He who calms the Storms

Well, we are continuing in our study series in the Gospel of Luke. So let's take our Bibles, or you can listen along. We're going to turn to Luke 8. This is going to be the chapter of our study today. Luke 8, verses 22 through 25. Luke 8, verses 22 through 25, with the title of our study today. He who calms the storms. Very fitting topic, considering the environment in which we live in today. He who calms the storms. And we now turn our attention onto this incredible and profound miracle which is provided for us here, the recording from Luke. This is actually a recording that the other Gospel writers detail as well. We're going to turn to some of those other Gospel writers in just a moment. But for now, here, let's read Luke's account of this dramatic event. Luke 8, beginning in verse 22. Now, Luke records, now it happened on a certain day when he, Jesus, got into a boat with his disciples. And he said to them, let us cross over to the other side of the lake. And they launched out. But as they sailed, he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to him and awoke him, saying, Master, Master, we are perishing. Then he arose and rebuked the wind, and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was calm. But he said to them, Where is your faith? And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, Who can this be? For he commands even the winds and water, and they obey him. Let's stop there. Well, quite a dramatic passage. I'm sure you can agree. And our objective this afternoon is perhaps straightforward. We're gonna, in effect, answer that question. Who is he? Who is this one who has this power even over the wind and the waves? And we're gonna look to reassure, to grow our faith in him, in Jesus Christ. It's so interesting. Once you begin to look at just how remarkable our Lord and Savior is, you really have our minds stirred to the truth. And just what a wonder it is to know him as protector and Savior, and yet also know him as friend and brother. So we have this juxtaposition, really, in the character of Jesus Christ. It's given to us in the hymn, the hymnwriter who wrote, As the Deer. He writes of Jesus Christ, You are my friend and you are my brother, even though you're a king. So we have the power of Jesus Christ who's able to command wind and waves. We have that power. We know him as king, and yet we also know kindness is such an essential part of his nature. We know him as conqueror, of course, but then we also know he has his just overflowing with compassion as well. He is king, yet he's our brother and our our friend. Strength, but sympathy. And in truly getting a knowledge of him, it absolutely enables us in the storms of our life. That's what we're needing today. We're needing to renew our faith in him, to have some faith-building today. That's what we're going to look to do today. And in looking at this recording, it is so beneficial for us spiritually because it does give us a renewed faith in the one who now stands on this boat that is about to be swamped, and he just calms it all. So today we're going to explore this story and reveal, allow it to reveal to us four faith-building lessons, all pointing to Jesus Christ. Four faith-building lessons to help us renew and reaffirm our trust and faith in him. Four faith-building lessons. They are straightforward, but they are profound, absolutely profound in their implications. Let's get right to it. Lesson number one. Lesson number one.

Following Jesus does not remove us from the storms of life. I think we could all attest to that. That's the number one lesson, faith-building lesson. Following Jesus does not remove us from the storms of life. We're told there at the end of verse 23 that this boat was filling with water, and they were in jeopardy. We're also told how this came about at the beginning of verse 23. As they sailed, this windstorm came down on the lake. Now keep your marker here in Luke, and let's turn over to the parallel passage of this account in Matthew 8. So if you keep your marker there in Luke, let's turn over to Matthew 8 verse 24. I want you to see what Mark records of this moment. He's actually going to tell us a little bit more detail about this storm which arose, and he's actually going to define it as a tempest here.

Matthew 8 verse 24. Here it is. Here's Mark's. Matthew's recording of this. Matthew writes, and suddenly, Matthew 8, 24, and suddenly, a great tempest arose on the sea so that the boat was covered with waves. He writes. So it's a great tempest. This is no ordinary storm here. Terrible storm. And you notice Matthew adds that little detail. Suddenly, suddenly. How many of you have had a great wind storm come down on your life suddenly? Suddenly. It's clear sailing. One day, the next day, suddenly, the great tempest comes on your life. Things are never the same. This is what occurred. They're swept up in this tremendous storm here. Just from my own study, I looked at the Sea of Galilee. It's actually a very shallow. The Sea of Galilee is very shallow. And so, because of that, then whenever the winds come, it can have the effect there, particularly when the winds come of just really stirring up a boat-tossing situation very quickly. So, this was the gravity of the storm here. The boat's taking on water, about to be completely swamped. So, we know that this boat is about to be completely swamped with Jesus in the boat. Okay? So, this is lesson number one. This is where we're learning to, we're looking to learn more about Jesus Christ here. And this incident, again, reminds us lesson number one, that following Him does not insulate us from the storms of life. I can imagine that early on, the disciples would have thought differently, you know, leading up to this moment, leading up to getting on this boat. They had already witnessed incredible miracles by Jesus Christ. We've been going through these in our study series. And consciously, or even subconsciously, they might have been thinking to themselves, wow, man, if we just stay close to Him, if we just follow closely, well, that will inevitably insulate us from any kind of trouble or strife, you know. We'll be in fine weather. We can think that, too, if we're honest with ourselves. You know, following Jesus Christ, we can, we sometimes look for a more smooth path to which to follow Him. You know, as long as we get in the boat with Him, you know, we'll be insulated from these things.

