WHAT MANNER OF MAN IS THIS?

Mark 4:36–41 AV

36 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. 37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 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? 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. 40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Intro: Jesus is tired from the stresses and activities of the day, and as the ship containing Himself and the Disciples crosses the Sea of Galilee, Jesus lays down and goes to sleep. As He sleeps, a severe storm overtakes the small craft. The storm is so great that the Disciples are afraid for their lives, but Jesus sleeps through it all.

Then, when they feel that all hope is nearly gone, they wake Jesus up and He steps forth in all the power of His deity and rebukes the storm and calms the stormy sea. To say the least, the Disciples are astounded! They look around at one another and voice the question that is the theme of the message this morning. They ask, “What manner of man is this?”

Jesus has always been a man surrounded by controversy. The Disciples beheld His power first hand and were forced to ask, “What manner of man is this?” I have experienced Him at work in my life, as many of you have, and I am still asking “What manner of man is this?”. All those who know Him never cease to be amazed by Him and those who do not know Him can never hope to understand Him or His power.

However, I would like to try to shed a little light on what kind of man Jesus is. Allow me to share 4 simple thoughts with you that will go a long way in answering the question, “What manner of man is this?”

I. Mark 4:39 HE IS THE STILLER OF STORMS

A. Regardless Of Their Source—Storms tend to manifest themselves in various ways in our lives. There are storms that are satanic in origin, others are physical, some are emotional, there are physical storms and financial storms, and thousands of others that are too numerous to name. Yet, regardless of the source of our storm, there is One Who can still say “peace be still!” Jesus is still the stiller of storms, regardless of their source.

Isa. 43:2 “ When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”

Isa 45:5, “ I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:”

6, “That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.’“I am God, there is none else!”

B. Regardless Of Their Force—Sometimes the storms of life are mild, at other times they nearly rip our lives apart. But, regardless of the intensity of the storm we are forced to face in life, let me remind you of 2 things. First, we will never face a storm alone, Heb. 13:5 “ Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

Secondly, we have a God who is greater than anything we will ever face and He will be our helper in the day of the howling storm or the stiff breeze, Heb. 13:6 “ So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” Take note of God’s plan for handling the storms of life.

Phil. 4:6–7 “6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

C. Regardless Of Their Course—No matter what the outcome of the storm may be, or regardless of what lies in the path of the storm, God will still use your life for His glory and for your good, Rom. 8:28. If you don’t believe me, just take a minute to look at the life of Job. He weathered the storm sheltered in the arms of God and even while the wind was still raging around him, Job found the grace to shout his praise to the Lord,

Job 1:20–21 “20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,

21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” God can and God will do the same for you!

I. He Is The Stiller Of Storms

II. Heb. 7:25 HE IS THE SAVER OF SOULS

Heb 7:25, “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

A. He Has Power To Purchase—According to 1 Cor. 6:20 “ For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

We have been bought with a price! However, I do not think we fully understand the glory of that truth. The Bible has much to say about our redemption, but I would like to share three passages with you this morning that tell the whole tale about what the Lord has done for us.

1. Rev. 5:9—“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;”

In this verse, the word redeemed comes from the Greek word “agarazw”. This word means to “buy in the marketplace.” It carries the idea of someone purchasing a slave off the auction block. That is what the Lord did for us!

2. Gal. 4:5—“To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

In this verse, the word redeemed comes from the word “ecagarazw”. This word means “to take off the market.” It means to buy something for oneself and reserve it for your own use. In other words, it is no longer for sale!

3. 1 Pet. 1:18—“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;”

Here, the word redeemed comes from the word “loutron”. This word means “to release after the payment of the ransom price.”

4. When all of these words are taken together, we begin to get a clearer picture of what the Lord Jesus has done for us in redemption!

B. God Has Power To Purify—According to the Bible, Isa. 1:18 “ Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

Rev. 7:14 “ And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

The saints of God have been washed white by the blood of the Lamb! When we trusted Jesus for salvation, we were washed whiter than snow and every lowdown, dirty thing we had ever done, or ever will do was washed away from us forever! We have been declared righteous by the Heavenly Father, 1 Cor. 6:9–11

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 AV

9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

All of our many sins have been forever washed away, John 1:29.

Psa. 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”

Isa. 38:17 “ Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.”

Isa. 43:25 “ I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”

Jer. 50:20 “ In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.”

