The Wind and Waves Obey Him Matthew 8:23-27

We live on a planet where we have weather. The weather on planet Earth is different from the weather on other planets. For example. Mercury has hardly any atmosphere. It does not have storms clouds winds or rain.

Venus has a temperature of 450 degrees and is surrounded by clouds of sulfuric acid. Mars is the planet that is closest to supporting life. But this was not God's design. They have four seasons, but in the winter Mars gets down to 195 degrees below zero.

You think we have it bad? Mars is often cloudy and it alternates from being warm and dusty to cloudy and cold. Now the atmospheres on the four gas giants Jupiter Saturn Neptune and Uranus are similar, but they do not have weather like planet Earth.

But as residents of planet Earth, we know whether unlike any other Planet we have cold Intermediate and warm temperatures depending on where you live. We have thunderstorms in the summer and blizzards in the winter.

Every one of us has experienced these and the storms that tend to stand out the most. Are the ones that are the most severest and the ones that are the most unique? We had one of those unique ones. Not too long ago on April 16th.

2018.

Several men in this church were at a men's retreat in Frederick on that day. We knew a storm was coming, but we didn't know how bad it would be in. The evening as the retreat was winding down the winter storm started to pick up at this point.

Everyone was in a hurry to leave to get home before the worst of it but once cars started to leave we realized we were in the worst of it all as. The snow fell and the winds roared you could barely see the car in front of you.

Now a Frederick to Eureka on a normal day is about a 20 to 25 minute drive. But on this day getting home was a very difficult task. My father was with me and he was the one driving our vehicle thankfully for me.

After enduring the elements we finally arrived home an hour and a half after we left the retreat center. My father who was almost 70 at the time said those were the worst conditions. I have ever driven in.

That storm led us to canceling church the next day, and it was a storm to remember. We are always amazed by the wonder of a storm. There's so much power Displayed and it makes us feel so small and vulnerable.

Storms tell us about the greatness of the one who created them. This morning. We are going to see who controls the weather. The power of storms must follow the voice of the one who is most powerful. At this time I encourage you to turn in a Bible with me to Matthew chapter 8.

We will be looking at verses 23 through 27. If you're using a red Bible in the pews is on page 967. The sermon is titled the winds and the waves obey him. We will begin by reading this text together verses 23 through 27 of Matthew 8 and When he got into the boat his disciples followed him and behold There arose a great storm on the sea so that the boat was being swamped by the waves.

But he was asleep, and they went and woke him saying save us Lord. We are perishing and He said to them. Why are you afraid? Oh you of little faith? Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm and the men marveled saying What sort of man is this that even winds and sea? obey him.

Here's our big idea this morning Christ is worth trusting in every storm. Christ is worth trusting in every storm, and we are going to see two reasons. Why in this text but before we jump in I want to give you a little recap of where we were one week ago.

We looked at the cost of following Jesus. What that text told us is that we are to understand what it means to be a follower of Christ and we saw two conditions how. The first is that true followers lovingly serve him and the second condition.

How is that true followers know what they are signing up for? True followers are glad to follow him because they love him and when true disciples follow him. They are those who have counted the cost of following Jesus.

May we.

Be those who truly love him and people who have counted the cost. These are the people who are genuine believers in Christ. Now this leads us to the text that we have already read. Let's begin by zeroing in on verses 23 and 24.

Once again the text reads. And when he got into the boat his disciples followed him and behold There arose a great storm on the sea so that the boat was being swamped by the waves but he was asleep. As We saw from the previous passage in this chapter Jesus was being bombarded by the crowds and he requested to go across to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

After Jesus had those conversations with the two men about counting the cost We read in verse 23 that Jesus and his disciples got into the boat to travel across to the other side. What is interesting about this boat is that Archaeologists found a boat that very well could have been this one.

They found it on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee in.

1986.

1986.

The boat was 26 feet long about seven and a half feet wide and it could hold 15 people. Jesus and his 12 disciples are of course 13 people so this could have been the boat We don't know but very interesting.

The boat they would have used at this time would have been similar to a sailboat. And they obviously didn't have motors back then that could get them from point A to point B in short time. So when a storm hit it would have been frightening to have been in a small boat as The storm got closer.

What they would have known is that they were in trouble. They would have known that they could not outrun it. They would have been forced to ride out the storm and every sailor knows that there's no guarantee that you're gonna get out.