Would have never anticipated the disciples of this furious tempest that arose, this difficulty, this danger. No notion ever that the boat, the vessel of our lives, the vessel of their lives, could be swamped in this way. Absolutely swamped. So, if you've come to worship today, this afternoon, believing in a God that prevents you from being swamped, and you find yourself swamped, you're going to have to figure out what you're going to do with that. If you believe in that God and you find yourself swamped, then you're going to have to change your belief. You're going to have to find a different God. You know, so many who believe in a God of gospel of prosperity have great difficulty with this concept. But we can say for sure on the strength of Scripture, if you believe in a God who prevents His children from knowing difficulty, you don't believe in the God of the Bible.

You don't believe in the God who sent His Son to experience incredible difficulty, incredible trial, all the way to sacrifice and suffering, to death, nailed upon a stake. So let's lay it down. Indisputable the fact to follow Jesus Christ does not insulate us from the difficulties of life.

And I want you to I want to nail this down because I want to show you something here. You may have noticed this. When we look at this recording here, you'll notice that interestingly, it was as a result of their obedience that they found themselves in a furious storm. Did you notice that? Let's turn back to Luke 8, if you will, verse 22. If you keep your if you kept your marker there, you'll be helped. Luke 8 verse 22. Look at what Luke records here again. Here it is, very clear. Luke 8 22. Now it happened on a certain day that He got into the boat with His disciples and He said to them, Jesus said to them, let us cross over to the other side of the lake. And they launched out. So in other words, it wasn't as if Jesus said, hey guys, we are not going over to the other side of the lake. And the disciples in their disobedience said, now we are going to go. And because of that disobedience, they found themselves in a furious storm. No. They found themselves in a furious storm as a result of Jesus Christ saying, we're going to go over to the other side of the lake. And they said, yes, Master, we're going over to the other side of the lake. Through obedience, they found themselves in the storm as a result of not as a result of disobedience. So do you have a faith that can cope with that? Do you have a theology that lines up with that? Do you have a knowledge of God the Father and Jesus Christ, which lines up with that understanding? I hope you do.

You know, so many people say consciously or unconsciously, oh, you're in difficulty. You probably took a wrong turn. You know, you're in difficulty. You probably turned left when Jesus Christ told you to turn right. You know, well, not so fast. Jesus Christ said, let's go. And in obedience to them, they went. And before they knew it, they were in a vessel that was about to be swamped. So those of us who have been a follower of God the Father through Jesus Christ we know that we will experience furious storms. It comes without warning.

Again, the sudden unexpected loss of health. The routine checkup at the hospital that turns out to not be routine. Devastating news comes from it. The loss of jobs. And you're up to your neck in debt. What storm have you experienced? The loss of a loved one. In this way, an incredible storm hits our life and such is the experience of a follower of Jesus Christ. Following Jesus Christ does not insulate us from life's storms. I hope we have this in our theology.

This is our initial faith-building lessons. And so it is with trials, these trials, that our faith will either be secured or it will be shaken. Because we can find ourselves in storms even in our obedience. Again, as we mentioned earlier, when we commit to baptism, we say, Father, I am ready for you to build the fruit of the Spirit in me. All of them. God's not interested in lopsided fruit.

He's going to build them all. And so we're in it. And we're in it for the long term. And whatever he wants to bring into our lives, we say, Yes, Master. And that's why we said this a few times. Whenever we're in a storm, when a storm hits us, the first prayer may not always be, Take this from me. The first prayer might be, or better be, Help me learn what this is supposed to give me. And then be merciful. And if it is your will, take this cup from me.

But your will be done. Jesus Christ modeled this for us. Second faith-building lesson. Number two. Number two. Jesus was a real man and understands the struggles we face. Okay? So that's number two faith builder given to us in this event, I believe. And you may come up with your own lessons. But this is one that I saw. Number two, Jesus was a real man and understands the struggles we face.

