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This life is full of many trials
and challenges and troubles at times. I'm not saying anything
new. I think many of us, particularly
those as we get a little older, we realize that's the fact, isn't
it? The Bible says, Job actually, Book of Job says, man is born
into trouble as the sparks fly upward. And as surely as the
sparks fly upward, so man is born into trouble. And so as
we get older, Maybe the younger ones here don't know so much
about troubles, but we do. Often when you meet people, you
don't know the trials they're going through, though. When I
see your faces here, I see family resemblances. I've been here
enough to know that. But I don't know the challenges in your life,
the trials, the troubles, perhaps, the difficult situations that
maybe are weighing heavy on your hearts, even now, as you're sitting
here in these pews. But as you get to know someone
closer, you read about, oh, this one has cancer, and that one
has this problem, and there's these conflicts over here, and
this way, and you start, in fact, we who are leaders of the church,
we know, don't we, behind every family there's a cross, and sometimes
many crosses. Sometimes many crosses behind
the scenes. Sometimes we can share them with
others, and many times they're crosses we can't share with others.
and they're heavy in our hearts, then they don't come out right
away in a conversation. They might not come out for several
months before when we get to know someone. Man is born unto
trouble as the sparks fly upward. What crosses are you carrying
right now in your life? What trials, challenges, or circumstances
that cause distress Maybe it's financial, you know, the economy
isn't so good right now and you're looking into the future next
year. You don't know how things are going to work. Make ends
meet to afford the various costs of a family perhaps. Maybe it's
financial. Or maybe it's health concerns.
Of course, Henry Janssen and Brunia, we hear of these things
and our hearts go out to the family, the family scene there.
Maybe it's something deep, emotional scars from the past. some history you can't share
or speak about to others, or family divisions and wayward
children, or painful feuds among friends and family members that
hurt. There's many things, right? I
could make a list. We could go on and make a long list, and
each one of us, God has seen fit to give us trials and crosses,
each one. Have you ever wished that there
was a delete button in your life, just press the
delete button, just make it go away. I've had times like that,
right? Just make it go away, that cross,
that trial, just gone, like that, delete. You know, you have the
alt undo, what is it, the undo button, right? Just go away,
no longer there, all gone. What if we could just make our
problems go away like that, with one word, gone? Jesus can, can't
he? We just read about how he calmed
the storm with one word. He just made it go away. Can
Jesus make the trial in your life go away too? Gone, like
that. You think so? He's Jesus, isn't
he? I wanna look at this narrative
with you Matthew, or Matthew that we've read together. Matthew
14 to 27, particularly verses, the account there of the storm,
right? Verse 23 to 27. Jesus calms the storm. He made
it go away, just like that. We're gonna look at the problem
that arose, the question that the disciples had in this situation,
and then the lesson that we learned from how Jesus dealt not just
with the problem, but also the question. This is a very important
narrative. Three of the Gospels actually
record it for us, the story of Jesus calming the storm, Jesus
in the boat on the waves and calming the storm. Luke gives
it to us in Luke chapter eight, just after the parable of the
sower. Mark gives it to us in chapter four, on his way to the
other side where he's gonna heal a man with demons. Matthew here
gives it to us after Jesus is busy healing Peter, Peter's mother
and others, Jesus is healing people. And then he is busy,
he's talking about discipleship. People come to him and he's talking
about the cost of discipleship. And then Matthew gives us this
story. Because Matthew is giving us themes. He's organized his
gospel according to themes. And it's not without reason that
Matthew Verse 23, Matthew 8, verse 23 says, the disciples
followed Jesus. This is just after the account
where others had all these excuses not to follow Jesus. So there's
these people that have all these things and he says, let the dead
bury their dead. They don't follow him, but the disciples followed
Jesus, Matthew 8, verse 23. That's where Matthew gives it
to us in his gospel. So Jesus is here in this account
with his disciples, his chosen disciples, and they're together
in a boat. These men had been called by Jesus. And unlike others,
these men had followed Jesus into this boat. They'd followed him, they'd obeyed.
