Storm Tossed (Part B)

The believers are not exempt from sickness, poverty and injustice. Natural disasters, bereavement themselves the ills of life. Yet he promises he promises not his protection always, but his presence and we have to learn to say that's better. It's better to suffer with Jesus than to not have him with us at all from this is cross reference radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston.

Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville.

Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Mark, please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching storm tossed is the title of Pastor Rick's message today you will be teaching in Mark chapter 4 verse 37 where he says, so that it was already filling, so the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling sinking the boats were sinking both plural not just the one he was in all of them and the other ones with smaller vessels. They were tossed more Matthew adds this. The boat was covered with the waves they were getting smashed. Now this is the key point from this lesson in the Bible is one of those chapters that sticks with you for the rest of your Christianity. If you're not faced before. Lisa did for me. I read quite a few sermons on this chapter in my Christian walk and love them all. But at this point is good to say that the presence of Christ on board does not guarantee smooth passage just because Christ is with you does not mean you're not going to get battered Pentecost the day the church was born first church at large is followed by persecutions and triumphs triumph proof of that is why we are here now. Peter's sermon in acts chapter 3 is a magnificent sermon you and send you some. Is this the fishermen of Galilee.

How does he know the Scripture so well. How does he have such power and dynamite and then you come to accept before and he's imprisoned then we come to accept five and he is useful in the story just keeps the you know the roller coaster the up and down the up in the down is great is our salvation is that salvation may be questionable if we don't go to the storms of life with Christ. Again, the unbeliever can go through the storms of life without him and do very well.

According to the flesh, not according to the spirit. It is true that in the end, ultimately any vessel with Jesus aboard will never sink to the bottom of the sea. In the end, when Jesus says it this way. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.

Do you believe this to. That's an abstract concrete. He's talking about your soul, your spirit will live forever. You will physically die.

He physically died. Spurgeon, Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher of the 1800s is that I want to take taste death. My master tasted.

I want to taste you get that way from being a child of the Lord Jesus Christ filled with the Holy Spirit so believers are not exempt from sickness from poverty from injustice from natural disasters, bereavement, death themselves in the ills of life and yet he promises he promises not his protection always, but his presence and we have to learn to say that's better is better to suffer with Jesus than to not have him with us at all to avoid trouble. He did not avoid trouble.

He went looking for when the Holy Spirit told Mary she was conceived with child. He that announced from the Godhead that Christ had come looking for trouble is the only person ever to ask to come into this world. Verse 38 and when he was in the Stern asleep on a pillow. They awoke him and said to him, Rabbi, do you not care that we are perishing, witness in this case Peter clearly remembered the hippie is on a pillow. It's it. Everyone storm stalled on many of the season fishermen and their their panicking with its red alert all hands.

This is the only occasion. Incidentally, in the Scripture we read of Jesus sleeping and it's in a storm asleep, not dead, not absent, not angry. Just apparently in active as sleeping itself is a sermon John's gospel chapter 14. Let your heart not be troubled you believe in God believe also in me is so nice when your new believer to read that you faced a lot of struggles in Christ and found out that you've got a face to struggles in Christ and then use read this verse and you save yourself which is, believe also in me. You have to say.

Again, I believe it.

I will to believe it.

I choose to believe what I'm told in Scripture because I know it's true, and if there are cobwebs here and there they are outgunned by the things that are crystal clear. God knows these men they must've been astonished confess Jesus could sleep through this again. He was physically exhausted. Such imminent danger and he is to us. Looking at the story. Apparently disconnected, as it seems when you struggle in life.

Sometimes it's even listening if you ever prayed and felt it was an iron wall there and just depressed could just not penetrated the Dodd prayer is a go up so far and in the fall like asses to the ground as fireworks, but they don't make it. Devon they make it every single one of them. Your time of struggle and you don't think you present getting through. Go ahead and blaspheme CP think that a get through. You know it will as God is present.

Here's the knows what he's doing while their world was being torn apart. He is apparently sleeping totally at peace there thinking at your ministry and all of us are going to just perish right now you die with us. Teacher do you not care that we are perishing, so at some point in this windstorm, however long it lasted they realized they better get him up not to do a miracle that wasn't the intention they wanted him to help Bell water keep the ship floating because I never saw what was coming. I was fine you know healing people on Lambert. This is the sea. This is the weather. This is an element is not spiritualists of physical deal that in their heads, so shouldn't you be doing your part. Rather than napping in the midst of all this, not a Bible study. We need we need you with a bucket Jonah chapter 1 similar deal, right shoulder, running for the Lord is exhausting running from God and the devil had a boat conveniently waiting for Jonah's call to ministry and he said no and I don't think so and he went down to Joppa. He found the boat he went down into the boat and he goes to sleep in the boat so you heads out to the now. This is the Mediterranean Sea, not the little Lake of Galilee. And he sleeping in their same situations of the captain came to him and said what you mean sleeper arise: your God. Perhaps your God will consider us so that we may not perish, I don't. I remember being out in the fleet at sea and pretty big storms and I just always felt that you would got helicopters become graphs everywhere lifejackets again. How can we fail is just naïveté, but these men didn't feel that way. So while the rest of us of fighting the storm season of life fighting for a lives. We ask God the same question you care.

