Now let's open once again our copies of God's word to Mark's gospel. We're in chapter six, and we'll begin reading at verse 45 to the end of the chapter. Mark chapter six, beginning with verse 45. But now let's bow before the Lord, our God, our Father, What is remarkable to us is that we are sinners who have the privilege of knowing Thee through the work of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit, and that we have the privilege of reading the Word of God and hearing that Word expounded and taught. And we ask that the Word of the Lord will go forth with free course into our hearts and into our conscience as And Father, help this poor minister who has nothing to exalt Christ who is everything. May he and may those of us who preach, preach as a dying man to dying men. Knowing Heavenly Father, that it is the Lord Jesus Christ and His eternal life. Oh, this is what matters. Help us to live in light of eternity. And bless now as we read this portion of God's holy word, the Bible. And though all the world around us decry it, May we proclaim it to be what it truly is, the infallible word of God. In Jesus' name, amen. Please take your copy of God's word and stand. Mark's gospel chapter six, beginning with verse 45. This is the word of the Lord. Immediately, he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out, For they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, take heart, it is I, do not be afraid. And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased and they were utterly astounded. For they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. and as many as touched it were made well." The word of the Lord. Please be seated. People of God, many of Mark's original readers were in the crucible of distress. Nero was persecuting Christians in Rome. Christians had been burned to serve as lamps in Nero's gardens, dressed in animal skins to be torn to death by lions, and some were even fastened to crosses. Where could the church find hope in this desperate time of need? Thus far, we have seen one long demonstration of Christ's sovereign authority and power. In this gospel, we've seen His healing, casting out demons, raising the dead, feeding the 5,000. But where is the comfort now? in the church's greatest time of distress, when murderous Nero destroyed believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, killing them, and yet they had life eternal. Mark takes us to a second occasion now in which Jesus Himself is seen to be Lord Sovereign over the sea. The new Creator brings calm out of chaos. And remember, Mark is believed to be the retelling of Peter's preaching in large measure. So we come to this wonderful text that would have been known and read by Christians being persecuted in Nero's Rome. And the first thing we see is the disciples alone. The disciples alone. Verses 45 through about the first part of verse 50. Jesus moves from the crowd, he goes to pray, he sends his disciples ahead across the sea. John's gospel mentions that one reason that he went by himself away from the crowds was because they wanted to make him king. But in the midst of it all, our Lord wanted to commune with his Father in heaven. And as a result of Jesus' command, the church as represented in the disciples is in danger. The message comes through loud and clear in this passage, do not be afraid. In applying this to ourselves, we learn that our circumstances are not matters of central importance. Let me repeat that. Oh, that we could learn it, that our circumstances are not matters of central importance. What are matters of central importance are the person of Christ, the presence of Christ, his guidance through our circumstances, his glory that he receives in the midst of our troubles when we walk by faith. We learn dependence on him and not on the passing things of this world. Even this week, we have been attracted to the passing things of this world above those things that really matter most. And so Jesus prayed alone, and it grew dark. And by the time he concluded, it was the fourth watch of the night, probably the beginning of it, the way it's stated there in verse 48. That would have been between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., probably closer to 3 a.m. And his disciples were rowing against the wind. The text tells us in the middle of the sea. They were not near the shore. They were in the midst of the sea. They were physically exhausted, exerting all of their energy. The participle literally translated is that they are tormenting themselves as they are rowing there in the midst of the sea. They were straining at the oars, and Matthew uses the same participle and applies it to the boat that is being tormented by the storm, just as Mark does of the disciples. And Jesus on land communes with his heavenly father, and as he prays, no doubt he is praying for his disciples, among other things, that God would be glorified in what he knows is coming into their lives. Indeed, he has sent them into the sea. They are in his sovereign hands, even though he is on the land and they on the stormy sea. And we still, listen, we still have him as our mediator. We still have him as our great heavenly intercessor. Now someone has asked the question, has there ever been a period in the history of the church when there was no crisis? Of course, no. There has never been a period in the history of the church, and there will not be until Christ comes again in which there has not been some crisis in the church somewhere in this fallen world. But also, has there ever been a time in which he was not head and king of his church? Has there ever been a time in which he was not sovereign over the circumstances faced by his church? Has there ever been, will there ever be a time in which he does not love and care for his own and lead us on to our heavenly home? So here in this historical occurrence, as at other times when