Still God in the Storm
Notes
Transcript
And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Introduction:
Introduction:
One of the things that are constantly on the minds of all people that know and love the Lord is that in these uncertain days, we can trust the certainty of the power of God.
We need to keep in our minds the fact that God is Sovereign.
To affirm the Sovereignty of God is to affirm that God reigns, universally and invincibly.
His sovereignty shows His absolutely ownership, and His control over all things.
God is sovereign over things in nature.
Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.
God is sovereign over human history
The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
His sovereignty even extends to what seems to us to be chance events.
The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.
God rules over all, there is nothing that is outside of His glory or control.
The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
Psalm
But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?
Isa.
And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
As God’s people, the fact of His sovereignty should bring worship.
We live in a world, at all times, but especially at these times that are uncertain.
But God’s people should not fear for we serve a sovereign God that is still sitting on the throne in absolute control.
Even bad things that happen are by His control.
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
There is an account in the Gospel of Mark that speaks to these things of how God is still in control in the midst of the storms of life and so we do not need to panic.
In Mark chapter 4, Jesus and the disciples go for a sail after a long day of teaching the multitudes and in this sail, He shows His absolutely power over nature and His absolute care for His people.
These verses could be divided into six parts; The Promise, The Problem, The Peace, The Panic, The Power and The Probe.
Notice first of all:
I. The Promise (vs. 35-36)
I. The Promise (vs. 35-36)
And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
Jesus had been teaching the multitudes all day and because He was 100% man, He had certainly grown tired by the end of the day which is our context here.
The text says that it was in the evening of the same day as was begun in verse 1.
And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.
Now, the sea (although the name of the sea is not mentioned) is mentioned in verse 1 but not in our text and it does not have to be.
The sea that is view here is the very familiar Sea of Galilee.
The headquarters of Christ during His earthly minstry was in Capernaum at the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee.
He had been moving in and out of the villages teaching the people and on this day the crowd was so massive that they pressed Him all the way to the waters edge and so the only way that He could put some distance between Himself and the crown was to get in the boat and get off the shore into the water a little bit.
Now, the very familiar Sea of Galilee is not really a Sea at all.
It is a fresh water lake and today it is known as Lake Kinneret in Israel, but to us it is called the Sea of Galilee.
It is the lowest fresh water lake on the planet; it is 682 feet below sea level.
It is not as low as the Dead Sea, but the Dead Sea is not fresh water, it has highly mineralized content and the salt in the Dead Sea is so think that you can float on the top of it rather easily.
It is a prolific lake for the production of fish.
In fact, in 1896, one fishing boat alone brought in 92 hundred pounds of fish.
So, having that kind of lake around for the catching of that kind of fish was a great blessing to the people who live there.
It is surrounded by mountains, essentially on the west and the northwest and the mountains rise to 1500 feet.
On the northeast and east, they rise to 3000 feet, to the Golan Heights which run 42 miles in length and the lake is only thirteen miles; so it goes far past the lake.
The lake is 13 by 8, so it sits in a bowl and the water that comes into the lake comes partly from some hot springs but primarily form the Jordan River which flows out of Mt. Herman.
Now, Mt. Herman is up to the north on the Lebanon border at 92 hundred feet.
So the water flows about 10 thousand feet down to fill up this lake in this bowl.
It is such pristine fresh water that it provides even today about 50% of the water for the nation of Israel.
So it is tremendous source of water for them as well as fish.
Now, another thing that make the location of this lake so unique is the fact that it is subject to very, very severe winds.
Both in the summer and in the winter, it experiences these kinds of winds.
The winds that come in the summer are the Sirocco winds from the east and they are pretty predictable.
The wind comes down hard off the Golan Heights and a little north of that and it comes down and it turns the lake into a boiling caldron and it is pretty much the routine everyday during the summer.
These make it a very treacherous place to be in a boat at the wrong time.
Winter is even worse because the winter winds are cold winds that come from the north and the northwest.
And when the cold air comes down and it hits the warm air that naturally sits in the bowl, it creates a turmoil.
The cold air goes through the warm air and causes tremendous turmoil on the lake.
The most dangerous time of the year is November through April.
And in very unexpected ways those winds can come, those cold winds and the waves can get anywhere from five to ten feel and that just does not happen on a lake.
But that is where we are in the geography of the land and so you get a better picture of the potential of what could happen on this relatively small fresh water body.
