to him for help? Good question. I wish I could tell you I don't
understand the disciples actions at all, but I understand them
perfectly because I do it all the time. And I suspect you do
too. What's happened? The storm has
taken their eye off of Christ. It's blurred their sight of Jesus. Isn't this what happened? Their
eyes? Their mind, their strength are
all taken up by the circumstances that they find themselves in.
Their focus is on themselves and on the storm. They have taken
their eyes of faith off Jesus. And the disciples waken Jesus
and say, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? How
piercing and heartbreaking it must have been for Jesus to hear
his disciples say that. The spirit later, listen, Jesus
didn't rebuke them for this, but the spirit did. The Holy
Spirit, that sovereign spirit, he did rebuke them. He rebukes
them later in this text that he revealed to Mark. Can you
think of the disciples later reading the Gospel of Mark and
reading this? Hearing themselves say, do you
not care? It's a rebuke I know I need and
perhaps you do too. The Lord is with his people. He's with his people in a much
more profound way than just his physical presence in a boat.
He's in our heart and in our mind by the indwelling of the
Spirit. In Isaiah 43, that great chapter,
we read these words of Jehovah to his people Israel. When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you. That's a great promise, isn't
it? The Lord uses these storms to
test our faith, to cause us to ask the question, do I even have
faith at all? Do I trust him? Do I trust Christ
to care for that which is my most precious possession, my
soul? Do I need him? Do I depend upon
him? Do I believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ? Well, what can we say of the
faith of the disciples? It was little, but it was faith. Here in this account, Jesus says,
have you no faith, but meaning not saving faith, no faith in
this instant. The faith of the disciples was little, but it was faith. They turned to Jesus in that
critical moment, at that critical point from all appearances. This is just a man asleep in
the stern of the boat on a headrest. Who is he? the son of a carpenter
in Nazareth. What can he do to help the disciples
in this case, in this instance? Why would these experienced fishermen
think he could help them in these circumstances? Because they knew
and believed that Jesus could save them, didn't they? It's that simple. It's that simple. Have you received the gift of
faith? Your faith may be small and my
faith may be small, but it is faith. And we will cry to Christ
in our trouble. True faith cries to Christ. True
faith will always cry to Christ, to Christ alone. There is When
I think of this, it just is such a rich blessing to me. There
has never been a man, woman, or child in the thousands of
years of this world who have cried out to Christ and have
not been heard. Not one. Not one. There's never been one who cried
out for mercy who did not receive mercy. There's never been one
who cried out for forgiveness of sins who did not receive forgiveness. Never been one who cried out
to be saved who was not saved. And there never will be as long
as the world will last. How do I know this? Because Jesus
himself said, all that the Father gives me will come to me. and the one who comes to me I
will by no means cast out. Now think of the noise of this
storm. I know we can't comprehend it. My father was in a hurricane
in the Philippines once, and the thing that he never forgot
was the noise of the storm. When he'd tell me about that
storm, he'd always focus on that. He said it was incomprehensible
to someone who hasn't gone through it. The noise of the storm didn't
waken Jesus. The crashing waves didn't waken
Jesus. The great heaving of the boat
crashing on the waves didn't waken Jesus. The water pouring
into the boat didn't waken Jesus, no. But the cry of his people
did. The cry of his disciples did.
He heard their cry, didn't he? And he arose. Well, you know, these circumstances
teach us much, but these circumstances too, temporal in nature, point
us to the spiritual reality of that inward storm. Listen to
me now. There's an inward storm. We're
so terrified of these temporal storms, but there's an inward
storm, a storm far more lethal than any storm on the Sea of
Galilee. In Isaiah 57 we read, the wicked
are like the troubled sea. This turmoil of the troubled
sea is representative of a storm in the soul of every man born
into this world, every man, woman, and child. The storm of sin in the soul. This is the storm of death. This is a killer storm. This
storm will not just kill the body, but will take you down
into the darkness of the depths and destroy both soul and body
in hell. Sometimes the Lord uses the storms
of life to cause a person to see the inward storm that ravages
their soul. These storms come suddenly and
unexpectedly. They shred your life. They batter
you on every side, tear away all that you trust in, overcome
all your strength. And you know, until you know,
that this storm is too great for you. And you know you're
perishing. And the Lord brings you to this
place where you fall down before him and cry, Lord, save me, for
I am perishing. The storms of life are inevitable. They will come. And they'll come
when we least expect them. Are we prepared for the storm?
What will we do in the storm? How will we react in the storm? And what will be the outcome?
These are serious questions, aren't they? Serious questions
for every one of us to think about. There will only be one of two
outcomes for every man. Either the storm of his soul
will be quieted by the one who says, peace be still, or you
will perish for eternity in the depths of the storm of God's
judgment for the sin of your soul. In verse 39, we read, then he
arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace be still. And the wind ceased and there
was a great calm. But he said to them, why are
you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?
And they feared exceedingly and said to one another, what manner
of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? It's undeniable that there's
something impressive about the sea, isn't there? Robin and I
used to spend time along the rugged coast of Northern California. And to see the power of those
waves come crashing into the coast, into that rocky cliff
coast, was awesome. The speed at which they'd come
and the weight in which they'd come. But that's only a mere shadow
of what the sea must have been doing in this great windstorm.
Waves rising like mountains, then dropping the vessel down
into the trough as if the sea was going to swallow them up.