Jesus is physically absent, the disciples do what they always do when he's not there. They panic. Do you suppose the church in Rome reading this took this to heart as they were suffering under Nero and undoubtedly many of them tending to panic? Should you and I also reading this take this to heart? What is it in your life in which there's the temptation to live with panic rather than trust? The disciples then, circumstances for the disciples, the first readers of this historical narrative, and we too, are directed away from our circumstances to the Savior of us in the midst of those circumstances. Apply this to your own need. Is it physical issue? Is it some disease in your body? Is it something that is plaguing your soul? Is it a relationship? He is sovereign over the sea. He is sovereign over those circumstances too. What matters is not so much the circumstance. What matters is Christ. Now I like the way that William Hendrickson summarized this. In spite of the fact that it is dark, Jesus sees his disciples laboring with great difficulty to drive their vessel forward. In spite of the fact that water is, at least is considered to be by its very nature, unfit to be walked on, he walks on it. In spite of tempestuous billows and buffeting headwinds, he, without deviation, continues step by step to walk towards the boat. No, not all the way up to the boat, but rather toward a place near or alongside of it, for Mark writes he was about to pass them by. What can keep our Savior from us? What can hinder His almighty care of you, His people? What circumstance is out of his control? Can you not believe that he is doing in your hard circumstance what is for his glory and also for your good? Well, you say, I don't see it. I'm straining at the oars as the disciples were. Well, yes, the disciples could not see it, but we have this narrative and we also read to the end of the book and we know Jesus Christ rose from the dead and he's our living Lord. We also strain at the oars, yes, indeed, but we are called by this text to walk by faith and not by sight. Now let's leave the disciples straining at the oars for a few moments, and we'll return to them. And I want secondly to take up the question of miracle. So that's the second thing, the matter of miracle. Now you know from reading the text that the disciples are saved by a miracle. We've seen that Mark teaches that the miracles of Jesus are signs of the kingdom of God, that the kingdom has come in Christ. But what should your attitude and mine be today? Can we believe in miracle? Well, there are two prevalent unbelieving attitudes toward miracle. First of all, there's the attitude of the postmodern. We're open to the supernatural, we're spiritual people, says the postmodern. Strange things happen, but we cannot accept that it points to the exclusive truth of Christianity. Your truth is your truth, my truth is my truth, and miracles may happen, but it's just out there, no transcendent meaning, and it certainly does not point to an exclusive savior. But over against that viewpoint that is very prevalent in our culture is the viewpoint of the New Testament itself. It is essential to note that the New Testament teaches that the miracles of Jesus are signs. To whom do they point? To what do they point? They are pointing to Jesus Christ and to the truth and reality that in him the kingdom has broken into time and space. that the kingdom has come in Christ person and work, and to his person and work exclusively. But then there's another attitude, and that attitude we could call maybe the older view. It's akin to the viewpoint of the English deist, but it's still very much with us. It's the viewpoint that it's just ridiculous to believe in miracles. I read a story of a young man, a testimony of a young man named Tom, I read it many years ago. This fellow had become a, he professed faith in Christ when he was 12 years old. He went to seminary, he got a degree, he began to having a major in biblical studies. He began to pastor in a church. He had what was considered a very successful youth ministry. And then, all of a sudden, he left. He earned his MBA, began just earning money, and he couldn't recite the Apostles' Creed anymore. It wasn't in his heart. For years, he just read philosophy, and then he resigned himself to what he thought was the fact that there was just nothing out there. And then he moved and for some reason or other ended up under the ministry of a pastor, a seasoned minister who preached from the sixth chapter of John. You remember in the sixth chapter of John, there is the feeding of the 5,000 as we saw in Mark last week, and then not receiving his words about eating and drinking Christ, the crowds leave and the disciples remain. And you remember that after defeating the crowd, Jesus asked the disciples, will you also go away? And they say, Lord, to whom can we go? You alone have the words of eternal life. This young man heard that preached. He wept in his pew. He put his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ because he had no other place to go, no other savior to which he could turn. And when he came home, he said to his family, guess who recited the Apostle's Creed today? This young man did. Why? What did the Lord do in this young man's life to help him to see that Jesus was the performer of miracles and that Jesus was the savior of sinners, that he could rest on the promises of God's word, that he really can believe his Bible, that there is not nothing out there. There is the God who is everywhere, who rules and reigns. Let me tell you what happened to him. This young man was brought to the end of himself. This young man was brought to the end of his own resources. That's what happened. Now, this is going to be the experience of anyone who comes to faith in Christ. You come to the end of yourself. You see that you cannot save yourself. You cannot redeem yourself. That