Okay. Some ships sink because they bought them out and others sink because they hit something they weren't supposed to. Like the Titanic. In 1912 the hit an iceberg. The most famous shipwreck not too far from here is known as the Edmund Fitzgerald.

That sank in Lake Superior in 1975. This shipwreck was made even more famous because of the song the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald written by Gordon Lightfoot. Not long after the sinking happened. This ship sank from one of the largest storms in the history of Lake Superior.

The Edmund Fitzgerald was a boat 730 feet long that attempted to cruise through winds that reached over 100 miles per hour and 30 foot waves. A Man from the Coast Guard who used to work on the Atlantic and was later transferred to work on the Great Lakes.

He said that this was the worst conditions. He had ever seen which is Incredible when you think about it. Conditions were worse on Lake Superior than the Atlantic and we know how the story goes. Sadly in the eastern part of Lake Superior the ship sank.

The storm was so bad that it sank this massive and famous.

Ship.

The Edmund Fitzgerald and the 29 men on it perished. When a storm hits it shows us how small we are and how vulnerable. What verse 24 tells us in our text is that a great storm arose over the sea? The Sea of Galilee is surrounded by hills and Some call them mountains.

The stories have long been told that the day could be sunny with no clouds in sight. Only to find out. Minutes later the clouds are suddenly gathering. When this happened it was the worst nightmare of sailors.

This is precisely the situation that Jesus and his disciples found themselves in a Great storm arose and the storm was so big the giant waves Started to flood the small boat with water. The end of verse 24 tells us something that should make us chuckle a little bit.

That is that Jesus is asleep as this is going on. What mark 438 tells us is that Jesus was asleep in the stern. The stern is the back of the boat? What we read in the text is That he was sound asleep on a cushion from from the account in Mark chapter 4.

When we talk about the person of Jesus the second person of the Trinity We must understand that he had two natures. He is fully God and he is fully man in his deity. He has no limitations. But in his humanity he did.

He got hungry and thirsty he learned things and he even got tired as we read here. Some of you if you get the chance during the day, especially if you're retired may lay down for a nap and Jesus did. He was so active with the crowds that he needed a time to rest.

And on this boat journey across the Sea of Galilee. He thought this was a good time to catch a snooze. To this point the disciples already knew the man they spent so much time with was a prophet of the Lord.

They may have had suspicions that he was the Messiah. But they were not certain yet their faith was not at that level as we're about to see. They saw his miracles and they knew he could not do the things that he did without having the supernatural power from God.

They knew he was a true prophet that when he spoke they needed to listen. Now when I preached the beginning of chapter 8 the story of the leper We learned that Jesus often kept his identity identity as Messiah Secret.

It was not yet time for people to fully know who he was. But the disciples who were around him all the time should have known that he was more than a mere prophet this storm Was a time to test their faith and what we are about to see as we read earlier.

Is that they failed to meet the test? Let's look at verses 25 in the beginning of verse 26 and They went and woke him saying save us Lord. We are perishing and he said to them Why are you afraid? Oh you of little faith?

Now we might think this response to the storm by the disciples is appropriate. Imagine a tornado. Barreling down towards your home. Doesn't it seem appropriate to tremble and say we may not survive this.

But that's not how faith responds. Having some fear is okay. But to be overtaken by fear is not. It's sinful. This was the problem with the disciples. It is clear when they say save us Lord. We are perishing That they don't know If Jesus is going to get them out of this and they are also questioning his care for them.

In fact in the the mark account they ask him Lord. Are you gonna save us? They are questioning how big his power and love is For them and by this point they should know they should have known About his power and about his love for them.

They should have known also that this wasn't God's plan. God did not send Jesus to the earth to die on a boat with his disciples in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. They should have known that God's mission for Jesus and his and his disciples was just beginning.

It wasn't going to end right here. One exercising faith would know this but they were not exercising faith. They also showed their faithlessness by forgetting what Jesus had already done. We know this storm happened in the evening because the parallel passage in mark 435 tells us this.

Earlier that day the disciples saw Jesus heal Peter's mother-in-law from her fever and cast out several demons. And she was healed after he had already performed many miracles. They should have known they were being tested and they should have known that God was calling them to exercise faith in Jesus.

If you can heal people the way he did Then that means he has control over nature. The disciples should have known that he had power not only to heal diseases in the natural body. But also to control the weather.

If you can heal the natural body, then you have control over nature. Their faith in him here is small. Jesus rebukes them for their lack of faith in the beginning of verse 26 when he asked them why they are afraid and Why they are lacking faith in him?

