For our scripture reading, as well as our text, we read together Mark chapter four. And we'll read verses 35 to the end, 35 through 41. Mark chapter four. On that day when evening had come, he said to them, let us go across to the other side. And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was, and other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace, be still. And the wind ceased. And there was a great calm. He said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? Read that far. Let's pray. Lord, we would understand and know and see Jesus, our Lord, presented before us in all of his might and glory and grace. And that is our prayer. And we pray it with confidence, for we know you will hear us and you will give us answer. Then we can pray with with peace as well and and with the confidence knowing that the storms of our life are made to cease as well. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Jesus had had a very busy day. He'd spent the day busily teaching the multitudes. Early in the day, a great multitude had gathered. Jesus got in a boat on the Sea of Galilee and really formed sort of an amphitheater. The people gathered around him on the hillside, he in the boat, and he taught them many, many parables. Later in the day, Away from the multitude, he just spent time with his 12 disciples and a few others, and he explained the parables to them in answer to the disciples' questions, and he taught them more parables as well. Still later, he taught the multitude again. again teaching them from the boat, preaching the kingdom of God. And then he said, let us pass over to the other side of the sea. And so they set off across the Sea of Galilee in boats. The sea was approximately five miles across, so they began that short journey across the Sea of Galilee. But because of the events of the day, and because Jesus was so extraordinarily weary, he fell asleep in the boat. And in this little detail we see the humanity of Jesus, that he was a man, sin accepted, but otherwise just like us. He was truly a man, and he grew tired at the end of a long, weary day. And so he slept, he slept in the bow. But this sleeping man was also God, was also truly God. And He was also Lord of the whole creation as God, which was soon to be displayed in this miracle. So let's consider this miracle under the theme, Jesus calms a storm. Jesus calms a storm. First of all, His great power displayed. He showed His great power in this miracle, this tremendous miracle. Secondly, our salvation life signified. Many things we learn, many things are exemplified and pictured in this miracle regarding our life as saved children of God. And thirdly, we notice a loving correction given to His disciples and by implication also to ourselves. It began only as a gentle breeze. As the disciples began to guide their small ship across the Sea of Galilee that evening, conditions were good for sailing. They had the option on their boat to either row or to put up sail. But this evening, conditions were good for sailing. There was a good breeze, and so they were able to use the sail. That, according to the story in Luke, the true story, but the account of the miracle in Luke. As they sailed, Jesus fell asleep in a protected part of the boat located in the stern, least affected by the waves. With his head on a pillow, he fell deeply asleep because, as we saw, he was thoroughly exhausted. But soon, this gentle breeze turned into a strong And that in itself was not uncommon on the Sea of Galilee. Winds came down from the mountains over the sea quite often. And some of the disciples were experienced fishermen, so they understood that. They no doubt had encountered this often before, and so it did not surprise them or disturb them, at least at first. But it soon became evident this was more than an ordinary strong wind. The wind quickly increased and grew until it became gale force. The word used in the original is a word that's used for hurricane. The winds were intense. A great wind tore into the waters and the sea was relatively deep and relatively narrow so the waves quickly formed and grew dangerous, quickly. grew dangerous, and the disciples realized this was indeed an extraordinary and serious situation. The waves began to break over the side of the boat. The waves entered faster than the disciples could bail the water out The boat began to fill and to sink lower and lower in the water as it lost buoyancy, and it could not any longer ride the waves. It filled faster and faster. They were at the point of going down. They were beginning to sink. They couldn't let Jesus sleep any longer. I'm not sure. I don't know why the disciples let Jesus sleep that long at all. Maybe things happened so quickly that they had no time to wake Him. Perhaps they forgot Him, and they're trying to deal with the wind and the waves and the ship, and they forgot that He was there for a moment. But at any rate, they woke Him now with, Lord, save us, we perish, according to Matthew. Luke renders it, Master, Master, we perish. And in our text, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? There's one common word in all of those accounts, isn't there? The word is perish. They were sure they were going to die. Drown in the waves, sinking in the boisterous depths of the sea. Jesus awoke. He stood up without alarm and he spoke, simply spoke, to the wind and to the waves of the sea. He rebuked the wind, that is, literally commanded the wind, commanded the wind to be still. And he said to the waves, peace, be still. And there was a great Calm. One minute, we see him on the boat, standing on the ship with the wind whipping