Got into the boat, these seasoned fishermen, but then something
very unexpected happens. And that's where Matthew picks
up the narrative in verse 24. Verse 24. When he was entered in the ship,
his disciples followed him, verse 23, and behold, there's an attention-giddy
word, right? Get your attention, listen, now
pay attention. Behold, and behold, there arose a great tempest in
the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves. Now, this word tempest, It's
unnatural, actually. It's something big. It's even
translated, actually, in Matthew's account of the crucifixion, there
was an earthquake that's recorded. And it's the same word in the
Greek, actually. Here it's recorded as tempest. In other places,
it's recorded as earthquake. It's something out of the ordinary,
something unusual, something very chaotic and bizarre, even,
you might say. An earthquake or a tempest now
in the water, this occurrence. Mark and Luke use a different
term, a furious gust of wind like a hurricane or a whirlwind.
Matthew calls it a tempest, something unexpected, unplanned and extraordinary. In fact, it's a great tempest.
In the Greek, it's the word mega, actually, a mega tempest. So
not just a small gust, it's a massive event that's taking place here
that Matthew gives us account of. Something even maybe beyond
natural. Something perhaps even demonic.
This is the Sea of Galilee. It's not very large. I've never
been there myself. I'd love to see it sometime.
It's, what is it here, 21 kilometers
by 13 kilometers is what it's said to be. And these disciples,
so not a big lake, really. And these disciples are seasoned
fishermen, are they not? I mean, many of them were, right?
They were called out of this trade. Peter was there, no doubt,
and others. And so here is something unusual
for these seasoned fishermen, a mega tempest, something unusual,
unnatural. And the boat is being swamped,
covered by the waves, and the fishermen are terrified. Now,
we've probably seen pictures of this, no doubt we've read
this many times. You've maybe seen artists' rendering of this
account. There's some famous paintings,
actually, of this boat that's being overcome by the waves,
and you can see the terror on the eyes of the fishermen, right,
as they're trying to deal with this situation, this bizarre
situation. Trying to steady the boat against
the waves, maybe bailing out water. You could just imagine
the situation, the chaos of it. Does it remind you of anything
in the Old Testament? Think of Jonah, remember Jonah? Jonah,
there was also a great tempest on the waves, and there was the
fishermen were afraid. But this is different. This account
is different because in that account, it was Jonah running
away from God, wasn't it? But in this account, the disciples
obeyed. These men were faithful. Unlike
others, these men were faithful. They followed Jesus as he commanded
into the boat. They were doing the right thing.
And still, There's a tempest, a great tempest in their life,
and they're afraid. Seasoned fishermen, overwhelmed by this unnatural
storm. J.C. Ryle is very simple, isn't
he? J.C. Ryle, in the Gospel of Matthew,
listen to what he says. He says, how many have faith and love
enough to forsake all for Christ's sake and to follow him wherever
he goes, and yet, are full of fears in the hour of trial. These men, their faith is being
tested, isn't it? And maybe your faith is also
being tested by some trial the Lord has seen fit to bring into
your life, a situation beyond your control, this mega trial
in your life. Listen to the discussion now
between Jesus and his disciples. Or rather, it's the disciples
who are talking, right? Verse 25. And his disciples came to
him and awoke him saying, Lord, save us, we are perishing. Actually,
we perish. I think it's the King James.
It's a continuing. We are busy perishing. This is happening
right now. It's taking place. Jesus was asleep, sleeping. One of the few places that talks
about Jesus sleeping, actually. Here he is, peaceful. Peaceful,
resting. And you can just imagine the
contrast, right? Jesus sleeping peacefully, and
the disciples shouting, maybe over the wind and the waves,
they're shouting, and they're terrified, right? And they try
to awaken him. Maybe shaking with fear themselves,
shaking him awake. He's peacefully sleeping. There's
a contrast. And he said unto them, why are
you fearful, O ye of little faith? Now just picture this, right?
They're full of terror, these fishermen. Overwhelmed, wave
after wave. And Jesus is calm. Doesn't Jesus understand the
situation in which they are? Is Jesus out of touch with their
reality? Does he not know Does he not care the trials we're
going through, the test of our faith? You see, Jesus is calm,
isn't he, in this situation, even though they're terrified.