was my experience as well. When I was a young man, I was a thinking young man, and I was a terrible skeptic, and I did not believe the word of God until God sovereignly saved me at age 13. And then I will remember after that, I mean, this is years, I'm at the age I can talk about something being years and years ago, years and years ago, that I came to faith in Christ. I read David Hume's essay against miracles. And I remember reading that and thinking, how could anybody be influenced by Hume's writing on miracles? It was the most senseless thing I'd ever read. Well, that's because the Lord had changed my heart, the disposition of my heart. Now, people of God, remember, miracles are not on every page of the Bible. The hinge points of Revelation is where you find miracles. The Exodus, Elijah and Elisha, and as someone has said, Christ is the center of the entire cycle of miracles. Miracle stands with the revelation of the word of God. God's word is clear. God's word is self-attesting. It comes with his own authority stamped upon its every word. The problem is not in God's self-revelation in the scriptures. The problem is with our depraved and sinful hearts. And indeed, every miracle of Jesus that we have been seeing points ahead to that great miracle, the resurrection of Jesus Christ bodily from the tomb. So the upshot is this. When will you have no doubt about miracle? When will you believe in miracle? When will you see that this is the salvation that he wrought for sinners in his active obedience and in his passive obedience on the cross and in his resurrection from the dead? What will help you to see? What will cause you to see? When will you believe? Well, through the Holy Spirit. Once you see your need of miracle, once you see your sin in the presence of a holy God, once you see that you deserve wrath, you will have no problems with miracle. you will see that you must have a virgin born Savior, the incarnate God, who came into this world, who performed these miracles, who brought the kingdom of God in his person and work, who died on the cross, rose from the dead, and that only this miracle working Savior can save me from my sin. I must have miracle or I am lost forever. So the Bible is God's inerrant word. It is thoroughly trustworthy. Now let's return to the disciples. They've been rowing strenuously on the ocean long enough. Let's return to them, straining at the oars. And the third thing we see is Jesus' reassuring presence. And this takes in about verses 48 to 51. In verse 48, the Greek text says that he intended to pass them by. Mark undoubtedly sees this. There are connections between the way it's written and some references in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint. And Mark undoubtedly sees this as a theophany, a manifestation of the transcendent Lord who will pass by just as God did at Sinai before Moses in Exodus 33, or at Horeb before Elijah in 1 Kings 19. And there's a possible connection as well to Job 9. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea, says Job. When he passes by me, I cannot see him. When he goes by, I cannot perceive him. And so it's all about who this is and about His presence with us. Now there was a prevalent view of water spirits among the Jews at this time. These phantasms that would come out at night in order to do harm. And so there they are, rowing, they're exhausted and they see what appears to them to be an apparition. And R.T. France says so wonderfully, he came to them. He came to them as a figure of mystery and terror, not a familiar companion to be awakened in crisis. Yes indeed, he comes in sovereignty, walking on the water, and they are terrified. They cried out in terror, they screamed in terror. Williams translates it this way, and by the way, I've always loved reading Williams' translation of the New Testament. He translates it, but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought that it was a ghost and screamed aloud, for they all saw him and were terrified. And then it's translated in the ESV, this is verse 50, but immediately he spoke to them and said, take heart, it is I, do not be afraid. This is the second time in which the disciples thought that they would be drowned. We've seen a previous time, the stilling of the wind and the waves. Now they hear the familiar voice. They know what he can do. And oh, what a change has come in their lives. If only he will get in the boat with them, which he does, and if he will calm the wind and the waves again, what a relief. Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid. Or should it be translated differently? Because the simple words are simply ego, a me, I am. And it's possible to translate them, it is I. But it is also, in all those times in John's gospel where you have those I am passages, I am the way, the truth and the life, I am the door, I am the good shepherd of the sheep. Well, those are the words here, ego eimi, I am. So did he say to them, it is I, do not be afraid, or did he say to them, I am, do not fear? Which is it? Well, I think context has to determine that. Mark is linking. Remember the last time we saw the feeding of the 5,000. He is linking the manna. and the crossing of the sea in remembrance of the exodus in this passage. And let me suggest my own thought about the disciples and what they heard. I think they probably heard, it is I, do not be afraid. And they were reassured by his presence. But after the resurrection, thinking back on this passage, what they would have thought was, ah, now I understand. Now I get it. It was not so much, it is I. It was, I am. Do not be afraid. And you know why that's significant, people of God? Because in Exodus chapter three, verse 14, God said to Moses, I am who I am. I am the self-contained God. I am the sovereign one, the omnipotent one, and I am the one who condescends to make covenant with you, to have a relationship, a saving