his robe against him, his hair blown about by the furious winds, the spray of the waves stinging his skin and soaking his clothes, the wind howling and the waves crashing, and the next minute, everything was still. There was a great calm, Mark tells us. The wind was gone. It was still. The waves settled unnaturally. The wind, the waves settled. no stirring of the air and the water, as smooth as glass. A sudden and extreme change due to the Savior's command, as if the wind and the waves dare not even quiver before His mighty authority. The disciples' response to all of this was striking and understandable. They were filled with great fear and said to one another, who then is this that even the winds and the sea obey him? That was their question. Who actually is with us in this boat? that even the winds and the sea obey Him. It took some time. The disciples only gradually came to understand this is the Son of God. And this was early yet in Jesus' ministry. Perhaps it dawned on them at that moment. But we know, we know very well that Jesus was God. And this miracle shows us much about who he is and much about his divinity. The miracle showed us his sovereign power, that he is the one who created all things. He has power over creation and over all the forces of creation. He can speak to the waves and speak to the wind, and they must obey him. He has power over all the forces of nature, we call them, over all the weather that we experience as well. As an aside here, Do we sometimes find ourselves, catch ourselves complaining about the weather? Oh, it's too windy today, or I wish it would rain. Maybe we've said that one recently. I wish it would rain. We need rain. And it's one thing simply to state it, but it's another thing to find some complaint in the expression of our discontentment with the weather. But we need to remember, when we speak of the weather, we need to remember we're speaking of the One who controls that weather, God Almighty, but also Jesus Christ, His Son, our Savior. This miracle also showed his gracious power, not only his bald power, great as that is and evident as that is in the miracle, but also his grace, his gracious power. He saved his disciples by this, calming the wind and calming the waves. He took pity on their cries for help, He heard them, and he felt sorry for them, and he came to their rescue. He saved his church, then and in the future, for these were the first office bearers of the church. So he saved, really, his church and his disciples in this miracle. And he showed his victorious, sovereign control. Some people believe that the devil was involved in this storm. Perhaps. Perhaps the devil was involved in the storm. But certainly the devil was watching very eagerly. He was watching with the hope that Jesus and his disciples all at once would be drowned in the sea and all of his troubles would be over and he would have the victory in a moment, a tremendous victory. But Jesus by this miracle said to the devil, no, not this way. I'm not going to die this way. I must go to the cross. I will not be drowned in a sea pointlessly and without saving my people. Not apart from my control will this take place. Not before my work is done and not before these men have accomplished my purpose, for they would die too. They would be put to death too. They would suffer martyr deaths as well, but not before they accomplished his, Jesus' purpose. And so he showed that he had control, power over the force of the devil, as well by this miracle. And he showed forth the power of his voice. We need to be struck by that in this miracle. Often in his performing of miracles, he performed the miracle simply with his voice, simply by speaking. And so Jesus did with this miracle, too. He calmed the wind and the waves just by speaking, just by saying, peace, be still. And that's because, as God, Jesus' voice is the creative voice of God. Just like when God said, let there be light, and there was light. So when Jesus says, peace be still, The waves must cease and be still. He's the Word, the Word of God, and we learn from John 1 in the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was God, and by Him all things were created. His voice is effectual. That's a word that, if you're not familiar with it, I want you to remember and to be reminded of tonight. His voice is effectual. That means it has the desired effect, the effect that He desires it to have. It does things. For example, if I were If I were to say to the doors in the back of the sanctuary there, since they're open, if I were to say, door, close, just with my voice, well, the door would remain open, wouldn't it? My voice has no power, no power to affect things, but if Jesus were here and had some divine purpose in closing that door, he could simply say, door close, and it would close. Inevitably, effectually, Jesus' voice is that powerful. And so if Jesus says, peace be still, it happens. It happens instantly, dramatically, exactly as he wills. So this miracle reveals also the great power of his voice. But beloved, this is not the only storm he calmed. Those things that we learn from the miracle about Jesus, this miracle, the things that we learn about Jesus, apply also to other storms that He calms. That's why I titled the sermon, Jesus Calms A Storm, not the storm, but simply a storm. I know it was a mighty display of His miraculous power, but the point is that Jesus calms other storms as well. He calmed this one to prove that He can calm any storm. any storm at all, any storm in our life that we experience. And he does calm many storms. He calms, first of all, the storm of our sin and our guilt. Our sin was a