This second lesson is brought to us in perhaps a rather surprising detail here that Luke gives us. Look at verse 23. I think it's a rather surprising detail. As the storm raged, Jesus was asleep here. Look at this. Verse 23, Luke records, But as they sailed, he fell asleep. And a windstorm came in down on the lake, filling the boat with water. They're in jeopardy. They had to go to him. They had to go to him and and get him awake. They awoke and master, master, were perishing.

So it's being swamped. They're almost perishing. The master is sound asleep. That is not what we would want. I'm sure we can attest to that. We would expect him to be at least awake during our storms. Turn over to Mark's account. Keep your marker here in Luke. Look at what Mark says about this particular point in this description. Mark 4 verse 38. Let's see what details Mark adds to this account. So here is Mark's description of our sleeping master here. Mark 4 verse 38. Mark records, but he was in the stern.

That's the back of the bow. I think I've got that right. The stern, yes. Asleep on a pillow. And they awoke him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Right? So remember our second faith-building lesson here. Jesus was a real man. He understands the struggles we face.

He was asleep. And again, Mark adds this even more interesting detail. Asleep on a pillow. Asleep on a pillow. Do you find that profound? I find it profound. He who made the universe, if he would have chosen, he could have gone back there. I've already visualized this in my mind. He sees the hard wood there. He could have just kind of mushed it up a little bit into some soft substance so as to lay his head. Rather, at some point earlier, as they're setting out, he must have turned to the disciples and said, does anybody have a pillow here?

I'm feeling tired. I'm going to go take a nap. So the Lord of Glory slept, and he slept on a pillow. Why? Why did he sleep on a pillow?

Well, it's because if you've ever tried to lay down on a hard surface, you are setting yourself up for one of the worst cricks in your neck. If you've ever forgotten your pillow when you go camping, and you have to sleep on a sleeping bag with no pillow, it's one of the worst occasions you can come to. So you always got to make sure you have a cushion so as to get your neck just right so that you don't wake up with a crick in your neck. Now, I'm not meaning to be facetious in any way, but if you think about this, Jesus, in the reality of his humanity, had a body just like ours. He had a body just like ours. That's why he got thirsty. It's why he got hungry. It's why he got tired. And that is why he can express incredible empathy toward us. Because if he did not know these things, if he did not know anxiety, and fear, and hunger, and pain, and emptiness, if he didn't know those things, how could he ever be the one that we come to when we're facing a storm in our life?

So, when we look at the simple truth that the Master was asleep on a pillow, we're reminded of the fact of his humanity, and we're reminded of the fact that we have one here who understands our weaknesses. He's no stranger to our predicaments. He's in our experience of suffering. He knows quite well.

Where are you this morning? I mean, this afternoon. Are you feeling, let's see, neglected. Well, Jesus Christ came to his own, and his own did not receive him. Jesus Christ, at the end, was actually rejected by all of his disciples. They all ran and fled.

So, there is not an experience of neglect that you might ever know that hasn't also rung the heart of Jesus Christ.

Are you this afternoon here, and you feel misunderstood? Are you being slandered? Are you being misrepresented in any way? Jesus Christ knows exactly how you feel. He was abused, despised, called a glutton. All the different things he was called. A wine bibber, you name it. Called so many different things, which just misrepresented the wonder and the beauty of his character. He understands. Are you here this afternoon, and you're being attacked by accusations? Jesus Christ wrestled with the devil himself 40 days, 40 nights, asking if you are the Son of God, if you are the Son of God. He experienced it all, and he's here now with you through it all.

Have you experienced, or are you experiencing here lately, agony, trauma, anxiety, stress? Could it compare to the agony and trauma of Christ yelling out from the stake, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It's a simple truth, but it's this. Here is the simple truth. There is no one better to deal with the predicaments in your life than the Master whom we find asleep on a pillow. There's no one better to deal with the predicaments in your life than this great Master who we find asleep on a pillow.

