Peace Be Still

If you would take your Bibles, turn to Matthew chapter eight. Children can be dismissed for children's church. Alright. Matthew chapter eight. When I want to say note of thanks this morning.

We had eighty four eighty four in here last last week. That was encouraging. It looked halfway full and that was because some of you brought several friends with you. That's because several of you invited people. Not all of them came.

But you know something? If we will be faithful to treat every Sunday like we treated last Sunday. If we will see the need to reach out to those who need the Lord, those who aren't going to church, those who are looking, point them to Jesus to say, hey, come with me to church and let's let's talk about Jesus. You'll be surprised. Some of them will show.

Some of them will come. If we will be faithful and our church will grow and these pews can be filled but we all have to be bringing people to Jesus, handing out tracks, and inviting them to church. And if we will be faithful, I know God will be faithful because he's even faithful when we're not but it was a blessing last week and I I just want to thank you all of you that invited people and I know many of you did that they didn't come but don't be wearing in well doing for in due season, we shall reap if we faint not which means don't quit. Just keep bringing people to the Lord and keep inviting them and we will see even more. Come.

Matthew eight and verse 18. Now, when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side. We'll come back to that here in just a few minutes and a certain scribe came and said unto him, master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. Jesus said unto him, the foxes have holes. The birds of the air have nests.

Son of man, speaking of himself, hath not where to lay his head. Another of his disciples were followers, said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, follow me. Let the dead bury their dead. In all likelihood, his father wasn't dead or on the verge of death.

He just wanted to hang around until his father did die. So, he could take care of the burial. So, verse 23 and when he, that is Jesus, was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. Now, this is probably more just speaking of the 12 here and behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea and so much that the ship was covered with the waves but he was asleep and his disciples came to him and awoke him saying, Lord, save us. We perish.

He said unto them, why are you fearful? Oh you of little faith. Then he arose and rebuked the winds in the sea. And there was a great calm. But the men marveled saying, what manner of man is this?

That even the winds and the sea obey him. Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you For being our savior our Lord, our God Thank you Lord for the storms in our life that you have calmed and ceased. Thank you Lord for being there for us. Lord, if there be one here today that is yet to receive Christ as their Lord and savior, I pray that you would help them to see.

What manner of man you really are? You're not only a man but you're God and the savior of all who come to you by faith. Lord, do a mighty work I pray in each one of our hearts today. May you receive all the glory for it. In Jesus name, amen.

Life is filled with trials and troubles and tribulation. Isn't that encouraging? As it says in one of Old Testament books is the sparks fly up. As you look at a fire and you see sparks going up in the air, so so trials and tribulations and troubles come to us in life. Storms to use a weather metaphor come into our life in many different forms and often very unexpected.

Today, we have weather radar that tells us when a hurricane is headed our direction days in advance, but most of time, they didn't have weather radar. The storm just all of a sudden showed up and you had to deal with it. Storms show up in our life all the time. They usually don't come announced ahead of time. They come unannounced and we have to we have to deal with them.

I spoke a few days back with some friends of ours at Keswick. I was at a baseball game and they were sitting. The wife was sitting there watching the game and I knew that they had had some trouble and so I asked her how they were doing. They're fairly well-to-do, had successful careers, and are comfortably retired now but a couple years ago, their world was turned upside down. We went to a banquet for the school and and spoke with a husband and found out he had just been diagnosed with cancer and had begun treatments.

He was treated and eventually, God delivered him from the cancer he had and right about the time that he had been cleared of his cancer, guess what? His wife had an exam and she discovered she had breast cancer. And so, she had to go through surgery. And it was a difficult time. It was a storm but but they got through it by God's grace and they're both doing doing fine.

But those storms, they just all of a sudden in life, sometimes they just boom. There they are. And you don't know when they're coming. Some of you have had to deal with such news and treatment maybe the loss of a loved one or bad news concerning a child. We prayed for a woman in Sunday school this morning.

She is a mom who brings her kid to Keswick Christian where I'm a crossing guard down at the school. She was excited about nine months ago that they were child and then about halfway through, they discovered the child had Down syndrome. Not only did the child have Down syndrome but had other physical ailments that could have resulted in it in its death. But we prayed and we prayed and we put her on the prayer list and the Lord answered many of those prayers and she is supposed to have the baby today. Her name is Amanda.

If you want to if you're going to pray for her today. But her and her husband weren't expecting this kind of storm particularly when they heard the good news that they were going to have another another child but God is good and he knows and as we'll talk about, he has a purpose for the storms. Life is full of storms and trials. Many of which we do not see coming. Find ourselves in the midst of tribulation.

Sometimes, we're simply not prepared for. The disciples of Christ found themselves in such a position one evening. Just sailing from one side of the Sea Of Galilee to the other. Something that many of them had did, done hundreds of times. Four of them were fishermen on the Sea Of Galilee before they met Christ.