Jesus has been teaching all day just off the shore in a small fishing boat.
and then He says to the disciples:
And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
One may initially think that the reason that he wanted to go to the other side would be to get some rest; and that thought is not unreasonable, just to get away.
But if you know what happens next in the book of Mark, you know that was not the point at all.
MArk 5
And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
He comes to an encounter which has been ordained by His Father with the Gerasene maniac who is full of demons.
He left and was going to the other side because He had a divine appointment.
And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
This was probably a small fishing boat, so he could not probably transport all of the disciples in the same boat, so He had with Him other little boats.
So they set sail; it has been a perfect day and now thy set sail on the calm waters of the Sea of Galilee.
But before they set sail, Jesus made a promise.
And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
Jesus did not tell them that they were going to go out into the water so far that they could not come back and then a fierce storm was going to rise.
He told them, “come on, we are going to the other side”.
We need to keep in mind to always remember the promises of God.
Oh, I suppose that it is easy to remember those promises when there is no wind, but Jesus made a clear promise here, “we are going to the other side”.
He did not tell them about the Divine appointment that He had with a demon possessed man the next day; and He did not need.
The Lord does not have to tell us His plan, all we have to do is remember the promise that we will make it to the other side.
Listen, we have been given the same promise that the disciples were given.
Matt 28:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
That promise does not come on the back of Him telling us that He will be with us through this particular situation or that particular situation, but just that I am with you; and that is all that needs to be said.
In reality no matter how fierce the situation may be, “I am with you always...” that does not change just because the situation demands more faith.
He is the same God, sitting on the same throne, orchestrating all things after counsel of His own will no matter the situation.
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
He made the disciples a promise, “we will go to the other side”.
He has made us that are His children a promise, “I will be with you always”.
II. The Problem (vs. 37)
II. The Problem (vs. 37)
And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
Well, without warning (as is usually the case) the disciples found themselves out of the calm before the storm to an opportunity to remember the promise of Christ and be calm in the storm.
The text says a great storm or a fierce gale of wind came.
We are talking about huge winds, we are talking about hurricane force winds.
The term for “wind” there is “λαῖλαψ” and it means “hurricane”.
So, what started out as a pleasant evening row (because there was no wind, so you do not need sails) to know being in the middle of the Sea of Galilee with hurricane force winds.
We could easily be talking about 70 mile an hour winds.
In Lukes account He says that the winds came down on the lake.
It just came racing down the slopes of those two mountain peaks into this bowl of a lake.
By the best calculations, this would put these events in the winter of the year 29 A.D.
This would be the worst time for the worst winds.
Cold air furiously funneling down the ravines and the slopes, gaining speed as it descended, colliding with the warm air in the low basin of the lake creating violte turbulence that began to whip and swirl the water, turning it into foam and very, very high waves.
And because the lake is so small, 13 by 8, once those waves hit the shore, they just explode back and collide again and again and again and again, wreaking havoc.
Now, these men were familiar with storms on the lake, they all lived around the lake.
But this one is over the top.
Now, they are in the midst of a God-ordained storm that is specifically chosen to teach a lesson.
Not only to show Christs’ power over nature, but to teach another lesson.
The lesson is are you going to remember the promises of God to His children while you are being beat to death by the winds?
And we know from verse 35 that it was evening when they left, so now it is no doubt pitch dark on that Lake.
That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.
Mathew 8:16
There are times when God chooses the most extreme ways to test our faith.
Mark tells us that the wavs were breaking inside the boat and was being filled with water.
So the fear is either we are going to top side because of the 70 mile and hour wind, or we are going to sink because this small fish boat is not made for this.
Listen, in this midst of the problem are we going to remember the promise of God?
Genuine faith is always tested.
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
So, we have a promise, “let us go to the other side”.
Then, we have a problem, a storm out of nowhere.
III. The Peace (vs. 38)
III. The Peace (vs. 38)
And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
Mark 4:38
Isn’t it just like the master of the storm to be at peace in the storm.
The creator has no reason to be fearful of His creation and since He loves us more than the sparrows and lilies of the field, I would suppose that we should be at peace in the storm as well.
The text says that Jesus is at the stern asleep on a pillow.
Again, we see the truth of His humanity.
He is a real man, a real human being and He understands weariness.
One commentator said that Jesus was so tired that He was fast asleep with water smashing into the boat.
And while there is certainly some truth to that; I believe that one of the other reasons that Christ is at peace is because He does not fear what He created.
He is the Master of the Storm, folks, not the devil not circumstances, not viruses.
