So let's read God's word from Mark's gospel, chapter 4, verses 35 to 41.
There are some Bibles around the church on some tables.
If you don't have a Bible and you come here today without one,
please feel free to take a Bible away from here.
We'd be very happy for you to do that.
The text will also be on the screen.
It's printed in the bulletin.
So lots of ways to access it as it's preached this morning.
So let's read God's word together.
Mark, chapter 4, verses 35 to 41.
And they woke him and said to him,
Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?
And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea,
Peace, be still.
And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
He said to them, Why are you so afraid?
Have you still no faith?
And they were filled with great fear and said to one another,
Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?
This is God's holy word.
You'll have a Bible to turn back to the passage that's been read from the fourth chapter of Mark's gospel.
I remember when I was a teenager reading a book on ministry saying you should never,
if you can possibly avoid it, never preach on well-known passages.
But I'm old enough to take the risk now and to direct us this morning to this extremely well-known passage of our Lord Jesus stilling the storm.
Because I think it helps us answer the question,
Who really is Jesus?
And the question that the older I've got has kind of haunted me.
What was and is Jesus really like?
I don't mean in terms of categories that theologians use,
but in terms of the words that Corey gave to us earlier on from the prophecy of Isaiah,
he was like someone who didn't break bruised reeds or snuff out dimly burning wicks.
And it's a question that I think in some ways,
really, if we can get near to some really clear biblical answers,
has the power to transform the atmosphere of our Christian lives.
To use a human illustration,
the way getting to know someone else that we know, admire, and love
can actually transform the atmosphere of our own lives.
That what the Holy Spirit does through the records of the life and ministry of Jesus
is to bring Him close to us and us close to Him
so that we sense what He is really like.
And that can change everything.
And certainly this was an instance in the lives of the disciples
that had the potential to change everything.
It began, in a sense, with a storm.
And I don't know how many sermons I've heard
on how Jesus can still the storm in your heart,
but actually what He did here was create a storm in their hearts
in order to loosen their inadequate view of who He really was
and lead them into a much more adequate view
that would transform their lives wonderfully.
And we love passages like this for different reasons.
Some of us may have loved this passage all our lives.
We maybe even can remember the Sunday school teacher
when we were in primary school who first told us this story.
And the power of it has kind of resided ever since in our imagination.
And then those of you who are of a more aesthetic tendency
and who love art may love Rembrandt's great painting
of the storm on Galilee.
It's a magnificent painting into which he painted himself
just at the back of the ship
where he seems to be looking out at the viewer
and saying,
well, how would you feel if you were in my position?
I've always wanted to meet somebody
who's actually seen that painting
because it was stolen several decades ago
and it's never been seen since.
So, if you have seen that painting,
we need to go to the local police station
where there may be a reward for you.
And then some few of us
who have kind of nerdy theological interests
may be interested in this passage
because it was the passage that brought a man
who some people regard as the greatest ever English theologian
to a real assurance that he was actually a Christian.
He was in his mid-twenties at the time
and very unsure of where he stood spiritually
and this was the passage.
This simple passage to this great intellect
brought a real knowledge of Christ
and a real assurance of him.
So, I want to try and unpack for us
a number of things that we find in this passage.
Probably, you know that this passage
is really in all three of the Gospels,
Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
But it's told in different ways.
And the church has believed
for most of the church's existence
that Mark's gospel
is actually Peter's gospel.
And one of the very early comments
about Mark's gospel
by a man called Papias
indicates that Mark
served really as the secretary
of Simon Peter.
And that's why of all the Gospels,
Mark's gospel is the easiest gospel
to turn into the first person singular.
And it's a lovely way to read it, actually.
And if you do that,
you will catch a sense that,
yeah, maybe it is true that Peter wrote this
because there's this sense of vitality.
There's a kind of,
everything happens immediately,
which is very Peter-like.
But there's also this strong sense
that this was the story of an eyewitness.
And there are little indications of that
that you don't find in the other Gospels.
For example,
Mark alone tells us
the time of day this happened.
It was in the evening.
None of the other gospel writers
noticed that.
This was an evening cruise
over the calm sea of Galilee.