Another way to say afraid is cowardly or timid. We can imagine that they were shaking and had more fear here than they ever had before. This shows they lacked the trust in Jesus. They should have had.

Their faith was not like the centurion as we saw a few weeks back. Remember what Jesus said about the centurion. He said I haven't seen anybody in Israel with faith like this in That text the centurion believed that Jesus was God when he called him Lord.

I've explained this before. But the title Lord it can mean Master and it could mean the name of God in The Septuagint which was the Greek translation of the Old Testament the word Lord was used for the name of God.

So in the New Testament when the Lord when the word Lord is used with Jesus sometimes. It's the word master other times. It's the name of God Yahweh and when the centurion said it we can be confident that.

This is what he meant by it because of how Jesus complimented him remember the centurion. He was a Gentile, but he was a friend of the Jews. He knew about the Messiah. Coming he believed that Jesus was the Messiah and he understood too that Jesus Was God but we know in this passage what the disciples meant by using the title Lord.

And we know this because we can look at the parallel passages of Mark 4 and Luke 8. Mark 4 38 tells us that what they meant by Lord was teacher and Luke 8 24 tells us they meant.

Master.

Because that's what they said they said Master will you help us. So the disciples faith was weak at this point? This does not mean that they were not believers. Now it's interesting that in the present day You can't be saved unless you believe That Jesus is the Messiah and that he is God.

But in the first century when the Jews were being exposed to Jesus Being exposed to the Messiah for the first time it may have taken a little time for them to recognize their his identity and The weaker their faith was the longer it would take them to recognize his true.

Identity.

But we know that they were genuine believers because when Jesus called them they followed him they dropped Everything they had and they showed faith and here in our passage. What we see is that they do show a glimmer of faith.

They do it very weakly by saying Lord. Will you save us, but but there is a glimmer. That is there in fact the word here used the Greek word used here for Faith it isn't faithless. It is little faith or weak faith if we're talking about an unbeliever a different word for faith is used and that word is used in Revelation 21 8 and The people who have this faithlessness as that verse says have a portion in the lake of fire.

But the disciples here do show a glimmer of faith when they ask him to rescue them. What we need to see here is this. They did not believe in Jesus. For all he was and all he was able to do as God's Son.

So in this chapter We see the strong faith of the centurion who believed the fullness of who Jesus was and right here in our text today We see the feeble faith of the disciples and as we look at this Who are we more like are we more like the centurion or are we more like the disciples.

I submit to you that our experience as disciples of Christ is often like the feeble faith of the disciples in this text if We are truly honest. We have a lot in common with them. It often happens that we see God do extraordinary things in our midst and then later on We don't believe that he can do something extraordinary.

We doubt that he will really show up and help us and take care of us. The Lord puts us in places where we are given opportunities to exercise faith. This means that he doesn't always make things easy.

Every day we are given the opportunity to exercise faith. Our whole lives is a test of faith. Are we going to trust that God will help us pay the bills or will we fear. Are we going to trust God to care for our children or will we fear?

Are we going to trust God that he will keep his promises or will we doubt and fear? Are we going to trust God that he is going to protect us from the the coronavirus? I think what we see a lot in our country and in the world is a lot of people are afraid.

And it's not a healthy fear. It's a sinful fear. And I'm not saying throw caution to the wind. We should do smart things. But we should also exercise faith. We should also live our lives. Live a productive life for the Lord during the season and not tremble in.

Fear.

Here's another very relevant one. Are we going to trust God to care for us as? American Christianity is increasingly at odds with the American secular society. Are we going to stand strong and? Follow him no matter what or are we gonna buckle in fear?

There's nothing better in life Than pleasing God and we can't please him unless we exercise faith in him. A Verse that's been a lot of my mind lately is Hebrews 11 6 and ever says without faith. It is impossible to please.

God.

This is God's design for our lives. Faith is the key to growing to become more like Christ. The more we trust him the more we reflect Him. And what he wants from us is holiness that we think talk and act like Jesus.

When we trust God to help us what we are saying is you are powerful and you love me enough to help. This faith is shown through a calmness a calmness the disciples clearly lacked in this text when the storm came.

They mostly didn't trust. They had a glimmer. But it was a weak faith. And this is a faith That God doesn't want us to have. He wants us to have a strong faith. And this is where it's important to understand that the opposite of fear and anxiety is peace.