He is the Master of the Storm and since He created it and we (as His children) are in Him, we can rest during the storm as well.
He was fatigued, tired from the days teaching, but totally at peace in the storm.
But that is not where we usually live and find ourselves, is it?
We see the Promise, “Let us go to the other side”.
We see the Problem, “a great wind storm”.
We see the Peace, “He was asleep on a pillow”.
IV. The Panic (vs. 38b)
IV. The Panic (vs. 38b)
And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
Uh, Lord, did you forget where I am?
Uh, how can you just be asleep while I am about to die.
“Perish” is the word “ἀπόλλυμι” and it means to be destroyed.
The disciples saw this as inevitable death, we are going to die and you are just lying there asleep.
How could you be so uncaring, God?
How could you just leave me here?
Kind of sounds like us a little bit, doesn’t it.
And the moment we place our eyes on the storm instead of the one that is the creator of the storm, panic sets it usually followed by accusations.
Jesus, the man, may have been asleep because He was tired; but do you think for a moment that Jesus, God, did not really know what was going on?
Listen, how many times did the disciples see Jesus show his power of the powers of the demons?
How many times did they see Jesus show his power of the natural world?
They knew that if they were going to be saved from death that He would have to be the one to do it.
He was going to have to come through with some kind of miraculous exit to this storm.
But even though they knew all of this, when the storm came panic was the result.
How many times have we seen God calm the storms in our lives or the lives of other people?
We know God can do it, we have seen Him do it, but when the storm comes we panic again.
Our panic usually sets in; not because we do not believe that God can, but usually because we do not believe that God will for us or will this time.
I am thankful for verses like:
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Listen, what we need to remember in the midst of our storm is to not panic and certainly not hurl accusations to the Sovereign Creator that He does not care for us, but to rest in the fact that He does not change and so His power and ability does not change.
He has promised never to leave us…that is His promise.
If we could for a moment take our eyes off of the waves beating on our boat and see the one that created the waves and promised me that we will make it to the other side, then we will find ourselves, not panicking, but resting beside Him.
So, we have a Promise, “Let us go to the other side”.
We have the Problem, “A fierce storm appeared”.
We have the Peace, “the creator of the storm was asleep on a pillow”.
We have the Panic, “Master, do you not care that we are going to die?”
V. The Power (vs. 39)
V. The Power (vs. 39)
And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
The water and the wind recognized the voice of their creator and the stormed calmed when he told it too.
The Lord heard their desperate cries for help because He is a God of immense patience and grace.
For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Psalm
He is in the process of building our faith, but He is patient when we cannot see him because of the wind and rain.
As His people we need to remember that He showed His power over nature here, He showed His power of demons and the devil and He showed his power over death in the raising of Lazarus.
The wind and the waves obey Him and then it became perfectly calm.
Listen, all God has to go is utter a word and the storm will stop and He alone knows the limits of our strength.
So when He does not say, “Peace, be still”, it is not because He does not care or is powerless to do anything about it, He is doing what James said in ; He is building our endurance.
He will say, “that is enough” when He deems that it is enough, but in the meantime, we must remember the promise, “You will make it to the other side”.
One more point and we are done.
We see the Promise.
We see the Problem.
We see the Peace.
We see the Panic
We see the Power
VI. The Probe (vs. 40-41)
VI. The Probe (vs. 40-41)
And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Those words strike me like a dagger every time I read them.
It is almost as if Jesus is saying, “Guys what are earth are you afraid of I am right here, don’t you believe me”?
Why are we so afraid of the storm?
Not because we lack the faith of believing He CAN, but we lack the faith of believing He WILL.
Think about it this way; He promised never to leave us, so if I am in the boat in the middle of a storm and the one who promised never to leave is in the boat with me and all I can think about getting out of this storm, would being outside the boat be better since that is not where God is?
Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1 Peter 5
And boy, when the Lord clams the storm we stand in awe, “wow, look what He is able to do”.
Yes, that it true, but He was still able to do it when we were accusing Him of not caring.
The Promise, boy the promise if always true.
What we let the Problem take away our peace and that puts us in a panic.
And then when we see the power of God, His Holy Spirit turns the probe on in our hearts and asks, “Why were you so afraid, why don’t you believe me?”
I do not know what you are facing today, I what I do know is that, if you belong to Christ and are one of His children by repentance and faith, then He has promised never to leave you and He is in the boat with you.
Do not accuse Him of not caring, trust Him and lay down and rest beside the one that created and controls the storm.