storm in itself, and it indicated that a greater storm is coming. But Jesus is able to still the wind and the waves of our sin, the wind and the waves of our condemnation, because he cast himself into that storm. into the sea on the cross. Soon he would stand on the ship of suffering, if you will. He would stand and look at the vicious storm that would swirl all around him while he was on the cross. He hung there, and he looked at the vicious storm of every woe imaginable, and he threw himself into that storm, to conquer that storm, to put that storm to rest for us. As our Savior, He would give Himself as a sacrifice to the storm of God's wrath on the cross for us, to save us from that storm, to save us from the storm of condemnation. He conquered the storm of sin and guilt for you and for me. And in that, he also calmed the storm of the raging of our enemies. The devil and the demons, death and hell, all set against us and coming after us. He calmed it all by laying himself in our place on that cross. And on that basis, that ground, He has the right and power to save us of all the storms of the power of sin as well. Do you remember? Do you remember Jesus saving you from sin? Some of us remember that. Think of yourself before conversion. Or maybe this applies to some who are unbelievers here, not yet converted. Or it applies to us when we stray from God in sin, which we do sometimes. whenever we were in need of a conversion, whether for the first time or yet again. So many times we need to convert in our life. But when we need to convert, when we are in sin or under the power of sin, we are miserable, aren't we? We're miserable. We're wretched. That's true. There is a storm around us, and we try to avoid dealing with it. We try to hold the truth under, hold the testimony of our conscience, hold the prompting of the Spirit at bay. But we find, really, when we do that, it's like trying to hold a beach ball underwater. You ever tried to do that in a pool or whatever? Hold a beach ball underwater, and it always pops up here or there. And so it is with the truth. When we're trying to run from God, we can describe it, can't we, as a storm within? A storm of the power of sin within us, as Augustine said, and so notably and commonly quoted. He said, you have made us for yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. That's the experience of the sinner. He finds his heart is restless. miserable and wretched until it finds rest in Jesus, until we turn to Jesus for help at last. And we cry out, Master, we perish. Save us. Forgive me for my sin. Lay my soul to rest. And Jesus says, peace, be still. And he speaks effectually. Powerfully he speaks to our soul in a language that really only our soul can hear. There's power in his voice and with relief we sigh at last and surrender to him. The storms calm and we have peace. Peace that perhaps we never had. or peace once again. And that conversion experience can be as sudden and dramatic as the storm that he calmed for the disciples. It can also be more gradual. for some, but it can be as sudden and dramatic as the storm that He calmed for His disciples. And whenever it is, however it is, when we experience that, then we're filled with wonder at the gracious, gracious power of our Savior. To someone tonight who is in the storm of the power of sin, I urge you, call out to Jesus. Call out to him. Master, I perish. I'm miserable. I'm wretched. Come calm the storms in my heart. And he will. He certainly, certainly will. But this miracle teaches us more than just about the conversion of sinners, or only more than about the legal forgiveness for us as sinners. It teaches us more than about ourselves when we backslide. This miracle teaches us also about our life as a whole, taken as a whole, our life as a whole, as saved children of God, saved children walking with Christ. There's one thing that is often misunderstood in today's culture, today's version of Christianity, and that is that there's a misunderstanding that once you become a Christian, then everything ought to go well in your life. It ought to be easy street, walking with Jesus. But that's simply not the way it is. Just because you're a Christian now doesn't mean you can expect smooth sailing. We need to expect storms. Our life will be stormy. There will be storms in our life. As we walk, not in sin, but as we even walk with Jesus, We see that in the miracle too. The disciples encountered a storm when they were with Jesus. They were there in the same boat with him, obediently following his instruction to go to the other side and serving him while he slept. And yet a storm came upon them. Do you know storms like that? Storms in your life? I do, many of us do as well. We need to know that storms don't prove. They certainly do not prove. We ought not conclude, being in a storm, storm all around us, we ought not conclude that we are on the wrong path. We ought not conclude that we are not following Him or that He doesn't care, that He doesn't take notice. The Christian life is stormy. And we'll know more storms. Storms in our family. Storms regarding our health. Storms of loss. When everything seems windswept and tossed by waves. Then turn to Jesus. You find yourself in one of those storms of life. Turn to Jesus and cry out to him. Pray to him. Ask for his help. Ask for him to calm the storms in your life. Turn to Jesus' word. Remember, we said it. His word is effectual. Turn to the word. Expose your soul to his healing word, his peace-giving word. And hear him still say, peace, be still. Hear the echo of his voice in this miracle say to you, in your storm, peace, be still. Be still