You even care what about the mission it's in danger in this age is in the Bible times, the God often appears to be quiet and giddy instead of God is so much she with us than I've I am such a man of valor, the now gone with the God of our fathers in all the Bible stories we read about in all Joshua and Moses and Jake up and here I am pricing we dressing weed in the online press hiding from the Midianites of God is all that while things the way they are, essentially, the answer was a little find a good look. This is what I need you to do. That's really what happened to Gideon. And so, in this age it is not much different, encouraging us to trust based on the revealed truths from Scripture to force a Christian to say hi believe thus saith the Lord, I believe my Bible.

I do not believe in watchtower or any other book or writing will fought contrary to the Scripture. No matter what happens, and so they accuse the one who was bent on dying for their souls were not caring. In hindsight it's almost comical. Peter of course knew better so they thought they knew Christ, he saw the miracles they were now apostles and the others were followers. That's why they were following are so attracted to him.

They thought they knew him, we may have the same problem you make is so familiar with the word of God that you think you are exempt from certain things Mickey Mantle, she's such a simple boy from Oklahoma who always got in his quote to just prove good and of course Mickey Mantle's dad worked with him so hard at baseball and he says this. It's unbelievable how much you don't know about the game you've been playing all your life. It's unbelievable how much you don't know about the Scripture and God. Even though you been serving all your life.

So it always defaults back to trust. So we have so much to learn about Christ, and we don't get it. We just are to default to trust Job said, it probably the best, though he slay me, I will trust him.

I don't know what is going on.

This is painful.

I can die waiting for God and yet I'm going to trust him. Nonetheless, why because I have enough evidence to not go back on. I have enough light so that when I come to those places in life and in Scripture that ours are our shadows. And I don't get it.

They seem contradictory or perplexing. Yeah well I got enough other information to trust this. We exercise this kind opposed to some degree faith. When you get in your car and you do your trusting the other guys the stain is laying the oncoming traffic that you have an enough evidence that they usually do. Verse 39 and he arose, and rebuked the wind and said to see peace be still in the wind ceased, and there was a great call so it was the touch of a human hand, not the storm that woke him up. This what I was talking about earlier the Touchstone important the contact. The storm could not get him up with the voice child in need.

He slept, but he didn't oversleep. I get courage from those words. I don't get utter satisfaction sometimes but I get tremendous amount of courage, so much so if I didn't get that kind of courage without the satisfaction I was stopped serving me a long time ago but you just keep going because you know yeah he's maybe sleeping but he won't oversleep. He says peace be still. This is in the Greek it's not the usual word for peace.

It really is silence. It's it's not you know peace like no or shield from violence or something. It is his ESA and the word be still is be modeled the use that already. In chapter 1 and when he was addressing the demonic being so really he is saying to the window to the to the storm. Be silent and be muzzled. I think most translators should not have peace be still some have be silent, be still.

Or some variation of that the new King James and near the some of the others. The old King James.

Even the English standard version, so they they use the peace be still is not wrong is just not something right. Silence be mute quiet and stay that way.

That's that's what he was saying to the storm. It and don't come, don't do it again like get to the other side. Now, I mentioned that the Mark chapter 1 verse 25 Jesus rebuked him, saying, be quiet and come out of him.

It's the same Greek word be muzzled and that's what he is saying. So the question is was this a spiritual attack granted by the Lord God to Satan to attack this little flotilla to Satan think that he could do some damage it was. He granted this permission making the link between Mark chapter 1 where he says be muzzled to the demon and making the link way speaking to the storm is using the same words I don't know for sure, but it's an interesting thought. Doesn't matter because Christ prevails over the spiritual and the elements as well. He owns creation and with there is a difference between what he said to the wind and what he said to the sea. The wind because the wind was stirring up the waves spoke to the waves to be silent and don't do it again. Ephesians chapter 2, the Prince of power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. That's a possibility. Christ has divine power, both over again as I said the spiritual and the elements as well global warmers, alarmists troubled by the fact that God owns the owns creation and he's really not interested in their theories. He is interested in what they think about him anything. Get right there thoughts about him.

They won't be so troubled about their thoughts about snow snow getting that to 21 and the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

One word from him in nature did what was told and it stayed there and so you could say put it in its place. That is exactly what he did. Genesis chapter 1 the earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters and they all knew about this verse and they all believe that God controlled the sea, and everything else. Bile did not control the rain and the weather know that Jupiter or Susa or any of those. It was Yahweh to the Jew and it became Jesus Christ to the Christian as the lights begin to turn on this little Lake of Galilee.