Another thing Mark tells us
that indicates there's an eyewitness behind this
is he says there were other boats.
My guess is
that unless you kind of focus down on that,
you would assume
that what's described here
is what happened to a single boat.
But what happened here
apparently happened to a little flotilla of boats.
And there's another rather sweet indication
that this is the story told by an eyewitness
because this is the only gospel
that tells us there was a pillow for Jesus
to put his head on.
And I think all of us recognize
that when we have
kind of dramatic emotional experiences,
it is amazing what details we remember
that nobody else would notice
unless they'd been there.
And so, I think it's really helpful for us
to see the shadow of Simon Peter
in the background here.
And if I can remember to do it,
I will come back to that
towards the end of the sermon.
But the other little eyewitness detail
that I think is really important
to notice is the way Mark's gospel
describes the atmosphere
in which this event began.
And you'll see this right in verse 35.
When evening had come,
Jesus said to them,
let us go across
to the other side.
And lest I also forget to say this,
the great thing is
that they did get to the other side.
But then, Mark says,
leaving the crowd,
they took him with them
in the boat.
And it's the next phrase
I want you to focus attention on
because I think this conveys
the atmosphere of the evening.
They took him
just as he was.
Just as he was.
I heard somebody
in the Westminster Seminary group,
which is the reason
I'm imposed on you this morning,
because I'd rather Corey were preaching,
say,
so,
what's the dress code?
I didn't say anything.
But what I thought was,
just come as you are.
Right?
Just come as you are.
And so,
there's something,
there's something almost magical
about that little phrase.
They took him
just as he was.
They had no reason,
they had no reason
to
deny his
encouragement,
let's go over
to the other side.
Because they would
take him there.
I mean,
some of them at least
were masters
of this little stretch
of water.
And those of you
who have seen it,
it's sea,
it is not,
it's a loch.
And they must have known
it's every inch,
almost it's every fish.
And so,
nothing special about this.
They probably had done this
often enough.
Let's just go out
on the boat
for a wee while
tonight.
But it's the dramatic
contrast
between that little phrase
and the question
at the end
that bookends
this extraordinary
experience they had.
They took him
just as he was.
But by the end
of the story,
they're really saying,
we didn't really know
who he was at all.
We thought we knew
who he was.
And we thought we knew
what we were capable of.
But we didn't really
understand either.
And what Jesus
is doing here
is bringing
these disciples
who have really
come to know him,
obviously come to love him,
and in a sense
come to trust him,
he's taking them
a stage further
into helping them
to understand
what he is actually
really like.
And the great thing here,
I think,
is to remember,
which I remind myself
of very often,
what Hebrews 13 says,
he is the same today
as he was yesterday.
I often say,
when Hebrews says
he's the same yesterday,
today, and forever,
it's not a long-winded way
of saying he's eternal,
although that's true.
What it's saying is
the Jesus of today,
of our time,
readers of my letter,
is exactly the same
as the Jesus of yesterday,
the Jesus of whom
you read in the Gospels.
So, there are three stages,
I think,
that you find in this story,
which isn't a joke
because most stories
have three stages to them.
And the first stage,
I think, is this.
And it's kind of stunning
to notice it.
It is that Jesus
led them into difficulty
in the storm.
Jesus led them into difficulty
in the storm.
Yes, the text says
they took him,
but they only took him
because he said,
I want to take you.
Let's go across
to the other side.
So, if you think about
this experience
in this context
and ask the question,
why were they in the storm
in the first place?
Why were they in the storm
in the first place?
The answer is
because Jesus took them
into the storm.
It's a staggeringly
illuminating illustration
of Jesus' confidence
in Himself
to get these disciples
over to the other side
no matter what happens.
But Peter is making clear
through Mark's Gospel
this was Jesus' idea.
It was Jesus' idea
to sail into the storm
on the Sea of Galilee.
And you can almost hear
Simon Peter
using this
as an illustration
when, for example,
later on
he's writing
in 1 Peter 4, 12
and saying,
don't be surprised
by the fiery trials
that are coming to you
as though this was strange.
And that's what
this passage teaches us.
But the Lord Jesus,
as He draws us
to Himself
and as we begin
to trust Him,
finds occasions
to lead us
into difficulties.