So, they'd spend a lot of time there. And they were scared to death so to speak. They were unprepared. And the storm caught them by surprise. And they didn't know what to do.

Does that sound familiar? I think I think it does. It's happened to all of us. Not physical storm but emotional and other types of storms. Look if you would again in verse 23 of Matthew eight and when he was entered into a ship, his disciples what?

They followed him Disciple is a follower. It's used sometimes more broadly of all the followers of Jesus. Sometimes more narrowly of the 12. This probably speaking mostly here of the 12 in verse 23. They were followers and what do followers do?

Well, they follow and they followed Jesus onto the ship as he had commanded. Look, if you would back up at verse 18. Now, when Jesus saw great mount multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the what? To the other side. The other side of what?

Well, the other side of the Sea Of Galilee, okay? And so after he dealt with this these other issues in verses 19 through 21, Yeah, he and his disciples got onto the ship and they cast off to head to the other side. First thing I want you to see this morning is his disciples obeyed their Lord. They obeyed what he told them. He commanded them to get in the boat and let's go to the other side and so, they followed him obediently onto the boat in order to go to the other side just as he had commanded them to do.

Is that what we should do? And nod your head. Yeah. Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? Yes.

If you know Christ, you should be. You should be a follower of Jesus. You should follow where he leads. You should obey his what? His voice and his commandments.

We demonstrate our love for him when we obey his commandments. Does God expect that? Yes, he does. Our responsibility is simply to obey. 90% of the Christian life living the Christian life is simply being obedient.

It's not going and doing all kinds of fantastic, impossible incredible things. It's just day by day following the voice of our savior, following his word, listening to his spirit. Being obedient. That's all we, for the most part, have to do. Just do as our Lord says.

And we will be surprised at how things turn out in the end. Our responsibility is to obey. The outcome is in whose hands? God's hands. The outcome is in God's hands.

It's our prerogative to obey The outcome isn't always in our hands but it is always in whose hands? God's hand. We obey the outcome is in the hands of God and sometimes, it isn't quite maybe as we expect. We obey and then things don't go quite the way we thought they would. Is that ever happened to you?

Lord says, do this, you do this, and well, it didn't exactly turn out the way. I thought it would at least not not at first. The preparations of the heart of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from who? Lord. A man's heart devises his way but the Lord directed his steps.

James four fifteen says this, for that you ought to say if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. There's a lot that is out of our control. Some people say, well, you know, I'll show up on Sunday if Lord willing. Now, sometimes people say that to give themselves a what? An out or an excuse ahead of time?

Well, I'll show up maybe And if I don't show up, then it must have been God's will that I didn't show up. Well, that's not always the case. But you know something? What James said here, I found four or five times in scripture. The apostle Paul told those to whom he was writing.

I'm going to come see you Lord willing. In other words, here's my plan but my plans don't always always come to be. They don't always pan out because I'm not God and I'm not the one in control. So, I, what's the verse say here? A man's heart devises his way but the Lord what?

Directed his steps. So, sometimes, our plans don't go the way we expect them to do even when we're doing the right thing. Things don't always go as we expect. So, what did the disciples do? Well, they got in the ship with Jesus and they got in the ship with Jesus to go to the what?

To the other side. They did as he told them. Did it go quite as they expected? Answer? No.

I think you all list an hour or two of sleep last night. Alright? Did it go as they expected? No. They weren't expected to be in a few minutes.

Four fishermen who spent almost their entire life on the Sea Of Galilee thought they were going to what? Die. Die, okay? They didn't expect that. They expected to have a nice, smooth sailing across the Galilee to get to the other side.

Sometimes in life, we feel the same way. Especially when we're obeying the Lord. Lord, I'm doing what you told me to do and thing is just going to be smooth sailing. And what? And often, it's not.

Often, it's not. Why did God record this here for us? Well, because we hit storms like this too. Even when we are following the Lord. There arose a great tempest, a great storm.

For those who follow Christ, storms will come. It doesn't say storms may come. I say storms will come. We will face trials. We will face tribulations.

We will face storms in life that we are not necessarily prepared for. They will come upon us sometimes suddenly when we think everything is going just what? Just fine. And all of a sudden, oh, how did I get here? Ever felt that way?

They felt that way. Jesus said, if you look back at verse 19, verse 19 and a certain scribe came and said, unto him, master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. Jesus said unto him, the foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man hath nowhere to lay his head. In other words, Jesus said to this man who said, oh I'll follow you. I'll follow you.

Jesus said, well, you know, before you take off and leave home and start following me, just think for a second. It's not going to be an easy what? It's not going to be an easy road. It's going to have some bumps in it. It's going to have some difficulties with it.

He, God does not promise. Jesus does not promise us a road free from pain and strife. No, quite the contrary. It won't be easy in a world bent on going the opposite direction. You ever tried to row a boat against the flow?