You go to Galang is a this is it was not. That's not what makes a great looking at the sea of Galilee does not make a great is what happened on this see who visited Jesus calming the storm walking on the water, telling Peter to go down to the sea of the Lake of Galilee and is a fish with money and is not the pay taxes in the miraculous catch of fish twice on the Sea of Galilee and so and I don't know when I look at the sea of Galilee.

I just say to myself wow Christ was actually here not only him.

Of course more interested in Mount Arbel that overlooks the sea from where Christ I think all the evidence will show will get to that in the coming chapters, where he watched them straining at rowing verse 40 but he said to them, why are you so fearful. How is it that you have no faith to hard-hitting questions. That's an easy question.

Lord I don't understand why we don't have their answer will I do and I don't.

Let's open it up a little bit why are you so fearful that that word so in the Greek it isn't. It makes fearful, emphatic, he doesn't say why are you fearful he says why are you so fearful they were panic stricken, each 20 woke him up and wakes up. It's easier this big, big, know that is a big problem with their faith. So they must've been over the top with fear and they had fear because it had no faith because faith cancel out fear so easy to say that is it not perfect love cast out fear. Fear involves torment.

God is not giving you the spirit of fear but of love and the power of cellsof those verses are great and we need them, but there are times where you're scrambling to lay hold of their meaning and apply it in a glorious way, how is it that you have no faith was the Lord. This is a silly question. The waves were coming in the boat battering the boat. Remember, no, no, actually I don't I was sleeping I was there maybe a little smugness with these men were apostles now and we are expert fishermen. I don't know I could've been. Maybe, maybe not.

But when he says that what you have no faith. Faith is not abstract faith is contrary this in a person is not a thing anybody was is have faith in faith is not speaking Bible truth is no such thing as having faith in faith. Faith is not my God, I do not pray to my faith.

Faith is my trusting in a person's name is Jesus Christ. And he has a father and there is a Holy Spirit.

And these three are one and they have always been one and they always will be one and so that's important that we understand faith is trusting God, according to what God has said, but there's one question from the Lord, is a question that all of us.

If coming from him would not dare answer how could you fear and pain luxury. These are faith killers. If we're not careful. G. Campbell Morgan says in his sermon on this section. I would rather weather the storm and missed his rebuke.

I would rather come through the storm without disturbing him yeah me too, but that's probably not happened. None of the storm of this intensity, so Morgan is saying you know it I will if I have my chance. Knowing what I know about the story. If I was on this boat, I would just let him sleep and just deal with the storm trusting in him that is the ideal reality is a whole different thing. But it is that combination of having the ideal of our faith and facing reality with the ideals that makes us victorious.

That makes us different than everyone else. Verse 41 and they feared exceedingly, and said to one another who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey him from fear to another, from fearing the seed of fearing him.

This is not the fear of terror. This is a reverent fear of shock and awe.

This was a whole another category of miracle this is not again healing somebody other property that the yield and you know Isaiah told Hezekiah you know Bulova fix on you be better in the morning, stuff like that. But this was telling the weather to stop it is incredible, and they were they were afraid of because they linked control over the elements directly to Yahweh.

As I mentioned, they witness hundreds of miracles with not more, and this was amazing. So some of the lessons that we get a truly are safer being tossed in the storm with the Lord on board with us without trying to change him were safer with him than anywhere else. No matter what happens Judas died without him as an example. Peter continued with him and so I always unit you have to ask yourself why believe these things you never get too old and Christ to mature to do the check. Do I still believe these things because Satan will hound you one of these fishermen and these followers to trust him through the storms of life no matter what he wants this of me, even if he seems inactive and disconnected disinterested in her sleep. He still wants me to trust him.

He demanded this from them when he says why are you so fearful he demands us of us to Christianity does not work well as a hobby.

If you just come to tinker with.

I just cannot do on Sundays and rest time are needed is not Christianity. One has to have a cross to bear, take up your cross air every day and knowing that we will one day stand before him and he will see you did it stuck with me fix then you stuck there. There were times you thought I didn't care.

There were times you thought I was asleep. There were times you were terrified of me and yet you stuck with me will done so they asked who can this be limited only be one answer who this could be and they know that they know this can only be God the son, and made word it that way but they knew that they were in the prison wasn't a prophet more than a prophet presence of Christ does not guarantee smooth passage in life. As mentioned earlier, but it does call for faith in him always. That's what it does to have Christ with you in the boat demands that we look to trust him with all we've got. Satan, on the other hand is saying. We'll see about that. We and spirit of God says we sure will and I will protect them and they will be mine move thanks for tuning in to cross reference radio for this study in the book of Mark cross reference radio is the teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia to learn more information about this ministry. Visit our website cross reference radio.com what you there you'll find additional teachings from Pastor Rick. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. When you subscribe will be notified of each new edition of cross reference radio you could search for cross reference radio on your favorite podcast app that's all we have time for today, but we hope you'll join us next time. As Pastor Rick continues to teach through the book of Mark Rocky on cross reference radio