And The means through which peace comes is trust. Philippians 4 6 and 7 Says do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication. With Thanksgiving let your request be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all Understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

As the storm hits We do see someone who has peace. And it's obvious.

Jesus.

He knew that this wasn't the end for him and his disciples and he knew that his father had given him incredible power. Including the power to calm the storm. This is God's call on each of our lives. He tells us not to fear when we are in situations that tempt us to be afraid.

Your life may feel like a storm at times and you may be in a situation right now where it feels like a storm and The only way you will navigate through this as God intends is Him giving you peace as you trust him.

The problem may eventually be taken away and you may feel good again. And even in those seasons by the way, we still need to walk closely with the Lord. But sometimes there are good seasons of life, but a lot of times there's hard seasons.

And so the question we need to ask is what if the problem remains. Is there still hope for peace. And the answer is yes. Because peace is there when the problem is.

There.

As the storm Surrounds you you need not be afraid. God has the power to help you and he does because he loves you. He is compassionate toward his people. He wants to help us. Some of you are familiar with Lord of the Rings.

Those movies were out a number of years ago, probably about 15 20 years ago. Maybe you've read some of the books. But I like what the scene in the movie where Gandalf is with Bilbo and Bilbo is being overtaken by the ring and.

And.

Gandalf is interceding and Gandalf tells Bilbo I am NOT trying to harm you. I am trying to help. This is what God does with us when he leaves us in a trial for a while. He's not harming us. No, he's helping us.

He's not leaving us hanging. No, he knows what he's doing. He puts us through trials and what he teaches us is that we can trust him through it all. It's often so that the peace comes before the problem is fixed as we exercise faith.

He cares too much about our growth not to use trials to stretch us for our good. Remember when I was running I Was able to run at levels that I never thought I could run and I was an okay runner in high school.

Better in college, but then after college I started to go to places. I never thought I could go. I started to stretch in places. I never thought were possible. I ran times I never thought I could run and God what he showed me through that is Seth you can do things.

You didn't think you could do and our faith can be stretched in such a way where we can have more faith Than we ever thought we could have. Think about the twelve disciples. Or not Judas, of course, but Matthias who replaced him.

Here.

The disciples are buckling in fear. But you know what? Church history records that later on Eleven of the twelve were martyred for their faith and John was exiled. Think about that. Weak in faith here strong in faith later on.

But here the disciples should have trusted and been calm waiting for the help. This was this we must do in our lives. Trust that God will take care of everything because even if you have storms in your life.

Eventually the storms clouds will pass. This happens during our journey through life at times when he takes the storm clouds away. But other times he leaves them and wants us to trust as we trust. We must always remember that every trial is temporary and as we trust we will carry his peace with us.

Whatever one who trusts in Christ leaves this life. You enter joy forever with God where there will be never again a storm. Again in your life that day will be wonderful. But in the meantime His call in our life is a life of trust in him.

Christ is worth trusting in every storm and the first reason why is that he wants us to know his flawless track record. He does it always he did it before he'll do it again. Now let's look at the second point here Christ is worth trusting in every storm and the second reason why is that he alone has the power to help.

And we'll see this in the second half of verse 26 and 27. That was Jesus displays this inward peace as the chaos surrounded him. He's about to bring peace to the waters. Let's read this in the second half of the verse.

Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm. Now in Mark 439 we read that Jesus said peace be Still and the wind ceased and there was a great calm. I'm not sure if any of you have ever been caught in a big storm while on the water.

Personally, I haven't but my brother was once on a fishing trip on a lake in Canada. Where the youth leader one of his friends and him were stranded the boat broke down. And a big storm hit shortly after they got off the lake and went on land far from the campsite as the lightning flashed everywhere.

There were a couple of miles from their campsite and The others who were far away were wondering where they were and they became concerned. The sky rumbled and the waves crashed and the lightning flashed everywhere strikes everywhere.

A.

Few brave souls from the campsite went out through the rigorous waters and Arrived and were able to start the boat and they were able to get my brother the youth leader and his friend back safely to the campsite.

My brother and those with him received help from two brave men. But these disciples here received help in an instant from the man with them who was unlike anyone else. Could you imagine? What that would have been like if you or I were on that boat?

We've seen many storms in our lives and we are amazed by their power. Earlier, I mentioned us seen a tornado coming down upon us. Imagine an f5 tornado this massive giant vortex a mile wide and Jesus says in a moment cease and it stops or a blizzard.

