Well, please open your Bibles again to Luke chapter 8, the passage that Jeff read for us. And before we get there, I'll just give you a heads up. At the end of the service, after I make a few announcements, Shane McCosby is going to come up and share a little bit about the Southern Baptist Convention, which he was able to attend a couple of weeks ago in Dallas. And Shane is a member here, and I'm glad that he was able to travel there and be part of the Southern Baptist Convention, a key piece of our denomination, this annual meeting that happens in a different city each year, and this year it was in Dallas. So at the end of the service, Shane will come up and just share just briefly for a few minutes about some of his reflections on that gathering. And then after we're dismissed after the service, Shane would be happy to talk with any of you or answer any questions about his time there. Well today we continue in our study through the Gospel of Luke and part of the passage this morning as I already mentioned is Jesus calming a storm a fascinating event which shows that Jesus has authority even over the winds and the waves even wind and water obey him. You know you learn things about a person as you observe who and what they have authority over. Think about this example. If as a kid, if you went into work with your mom or dad and up to that point you had observed the authority that your parents have in your home, that they're the ones who tell the kids to clean up their room and to make your bed, eat your vegetables, do your homework, all of those things, you have seen and experienced, personally experienced that authority of your parents in your life. But then you go into work with them for a day and you realize, wow, you know, mom, dad, they have quite a bit of authority at their job too. They're giving directions to all different people and all those other people are doing what they're told to do by your mom or dad. Imagine if your parent was a military official or the president of a big company. Spending a day at work with them would greatly expand your view of their authority and of their identity. You'd be realizing new aspects of who they are and what they're capable of accomplishing and who they're the boss of. Well, for the disciples, as they're spending all this time with Jesus, seeing him in a variety of contexts and observing all the different ways he demonstrates his authority, it's a mind-blowing experience for the disciples again and again and again. If we were portraying this in comic book form, a graphic novel, we could have a picture of the disciples after each of these astounding things which Jesus does to show his authority. The disciples could be pictured like that little emoji, you know, at the top of their heads exploding after each of these things. Jesus teaches with authority. You know, boom, it's mind-blowing. for the disciples and others who are witnessing this. We've never heard anyone teach like this before. Jesus casts out demons. Again, mind-blowing. He has authority over the evil spirits. Jesus heals people of their diseases, even lepers and paralytics. He just speaks and people are healed. This is power like none of them have ever witnessed And Jesus doesn't even need to be in the same place as the person he heals, does he? Like we saw with the centurion's servant in chapter 7. Jesus just says the word and the servant is healed. And remember what happened right after that in chapter 7. Remember what happened in the town of Nain? The widow's son had died and Jesus raised the widow's son from the dead. Again, mind blowing. Then at the end of chapter seven, remember what Jesus said to the woman who had a bad reputation because of her past sins, who came and she washed Jesus' feet with her tears and her hair and anointed Jesus' feet with ointment and Jesus told her, your sins are forgiven. And again, this is mind-blowing, too, because who can forgive sins except God alone? Again and again and again, in a variety of ways, Jesus is showing his authority. He is the boss over the demons, over diseases, even over death, and he has the divine authority to forgive sins. And as we'll marvel at today in the miraculous calming of the storm, Jesus is the boss of the wind and the waves too. He can tell them what to do as well. That's in verses 22 to 25 of our passage and we'll come to that as the third and final part of today's sermon. But we'll begin with the two brief passages that come right before that. What Jesus teaches about a lamp on a stand in verses 16 through 18. and what Jesus teaches about his true family in verses 19 through 21. So, hopefully you have a copy of God's Word open in front of you. We'll start in verses 16 through 18 with this lamp illustration that Jesus uses. And the point he's making here in verses 16 through 18 is take care how you hear. Okay, so this is the first heading we'll look at this morning, take care how you hear. Let me read again just verses 16 through 18 and we'll see this main point, especially at the beginning of verse 18. So Jesus, he's just told the parable of the sower, the parable of the soils, however you want to describe that parable. And then he's also explained the purpose of the parables and has explained the parable of the soils. And now he continues And he says in verse 16, no one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. And