Ever tried to swim against the flow? Is it easy? No. It's hard. The flesh, the devil, the world is all going one direction.

If you follow Christ, you're going to be going what? The opposite direction. It's not going to be easygoing. We can see that by what our savior had to go through that we we might even know him and be saved. Become his children.

Was it easy for him? Did he carry his cross? He did. All the way to Calvary. To suffer unimaginably.

That we might not suffer eternally. It wasn't an easy path. I find it's interesting in Matthew sixteen twenty four. Jesus said, if you're going to follow me, many man will follow me. Be my disciple.

Let him deny himself, take up his what? Cross and follow me. Salvation is free. It cost Jesus everything. It cost you nothing but if you are going to follow Christ, if you are going to obey his commands, if you are going to go against the flow and be a testimony and a light in a dark world, it isn't going to be easy.

It isn't going to be easy you are going to face some trials and tribulations you're not the only ones. The unsaved out there face some trials and tribulations as well. But there is a difference So, just because you obey the Lord doesn't mean things are going to go smoothly. Matter of fact, sometimes, quite the quite the opposite. Second Timothy three twelve, Paul told Timothy this, he said, yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall what?

Suffer persecution. If you are going to go against the flow, expect to suffer persecution. Matthew five ten through 12, Jesus said this, blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when man shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven.

For so persecuted they, the prophets which are before you. Do we want to face persecution? No, we don't and sometimes, we let that keep us from doing what we should, from saying what we should, from being what we should. We shouldn't do that. Not when Christ gave his life for us.

If we're obeying the Lord rather than things going smoothly, you can expect there to be a rocky path. In a world that doesn't want to hear. And also just because you are experiencing a difficult time does not always indicate you are doing something wrong. Now, does God chasing his children when we do wrong? I'm not preaching from over there.

I'm up here. Does God chasten his children when they do wrong? Yes. Yes, he does. So, sometimes, we do have trouble in life because we are what?

Doing wrong. We're not being obedient. Does that happen? Yes, it happens. But is that always the reason that we suffer?

No. It isn't. So, when you're having troubles, who do you need to talk to? Talk to God. Ask him.

Why am I having troubles, Lord? Because sometimes it's because God's trying to get your attention because you're going the wrong direction. Sometimes, it's because you're doing right. And God wants you to help you to do even better. Take for instance, Job.

Job lost everything. What did his friends think? His friends assumed that because something bad happened that Job was was wrong. He had sinned some terrible sin. But that wasn't the case at all.

A matter of fact, the reason Job was suffering was because of his faith. And because of his testimony. You see, and that happens too. So, just because you're experiencing difficulty, doesn't necessarily mean you're being punished. It may mean that you're doing right.

If you don't know which it is, then, have a little talk with Jesus Down through the centuries, many suffered for the cross of Christ. Some knew what was coming, others didn't. We will face storms. What matters most is not avoiding all the storms. But having Jesus with you to help weather them.

Even the unsaved face plenty of storms. But without him. The storms that we face, we face with him. I'd rather be with him, wouldn't you? What was Christ doing during the storm?

Verse 24, there rose a great tempest in the sea and so much the ship was covered with waves but but he was what? He was asleep. Why was he asleep? Seems an odd thing. The the the ship is rocking.

The waves are crashing over the ship, okay? Now, this isn't like a cruise ship or a battleship. This is a little fishing boat, okay? And the waves are going over the ship. And they're scared and Jesus is down in the hole to sleep.

Christ was tired. He did get tired by the way. He was a man though he was God and he was sleeping and he was perfectly secure. He wasn't afraid. He knew what was coming though his disciples did not.

The same is true with us. Nothing catches God by what? Surprise. Catch you by surprise, catch me by surprise. Nothing catches God by surprise.

God wants us to trust him as Jesus did. Jesus was in, he had placed himself in the hands of his father and he knew his father wasn't going to let that ship sink. No. His father had something else for him. He knew that too but he wasn't dying on that ship.

Wasn't concerned about it. So, what was he doing? He was sleeping. Reminded me of David. David was running for his life.

Psalm three, Others had told him, David, it's over, give up, give in Your son's going to kill you. David went on the run, stayed the night in a cave and he said, I laid my head down and I went to sleep. How could he do that? Paul and Silas in prison, they had been beaten, chained. What were they doing in the middle of the night?

They were singing praises to who? To God. Daniel knew that a law had been signed that whoever prayed to anyone but the king would be cast into the lion's den. Went back to his house, got down on his knees, with his window open, exactly the same way as he did it every day. And he prayed didn't change his routine.

Knew probably that somebody was watching him. Daniel six ten, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, let's see. Do I have that up here? Yeah. Now, when Daniel saw that the writing was signed, he went into his house, his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before God as he did a four time.