With all the wind and all the snow Stopping and then the Sun coming out and it's a nice clear day again. How powerful must God be if he is more powerful than these wonders of nature? He made these forces of nature and he has control over them.

The disciples who were with him were blown away by this as verse 27 tells us. Their response was this. And the men marveled saying what sort of man is this that even winds and sea obey him? They had already seen Jesus heal people of their diseases and cast out demons.

Jesus even brought people back from the dead. But this seems at another level. If someone can control the weather this must be God. The Old Testament tells us that God controls the weather. The Lord told Job in Job 38 35.

Can you send forth lightnings the day may go and say to you here we are. Psalm 89 verse 89 says Oh Lord God of hosts who is mighty as you are. Oh Lord with your faithfulness. All around you you rule the region of the sea when its waves rise you still them.

What is remarkable is that Jesus performing this miracle is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. The prophecy is from Psalm 107 verses 28 through 30. Which read they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress.

He made the storm be still and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet and he brought them to their desired haven. The Bible is a Supernatural book it is full of countless fulfilled prophecies.

That no one can deny predicted in the Old Testament. Fulfilled in the New Testament and some of course is still waiting to be fulfilled. This is one of those fulfilled prophecies as We look at God's power and as we consider his love for us.

We must remember who we worship. We don't worship a small God who is incapable of helping us in time of need. There was once a Jewish rabbi by the name of rabbi Kushner he wrote a book in 1981 and titled why do bad things happen to good people?

You know what his conclusion was? God isn't powerful enough to help us or to help everyone in their time of need. That's ridiculous. That's not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is infinite in power.

He has no Limitations, he has the power to help out anyone at any time. He's always able and willing to help and he is willing because he is compassionate. He loves us. And this is why we need to go to him in times of trouble and ask for help as we do this.

He will calm us and he will help us as he knows best. God has no limitations in his power. This is what God wants us to see in this text. We can always go to him and we can go to him with big requests knowing that he Can handle it.

Go to him with small requests. Go to him with big requests. He will gladly handle both if we need strength to get through each day. He can help us if we need strength to raise our children. He can help us if we need him to sustain and move us forward in our marriage.

He can help us. If we need him to pull us out of what feels like a never-ending depression. He can help us. He can pull us out of that pit. If we need him to help us with a problem that never seems to go away.

He can bear us up. Grow us through it and then deliver us. If we need him to save someone we think will never believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and rose victoriously from the dead so that that person may have eternal life.

He can save that person he can save anyone. If we need him to stop forces of darkness against us, he can do that, too. If we need him to revive a church and make it stronger Than it has been in a very long time.

He can do that. We pray to a God who is all-powerful. The same God who can stop a mega storm is the same God who can help us in our troubles. As Psalm 46 1 says God is our refuge and strength a very present help in times of trouble.

So here's what we have seen this morning. Christ is worth trusting in every storm. We've seen two reasons why in this text. Number one is that he wants us to know his flawless track record. He did it before He'll do it again.

He'll always do it. And number two. He alone has the power to help. This is what God does. He brings us to our needs. He brings us to a place where only he can help us and he's glad to help us. So if by nature we are self-sufficient people.

What God does is he breaks us down to show us how weak we are and then he shows us How much we need him and we see how strong he is as we go through the life of faith. It is inevitable that we will face trials.

Where we are presented with the opportunity to cry out to him for help and as we cry we should cry calmly not trembling but confidently. Knowing that he is the only one who can help then that he is there to help and help us through the long haul.

Because he cares for us. Our greatest aim in life Should be to exercise faith in God and as we do this we will please him. The way that we please God is by growing in our faith and may we as a church grow in this day by day as We sojourn together through the life of faith.

Now next Sunday We are going to see an interesting story. They're all interesting stories, but this one is especially interesting. We're gonna see how Jesus handles demon-possessed men and Then we will also see demon-possessed Animals and there's something very important that God wants us to see in this text and we will see that next Sunday Lord willing at this time, let's pray father in heaven.

What a wonderful calling that you have on our lives. It's a life of exercising faith in you. So Lord my prayer is.

That.

We would all grow in this Lord that we would not have faith like the disciples are weak trembling faith. There is a glimmer of faith there which shows the genuineness of someone's faith. But Lord may we have a strong faith a rock-solid faith a faith that really pleases you.

And anyone who maybe is listening to this who doesn't have faith may they have faith for the first time. Believe him that Jesus died and rose again so that they could be rescued from the punishment that they deserve for their sins.

So I pray this in Jesus name, amen.