then here's the main point in verse 18, take care then how you hear. For to the one who has, more will be given. And from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away." Now that main point there in verse 18, that's actually the main point not just of these verses, but I think it's the main point of the parable of the soils as well, which comes right before this. Look back to verse 8 in the middle of the parable of the soils. Remember what Jesus said? there at the end of verse eight, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. And what are we to hear from the parable of the soils? This is two weeks ago now, Dalton preached last Sunday, but two weeks ago we were studying the parable of the soils. Jesus teaches us there that lots of people hear the word in some sense. And you can scan through verses eight through 15 and notice the repeated references to hearing, or heard, or hear. It's a number of times there in those verses. Jesus teaches us that various people hear the word of God, but for many, either the devil snatches it away, or the trials of life cause it to wither, or the pleasures of life choke it out. So there's those three different categories, but then it's the fourth category we learn that there are those who really hear, not just superficially hear, but they really and truly hear the word of God. They take care how they hear, and they hear the word of God in such a way that it produces fruit in their lives. By the grace of God, their lives produce much spiritual fruit. So that's the point of the parable of the soils. And now, after Jesus gives another little parable about a lamp, he then comes to this very pointed exhortation to each and every one of us, take care how you hear. The lamp is another way of picturing the word of God shining into our lives. We can think of the word of God as seed falling upon soil. That's one way that Jesus describes it for us. And now we can think of the word of God as the light from a lamp shining into our lives. And there are two responses. With the parable of the soils, Jesus described four different responses, but really it boils down to just two. And then here with the lamp, there's two responses. The first, which is absurd, is to cover up the light, to cover the lamp, to cover it with a jar. or to put it under a bed. This is absurd. Why is this absurd? Well, it defeats the purpose of the lamp, right? If you cover it up, you can't benefit from its light. And that's what it's there for, is to illumine what's around it. And the kind of lamp Jesus describes here, remember this is from all the way back in the first century, 2,000 years ago, he's not describing the lamps we have in our homes that you can plug into an electrical outlet. Now this is an oil lamp with an open flame. Archeologists find lots and lots of these. And I have a slide here with a couple pictures. This is an oil lamp with an open flame that Jesus is describing. This picture, you see a little oil jar and then with the oil lamp. And another slide here as well, this is an archeologist or an archeological artifact. If it was fancier, you know, you can imagine something like the genie's lamp like in Aladdin, but here's an artifact dug up somewhere in Israel. There's an opening for the oil to be poured in and another spot for the wick. So, imagine lighting that up and putting it under your bed. I mean, that's a fire hazard, right? You're going to have a house fire on your hands pretty quick. So, that's one reason this would be absurd to put it on your bed. That's just my imagination, though. That's beside the point. The point here is what? Take care how you hear. And if you're not truly listening to the word, if you're choking out the word, or if you're covering up the light in some way by putting it under a jar or trying to hide it under the bed, well then you're hearing without really hearing. And that's a very dangerous place to be. I can't help but think of a very tragic example of this from the news just a little over a week ago. the guy in Minnesota who showed up at the door of two homes shooting two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses, killing the one couple. And as I watched this on the news, grieving this senseless violence, I then heard the reporter describe the murderer, Vance Belter, as a person who claimed to be a born-again Christian. And I grieved all the more that someone who is carrying out such horrific evil is someone who has also identified himself as a follower of Christ and I cringe to think how examples like this distort the way others view Christianity. But as I consider what Jesus is teaching us here in Luke 8 in the parable of the soils and the exhortation to take care how you hear, I can't help but think of Vance Belter as a very scary and extreme example of someone who hears without hearing. He has heard the word of God in some sense, but not in a real or true sense that has changed his life. He knows some things about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the Bible but the real message of the gospel has not found good soil in his heart. The light of the good news has not pierced into the darkness of his soul, at least not yet. So let's heed the warnings and the exhortations of Jesus to take care how we hear. The light of God's word, the light of the gospel needs to shine