The noise, the pounding waves against the boat, that roar of
the wind, and the lashing wind-driven rain, and no doubt, too, The
groanings of every fitting of that boat. And then Jesus arose. The power. And the majesty of Christ standing
in that boat. And saying. To the wind. Rebuking the wind. and saying
to the sea, peace, be still. And immediately the wind ceased,
and there was not just a calm, but a great calm. The sea was
like glass. By the power of his word, he
speaks, and it's done. The winds and the waves still
know their creator. We sing that in a hymn, don't
we? They still know the voice of him who ruled below and still
rules below. In Psalm 93, we read, the floods
have lifted up, O Lord. The floods have lifted up their
voice. The floods lift up their waves.
The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters,
than the mighty waves of the sea. Well, what effect did the calming
of this terrible storm have on the disciples? In the storm, they thought they'd
reached the point where they would perish in the sea. And
they were afraid, weren't they? They were afraid, they feared.
I think it's fair to say that they were terrified. But when the Lord, by the word
of his mouth, quiets the wind and calms the waves, they're
more afraid than they were in the storm. They feared exceedingly,
it says. Why? because they knew more of what
Jesus is like. They had a greater understanding
of who he is. They feared him with that fear
of awe and reverence. These disciples no doubt began
to realize that they had a sense, a little sense of what Isaiah
was speaking about when he saw the Lord. Remember in Isaiah
6? And Isaiah saw the Lord sitting
on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe
filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim, each
one had six wings. With two he covered his face,
with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one
cried to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his
glory. Who is this person that Isaiah
saw? He was this man standing right here in the boat on the
Sea of Galilee. And when confronted with the
splendor, the majesty, the glory, the holiness of Christ, what
happened to Isaiah? What did he do? He said, woe
is me, for I am undone. Because I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the king. the Lord of hosts. Isaiah feared
exceedingly, just as the disciples feared exceedingly. They said
to one another, what manner of man is this that even the winds
and the waves obey him? The disciples, too, had been
thinking about the storm, hadn't they? about the storm, about themselves,
about what they needed to do to survive, about whether they
would survive, and no doubt a thousand other things. They hadn't been thinking about
Jesus. But now that's changed, hasn't it? Now their focus is
on Christ. What manner of man is this? The more we know of what Christ
is like, the more we'll focus on him. What manner of man is this, the
disciples ask. Well, let me close then with
this answer. He is the only one who can save
his people from perishing in the storm of their own iniquity.
He is the one who spoke all things into existence and upholds all
things by the word of his power, the omnipotent God. But listen
now, he cannot speak away the sin and the iniquities of his
people. He can't do it. Even the word
of his power cannot take away sin. He can't speak to the storm of
the sin-ravaged soul and say, peace be still, and the sin is
covered. No. Something far greater was
required to purge your sin and my sin. Christ had to suffer
a far greater storm than will ever be able to comprehend the
storm of God's justice and the storm of God's wrath for sin. Turn over to Psalm 69. Psalm
69. And let's just look at a couple
of these psalms. A few verses in each one. In the garden of Gethsemane, As the Lord begins to take that
awful cup of the wrath of God, we hear him cry, my soul is exceedingly
sorrowful, even unto death. The magnitude of the suffering
that the soul of God would cry out like this. In Gethsemane,
we only catch glimpses of the incomprehensible suffering of
our Lord Jesus Christ. But in the Psalms, we're given
insight into the thoughts that he thought and the prayers that
he made. Here is the mind of Christ in
the storm of God's wrath. Isaiah 69, look at that first
verse there. Save me, O God, for the waters
have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire where there
is no standing. I have come into deep waters
where the floods overflow me. I am weary with my crying. My
throat is dry. My eyes fail while I wait for
my God. Those who hate me without a cause
are more than the hairs of my head. They are mighty who would
destroy me. Why is he in these deep waters? Why do the floods of God's wrath
overflow him? Because we stole. We stole. Listen. They are mighty
who would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully. Though I
have stolen nothing, I still must restore it. Why is he in these deep waters?
Because we stole. We stole and he restores. We
sinned and he satisfied justice. He bore our sins and carried
our sorrows. Turn over to Psalm 88. Now Jesus hung upon the cross
for hours in an agony of suffering before his death. Have you thought
about that? Have you thought as Jesus hung
In that agony, what did he think about? What did he feel? In this psalm, like others, we're
given thoughts and scriptures that were in the heart and in
the mind of Christ as he hung upon the cross of Calvary in
the hours before his death. Psalm 88 verse 1, Oh Lord, God
of my salvation, I have cried out day and night before you.
Let my prayer come before you. Incline your ear to my cry, for
my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to the
grave. I am counted with those who go
down to the pit. I am like a man who has no strength,
adrift among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom
you remember no more. and who are cut off from your
hand. You have laid me in the lowest
pit, in darkness, in the depths. Your wrath, your
wrath lies heavy upon me, and you have afflicted me with all
your waves. This is a storm like no other
storm. Verse 14, Lord, why do you cast
off my soul? Why do you hide your face from
me? I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth. I suffer your terrors. I am destroyed. Your fierce wrath has gone over
me. Your terrors have cut me off. They came round me all day long
like water. What manner of man is this? Jesus died a death that no other
man could die. He drinks the cup and suffers
the storm of the wrath of God. The wrath of a holy God, why? For the sins of his people. He came into deep water and the
floods overflow him He went down into the deep, into the darkness,
into the depths. And he cried, your wrath lies
heavy upon me, and you have afflicted me with all your waves. Jesus satisfied the justice of
God. And he swallowed up the storm
of God's wrath. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. This, this is what Jesus is like. Amen.