And this history parallels many of our life experiences at times,
and we can all think, maybe if not now, we can think back in
times when we've gone through trials and we're just overwhelmed. As Isaiah says, oh afflicted
one, storm-tossed, and not comforted. God's people at times feel such
tempests raging in their lives. The storms of life are many,
and we can identify with these fishermen, can't we? Times toiling
under trial, or just the treadmill of daily life. One day after
another, the slog of it all that isn't ending. or one disappointment
after another after another that just keeps coming like waves
crashing in on us. We had hoped it would be different.
We had hoped the situation would improve. We had hoped, we had
prayed, we had longed, we had trusted, and still, a trial,
a disappointment, a seemingly impossible situation, unexpected
and overwhelming, a mega trial, the dilemmas in life. And we're
paralyzed perhaps by uncertainty or fear or caught in the storm
of what to do and where to go. The fear of perishing. As the disciples, we're overwhelmed
and afraid. So perhaps there are times in
our life as well when we are overwhelmed and afraid. Have
you experienced something similar? And perhaps you've followed Jesus.
Unlike others, you've done the right thing. You've lived according
to his word, at least you've tried. You've taken the high
road. You've been the disciple that
Jesus called you to be, at least as far as you could. Unlike others,
perhaps, and yet, and yet all of this. Why? Is Jesus out of
touch with our reality? Does he not care about the situation
where we find ourselves? Is not Jesus, as it were, in
the boat with us? And there's more here, too, actually.
I mentioned it just briefly, but
there seems to be something unnatural about this storm. It's a little
lake, really, the Sea of Galilee. And something unnatural is happening
here, this great tempest. The demonic forces, perhaps,
as one commentary says, is trying to destroy Jesus in the boat.
And perhaps there's also a demonic reality to some of the challenges,
some of the fears that we face, temptations, trials, wickedness even, and the power
of evil, so that we feel trapped in a storm too great for us. That's where these disciples
are. That's the problem that they're facing. And I think many
of us can identify with this problem. Why does Matthew tell us this
story? Why does the Holy Spirit give
us this account of Jesus here with his disciples in the boat?
It's a nice story for the children, right? It holds our attention
as we've gone through it now. We can tell it to others. That's
fine. Let's not get distracted by the
story itself, though. There's a purpose here. Because
Matthew has a purpose. The Spirit, through the gospel
of Matthew, is giving us teaching. And the purpose that Matthew
always teaches with is this. He always wants us to know more
about who is this man, Jesus Christ, and how are we to follow
him. Matthew always is dealing with
Christology, who is the Christ. and he's dealing with discipleship.
How should his disciples, how should we, as his followers,
follow him in our lives? And so Matthew, as he tells us,
the story ends on the climax of the story for Matthew, verse
27. Look with me at verse 27. But
the men marveled. So this is, okay, this is after
Jesus rebukes the wind and waves. We'll get there, okay? We'll
get there. But after that, this is where Matthew is taking us.
But the men marveled, saying, what manner of man is this, that
even the winds and the sea obey him? You see, it's not the storm,
the problem, that Matthew is concerned about. Matthew puts
the question in the minds and the hearts and the lips of these
disciples, and he has them ask it to us, as it were. They must
have been asking this after this happened. And he wants this question
to kind of guide us into the text. to really see the purpose
that the Holy Spirit has for us as we study this story together
this evening as well. The men marveled, saying, what
manner of man is this? So what happens? The problem
is evident. The trial is there, right? What
does Jesus do when he awakens? Well, he awakes from a peaceful
sleep in the midst of the storm. He then corrects his disciples'
anxiety. And then he rebukes the evil
storm, doesn't he? This evil storm he rebukes. And how do
the disciples respond? Astonishment, surprise, amazement. And they ask this question, what
kind of person is this that even the winds and the sea obey him?