brightly, uncovered, continually searching our hearts to locate and then evacuate the dark idols that remain in our affections. What gives additional weight to this warning in verse 18, this exhortation to take care how you hear, We also consider the statements immediately before and after it. You see this in the context here? And these statements, they may seem a little bit mysterious at first, but I think we can understand both of these statements, the one in verse 17 and then the one that comes in verse 18. I think we can understand these in terms of the coming future judgment. So think about these statements in terms of the coming future judgment. Verse 17, Jesus says, for nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. So when Jesus returns, everything will come to light. The reality of each person's heart will be known. Those who have only heard in a superficial sense, without really hearing, without truly being saved, that will become apparent. And the true believers will be separated from those who have falsely professed to be believers. And then what Jesus says in the remainder of verse 18, right after the exhortation to take care then how you hear, he says, for to the one who has, more will be given. and from the one who has not even what he thinks that he has will be taken away. Here's additional motivation to hear rightly because when we really hear God's word we'll get more and more spiritual benefit the more we dig into God's word with the Holy Spirit guiding us and illumining our minds. And as we humbly put ourselves under the authority of God's word, we're just going to get more and more and more blessing, more fruit. But for those who hear without hearing, well, they'll come to the end when Jesus returns. And what they think that they had, even that will be taken away. So these are weighty statements and warnings Jesus gives here. And we should understand Jesus is speaking here to us in love. He's speaking the truth in love to us. Let's heed his kind words of warning and exhortation. And how would we do that? How would we respond? How should we respond to this? Well, for starters, spend time in God's word every day. OK? I know you're busy. We're all busy, right? But brothers and sisters, we must make this a priority. We must make God's Word a priority in our lives to read and listen to and meditate on and memorize God's Word. And not just for information for our brains, but for life transformation. We must listen to God's word and we must take care how we listen. Let me say a couple of things about how we listen by way of application. Here are just two quick things to consider. Number one, listen to God's word for yourself mainly. Listen to God's word for yourself mainly don't fall into a pattern of listening to God's word and mainly thinking of how certain other people need to heed the rebukes and warnings of scripture. The Bible says don't gossip and you're thinking oh I know I know who needs to hear that right. Let me tell you who needs to hear that one right. Or you're reading the Bible or listening to a sermon and you're thinking about those people you know who need to be more gracious, or more careful with their words, or more generous, or more evangelistic, or more of a servant, or more whatever. And what happens when we get into that kind of mindset? Well, then we're not listening for ourselves. I need to listen to God's word for myself, and you need to listen to God's word for yourself, mainly. Now, having said that, we do want to pass along the truth of the gospel to others, the hope of Jesus Christ, crucified for sinners, raised on the third day, forgiving the sins of all those who repent and believe in him. This is how we let our light shine. Here's another way that we think of this passage in Jesus' teaching here and how we apply it. We want to let our light shine, right? Like that kid's song, this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. Yes. Amen. We want to let our lights shine. We want to let the light of the gospel shine from our lives into the lives of others. But in terms of this serious admonition to take care how you hear we need to let the truth confront us personally first and foremost. Let the light shine brightly into our own hearts first and then we can let our light shine into the lives of others. A second way to apply this Here's another just short statement to think about. Listen to God's word for your soul mainly. Listen to God's word for your soul mainly. Search God's word and meditate on his truth mainly with a desire to find nourishment for your own soul to encourage you in the good news of Jesus Christ to stoke the fires of joyful worship. And of course the mind the intellect is engaged in this endeavor. But if we're studying the Bible mainly to win theological arguments and to demolish someone else in a doctrinal debate, well then we're putting ourselves in danger of hearing without hearing. And don't get me wrong, theological discussion is very important and thinking deeply about theological matters is crucial. But I'm making a point of application here of how to make sure we're hearing the word really and truly for ourselves and for the benefit of our own souls. That needs to be the priority. And then we'll be in the right frame of mind for further doctrinal discussions. So listen to God's word for yourself mainly and listen to God's word for your soul mainly. And then a third very practical consideration is what Jesus emphasizes in the next short section here about his true family. So moving now to the next paragraph, verses 19 to 21, where Jesus defines who belongs to his family. He makes another point related to hearing and what it looks like to hear the word of God really and truly. So let me read these next few verses. 