And the reason
He does so
is because
as long as we live
a life without difficulties,
we never actually grow.
And what is so interesting,
I think,
in this context
is
that many Christians
don't seem
to think that way.
I had a very dear friend,
a man I respected
enormously,
who knew me
very well.
And whenever I made
a major life decision,
of which I've made
a few,
and it was as though
the sea opened up
and things went smoothly,
he used to say to me,
isn't it just like
the Lord
to do that?
Isn't it just like
the Lord
to do that?
And I dearly
loved this man,
but I actually found
that marginally
irritating.
Because the truth is,
it is just like
the Lord
to do that,
but it's also
just like the Lord
to do this.
And I think
this story
is a wonderful
illustration
of the principle
that we should
never think
that our simple
trust and obedience
to the Lord
Jesus
is a reality
from which
we can extrapolate
how the future
is going to be.
And not to
discourage
those of you
who are young,
but as I,
because I've been
thinking about this
passage the last
couple of days,
as I look back
on my own life,
I'm kind of,
I'm really struck
by the fact
that having made
major decisions
and assuming,
and everyone else
I knew,
assuming where
that would lead,
in almost every
single case,
that's not where
they've led.
And you see
what Jesus
is teaching us
as He does this
in our lives,
what He was teaching
them,
that we need
to understand
that there will
be times
when He will
open up the sea
and we will
walk across
on dry land,
but because He
wants us to
grow strong,
and we grow
strong by the
exercise of our
muscles,
and sometimes
that kind of
exercise hurts,
there will be
times when
trusting Him
and following Him
will also
lead us
into difficulties,
into storms,
which is why,
you know,
every,
every Christian
minister I know
would be able
to tell us
the numbers
of people
who have said
to them,
why is it
now I become
a Christian
that many things
seem to be more
difficult than
they used to be?
It's because
that's the way
He teaches us
to trust Him.
That's the way
we grow
in trust
for Him.
the only thing
I watch
in the Olympics
is the
weightlifting,
and I love
to see these
giants come on
to stages like
this and lift
up these
barbells,
like amounting
to you lifting
up the three
heaviest people
you know,
and their legs
are quivering,
and they,
you know,
and then they get
it up,
whatever it is,
and I sit
on the couch
saying,
I could do that.
Why can't I
do that?
It's because
I haven't endured
any of the
hardship,
any of the
stress,
any of the
exercise that
has slowly
built these
men and women
up to be able
to do that
kind of thing.
And it's the
same in the
Christian life.
That's why
training is
used as
a metaphor
for the
Christian life.
And I think
what is so
fascinating
here is
that I
know this
is slight
speculation,
but I think
the text
gives us
every reason
to believe
that these
disciples
followed
Jesus
because they
thought they
were masters
of the
situation.
And what
Jesus wanted
to do was
to teach
them that
there is no
situation of
which we are
master.
But He
is master
of every
situation.
And that
speaks to us,
doesn't it?
I mean,
there are so
many things
that we know
better than
Jesus about.
And what He's
teaching these
disciples is
sometimes it's
in the areas
where we think
we know best
that He needs
to teach us
that He
actually knows
best.
So that's the
first stage
in this story
that it was
Jesus who
actually led
them into
these difficulties
in the storm.
The second
thing to notice,
and this emerges
in their
response to
Him and
His response
to them,
is that at
the core of
this story,
Jesus is
testing the
reality of
their faith
in the storm.
And it's
interesting how
the different
gospel writers
record this.
Mark records
it in the
harshest of
ways.
The other
gospel writers,
their language
is not quite
so harsh.
Here you'll
notice what
Mark records
is, and
presumably Jesus
asked several
questions, but
the ones that
Mark records
are, why are
you so afraid?
Have you still
no faith?
And you'll
remember how
Matthew, for
example, puts
that as, oh,
you of little
faith.
Why are you
afraid, oh,
you of little
faith?
So this
question, have
you no faith,
faith?
It's not so
much doubting
that they have
any faith, but
do they have
faith for this
situation?
Do they trust
Him in this
situation?