storms of life. Be still to the storms of your heart. And know the great storm calmer is with you. He is able to calm the storms of your life. He is able, I know sometimes he has his purposes, always he has his purposes in the storm. So sometimes it's not always his will immediately to calm that storm. If the storm's external, it's not always his will to just end it right away. He has his purposes. They're good purposes. Trust him. But come to him when your heart's in a storm, when your heart's affected by the things around you, and in your heart you find a storm. Come to him and recognize he's able to calm the storms of your heart. and praise Him, glorify Him for His magnificent power in doing that, and His gracious power in doing that. And it is sovereign, victorious power to do that. And praise Him for the effectual power of His Word. We need to talk yet briefly about what the disciples said to Him in the storm. In a sense, I would rather not speak of that. But it's good, and it's instructive for us. His disciples, when they woke him, they said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? That must have hurt. That was an extremely offensive question. By that question, the disciples questioned his very character. Care? Of course he cares. Why did the disciples think he was even here on this earth? Come down from glory and everything he had there, come here into this sinful world? because He cared. And yet, that's a question we can find in our hearts, too, isn't it? If you say, no, I would never say that about God, well, maybe you are a very strong faith. Or maybe you haven't known a storm yet like the disciples did. I think if we're honest, we look in our hearts and often we find that same sentiment. The Master, the Savior, doesn't care. On the one hand, it's an understandable response. We're not excusing it. It was wrong. But it was an understandable response. They were afraid. And when we are afraid, we tend towards the same weakness. They were panicked. And so Jesus responded with understanding, with compassion, in a measured way. Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" Now, that was a rebuke of Jesus, but it was a mild rebuke, a mild correction. And so, he often responds to us, too. Why are you so afraid? After all the love I've showed you, after I went to the cross and died to prove my love for you and to show you my love and to work out my love and to save you. After all you've seen, have you still no faith? After you've seen me, heard me make good on my word so many times, It's as if Jesus says to us, have I failed to keep yet one of my promises to you? Has one of my words failed, just one? Have I ever said something without thinking? Have I ever said anything without intending exactly that? And yet, When I say, and no doubt he thought to himself about the disciples and us too, yet when I say, let us go across to the other side, you think I don't mean it? Did you catch that? Verse 35 of our text, the beginning of the miracle on that day when evening had come, he said to them, let us go across to the other side. He wasn't simply expressing a good wish there. He wasn't simply saying, well, that would be nice, we'll see how it goes. When Jesus said, let us go across to the other side, Jesus means let us go across to the other side. Jesus doesn't mean let us go into the middle of the Sea of Galilee and have a storm come up and then all drown. When Jesus says, let us go across to the other side, he means exactly what he says. And they should have had faith in his word. They should have said, he said, in the middle of the storm, as a storm came up and he was yet sleeping, they should have said, he said, we're going to go to the other side. They should have encouraged each other with that word of Jesus. That's what he said. That's what's going to happen. And trusting him, they should have said then, Master, there's a situation that we can't handle. We need help. That would have been acting in faith. Instead of, Master, don't you care that we perish. And the same is true for us. in the next storm of our life, or in the storm maybe that we're in presently. Don't say to him, under your breath, or find in your heart that thought. He doesn't care. Master, don't you care that we're perishing? But say to yourself, he said, we're going to the other side. He said, you are in my boat now. Let us go to the other side, the other side of this trial, the other side of this affliction, the other side of this hardship, or even the other side of life. Let us cross over to the other side. That's what he said. Trust His Word. Trust Him in any storm that comes your way. Trust Him, the God who rebukes the sea and says to the wind, peace, be still, and don't fear. Don't fear in the storm. Don't fear in any storms that will come in the future, but rather look to Him, trusting, trusting Him to calm your storm and to grant you peace. Amen. Our Lord and our Father, how we doubt how we are like the disciples of old. It's good that you included that in the miracle, in the story of the miracle. We see ourselves there, so easily dismayed, so easily afraid, but rather than quietly putting our trust in you, We trust not the things of this world, or the people, or doctors, or anything else. We trust simply, entirely in You. And that's how we have peace, listening to Your Word. listening to your promise, implied promise to take us to the other side, listening to your mighty words, which still the storms of our heart, peace be still. We pray, Lord, grant us that peace and grant us that we may glorify you for giving us that peace. Praise be unto you and to your name forever and ever. Amen.