19 to 21 and we'll see the main point in verse 21. So verse 19 says, then Jesus' mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, your mother and your brothers are standing outside desiring to see you. But he answered them, my mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. Those who hear the word of God and do it. So this is our second point this morning, our second heading as we move through this passage. Now it's intriguing and helpful to see what this snapshot here into a moment in Jesus' life in his earthly ministry, what this particular snapshot reveals to us about Jesus and his identity and his mission. One thing this shows us is the humanity of Jesus. He has an earthly mother and brothers and sisters, siblings. Now, some have tried to reinterpret or dismiss what these verses say, particularly about Jesus' brothers or siblings. For those who believe that Mary was perpetually a virgin, They have to assert either that Joseph had children from an earlier marriage, that Joseph was married earlier in life, that his first wife died before Joseph was betrothed to Mary. So on that interpretation, those referenced here in this verse would be older step siblings of Jesus. Or another way this has been taken is that the term brother could be understood more generally as a term for relatives, so this could be cousins of Jesus. But there's no reason to assert either of those reinterpretations. The teaching of the Roman Catholic Church that Mary remained a virgin throughout her entire life, that doesn't actually come from the Bible. The Bible is certainly clear, and we learned this in Luke chapter 1, that Mary became pregnant while remaining a virgin. the miracle of the virgin birth. But to assert that Mary remained a virgin perpetually, that's not in the Bible. Mary and Joseph got married, they enjoyed sexual intimacy as a married couple, they were blessed with other children, and that's how we're to understand these brothers who appear in this scene. They were the younger siblings of Jesus. Another interesting note on this verse Marcion, who was a false teacher, a heretic in the late first century, early second century, he had a lot of unbiblical views. There's a lot of different things you could talk about with Marcion. But one of those unbiblical views that Marcion held was known as docetism. And docetism was the belief that Jesus only, he only appeared to be human. Okay, so Marcion, he affirmed Jesus is divine, but Marcion, along with other docetists, they said he wasn't actually human. He just kind of appeared to be human, but he didn't really take on human flesh. He wasn't truly human. And on that view, this idea that Jesus had brothers is problematic. So Marcion, he actually omitted this little section, just blotted it right out of his copy of the Gospel of Luke. Just pretended like it wasn't there. Just erased them because the idea that Jesus had an earthly family of any sort contradicted his belief that Jesus was only divine and not human. Which points out the fact, by way of contrast, learning from Marcion's error, this passage is in the Bible and it does show us the humanity of Jesus. Jesus is fully God and he's fully human. So we take that from this passage. But that's kind of a secondary lesson that we take from these verses. The main lesson is about who belongs to the true family of Jesus. Here are Jesus' mother and brothers who are literally being crowded out by all these other people who are pressing in to be around Jesus. And Jesus uses this opportunity to make a point about those who are really part of his family. Remember back in Luke 2 when Jesus was 12 years old visiting the temple with his parents. When the feast was over his parents headed out on their way back home. They just assumed Jesus was with other relatives and was going to make his way back. But then they realized Jesus isn't on his way back home. We've lost Jesus and they're frantic. They head back to Jerusalem searching for him. Eventually they find him in the temple. And Jesus is there discussing with the leaders, the teachers in the temple. Let me remind you of these couple verses in Luke 2 verses 48 and 49. It says, When his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress. And he said to them, Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house? In my father's house. So even at age 12 Jesus was already indicating some separation between himself and his earthly family. Not disrespectful but simply pointing out I have a heavenly father and my real identity and mission is connected to my heavenly father not to my earthly parents and earthly family. So I think that's a helpful verse to put alongside what we're learning here this morning. But another verse to put alongside today's passage as well is Acts 1.14. Because in Acts 1.14, we see that Jesus' mother and brothers are among the gathered disciples following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. So