And if you
use your
imagination, you
can't help
thinking that
when Jesus put
His head down
on the pillow,
He was thinking
to Himself,
how long will
it be before
they are shaking
me?
and these
strong, proud
fishermen asking
me, carpenter of
Nazareth, to
save them in
the situation.
And what is in
a way so
marvelous about
Mark's account is
that this very
straightforward
language continues,
and you'll see it
in verse 38,
they woke him and
said to him,
maybe the
cruelest words they
ever said to
him, don't you
care if we
perish?
So you hear
Mark again,
but you know,
Peter, if this is
Peter's voice,
this is absolutely
straightforward.
There is no
concern that
people might
misunderstand what
they are saying.
Maybe in
Matthew's gospel
there's a concern
that I do not
want people to
misunderstand what's
actually happening
here, but here it
is absolutely
brutal.
It is the kind
of thing you
do not say to
the person sitting
beside you on a
Sunday morning in
St.
Columbus when
you're asked the
question, how are
things?
You don't say to
them, the Lord
doesn't care if I'm
perishing.
But nevertheless,
many of us will
have said that and
have been in
situations where
that is exactly
what we have
felt.
Everything has
gone against us.
We see no way
through our
difficulties.
It seems that
God has abandoned
us.
Don't you care if
we are perishing?
Now, the truth of
the matter was that
he wouldn't have
been in the boat
in the first place
of the world.
He wouldn't have
called them if he
didn't care.
But, you know, the
supreme demonstration
that he cared was, of
course, he was going to
die for them on the
cross.
God so loved the
world he gave his
only Son that whoever
believes in him should
not perish, but of
everlasting life.
God did not send his
Son into the world to
condemn the world, but
that the world through
him might be saved.
They couldn't see
that, even although
he had given little
indications earlier on
that something was
going to happen, even
although they should
have known what
Isaiah was talking
about when he spoke
about the coming
Savior.
But they couldn't
see who Jesus really
was.
And, of course,
that's my problem,
isn't it?
when I feel deserted,
when I feel he doesn't
care, I've lost sight
of who he really is.
Remember how Paul puts
it in Romans 8.32?
He says, listen, if God
didn't spare his own
Son but gave him up for
us all, we can be
absolutely sure that he
will give us everything
we need to get us from
here into his glorious
presence.
But we take our eye off
the ball, or more
accurately.
We take our eye off
the Savior.
And that's what they
were doing.
And so their hearts
spoke through their lips
about what they were
saying was, you are cruel
to us, Jesus.
Don't you care that we
are perishing?
And in a congregation
like this, it wouldn't be
surprising if some of us
felt that way today as
well.
My friend Derek Thomas,
Corey's friend Derek
Thomas, tells the story
of a Welsh minister who
had a lady come to him
and she said, I'm
struggling in my
Christian life.
He said, what's the
problem?
He said, I've become
very impatient.
And he said, well, we can
fix that.
Let's pray.
And he prayed briefly, dear
Lord, send some trials
into my sister's life.
Amen.
And she began to express
a little impatience.
But you see, then he sat
her down and explained to
her that you don't develop
patience except in situations
that would evoke from you
a spirit of impatience.
And you will only learn
that patience when you
begin to look not within
yourself to your own
response to the situation,
but to who Jesus has become
in your life, to what you
know of Jesus, and to the
way in which he is able to
see you through situations
that previously evoked
impatience, to have his
patience.
And that's what Jesus is
doing.
He is always testing our
faith in him.
And in a sense, the only way
he can do that is by
dismantling our easy
assumptions that having
confessed that we trust him
fully, we do actually trust
him fully.
And you know, those of you
who are parents, you know
that when your son or
daughter has something
they're gripping onto in
their hands, and you say,
please give that to me.
And he says, please give it
to me.
And then you drop the please,
and it's give it to me.
And then you drop the give it
to me, and you give it to
them.
And you have this battle to
open their hands so that
whatever it is they are
holding onto lies open in
their hands so that you can
take it out.
And we foolishly forget that
we are all guilty of
infantile regression in the
Christian life.
And there are many things that
we hold on to tightly, our own
capacities, our own abilities.
I have no doubt that's what
Jesus was doing.
That's why this took place
on the sea, because these
men were fishermen.