Micah 7:19 “ He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”

1 John 1:7 “ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

C. He Has Power To Preserve—Thank God the Lord purchase us and purify us, but He can also preserve us! I praise His name that He will not lose one of His little ones on the way home to glory! John 6:37–40.

“37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

1 Pet. 1:5 “ Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

John 10:28; Jude 1:24 “ Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”

I. He Is The Stiller Of Storms

II. He Is The Saver Of Souls

III. Jer. 31:25 HE IS THE SATISFIER OF SAINTS

Jer 31:25, “For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”

The word “satiate” means “to slake the thirst, to saturate, to abundantly satisfy.”

A. The Lord Gives Internal Satisfaction—When a sinner comes to Jesus, he finds complete satisfaction! There is internal satisfaction in that the new born saint in given peace with God, Rom. 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

Gone is the sense of conviction and of fear. These are replaced with a feeling of calmness and quietness in the soul. No longer does the saint feel the need to search and seek to be made right with the Lord, but he knows that things have been made right and that is a feeling that cannot be duplicated by anything else!

B. The Lord Gives External Satisfaction—Not only does the Lord satisfy internally, but He also satisfies externally, Psa. 107:9 “ For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”

1 John 2:15 “ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

The new born saint finds that he loses his appetite for the things of the world. He soon discovers that nothing pleases the soul like the great things of the Lord. The satisfied saint will run after God and not the world. This is one of the greatest parts of the change Jesus makes—2 Cor. 5:17.

A famous preacher toured New York City. While he was there, he saw many of the sites and looked upon the things of that great city. He saw many wonders and many things that were designed to appeal to the flesh.

When he returned to his hotel room, he bowed on his knees and thanked the Lord for letting him see New York, but he went on to thank the Lord that even though he saw many wonderful things, he thanked God that he didn’t see a thing that he wanted. That is what satisfaction is all about!

Those who understand satisfaction know that true contentment is found in Jesus and in Him alone—Heb. 13:5.

C. The Lord Gives Eternal Satisfaction—One day, this life will be over. The saints of God will pass from earth to Heaven and will enter into the presence of God. When that day comes, we will know the meaning of satisfaction perfectly!

Notice what David said about that day, Psa. 17:15 “ As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.”

Psa. 16:11 “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

In Heaven we will experience eternal satisfaction. Gone will be the trials and storms of this life. Gone will be the tears and struggles of sin and of the flesh. Heaven will open before us with all of its beauty and splendor and we will enter the Lord’s presence and know firsthand what true satisfaction is all about.

Rev. 21:4 “ And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

I. He Is The Stiller Of Storms

II. He Is The Saver Of Souls

III. He Is The Satisfier Of Saints

IV. Psa. 23:1–6 HE IS THE SHEPHERD OF SHEEP

A. The Lord Feeds Them—As we make our way through this life we can count on the Lord to give us what we need to help us to grow in Him. The shepherd leads his sheep to the green pastures where they can feed and where they can grow. The Lord leads us through the green pastures of His Word where our souls can feed on the bounty presented there for us.

God help the sheep who doesn’t take time to feed on the Word of God! This Book is your food.

Job 23:12 “ Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”

1 Pet. 2:2 “ As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”

B. The Lord Leads Them—Not only is the shepherd responsible for feeding his sheep, but he must lead them as well. Look at where the Good Shepherd leads His flock.

1. V. 2–4 In The Right Path—Those who follow Him are never lead astray!

2. V. 4 With The Right Peace—Though danger abounds on every hand, the sheep are safe in the presence of the Shepherd.

3. V. 4 With The Right Protection—The Shepherd knows how to protect the sheep and He is ever present and able to do so.

4. V. 5 With The Right Provisions—He knows and anticipates every need and always takes care of the sheep in the way He sees is best.

5. V. 6 To The Right Place—When the journey has ended, the Shepherd will bring all His sheep into His Father’s fold. He will see to it that all His lambs arrive safely home!

Conc: What manner of man is this? There aren’t enough adjectives in the collective vocabularies of humanity to adequately describe Him and His glory. The best we can do is to join our voices with that of the Shumanite woman in Song Of Solomon 5:16 and declare together that “He is altogether lovely!” If you need Him this morning, He is still the stiller of storms, the saver of souls, the satisfier of saints and the shepherd of the sheep. Why not come to Him and get what you need today?