Acts 1.14 says, all these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. So I just point that out to say we shouldn't take Jesus' words here in Luke 8.21 as disparaging his earthly family. He's not being mean to Mary or to his siblings, but he's using this teachable moment with his earthly family stuck outside, trying to get close to him. Jesus, with amazing presence of mind, as we would expect, he uses just this moment to share a profound and crucial lesson about the gospel and about the kingdom of God, that the family of God is not determined by physical descent. The family of God is not determined by physical descent, rather it's defined by who is hearing the word of God and doing it. And what an awesome thing it is that because of the gospel we, all of us in this room who are believers in Jesus Christ and followers of Jesus Christ, we are family. We're family, we have a family bond here that's even deeper than any earthly family. Let me summarize it like this, we should not hope or despair due to our family of origin. We should not hope or despair due to our family of origin. Let's think about that statement for a moment, both sides of it. We should not hope, we should not put our hope in our family of origin. So on the one hand, if you grew up in a Christian family, Or if you're a young person and right now you're growing up in a Christian family, in a home where the Bible is taught and the gospel is central to your family life and you're involved in a local church. Listen, those are wonderful blessings. We should be grateful to God for those things. But just because your parents are Christians doesn't mean you're a Christian. It's not automatic. It's not a family membership. To be part of Jesus' true family means that you personally and individually must repent of your sins and put your personal trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you must commit to following Jesus with your life, hearing the word of God and doing it. And then to emphasize the other side of that statement also that we should not hope or despair due to our family of origin. Maybe you grew up in a home where there was a lot of opposition to Christ or apathy about Christ. You were not taught about the Bible or the gospel. You were not involved in a gospel preaching church. Well, guess what? That does not exclude you from the family of God. So on the one hand, growing up in a Christian home doesn't automatically get you in. And on the other hand, growing up in a non-Christian non-Christian family doesn't keep you out. Rather, the defining aspect, as Jesus teaches us here in verse 21, is those who hear the Word of God and do it. These are the true family of Jesus. Well, I hope you'll consider the theme of hearing in Luke chapter 8. In the parable of the soils and the exhortation in verse 18, take care how you hear. and the reality that Jesus' family are those who hear the Word of God and do it. Brothers and sisters, let's be good soil. Let's be those who truly listen to Jesus, who really hear the Word of God and respond in active, fruitful, humble obedience. Okay, so let's move now to verses 22 to 25. about Jesus calming the storm, and the heading here is faith and fear. Faith and fear. Let's think about faith and fear in verses 22 to 25, and here's a picture, a depiction of the kind of boat that Jesus and his disciples would have been in. This is quite an event that we read about here in 22 to 25. Let me read it again for us. It says, He got into a boat with his disciples and he said to them, let us go across to the other side of the lake. So they set out. And as they sailed, he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him saying, Master, Master, we are perishing. And he awoke. and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, where is your faith? And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, who then is this that he commands even winds and water? And they obey him." Well, this is quite an event, quite a storm. But what makes it all the more dramatic is the fact that Jesus is sleeping in the middle of the storm. Isn't that astounding? Jesus is just taking a nap right there in the middle of this huge storm. Jesus is asleep in the storm. There are four pieces to this story that I want to highlight as we just briefly walk through what happens here. And the first is this, asleep in the storm. Asleep in the storm. What's the significance of this, that Jesus is sleeping in the middle of this storm? Well I think it points both to a very practical reality as well as a profound theological truth. The practical reality is that Jesus is not only fully God but fully man. We just observed this in the verses right before this about Jesus earthly family. And here's another snapshot of his humanity. Jesus is just plain worn out from his ministry, the demands of his earthly ministry. He's been teaching and preaching. and healing and casting out demons and the crowds have been all around him, following him everywhere he goes. He is utterly exhausted and he falls into such a deep sleep here that he's still sleeping as the waves are crashing over the sides of the boat. So that's kind of a practical reality that we see here. But at the same time, this is also a profound picture of faith. Faith in the midst of a storm. As we think about faith and fear, Jesus here has no fear. It's all