relationship with you and with my people. And so greater reassurance than we ever could have imagined came to the disciples on this day. The covenant God, I am with you. The covenant God says, do not fear. And when Jesus is in the boat, all is calm, literally translated, the wind grew weary. I will be with you, your troubles to bless and sanctify to you your deepest distress." Don't we sing those words? That's what he's doing here in this passage. So what do you think that persecuted Christians in the era of Nero reading this passage needed to know? And what do you and I need to know? It is that the fearful presence of an awesome Lord who loved them and who loves us is alone our Savior. That theology, worship, life, that everything be permeated with this, that it does not mean that they will not be torn by lions. It does not mean that God does not intend that we go through real trouble and hard circumstances. It is not a contradiction of either his love or his power when we go through hard things. But when we are confronted with an awesome, fearful, loving, almighty Lord, we live differently. We just do. We live another way. and we will face our problems, our circumstances, persecution, or whatever it may be in a different way. Why? Because I am is my God. Yahweh rules my life. Jehovah is the Lord over my sea. and the Lord is the Lord of my life. His awesome presence determines my life, my responses, my approach to life, persecution, sickness, whatever it may be. In Christ, I am loved. He's proven it in the cross once for all. In Christ I am loved, I am ruled by the great I AM. Think of it, people of God. Have a high biblical view of who God is. You are ruled, loved, cared for, in covenant with the great I AM who spoke out of the burning bush to Moses in Exodus chapter 3. You know, study church history. Young people really get into church history. Read some of the great things that are out there on church history. They will strengthen your soul, teach you a lot about theology, grow you in grace, give you great models in a world in which there are few great models. Why is it that John Knox, our great Presbyterian forefather in Scotland, could say, fear God, fear sin, and fear nothing else? And he lived that way. How is it that when you come to the 18th century and you study the life of Jonathan Edwards that you find that no matter what troubles he went through, his life was controlled by what was called a majestic calm, what was said to be his habitual and great solemnity, looking and speaking as in the presence of God. Why is it that today there are pastors such as the one that just was written about in the Voice of the Martyrs magazine, who is teaching his congregation how to go through persecution, they've known a great deal of it already, and he is teaching them He is teaching his people that people are going to be ready to take persecutions happily and as the highest blessing. How could that be? How could someone live that way? Because their lives and hearts are controlled by the knowledge that the great I am is my God who has told me not to fear. What are you afraid of? Where do you need to apply this in your life? There are as many different fears in this congregation as there are people this morning, and you need to apply it to your own heart and to your own life. Church of Jesus Christ, get your feet on the word, know your Bibles, stand your ground, and be immovable against the spirit of Antichrist. The Lord is with you in the storm, and we need to help one another to live that way. So, about miracle, the text is not only calling you to believe that Jesus walked on water, the text is calling upon you to believe in Jesus who is God in the flesh. The great I am, enfleshed, enfleshment, incarnation. there are consequences to rejecting the miracles of the New Testament. Rejecting the walking on water is not so simple after all, because when you reject that, you reject that God is with us, and then you are all alone. The issue of miracle is not at base an intellectual issue, it is a matter of the heart, the disposition of your soul. Believe in God's word or not, it is a matter of the heart. And that's the fourth and final thing we want to see in the text. A matter of the heart. Look again at these verses 51 and 52. Jesus has said, take heart, it is I, or I am, do not be afraid. And in verse 51, he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased and they were utterly astounded. And they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. Do you find this peculiar, interesting? They are astounded in the sense that they can hardly believe this can be done. Well, he's already still the wind and waves. They've seen him work miracles. They had just seen him declare himself to be manna from heaven feeding the 5,000. They had not understood the loaves. They had not seen this reenactment of manna in the wilderness that it was pointing to God in the flesh. The framework was the Old Testament. They should have understood. It seemed that despite these things that were spiritually dull, they were spiritually lethargic. Anyone here a believer, spiritually dull, hard-hearted, lethargic? They failed to see that to which the man appointed. that He is the bread of life, and here that He is Jehovah that leads His people through the sea. And they panicked, and their hearts were not yet gripped by who He is, and we who live after the resurrection of Christ need to take all of this into our hearts. Adolf Schlatter. German evangelical New Testament scholar, 19th century said, it is part of the summons to repentance, which the gospel addresses to us that alongside the riches of Jesus, it shows us the poverty of the disciples and makes clear for all by their case how much kindness and patience he must show to us before we will believe. Now, isn't that true? And as we continue to have doubts and we struggle as