Consider His Presence, pt 2

We began understanding last week as we began looking here in Mark chapter 4.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

! Mark chapter 4 is where we're going to be finding our passage and picking up here this morning.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

! And we see as Jesus was there with his disciples,

and he had told them that they were going to go across to the other side.

And we looked at the disciples' story.

We began to learn some truths about Christ's presence.

Because sometimes people enter into it with a wrong idea.

You know, have you ever noticed that if you enter into something with a wrong perception or a wrong idea,

you always are disappointed?

Because it wasn't the fact of what happens because there was something wrong in your thinking.

And when we enter into it with a wrong thinking, we get wrong realities that come about

because it's like when this happens, my world's upside down.

And we saw, if you remember here, let's go ahead and read through John here.

Or excuse me, John Mark.

Mark here this morning.

Chapter 4.

Let's pick up here in verse 35.

And it says,

And the same day when the even was come, he saith unto them,

let us pass over unto the other side.

And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship,

and they were with him also, other little ships.

And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship so that it was now full.

And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow.

And they awake him, and said to him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

And he arose and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace be still.

The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful?

How is it that ye have no faith?

And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another,

What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, as we come before you once again this morning, Lord,

we're thankful for your word.

Lord, we're thankful for your presence.

We're thankful for just the reality that you don't try to give us misconceptions,

or to mislead us.

Lord, but you tell us the truth.

Lord, and we need some truth here today, even about your presence,

and the realities of life, to understand how those things flow together.

Lord, pray just it would work in a mighty way in our hearts here today.

Lord, that we might not have a wrong perception or idea,

but Lord, enter into things and challenges of this life with our eyes open,

knowing that we're not alone, but you're with us,

that your presence is there, even in the midst of the storms of life.

And Lord, we just ask us all in your precious name.

Amen.

You know, it began last week.

We saw here in verse 35, we saw that when they went to the other side,

we saw the reality of storms.

You know, there's going to be storms in life.

And one of the problems that you have is people think,

well, if Christ is with me, why do I have issues?

Why does life not go just smoothly?

The reality is God doesn't say that we're going to have a smooth life after salvation.

He says, I will be with you to walk there with you along the way.

He says, we're going to have trials and tribulations and struggles.

Those realities, but he was present there.

You know, I want you to understand the presence of Jesus does not guarantee a smooth journey.

His presence will be with us in the journey.

He is always there.

You're not going through, you know,

we understand that difficulties are going to come.

But Jesus is still there.

Because when those situations come, they may be unpredictable.

You know, we looked last week at that.

The reality of the storm.

Storms can be unpredictable.

We don't know when or where or how things are going to come

or trials are going to show up.

They can be unpredictable.

You know, sometimes it takes one day for life to go upside down.

I mean, there's been times in my life where one day, from one day to the next,

life goes whoop, life happens.

You know what benefits is Christ is with you.

He never leaves you.

He never forsakes you.

So I want you to understand, not only can it be unpredictable,

but they can be unmerciful.

Things happen.

Storms are not a respecter of persons.

They can come and they can be unmerciful.

We find the problem the disciples had.

When the storm came, it began to fill up the ship.

The waters overwhelmed and the ship began to fill.

You know, sometimes storms in our life feel like it's filling us up.

It's overwhelming.

The disciples had a picture, a literal picture of a storm filling their ship with waters.

Look there at verse 37.

It says,

And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship,

so that it was now full.

You know?

The rising water, the rising situation, the distress of the situation,

alarmed the disciples.

Their boat that they were in was being overwhelmed by the things outside of it.

But, you know, I want you to see that Christ was still there with them.

And they needed to rely upon him to understand no matter what, to trust the Lord.

You know?

Think about for a moment.

Look back up into verse 35 in your text.

Think about what Jesus told them.

He said,

Let us pass over unto the other side.

You know what?

God gave them a promise of what was going to happen.

He told them,

You will get to the other side.

What he didn't tell them,

there's going to be some struggles getting there.

That we have to rely upon him.

We need to trust him.

You know, sometimes we can be overwhelmed with situations of life.

You know, we finished last week on this thought from 1 Peter.

1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 12 says this.

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

Peter, let's back up for just a moment.

Let's talk about Peter just a second here.

Did Peter ever have some struggles?

I mean, Peter had some struggles he produced in his life.

And Peter had struggles that were produced because he was faithful to the Lord.

You know, Peter was beaten.