This was their area of
mastery.
And you see in Scripture,
that is often the problem,
isn't it?
Think about Isaiah.
What does Isaiah cry out
about when he sees the
glory of the Lord?
He cries out about his
sinful lips.
I imagine him going down
after that experience to
his best friend and his
best friend seeing that
he is in distress and saying,
what's the problem, Isaiah?
And Isaiah says, my sinful
lips.
And his friend saying, you
and Mrs. Isaiah and the
boys need to go on holiday.
You're overwrought.
You are the finest preacher we
have had in this city in
decades.
And I like to think of
Isaiah, this is my
Scottish imagination,
lifting him up by his robes
and saying, you're not
listening to what I'm saying.
My problem is, it's right
into the strengths of my life,
my best gifts in life,
that my sinfulness and
mistrust has been woven.
And I felt in that place that God
was beginning to dismantle and
deconstruct me in order that he
might reconstruct me again.
And that's surely what the Lord
Jesus was doing here.
He was exposing the frailty of
their faith in order that he might
strengthen that faith.
And he does this, of course.
And this is how the story ends.
He leads them into difficulty.
He tests their faith's reality.
And then in the Sea of Galilee,
he shows them his glory.
And we were singing about that.
This passage is like a
fulfillment echo of Psalm 107.
Men going down into the sea
who were used to plying their
trade on the waters and suddenly
finding themselves in a storm and
crying out to the Lord and the
Lord saving them and the Lord
bringing them to a safe haven.
It's like the fulfillment of a
shadowy prophecy from the Old
Testament.
But it's also, I think, not just a
fulfillment of a shadowy prophecy.
It is itself a kind of reworking
of the shadow of an earlier prophecy
that is still a kind of shadow of
something that is to come.
Because it's interesting that the
psalm that is most used with
reference to the passion and death of
the Lord Jesus Christ is not one of
the better known psalms.
It's actually Psalm 69.
And it's the psalm that the apostles
picked out little details from and
saw that they were fulfilled in the
crucifixion.
And it's a psalm actually about a
water ordeal.
The waters have gone over my head.
And you can see how then Jesus,
I should say in this church,
by whatever means Jesus was baptized,
the waters went over his head in the
river Jordan.
And he saw that as a kind of miniature
water ordeal that pointed to the
greater ordeal described in Psalm 69,
his ordeal that he described later on
as the baptism with which he was still
to be baptized.
And whereas in the river Jordan,
if you think about it,
you can understand John the Baptist's
reluctance because this river Jordan
is now symbolically full of the
pollution of confessed sins of perhaps
tens of thousands of people.
And this is the water he's going to
baptize Jesus with?
But you see,
that's the point,
isn't it?
It's water polluted by the sins of others
in which Jesus will be baptized symbolically
in Jordan and actually on the cross of Calvary,
and the waters will go over his head
and engulf him.
And so it's not just the disciples
who are in the storm here.
It's Jesus who is in the storm here.
That may be the reason for the use of this
very surprising verb that Mark records,
that when Jesus got up,
you notice,
he rebuked the wind and the sea.
That's the verb that's going to be used
later on when Jesus rebukes the powers of
darkness and death and hell.
So there's something happening,
not just to the disciples here,
but there's something happening to Jesus here.
There's something about his sense
that he too is going to be engulfed
that makes him rise from sleep
and rebuke the wind and the waves
and say,
peace be still.
Because that's what he's going to do in Calvary.
Even the use of the word peace is interesting,
isn't it?
It's actually the first word that Jesus used
to the disciples hiding away there
in their upper room
when he appeared on the evening of the resurrection.
First word,
peace.
Be still.
It's like,
it's like what we've got here
is a trailer for what is going to happen
in the future.
And here in the midst of the storm,
Jesus is showing them his glory
that he's able to overcome and still the storm
because ultimately he's going to experience the storm.
And through his death for their sins and his resurrection,
he is going to bring them peace.
And maybe that's the reason why
in Revelation 21,
we're told that in the future world,
there will be no more sea.
Well, that's a pity.
There'll be no more sea.
What does that mean?
Well, the book of Revelation is full of picture language,
isn't it?