So that's lesson number two. That's faith builder number two. Jesus Christ was a real man. He understands our struggles, how thankful we are to learn that from this storm event. You know, it's great lessons here. That brings us to number three. Number three, faith builder in a storm event here. Number three, faith builder is followers of Jesus Christ are still growing in faith. Okay. Followers of Jesus Christ are still growing in faith. I hope this third one's a great encouragement to you. You're not supposed to be completing your faith in this physical lifetime. You will always be growing. The disciples were so afraid. If you're still here in verse four, we see their fear and their lack of faith on full display here. Look at Mark 4 verse 38. Mark 4 verse 38. Look at this fear evident in a nonsensical question here. I might even call it a dumb question, if you will, respectfully. They ask the teacher, they say here, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? So fear and lack of faith, they just gripped them, and the boat is about to be swamped. The waves are coming on on top of them. The masters sound asleep. The disciples scurrying around. You wake them. No, you wake them up. You know, where is he? He's asleep. And they find themselves being buried by the sea, and as they do, their faith is failing them. And so they wake them up, and with a total lack of faith, verse 38, they ask that question, teacher, don't you care if we're about to drown? Nonsensical question. Respectfully a dumb question. Jesus, don't you care? Don't you care?

You know, guys, do we remember, remember what he has done, what he has given up, where he has come from, to even be in that boat with you? And you're questioning whether he cares?

That's a big one.

And remember, here we're still growing in faith. This is the third lesson here. We're still growing in faith, though. Jesus Christ's followers are not to be complete. We're here in the physical. We have frailty. We have fears. We ask dumb questions. It's okay. It's okay. I have asked some dumb questions lately, myself. Where are you? We've had some really difficult losses in some of the sister congregations, and some of our loved ones here aren't here able to worship with us today. You know, where are you? Do you care? It's a great encouragement here. It really is. When we ask these gods, where are you, God, in this, I don't want you to be too hard on yourself. If you feel this way, if you've been in this space, if you're questioning these things, you know, and I think far from being in a vulnerable position, I think those questions present great opportunity. Man, when you start asking, where are you, God, and do you care, there's great potential in that. Great potential. Whenever I hear seeing myself and hear stories of the brethren, they're in that space, I just rejoice because there's incredible potential in that. There's no lukewarm in that. There's absolutely no lukewarm in that question. And if from those questions, they can then grasp on to the fact of the one to whom cares more than they could ever imagine, then they will come out on the other side so strong in their faith, even stronger than they went in. And this is where they are. You know, the disciples had seen Jesus Christ. They were able to eat breakfast with Him. They were able to see the miracles firsthand. And here they are, a state of panic, guilty of unbelief. We're going to drown, and they don't trust Him. Do you care if we drown?

That's why that fruit of the Spirit really comes in the times that we're being swamped. If everything's clear sailing, do you ask these questions when everything's clear sailing? No, no, we don't. So these these things, turbulence, is to come up. The waves are to get big in our lives. And so here the disciples, they were afraid. And that's okay. Why? Because of our third lesson, we're going to ask them questions sometimes. We're not supposed to be complete in our faith on this side of the kingdom. You know, we're going to be confronted in our frailty. And you only need to turn through Scripture to recognize this is absolute fact. We're not going to turn to any, but story after story, I'll just give you one that comes to mind. Abraham, the father of the faithful, you remember, God said, go, and out of complete faith, He went. Oh, so, so strong in His faith. He's on His way. There's a famine. They have to go down. He and His wife, Sarah, have to go down to Egypt for food. Abraham recognizes his wife's attractive, and someone's probably going to steal her, you know, and they'll probably do away with him in the meantime at the same time. Great hero of faith gets frightened, distrusts God, says to Sarah, when we get down there, tell him you're my sister. It's a half-truth. That means it's a full eye. Misrepresentation, you know, of the truth contrives his own plan. You know, say you're my sister, so we don't get in, you don't get in trouble, and I can save my own neck.

He's on the path because God told him to go on the path, and yet this faith, the lack of faith, comes into his experience. Father of the faithful, not complete in his faith. He still had to grow in it. So as we look at this circumstance with these disciples, we can relate to them in their fear of scrambling around on the boat. We can be encouraged that we're not to be perfect. Now, I'll tell you there's a sub point to this number three lesson. There's a sub point, and the sub point is this, and I'll just mention it very briefly and move on. If I recognize the frailty of my faith, and I want God to be merciful to me in my growing pains, then I also need to extend that same mercy to others who are also on their path in growing in faith. Very important. So in a storm situation, if one of our brothers or sisters lash out at us, have mercy on them. They're in one of these moments. It's okay. Allow them the mercy that we pray for from God in our circumstance. It will happen. We want God to tolerate our lack of faith at certain times in our life. Let's tolerate in others. Just a sub point to consider. So they're panic-stricken, and in this, we recognize they too are in the process of building faith. So true followers of Jesus Christ are always growing in their faith and always will to the end. So don't be too hard on yourself. That brings us to our final fourth lesson today. It follows this third lesson quite well. Number fourth faith builder is we must trust Christ to give us the victory over the storms. All right. That's number four. We must trust Christ to give us victory over the storms. Victory is not going to come from us. It won't come in and of ourselves. Because you'll notice, just as quickly as this storm arose, Jesus Christ calms it. Turning back to Luke 8. If you'll turn back there now. Luke 8 and verse 24.