He was jailed.

You think of all the dynamics that took place,

the challenges that he had.

And he writes this under the inspiration of God.

He says this in 1 Peter chapter 4.

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

He says,

Beloved,

think it not strange concerning the fiery trial,

which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you.

But rejoice insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ's suffering,

that when his glory shall be refilled,

ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

You know, that's what we see, the reality of it.

But notice here, when life's overwhelming,

we find something else because,

I want you to understand,

Jesus was making a point when they disturbed him.

When he woke up, he was talking about,

Oh, ye of little faith.

But I want you to understand, I don't think it was a rebuke.

I think it was a challenge in a picture that they were going to understand

because we see the request of the fearful.

Because you know what?

When we're scared and life overwhelms,

Jesus doesn't get upset when we come to him.

I think he used this as an opportunity.

When we see his picture of faith,

of what he says,

Why are ye so fearful?

How is it that you have no faith?

You know?

Think about that dynamic.

But look in verse 38,

when they wake him up,

he has his request to the fearful.

And he says,

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?

You know, I think this is an important question that the disciples had.

Because sometimes our perception is

that when God allows things to happen in our life,

when storms come,

our first question is,

Don't you love me?

Lord, don't you care?

That's often the place we first go, isn't it?

I want you to understand,

it's a natural place,

but it's a place that we don't really have a right perspective.

Because you know what?

Jesus does care.

He displayed how much he cared.

What the reality is,

they didn't like what they were seeing,

or what was happening.

And they lost sight of who was the one that was in control.

That calm assurance that God is in control.

You know?

Think about Jesus.

What was Jesus doing?

Now, I want you to understand,

Jesus here is walking.

He's 100% man, 100% flesh.

In that sense, he was no different than you or I.

The ship's filling up,

and the waves are going,

and where's Jesus?

Asleep.

On a pillow.

Resting.

He was resting because, you know what?

He knew he was going to get to the other side.

He never doubted the reality he was going to get to the other side.

He gives us a picture of trusting God,

even in the midst of the storm.

You know?

Because when we understand that contrast between Christ and the disciples' response to the storm,

you know,

the disciples called out for his attention.

They requested his attention.

You know, sometimes we doubt God's care when we're going through trials.

Because things are outside of our control.

I want you to understand,

when things are outside of our control,

doesn't mean it's not within God's will for your life.

Or what God permits.

I mean, things that God permits in people's lives for his glory is sometimes difficult.

Well, and we hear, and we know the accounts from Scripture.

Think about Joseph.

Did Joseph have some devastating things happen?

Things outside of his control?

I mean, I don't think you have much more betrayal than having your brothers sell you into slavery

and then end up in prison.

Uncomfortable.

Difficult.

Sometimes questioning.

But you know what?

At the end of Joseph's life,

what did Joseph say in Genesis 50?

What you meant for evil,

God meant for good.

Good.

Good.

God was working even in the midst of China.

Think about Job.

Here's Job, a man that loves God, serves God,

wants to honor God in all he does,

and he wakes up one day to a devastating dynamic of storm.

Everything he owns is gone.

Went from an extremely wealthy man to zero.

Then he gets news on the same day,

hey, all your kids are dead.

The book of Job is about walking with God through the midst of things that God allows.

Because God allows things in our life

for his glory.

That difficulty that sometimes we learn from.

You know what?

Oftentimes we don't learn from blessing,

we learn from trials.

We learn how to trust God.

We learn to walk with him.

We learn to go through those situations of life

where Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 5,

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

casting all your care upon him for he what?

Careth for you.

You know, the disciples on the boat were questioning

the very originator of love,

wondering if God loved them.

Notice what they said,

do you care not?

But his presence was there.

In adversity, we often want God to remove our storm,

but God is looking to improve us through it.

What did he do?

He taught the disciples a very important lesson about faith

and trusting him and his presence in the midst of trials.

To learn those things of how God is working.

We wanted him to take away what was happening,

and he wants to strengthen you in your faith.

You know, as we go through trials,

you can find joy in knowing that your heavenly Father

will be with you through the whole storm,

just as he was in the boat with the disciples.

The whole storm.

To understand what God is doing.

But after requesting Christ's attention,

the disciples did what all of us should do

when we're going through a storm.

They requested the Lord's help.

Notice what they said here.

As we walk through this, it says this,

and it says,

Master, carest thou not that we perish?

What do they care?