true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, how kind He is, how patient He is, how loving, how remarkable is the great I Am to teach us step by step how to have faith in Him. So then what happens? Well, you come to these verses at the end. The boat lands, they get off the boat. People see Jesus and they bring all of the sick and all of the needy to him and he heals them. That's what we read in verses 53 through 56. What was he saying when he did this? The kingdom has come. What was he saying when he did this to those who were healed, but also to the disciples who right now have dull hearts? He was saying to them, then shall the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an heart and the tongue of the dumb shall sing, Isaiah 35. He is saying to them, you see what I'm doing? I'm fulfilling everything the Old Testament says the Messiah will do. I am the Messiah. I am the great I am who now has become flesh. Can God dwell with man? Here I am. So for you people of God today, for the church today, for you in your Christian life today, it has rightly been suggested that the early church would have seen this familiarity in their danger, this similarity in their danger with this loving Lord and what He did on this day. It is a result of the command of Jesus that the church or the individual Christian faces his dangers or his distresses. The separation of Jesus from his disciples would leave the church to think of their own situation. Jesus ascended, a time in which we await his return. And then C.E.B. Cranfield says so beautifully, the church, which must expect him every moment, must also reckon with the fourth watch. When he comes, it is with fullness of divine power, the Lord of wind and waves. This is important. While we understand that this is a unique event in redemptive history, there is good reason that the early church took as its symbol a boat. And remember, each time in Mark's gospel, when Jesus is absent, the disciples panic, and we tend to panic. And Matthew records Peter's effort. Do you remember? Matthew does this, not Mark. Maybe Peter didn't like talking about it, so it's not here in Mark. But it's in Matthew that Jesus tries to, that Mark tries, Peter tries to make his way to Jesus and takes his eyes off of Jesus and he sinks. But Mark makes his own contribution by stressing the hardness of their hearts and not understanding the multiplication of the bread that fed the 5,000 for not seeing this as the fulfillment of the word of God. And I think that this is where we need to learn as well. for us an application is not to fail to understand by not taking heed, not paying attention, not meditating upon the truth of God's word to such a degree that that word begins to control my thoughts, my will, and my affections through the blessed power of the spirit of God. Now listen to me young people, young people who are here today. I don't know if this is original with me, I don't think so. I just remember it and it's true. Conviction is the foundation of maturity. So if you want to grow and you want to be mature, you need to have strong biblical convictions and found your life on those. Human subjective experience is not a solid foundation for Christian faith in life, it never has been, and it has always failed when people have tried to do it. But when your conviction is the word of God, then there is order in your life, and there is peace in your life, and there is happiness in your life. No matter what comes, no matter what sea you're on, so to speak, I remember Sinclair Ferguson saying to us, this would have been about 1981 when I was his student. He was speaking of how God's call in our lives, this call is a call to peace. And he said something that's astounding, really. It's so simple. He said, to have that peace means learning to take a theological principle and apply it to a problem. Now I've had a long time to think about that, and I've had a long time to apply it imperfectly, but you know he's right. The more I learn about the Word of God, the more I learn about God's truth, the more I learn about the theological principles that are found there, and then when I have a problem, and I'm all in turmoil over it. When I take that truth and I apply it to my problem, then I have subjective peace. Young people, do you want drama in your life or do you want peace in your life? This is the way to have it. And so they needed to understand. And we need to understand with deep spiritual conviction who Christ is and what he came to do and what God's Word says and how we are to apply it to every circumstance of life. And we must do so because as Luther stressed, we fallen sinners are curved in on ourselves and we need to get out of ourselves into Christ by faith. And so, in the meantime, as we're waiting for the return of Jesus, hopefully with joyful hearts, we're waiting on the return of Christ, is it not appropriate that we take this text and that we claim the comfort of Jesus' saving nearness to us? That joy and comfort belongs only to those who have an answer to the question, can God dwell with us? Can God dwell with man? Can God dwell in our midst? And if you can reply, yes, he can, he came, God came down, he calmed the storm, and he said, it is I, do not be afraid. Then he still says to you, in the depths of your soul, through his many promises and through his entire word, I am thy God, I will still give thee aid, I'll strengthen thee, help thee and cause thee to stand, upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand." Through his word, God says to you, believer, what are you fearing? What is your circumstance? The circumstance is not unimportant, but it's not central. Christ is central. He says to you and to me today, I am I am the Lord of the universe. I am the Lord who condescended to save you. I am the self-contained God, the infinite, eternal, unchangeable God. And I am your God. I am. Do not be afraid. Amen and amen.