faith. And that's why he's asleep in the middle of the storm. In the Old Testament, and especially in the Psalms, we see some interesting things about sleep, which shed some light on this event. In Psalm 3, there's a number of different passages we could look at, but just one for this morning. Psalm 3, David is writing from the experience of Absalom's rebellion, which is recorded back in 2 Samuel 15 and 16. David's own son, Absalom, conspired to take over the kingdom and David had to flee Jerusalem. It was quite a storm in David's life. And listen to what David said in Psalm 3 verses 1 through 6. David wrote about that event. And David said, O Lord, how many are my foes? Many are rising against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. I lay down and slept. I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around." Can you picture this? David's enemies are all around him and he's able to lie down and sleep. Why? Because he's trusting in God and crying out to God to help him. Well, what we're seeing in Luke 8 is a vivid illustration and a perfect illustration of this truth about faith and fear. Jesus Christ is a model for us here of what perfect trust looks like and we should remember this as we study so many different things in the life of Jesus that he is both the object of our faith and he is a model of faith. Does that make sense? So Jesus is the object of our faith, meaning he's the one we're trusting in. We believe in Jesus. Our hope is in him. But then another lens through which we can look at so many things in Jesus' life is that he's a model of faith. He's showing us what it looks like to believe in God and to follow and obey God. Throughout Jesus' life and ministry, he demonstrated a perfect trust in his father, which is shown in a perfect obedience to his father. This is why we should pray to become more and more like Christ. That's what we're praying for when we pray to be sanctified. We want to be conformed more and more into the image of our older brother, Jesus. Jesus asleep in the storm. I hope you'll hold this image in your mind and continue to meditate on it because this is a perfect picture of perfect faith and the kind of faith that pushes away any kind of fear. If we're trusting completely in God we don't need to fear anything else but only fearing God alone. So here's Jesus, he's perfectly at peace, he's lying down enjoying sweet sleep in the middle of this storm. Well, in contrast to Jesus' perfect trust and peace in the storm, the disciples are the exact opposite. They're anything but peaceful or trusting. They were frantic and afraid. So here's the second thing for us to consider in this story, afraid of the storm. Jesus was asleep in the storm. The disciples are afraid of the storm. And these guys, they're experienced fishermen, right? So they're familiar with the Sea of Galilee. They knew the kinds of storms it could produce. And undoubtedly, they each had their own stories of fierce storms they had experienced in the past. Each of them probably had a personal anthology of fishing stories. And we know how fishing stories go, right? So they could share with one another, oh, well, one time I caught a fish that was this big, right? And they could tell their storm stories, too. Well, I was in a storm where the waves were this high. And those get embellished. But as we see here on this occasion, none of them are cocky or boastful. Apparently they had not experienced anything quite like this storm before. And what they say in verse 24 is an expression of their terror. They're coming to Jesus trying to wake him up saying, Master, Master, we are perishing. Now it's not at all surprising to read of a storm on the Sea of Galilee. Just a little bit of detail about the Sea of Galilee. It's a very unique spot that seems to be specially designed for abrupt and fierce storms like this one we're reading about here. The Sea of Galilee is the lowest freshwater lake on earth. The Dead Sea is even lower in elevation, but that's salt water, very dense salt water in the Dead Sea. The Sea of Galilee, the lowest freshwater lake on Earth, is about 700 feet below sea level. And it's surrounded by hills and then mountains all around it, particularly on the eastern side of it. Mount Hermon is 30 miles northeast, and it has an elevation of 9,200 feet above sea level. And I'm no meteorologist, but I can understand a little bit of how cold air from these high elevations can then come down and mix with the warm air in this deep bowl of the Sea of Galilee and create quite a stir. And that's what happened on this day. An unexpected and violent storm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was filling. Another thing to consider in what's happening in this story, I think it's helpful to point out that just because these men were with Jesus in this boat does not mean that they bypassed the storm. They were in the same boat with Jesus and they found themselves in the middle of this fierce storm. Remember that the next time you find yourself in the middle of one of life's storms. Or maybe you're in one of those storms right now and need to be reminded of this. Just because you're in a storm doesn't mean that Jesus has abandoned you. Jesus is right there in the boat with them. And just because Jesus is with you doesn't mean you're exempt from the storms. So none of us