And they're calling out,

do you not care where there's a situation here?

We need some help.

When they went to him, you know,

they requested his help.

It's a wonderful thing to God

when his children are humble enough

to ask for him for help,

and the help only he can give.

You know, there's a lot of situations in life

that you can't solve yourself

that are outside of our control.

We need to go to him.

We need to call out to him

in those moments

because he hears us when we cry.

You know, look over to James chapter 1 for a moment.

James 1 · chapter mention

James chapter 1,

James 1 · chapter mention

you'll find here in James 1,

down here in verse 5,

James gives us this.

He says this,

If any of you lack wisdom,

let him ask of God

that giveth to all men liberally

and abradeth not,

and it shall be given him.

But let him ask in faith

nothing wavering,

for he that wavers

is like a wave of the sea

driven with the wind and tossed.

For let not that man think

that he shall receive anything of the Lord.

A double-minded man

is unstable in all his ways.

In other words, God says,

keep your focus on the right things.

Understanding God's mercies are there.

You know, if it wasn't for God's mercy,

you wouldn't have to worry about the trial

because it already would have consumed you.

God is there.

His mercies are new every morning,

the Bible tells you.

You know, Lamentations says,

great is thy faithfulness.

You know, I want you to know

that you serve a loving God

who not only loves you,

but hears you.

You know, isn't that something

that we want to know

that somebody hears?

That somebody knows our situation?

When we turn to the Lord

and request his help,

even when our faith is not strong

or when we're fearful,

we understand that God will answer.

You know, the disciples had experienced

the reality of the storm,

but they also requested help of the Lord

because I want you to see here next

the response the Lord had to them,

the response of the Savior.

Notice what he did.

Look here in verse 39.

He says this,

and he arose and rebuked the wind

and said unto the sea,

peace be still.

You know, and the wind ceased

and there was a great calm.

You know, as we think about Jesus' presence,

he was teaching him a lesson

about his power in the midst of the storm.

The creator of this world stood up

and said, peace be still,

and the wind and the waves obeyed.

We see that his presence there

and his power was what was needed in the moment.

He arose on that little ship

and the first thing he did was rebuke the wind.

The word rebuke means to charge sharply.

He spoke with authority to the wind.

You know, when we see what's taking place,

he has authority over this world.

You know, I want you to understand

that as we look through the scripture,

we find in Revelation reveals

that there are times,

especially, you know, later on

during the great time of the great tribulation

when demonic powers will cause great winds to come

and bring famine and desperate times

here on the earth.

Often the wind and the devastation

is attributed to the power of Satan.

But I want you to understand

that we walk in the power

of something more powerful.

Look over to Ephesians chapter two.

Ephesians chapter two and verse two says,

wherein in time past

you walked according to the course of this world,

according to the prince of the power of the air,

the spirit that now worketh

in the children of disobedience.

You know, I want you to understand,

we are in a spiritual battle

and there's a spiritual storm

that's raging all around us.

And when we lose sight of that spiritual battle,

it affects us physically.

We need to understand the picture

and he's preparing his disciples.

You know, we see an accurate picture

of Christ's power over Satan.

You know, Satan did everything he could

to stop Jesus from reaching Calvary.

But he was never going to have victory over Christ.

You know what?

I hear Jesus is crossing the Sea of Galilee

and the winds and the waves are coming.

It's like the ship's going to sink.

And Jesus says, no, it's not.

Because it's not in my time, in my place.

You know, as I've been studying the Bible,

there's a phrase that's been rolling around in my head

and it's about the hour.

Jesus said many times, my hour has not yet come.

John 17 and on, he makes a statement.

As he's getting ready to go to the cross,

he says, my hour has come.

You know what?

Nothing happens.

You are safe and secure

because our hour is when we come and meet our Savior,

the one who saved us.

You know, as you face storms,

understand that there's a real devil

trying to stop you from glorifying God in your life.

And he can only be rebuked by the words of God.

You know?

Think about the dynamic.

Jesus said this.

He's getting ready to depart earth.

He tells his disciples,

all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

When Christ is with you,

the most powerful dynamic of any kind,

of any place, at any time is with you.

If he's powerful enough to speak this world into existence,

he's powerful enough to deal with anything in it.

As we walk through those things,

and we see here that kind of,

you know, oftentimes there'll be winds in life

that are disrupting those things.

Those power that Jesus has is over all those things.

Those authorities in power,

including fallen angels,

but Jesus has power over them all.