Where does the source of victory ultimately come from? Well, Luke 8 verse 24. Here it is. They came to Him, saying, Luke 8 verse 24. Again, master, master, were perishing. Listen, look at this. Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. So it's about to be nearly swamped. The masters sound asleep. The disciples are afraid. They wake Him up. He stands up, and He simply goes out and says, quiet. And it just stops. Everything's calm. Everything's calm. Rebuking the wind and the raging water with a word.

You know, what power we have access to. We heard that in the opening message. He silenced the issue. You know, we shouldn't be surprised by this. John's prologue says of the Word who became Jesus Christ. He's the creator of the universe. In the beginning, all things were made through Him. There was nothing that was made that was not made through Him. So if we think about it, He made the sea. So why would it ever be a problem for Jesus Christ? Why would it ever be an issue? He can simply say, cut it out, and the sea obeys Him. The wind obeys Him.

So with that power, if He's allowing, if God the Father through, Jesus Christ is allowing a storm to rage in your life, we first and foremost need to have faith and trust that Father knows best. If you want to put it in a phrase, they know what's best. They can silence the storm like that. So if they're not silencing it, it is for a blessing for you. It's for a spiritual blessing. It is for a part of the fruit of the Spirit to be built in you. So trust in Him. The victory comes from Him, and it will come in the storms we face. All things were created by Him. All things hold together through Him. The most desperate aspects of our life held together by Jesus Christ. And it's not to say, so all this is not to say lesson number one, that there's not trial or that it's all gone. No, we know it's here in our experience, but it is to say He's right down in our circumstances with us. That's lesson number two. He's riding the boat with us. He understands fully. And it's not that lesson number three, that fear is removed from our experience. No, we're still growing. But it is to say ultimately, number four, the power, the strength, the victory, and the end is going to come from Jesus Christ. We must trust Him. So you see how these four lessons all come together, and they just, they're really the effect if we're really building some faith, some strong faith, particularly in the storms that we face.

So, do you believe that Jesus Christ is able to silence the storm in your life? Well, then if you do, will you not place your trust in Him during it, and as long as He wants to keep it in your experience?

Do you believe that God the Father through Jesus Christ is able to deal with a broken heart? What storm is in your life? Do you believe that God the Father through Jesus Christ is able to strengthen a weary heart? Are you feeling weary, anxious?

What we're seeing again and how we begin is we just need a fresh view of Jesus Christ, our elder brother, the one whom God sent as our advocate in every way, a fresh view of who the creator of the universe is. He's the calmer of the sea. And so we see the perplexities of life through the lens of the wonder of who He is. So we have a real big view of God the Father, a real big view of Jesus Christ and the power that they have. So I'm going to conclude today in our study today with asking the same question that Jesus Christ asked there in verse 25. This is the question for all of us today. Where's your faith? Where is your faith? Where's your faith today? Now you'll notice just how tender Jesus Christ is. Notice He rebukes the wind in the waves. He does not rebuke the disciples. It's kind of nice to know even in their lack of faith, He rebukes the wind in the waves, not them, and just the wonder that they feel from this in that second half of verse 25. And they were afraid and marveled, saying to one another, Who can this be? I hope we've answered that question today. A little bit more clear. Who can this be? For He commands even the winds in the water, and they obey Him. So it created fear and wonder. So if you have a storm in your life today, just lie down, prostate if you can, on your face. You know, either on your bed, on the ground, and just pour it out to Him. Pour it out to God. If you can't do that, just bow your head and just bring it to Him. And just know He's there with you in it. So as I conclude here, we have such a good reminder in this little incident here, this incredible storm that Jesus Christ is our living Savior. He's merciful. He's your brother. He's your friend. But He's also an almighty King. And He's got the power, and He's got the compassion. He's conqueror, and He can help you through all the storms of your life. So let's be thankful and put our faith in the One, He who calms the storms.

Please stand and turn to page 185.