And that's the question Matthew wants us to ask of the text as
we look at this text. So before we go further, let's
answer the question of these disciples. What kind of man,
what manner of man is this? Who is Jesus? And then once we
have an answer to that question, then we answer the question,
how do we follow him? So who is Jesus? Three answers,
three aspects of Matthew's question that are answered as well by
this text. You see, the disciples knew Jesus
already. After all, they were called by
him and they were following him. They knew him. But they knew
him in part, because you see, as the Gospels progress, we see
the disciples coming to a greater realization who this man Jesus
is, right? And we see that in all the Gospels,
Peter makes this confession later on, thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God. And as the narrative continues,
as they're walking with Jesus, they're coming to know him more
and more. And this narrative as well, you see Matthew is teaching
the same. Who is this man who is with these disciples? They
knew him as a miracle worker, a healer, a compassionate Messiah-type
figure, but they were still getting to know him. In fact, they even
knew him enough to know that he could help them in this trial,
didn't they? They went to him, Lord, save
us, we are perishing. They went to the right place
with their trials, with their concerns, but they were only
beginning to understand who he is. And we see Jesus here in
the storm with his people. Actually, we see him in two ways.
Jesus is with his disciples in the midst of their trial. And
there's something beautiful about that, isn't it? When we're going
through the challenges of life and we feel the presence of our
Savior, in almost a tangible way, the Lord is with us. He is guiding us. We can trust
Him. The world doesn't understand
this, but we who know Him, who are, rather, let me say, are
becoming closer to Him and getting to know Him better. He is with
us, and there's something very precious about that. The Lord
is with us. But these disciples had to learn
more, because Jesus was with them. But there was so much more
to his life than that. You see, Jesus wasn't just there
to be with them in their trials. Jesus has come to suffer and
to die for them. And there's a difference, isn't
it? It's not Jesus just with us in
the midst of the trial. It's Jesus taking our place in
the storm. And that's really what the gospels
are slowly revealing to us as we page through the narrative
of Matthew and the others. We're learning that Jesus is
more than just Emmanuel with us. He is the great high priest,
the Lamb of God who dies for us, who takes our place, the
substitutionary sacrifice, the atonement. He suffers in our
place, not just a few little trials like wind and waves. He
bore the wrath of eternal God and and the hellish agony that
was poured out upon him, the storm, the fury, the wrath of
Almighty God. Jesus bore that storm for us. And so these disciples still
need to learn something, don't they? Not just Jesus with them,
but Jesus for them, the great high priest, the suffering substitute,
the Lamb of God, Jesus' priestly work. Many people go through life just
praying to a Jesus that is with them. But we need more than that. We need a savior who has died
for us. Many people pray to a God in
heaven as if he's just a great therapist to counsel us and a
shoulder to cry on perhaps, I say it reverently. Someone to listen
to our cares and concerns as we go through the problems of
life. But that's never enough. We need a Savior who takes our
place, who bears the curse of our sin, who dies condemned for
us. To earn a righteousness we don't
deserve and to take a guilt that we have earned by our sinfulness.
Only later would the disciples really learn the answer to the
question they ask. What manner of man is this? You
see, he's more than a man. He is a God-man mediator, divine
and human, dying on the cross for his people, not just with
them, Emmanuel, but for them, the Lamb of God, who taketh away
the sin of the world. What manner of man is this? The
disciples are beginning to understand the answer to that question.
That's the first aspect of the answer that Matthew is giving
us here and elsewhere in his gospel. And the second, not just
Jesus our high priest and lamb, but Jesus our great teacher,
the prophet teacher, who is busy teaching his disciples how to
follow. That's an amazing aspect of this
narrative. So the disciples are afraid,
they're terrified. And they come and they wake Jesus,
right? They wake him. Lord, save us, we are perishing.
They're terrified, they're afraid. So Jesus wakes up from his sleep,
and how does he respond? How does he respond? Does he
rebuke the wind and the waves? Actually, no, not yet, right?
While the wind and the waves continue to rage, Jesus has another
problem. You see, the wind and the waves
was the problem of the disciples, but Jesus has to address a different
problem first, a more important problem. at least as Matthew
presents it in his gospel. O ye, why are you fearful, he
says, O ye of little faith? You have no need to fear. I am
with you. You have no need to fear. I have
power over the storm, over the trial that you're facing. Come,
learn from me, see my example, no, even more than that. I have
victory over this power. You see, Jesus is busy first
correcting the weak faith of his disciples. As the great prophet
teacher, patient correction, loving correction. As God's word
says elsewhere, maybe in Isaiah, we can read those verses here.