I don't think it's saying
in the new heavens and the new earth,
there'll be no more mountains
and no more sea.
I think it's saying in that world,
there will be no more of that kind of sea
because Jesus' peace and Jesus' glory
will be absolutely everywhere.
Get back to Simon Peter for a moment.
I've always thought reading this passage,
especially in Mark's gospel,
if indeed it's Peter's gospel,
Peter, you're not telling us something here.
You're not telling us what was going on in your head
when Jesus said,
okay, boys, we're going over to the other side tonight.
You're not telling us how for once in your life
you kept your mouth shut.
And you didn't say to the others,
he's a carpenter.
We're the fishermen.
There might be a storm tonight.
And I've sometimes extrapolated from that in my imagination.
So, what would have been like for Simon Peter
to have dug his heels in
and watched the other friends sail over,
the storm come in?
And of course it would have broken his heart,
but part of that man would have been saying,
I told you so.
You should have listened to me.
I knew best.
But what would actually have happened to Peter
if that had been true?
Well, Peter would never have seen the glory.
He'd never have seen who Jesus really is,
what Jesus can really do.
And the wonderful thing is,
as you fast forward from Mark's gospel
into the Acts of the Apostles
and see the way the Lord dealt with Peter,
you remember how by Acts chapter 12,
Peter is in prison.
And Luke tells us,
the night before he was about to be taken out,
and that sounds a bit Glaswegian,
and that's what it means.
He was really about to be taken out,
presumably tried and executed.
And the Lord sent an angel to rescue him.
And the thing that I find so fascinating
is what Peter was doing that night.
He was lying fast asleep,
and the angel had to shake him
and wake him
so that he would be rescued.
His life had been wonderfully transformed.
And that's what Jesus is like.
I mentioned that those of you
who are theological nerdy
might love this passage
because you know the story
of either the conversion
or the real assurance
that he was a Christian
of perhaps the greatest English theologian.
His name was John Owen.
He went with a friend to a church in London
when he was in his mid-twenties.
I think he wasn't really sure
whether he was really a Christian or not,
although he had the whole Christian baggage
behind him in his life.
He was a minister's son.
He was an Oxford graduate.
He was brilliant.
But he wasn't sure he was a believer.
And they went to hear
a famous preacher.
And a substitute came in to the pulpit.
And his friend said to him,
let's go around the corner
and hear somebody else.
You can do that in Edinburgh, apparently.
And Owen was so melancholic.
He said, now I'm just going to stay.
And the man preached
from this passage.
And John Owen was brought into
an amazingly new experience
that Christ was his
and he was Christ's.
And the wonderful thing is
he was never able to discover
the name of the man
who had preached the sermon.
And I can't help thinking
that if you did actually come here
because somebody said to you,
you need to go and hear
Cory Brock
in St. Columbus
in Edinburgh.
And
you kind of groaned inwardly
when he said,
it's an old Scotsman
who's going to be here.
And
if that's the case,
please God,
you forget his name.
But if this
was Owen's story,
it can be your story
too.
Because this is what Jesus
is like.
And this is what he wants
to be like
for you.
And he did get them
to the other side.
And he'll get you
too
if you trust him
to the other side.
Let's pray together.
Lord, we thank you for
these
wonderfully simple
stories
that these
four men
under the guidance
of your
loving Holy Spirit
penned
for people
they knew
and loved,
but also
for people
that
they loved
but never knew,
including
ourselves.
And we pray,
Lord,
as we
think about
the Lord Jesus,
see him
as someone
who does not
break
bruised reeds
or snuff out
dimly burning
wicks,
but comes to us
in our need
and our distress,
that in his
providence
he has
unpacked
for us.
And when we
sometimes cry,
Lord,
do you not really
care about me?
We pray that we
may see who
he really is
find him
in his
grace
and glory
and trust
him
not only
in the areas
where we feel
inadequate
and incapacitated,
but in those
areas where we
foolishly think
that we
know best.
So,
we
give ourselves
to you
with
faith
and
joy
and
the assurance
that you
will see
us
home
to the
other
side.
So,
impress this
on us
we pray
as we
thank you
for your
word
in Jesus
name.
Amen.
Thank you.