The power of the word of God

to defeat the spiritual battle

and the conflict that's happening.

You know, you think about when Paul talks about

our armor that we put on.

What's our only offensive part of that?

The sword, the word of God.

The most powerful thing we possess.

And we notice here that Jesus,

he spoke to the sea.

You know, Jesus spoke to the sea,

and he says, peace be still.

That word peace there literally means silence or to hush.

You know, I can imagine the disciples there

as I think about that

because I think about the contrast

between different places.

You know, have you ever been around a large body of water

and the winds and the waves really start going,

the waves roll in?

You know, a wave has a lot of power.

I mean, I've been in a few oceans,

different oceans,

and, you know, they have some pretty powerful waves.

The waves will push you around,

they'll pull you under,

they'll move you around.

If you're not careful,

there's that rip current

that'll take you out places you don't want to be.

And here's Jesus,

and I contrast that

when I think about places I've been

where you see even the ocean

as smooth as glass.

And, you know, oftentimes you think about,

that's the picture that he sees here.

It says, peace be still,

and it ceased.

It went from rolling waves

to tranquil that quick

to where it went,

wow.

That's what shocked the disciples.

These,

even the fishermen

that have been out on there many times

said,

we have never seen

something like this.

He had complete authority

in the situation.

Literally,

Jesus has caused the waves to stop.

He muzzled them.

He put them into quietness

so that they could not disturb

what now existed.

It truly is so comforting

to know that our Lord

has the power

over the storms

that we face.

And we're going through the storms.

We don't need to cower in fear,

but trust in an all-powerful Savior.

To trust in Him.

I mean, think about what Psalm 56

tells us in verse 3.

It says,

what time I am afraid,

I will trust in Thee.

You know,

that verse doesn't apply

when everything's going well.

Or should I say,

it's not practical

when everything's going well.

It says,

what time I am afraid.

You know,

when things are going well,

we're generally not fearful.

But when fear comes

and fear overwhelms,

we have to say,

Lord,

I will trust You.

He is the one

that is master

over the storm

in your life.

No matter what's happening,

but He challenges them.

Next,

He challenges the disciples.

He spoke there,

look at verse 40,

and He said unto them,

why are ye so fearful?

How is it that ye have

no faith?

You know,

the disciples

were in a place

that might be

the same place

you are today.

Life's going to throw

some things at you

that turns life upside down.

that we have no idea,

we might not see it coming,

might not make sense.

And in those moments,

we have a decision to make.

Where's your trust?

Do you trust the Lord?

You know,

if you haven't been there,

you will one day be there.

Matter of fact,

I suspect you've been there

many times.

And if you live very long,

guess what?

You're going to be there again.

Because storms in life come.

When fear overpowers,

takes your eyes off

the things of God.

But Jesus reminds His disciples

they didn't have to be

bound by fear.

God hasn't given us

the spirit of fear,

but of power and love

and of a sound mind.

That means to be able

to think properly

in the midst of a situation.

To have the right perspective.

You know,

Jesus knew His disciples

were afraid,

and He knows

when we're afraid.

He understands

the burdens that you have.

The things that weigh

on your heart.

He knows

what we're worried

about tomorrow.

You know?

I want you to understand

that if you have Christ

as your Savior,

He's in the boat

in the midst of your storm

with you.

He is the one

that is there.

You have no reason

to fear the storm.

You can have comfort

in the promises

that He gives.

He gives in Scripture.

He gives Scripture

to us for our benefit,

for our learning,

for our understanding.

You know,

look over to Psalm 46

for a moment.

Psalm 46,

you'll see over here

in Psalm 46.

Look at verse 1 there

in Psalm 46.

He says,

God is our refuge

and what?

He's our what?

Strength.

A very present help

in what?

Trouble.

Now,

I won't ask for a show of hands,

but how many think

life's full of trouble?

You know?

If you've lived very long,

you learn that pretty quick,

don't you?

There's all sorts

of troubles

that are going to come.

Notice what it says,

therefore will not

we fear

though the earth

be removed

and though the mountains

be carried

in the midst

of the sea,

though the waters

thereof roar

and be troubled,

though the mountains

shake with the swelling

thereof.

I mean,

you think about that

for a moment.

To trust God.

God is our refuge.

He's always there for us

no matter how ferocious

the storm may be.

We serve a powerful God

that is stronger

than the powers

of this world.

Have you ever considered

Noah's family?