Isaiah 41, fear thou not, says Isaiah to us. Fear thou not,
for I am with thee. Do not be dismayed, for I am
thy God. I will strengthen thee. I will help thee, yea, I will
uphold thee with my right hand of my righteousness. How many
times have you faced a trial, perhaps overwhelmed by the circumstances,
not knowing where to turn, and you go to the Lord in prayer,
maybe, and pour out your heart before him? You see, these trials
are used by the great prophet teacher in our lives. to teach
us to live by faith and not by sight. The problem is not the
storms in life. No, no, they were ordained. You
see, we want to find that delete button, don't we? We just want
to say, go away. If it would just disappear, that trial in
my life, just go away. But Jesus is allowing these trials
in our lives because as the great prophet teacher, he is teaching
us to trust in him in the midst of the storm, So even as the
storm continues to rage, Jesus is busy teaching his people,
his disciples, to live by faith. J.C. Ryle continues, how many
have grace enough to turn to Jesus in every trouble, crying,
Lord, save us, and yet not grace enough to lie still and believe
in the darkest hour that all will be well? Can you say that
right now with a trial in your life, if you're facing one? In
the Lord all will be well. The waves are still coming over
the sides of the boat, right? It's still happening in this
narrative. Overwhelming again and again perhaps, but Jesus
speaks. Why are you afraid? Can't you
trust me a little longer? Can't you give over to me whatever
that trial is, whatever that disappointment, whatever that
cross? Can you trust me with it? Jesus,
the prophet teacher. What manner of man is this? He
is the great prophet teacher that uses even the trials in
our life to work good for us and for others. And then the
third answer to the disciples' question, Jesus Christ, our King
and Defender. Remember, there's a bit of a
demonic element, it seems, in the text. The devil is trying
to destroy Jesus. in the boat. One of the commentaries
says the devil is trying to destroy the church of Jesus' followers.
Because it was the church leaders, right? The disciples that were
following Jesus. And yet, Christ has come to defeat the devil,
to crush his head. His power is unshaken. He has power over the storm.
He has power over the problems. He has power over the winds and
the waves, and even the demonic forces that seem to have whipped
this nature into a frenzy. And he uses evil for good. And
so, just listen to the words of Matthew, verse 26 again. Then he arose and rebuked the
winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. That word rebuked, it's like
a father speaking to a naughty child, right? Naughty boy, stop
it now, stop it. Just picture that, right? The
winds and the waves and the turmoil, and Jesus, naughty waves, stop
it now, right? Or perhaps the demonic forces
behind these waves, he rebuked them. Devious forces of nature
causing this trouble, like a parent speaking to a child, he rebukes
them. And there's an amazing result. Again, immediately, it
makes the disciples amazed, doesn't it? Amazed. One word. You see, with one word, Christ
had spoken this creation into existence. Let there be light. And there was light. And now
with one word, he rebukes the demonic elements. And all the
chaos ceases. All the demonic forces that had
whipped nature into a frenzy must obey. And there's a great
calm. Actually, it's the same word
again. The mega calamity, the mega turmoil, this terrible storm
suddenly becomes a mega calm. Total contrast is what Matthew
is showing us here. Total contrast. And this is no
surprise because in the Old Testament we see often God's power over
the sea. Many places, God's divine power
over the sea. It's no wonder the disciples
also are amazed, right? Because these seasoned fishermen
have never seen anything like it. And so they ask the question,
what manner of man is this? Well, the answer is clear to
us, isn't it? He's more than a man. This is the God of the
Old Testament, a man who is God, who has power over the forces
of nature, and all, even the winds and the waves obey him.
He rebuked the winds and the waves, and there was a great
calm. Can Jesus rebuke the trial in your life right now? He can. He might. And he might not. Because he
still might need that trial a little longer in your life to teach
you more about how to live by faith in that sight. Maybe he's still using that trial
a little longer to cause you to trust him to get to know him
better as it were, to know him as not just with you a person
to pray to, but the one who has died for you, who has taken God's
wrath in your place. Maybe he's using that trial to
teach you more. Why are you fearful, O you of
little faith? I got the future. in total control,
all things will work out for good. Can't you believe me a
little longer? Can't you trust me? You see,
the only one who can really press the delete key on the trials
in our life is Jesus Christ, right? The king of the universe.