should think, oh, I'm a Christian. Jesus is with me. There's never going to be any storms in my life. No, that's not the case. Jesus is with his disciples in the storm. And that's the experience of the Christian life. Oftentimes, we need to be prepared for suffering. We need to be ready to go through the storm with Jesus in the boat with us. OK, so Jesus asleep in the storm. The disciples afraid of the storm. A third piece here, authority over the storm. Jesus has authority over the storm. And we're almost done here, but let's continue to consider this. Jesus has authority over the storm. In verse 24, Jesus wakes up and he rebukes the wind and the waves. As I shared at the start of the sermon this morning, the disciples are learning and were learning more and more about the authority of Jesus. We're seeing his divine identity. Here's another example. Jesus rebukes the wind and the waves and what happens? The wind and the waves cease and all of a sudden there is peaceful peace and calm. The image that comes to my mind is a lake early in the morning before any fishing boats or ski boats or jet skis have been out on the lake. Growing up in Michigan, you know, our family enjoyed vacations on the lake. And when Stacy and I lived in Minneapolis many years ago, which is the land of 10,000 lakes, you know, we spent time on different lakes. And I love being out near a lake or on a lake early in the morning when there's just this peace and the beauty of a large body of water that looks as though it's a piece of glass. And that's what this calm would have been like. Just imagine at one moment there's these high waves and strong winds, danger and fear and the next moment complete calm. Imagine the disciples taking in this miracle. Seconds earlier they were fearing for their lives. The boat was taking on water. The waves were hitting them from every direction and then instant instantaneously at the command of Jesus There was no more wind and the water was like glass. This is the authority of Jesus over the storm. And then the last piece of this story is that the disciples were afraid after the storm. Jesus is asleep in the storm. The disciples are afraid of the storm. Jesus exercises his authority over the storm and then At the end, interestingly here, there's a different kind of fear. The disciples are afraid after the storm. They had been afraid of the storm, evident in the way they frantically woke Jesus up from his nap, but now they're afraid again after the storm as they marvel at Jesus' miraculous power and as they contemplate, who is this? That's the question. Who is this guy who's in the boat with us who commands even the wind and the water? Who is this? You see, the only thing more terrifying than a storm all around your boat is the unexpected realization that God is inside your boat with you. And that's what this what is dawning on these disciples. They're still trying to figure this out. Who is this who we're following? We're seeing this and this and this. We're seeing his authority in all these different ways. Who is he? It's not a light thing to be in the presence of the divine. It's a weighty thing to be in the presence of God and it creates a fear that is different and deeper than any other fear. Who then is this? That's a question I hope you'll ponder. Maybe you came here today wondering about that very question. Who is Jesus? The point of Luke's whole gospel is to teach us who Jesus is. Jesus is the God-man who came to save us from our sins. And his ability to command the wind and the sea show that he is divine. He is God. This is a revelation of his identity. And the call of the gospel is to repent of your sins and put your faith in Jesus. Jesus rebukes his disciples here for their lack of faith. And we need to hear that rebuke and we need to hear the call of the gospel to trust in him, put your faith in him. So in conclusion, just concluding with this thought about faith and fear. Where we lack faith in Jesus, we will have many, many other fears in life that crop up in so many different ways. We will be afraid of the storms of life. But when we fix our eyes on Jesus and put our faith in him, as we should, then we won't, truly, we don't have anything else to fear. We need to fear God. Fear him alone. Put our faith in Jesus and then we can rest in him. We can be like Jesus. We can follow his example who slept peacefully in the middle of the storm. We can rest in him even through the many storms that we'll encounter in our lives because Jesus is with us in the storm. Amen. Let's pray. God we thank you for the gospel of Luke. Thank you for how you used your servant Luke. to record these things, his careful historical work, to record all these details about the life of Jesus. And we thank you for your Holy Spirit inspiring these writings so that what Luke wrote is exactly what happened and exactly what you want us to hear and learn about the ministry of Jesus Christ and about his death and resurrection for our salvation. I pray that your spirit will penetrate our hearts and apply these things to our hearts. I pray we'll take these truths with us throughout the rest of this day and this week and the weeks to come. And I pray that you will conform us more and more to the image of our Savior Jesus Christ. Help us to trust in him and to trust like him. And we pray it all in his name. Amen.