You know,

oftentimes we think

kind of different about it.

We think about,

you know,

here's Noah.

He gets everybody

into the ark.

Then the storm comes.

You ever thought

how fearful

it might have been

for them

the first time

the boat started floating?

Something they never experienced?

Think about faith.

How God told them

to construct it

and how to construct it,

how to seal it.

They didn't get a test drive.

They didn't get to shake it down

to see if it functioned.

They had to get in the boat.

They had to trust God

when the storm

was going to rage about them.

You know,

we serve a powerful God

who's stronger

than anything else

we can be confronted with.

The disciples' fear

pushed away their faith.

Faith and fear

always cancel each other out.

The two don't walk together

because you're either

walking in fear

or you're walking in faith.

One is going to be

the controller.

They don't share the reins.

Fear

or faith.

When we try to,

when we allow fear

into faith,

you diminish

faith's power.

Jesus challenged

the disciples

because they had

lost their faith.

They had allowed fear

to begin to overcome

their faith.

Now you think about

what Jesus had taught

them earlier

in Matthew 6

it records for us.

It says this,

therefore I say unto you

take no thought

for your life

what you shall eat

or what you shall drink

nor yet for your body

that you may

what you shall put on

is not life

more than meat

and the body

than raiment.

Behold the fowls

of the air

for they sow not

neither do they reap

nor gather into barns

yet the heavenly father

what?

Feedeth them

are you not much better

than they?

When we look at creation

it reminds us

God says I take care

of my creatures

and you're more

important than them.

That's a priority statement.

If God says

if I take care

of the fowls

of the air

you're more important

to take care of.

He says you're

a higher priority.

Are you not much better?

He says this

a little later on

he says but seek ye

first the what?

the kingdom of God

and his righteousness

and all these things

shall be added unto you.

You know what God says

is there's greater things

if you trust me.

You know the disciples

had looked at their own resources

and understood

it wasn't enough.

They couldn't bail fast enough

to keep the water

out of the boat.

I have a feeling

the disciples

had spent some time

bailing water.

Why?

Because it probably

wasn't the first time

they bailed some water.

The problem

wasn't the bailing.

The problem

is when water

was coming in

faster than getting out.

I want you to understand

this morning

that when we

in the midst

of the storm

is when God

is still there

with you.

Because after the disciples

saw Jesus

calm the storm

simply by his words

the Bible says

that they marveled.

You know look there

at verse 41.

It says

and they feared

exceedingly

and said one to another

what manner

of man

is this

that even

the wind

and the sea

obey him.

They'd seen

Jesus do miracles.

The blind

to see

the lame

to walk

the deaf

to hear

cast out

evil spirits

from people.

They'd seen

Jesus do

all these things

then they realized

he's even greater

than what they thought.

You know what

when you trust God

you're going to find

that he's greater

than what you think.

He's more able

than what you perceive.

He is able

to overcome

whatever it is

that is in your life.

Think about what they said

what manner

of man

is this.

Here is the one

Christ

who was

the God

man.

He was God

himself

in human form

completely

equal with

God the Father

and God

the Holy Spirit.

He was conceived

of the Holy Ghost

born of the Virgin Mary

lived a perfect

sinless life

being tempted

in all points

as we are.

He is the Alpha

and Omega

the bright

and morning star

the mighty God

the Prince of Peace

and he was there

in the boat

with him.

you know what

he's in your boat

today.

Whatever storm

you're going through

in life

he is there

with you.

The creator

of the world

is there

every step

of the way

but that's only true

if you've accepted

him as your Savior.

You know

there's a lot

of people today

who say they trust

God but have never

recognized him

as a Savior.

They talk about God

they talk around God

but you know

he's only with you

if you've called

upon him.

He says I'll come

and I'll dwell

with you.

I'll never leave you

I'll never forsake you

I'll never abandon you

I will never turn

my back on you.

God says

I will be

there

with you.

When we consider

his presence

and know his power

is enough

to get us through

whatever we face.

we understand

the picture

that the disciples

saw vividly

in their life

is fear

overtaking

instead of faith.

To trust

the Savior

is critical

because you can

trust him

no matter how

big your storm

may feel

or be

I want you

to know

that God

loves you

and God

is more powerful

than the storm

or the situation

of life

that you're walking

through.

When you consider

Christ

I want you to

consider

his presence

and his promise

to always

be there

with you.

Let's pray.

may may may