But he has designed these trials for our good. But here it was
time, and he rebukes. the wind and the waves as the
disciples' defender and king. What manner of man is this? He
is Jesus, the great high priest, the final prophet, and the king,
then in his humiliation, but now in his exaltation. organizing
all the affairs of human history for the outcome of the success
of his mission, the history of redemption all climaxing in the
triune glory of God, when every knee will bow before him, every
tongue will confess that he is the Lord of this universe. Can
you trust him? Do you know this man who is God? And is your life characterized
as one that is learning to know him better and to trust him more,
even in the midst of trial, even in the midst of uncertainties
about the future and challenges and dilemmas perhaps that you
face? That was the problem, not the
winds and the waves, but the weak faith of the disciples.
And this is the man who is God, who is teaching these disciples
a lesson of faith? Are you learning to trust Him
more and more as a disciple to follow Him? We've seen the problem,
we've seen the question, now the lesson. Why does the Holy
Spirit give us this history? Well, like I said, Matthew is
teaching us about Jesus Christ. This is who he is, the man who
is God. And not only that, he's teaching
us, he's inviting us, he's calling us to follow this man. It's as
if, even now, the Lord, through his word and by his spirit, is
speaking personally to each one of us here gathered this evening,
young and old, even the children of this church. He is inviting
disciples to come know who this man is. His name is Jesus. Come
follow Jesus, this man who is God. This amazing Savior who
dies in our place to take away our sinfulness. your naughty
hearts, he forgives, he washes us clean. Come follow Jesus,
this man who is God, the great prophet teacher. He will teach
you, he will train you, he will guide you in the way of righteousness.
He will disciple you every step of the way until the end. Come
follow Jesus, my friends, this man who is God. Not a king in
his humiliation, limited by his humanity, but a king in his exaltation
now with all power. ruling the universe, directing
the affairs of our lives in every detail of this universe. Can you follow this man who is
God? That's discipleship. The Spirit
is inviting us to come and follow. The Spirit desires us to know
him better and to follow him more closely. Each believer,
as we are led by faith alone to trust in him. A few lessons
as I conclude now, five, four lessons I want to share with
you from this narrative. The first I've touched on already,
I'll be brief. The Holy Spirit gives us this
story, this history, to teach us more about Jesus. And as we
meditate upon this man who is God, as we gaze upon his glory
veiled here in human flesh and weakness, we are transformed
into his likeness. He's more than just a perfect
example or a good man, a moral example for humanity, as the
liberal scholars might say. He's more than just the highest
prophet, as the Muslims teach. He's more than just the creator
of the universe and the judge of the world who will come again
on the last day, as we know from, at least in part, from general
revelation. This man is our mediator, prophet, priest, and king. This
man is divine and human, the suffering savior, the great prophet,
and the eternal king. Do you know him? And do you want
to follow him more closely? trusting in his grace alone. That's the first lesson. Secondly,
the disciples and us as well by extension are being taught
to live by faith. J.C. Ryle says this, perhaps
we never know the weakness of our faith until we are placed
in the furnace of trial and anxiety. And that's true, isn't it? Many
of us would probably recognize that, would admit that. It's
when we were faced with the trials that we recognized there was
much more room for growth. In some ways, the discipleship
of Jesus is like a one-room schoolhouse. Each level, you keep learning
the same lesson again and again, don't we? And yet to a greater
extent and a deeper depth of spirituality, we're learning
this lesson to live by faith, to trust the Savior. The Spirit
is discipling us. to live by faith. And God often
takes away the solid ground from under our feet, doesn't he? Maybe
that's why he sent you the trial that you're presently facing.
Or maybe there are trials coming in the next few days, or in the
next week, that we will be called to face, to follow Christ. We don't know. I preached this sermon in my
home church in South Africa. And that very week, the very
next day, one of my members was faced with a great trial. And he phoned me, I talked to
him on the phone a couple, two days later, and he said, Pastor,
that was the storm of my life. That was the storm of my life.
And by grace, he has actually faced that trial quite well,
actually, at least from my perspective. The Lord gave him grace to face
that trial. We don't know what the future holds, do we? We don't
know what the future holds, but we know that Jesus will use every
trial for his people to bring them closer and to strengthen
their faith. The Spirit is discipling us to be better followers of
Jesus. And third, This memorable life
lesson is given to us by the Holy Spirit as well in this account. As Jesus calmed the disciples'
fears, so he also speaks peace into our own hearts. By his word
and spirit today, we are comforted and counseled and encouraged
to continue trusting. It's interesting, when these
disciples were in their most difficult circumstance, they
were terrified, like I said, in this text, it's made clear.
They went to the right place, didn't they? They had followed,
unlike others, they had followed Jesus into the boat. Unlike others,
they had trusted Jesus and were obedient. And now, when they're
in the midst of the trial, even here, we see how the Lord was
working in them, and they went to the right place. with their
fears. They went to Jesus, they awoke
him and told him their situation. Ryle again, wonderful, you should
read that section in Ryle, really. Ryle makes three applications
from this. He says, first of all, we should
take our trials to Jesus. Do not trust in our own ability.
Sometimes you sit there and you're thinking through the whole situation
and trying to solve the problem, right? play the little chess
game in your minds, or try to move this way or that way to
deal with whatever the problem is, the complexity that God has
seen fit to give us. I like these disciples perhaps
at first, they toiled on trying to overcome or deal with this
situation, but no, give up on yourself quickly. As Ryle says
here, we should take our trials to Jesus. Whatever it is, whatever
the issue, whether it's family problems or whether it's maybe
addictions, or maybe something else in our lives that get us
to doubt. Though Jesus may appear to be
sleeping, he is not out of touch with our reality. Not this Savior.
He has always proven himself to understand our needs and to
answer our prayers even before we ask them at times, already
having a plan in place to do so. We should take our trials
to Christ. We should awaken Christ with
our prayers. I love the imagery that Ryle
gives us there. We should awaken Christ with our prayers. Maybe
that's why he appears to be sleeping, if we can use that analogy. He
will not ignore us forever. Though it may seem as if he's
out of touch with our reality, he will hear. And so bring your
fears, bring your challenges, financial troubles perhaps, health
concerns, Maybe deep emotional scars, how to face this next
day, depression, or whatever else the case may be. Bring our
trials to Jesus. Awaken Him with our prayers. Awaken Him with our cries for
help. And tell Him our fears, whatever we're facing. Because
he is listening, he is aware, he is the man who is God on the
throne, and he will strengthen our faith as he has promised
if we are his disciples. Why are you fearful now? What
trial is it that Jesus has seen fit to give you? What anxiety,
what trouble? The Messiah, Jesus Christ, is
inviting us to follow him. and he will work faith in our
hearts. He's busy disciplining us to trust him in every circumstance. Amen. Let's pray together. Holy
God, we pray that thou wilt continue to work in the hearts of thy
people, greater faith, greater trust, and even in the midst
of the greatest trials, mega storms perhaps, that Thou wilt
give us mega faith to hold on to Thy promises, to believe,
no, even just faith like the grain of a mustard seed. Give
us faith, we pray, to trust Thee in every circumstance. Lord,
we don't know what a week brings. We commit the week ahead of us
to Thee. We pray that Thou will be with us in every circumstance,
that Thou will remember the cares and concerns perhaps that we
are facing here amongst us, maybe even the hidden crosses, Lord,
Help us to cast our cares upon Thee, knowing that Thou carest
for us. And help us as brothers and sisters in this church to
care for each other even, to lift up each other to the throne
of grace. Lord, I pray especially for those
who do not yet know the gracious comfort of our loving Lord, Jesus
Christ, that they may come to see Him for who He is by faith,
to believe His reassuring promises that he is not just with us,
but for us. Lord, work this faith, this saving
faith, in the hearts of all of us here, even the children, too,
we pray, that we may all know Jesus more and more and learn
to follow him more closely in our lives. Bless us, we pray.
Bless these means of grace that we've been part of this day for
thy glory. And these things we pray in Jesus'
name, amen.
Jesus Calms the Storm
Text: Matthew 8:23-27
Theme: Jesus Calms the Storm
- The Problem
- The Question
- The Lesson
Closing Prayer
| Sermon ID | 111824328415235 |
| Duration | 44:47 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | Matthew 8:23-27 |
| Language | English |
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