What happened to him? Well, he got drug from his house and he got thrown in a lion's den and while the king paced all night thinking that he was getting eaten and feeling really guilty for throwing him in there, David was having a nice, peaceful night with the lions. Jesus was asleep didn't have to be afraid our father in heaven cares for us. Put yourself in his hands Jesus never won. Jesus never fails.

Now, his disciples, they didn't quite have that kind of faith yet, did they? They thought they were going to die and so they woke Jesus up and verse 25, disciples came to him and awoke him saying, Lord, save us, we perish. They went to Christ for help. Did they go to the right place? Yes, they did.

When we are in need of Christ, when we are in need to Christ is where we should go. Particularly about things that we have no control over. Can you control a storm? I can't. There's some things we have to face in life we don't have control over but there is a god in heaven who does.

So, go to him. Matthew eleven twenty eight and John seven thirty seven, come unto me, Jesus said, all you that labor and heavy laden and I will give you rest. What does rest mean? It means peace. It means security.

John seven thirty seven, in the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, if any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. What does Jesus say to those who are in trouble? Come to come to who? Come to me. Come to me, I care.

What did they call out to Jesus for? They called out to Jesus for salvation. So, I don't see that here. They called out. They said, save us, we perish.

Well, that that that kind of is salvation, isn't it? What is save us? It means rescue us, deliver us. They called out for him to save their life, to deliver them from the ravages of the storm and from drowning in the sea. Bible says in Romans ten thirteen, whosoever shall call in the name of the Lord shall be what?

Shall be saved. Save from drowning? No. That's not what that verse is saying. But rescued and delivered from sin and its penalty where?

In hell. If you'll come to Jesus, when you realize that is the boat you're in and yet your ship is sinking. Call out to Jesus. Will he hear you? They will.

Matthew seven seven, ask and it shall be what? Given. Maybe you find yourself in another storm. And you need deliverance from that too You need help Go to the same person. He'll be there for you like he was for them.

There's a song in our hymn book. It's entitled Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. It goes, oh soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see. There's light for a look at the savior and life more abundant and free.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. We find ourselves in storms, yes. Turn your eyes upon who? Upon Jesus.

Go to him. In prayer, be careful. Philippians four, be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto who? Unto God and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus and the peace of God that passes what? All understanding.

We'll get to the peace part here in just a second. Look if you would in verse twenty six and twenty seven. Twenty six and twenty seven and he said, unto them, why are you fearful, oh you of little faith? Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm and the men marveled saying, what manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey him. In Mark's record of the same event, Mark writes this in Mark four, it says, and he arose and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, what?

Peace, be still. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, why are you, why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? What did Jesus do when his disciples woke him up and shook him and said, we're going to die.

Should they have been that scared? No. Because who was in the boat? Jesus. They were scared.

And there was a storm and so what did Jesus do? Did he say, leave me alone? I'm going back to sleep. Is that what he said? No.

He stood up and he said, peace, be still, and the storm was what? And the storm was over. Just like that. They said, what man repent is this? Because wow.

What man can do that? Well, no man can. Only God can. The Lord of heaven, the creator of all, had but to speak in his creation had to obey. He is our God.

He is your father cares about us. He listens to our prayers. He says, ask and it shall be given. Can he do the same for us? Yes.

Now, sometimes, the solutions are different Sometimes, they're not exactly what we want Expect but if we will call to him, he will answer us and he will take us out of the storm. Or he will stay right beside us and help us through it. But he won't let us go the storm alone. Because he cares and he's God. Why did he rebuke them?

Did he rebuke them for coming to him? Was that why he rebuked them? No. No. He tells us to come to him.

He doesn't rebuke. If you have a, if you're scared, if you have a need, go to him. He's not going to rebuke you for that. Why did he rebuke them? He rebuked them because their fear exposed their lack of what?

Faith. That's why he rebuked them. In second Timothy one seven, it says, but God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Our our faith needs to grow like their faith needed to grow. James one two to four, James said this, my brethren, count all joy when you fall into diverse temptations or troubles.

Knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience, let her patience ever perfect work that you may be perfect and entire wanting, meaning lacking nothing. Scary times will come. We'll have to deal with them with God's help. Why does God allow them into our life? To help us what?

To help us grow, to help us grow, to strengthen our faith. Was their faith strengthened at the end of this? What manner of man is this that even the what? The wind and the sea obey. There's a purpose in the storms.

We just need to trust in the Lord. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not unto thine own understanding and all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your path. Others had pretended to accomplish healings and great feats, telling the future but nobody could do that. Nobody but who? Nobody but God could stand up on the ship and say, peace be still.

And the lake became placid. And calm. Only the creator has such power. And he is my Lord, my savior, and my friend and if you know him, he is yours too. You can trust him.

You can trust him. In closing, couple of questions. One, have you chosen to trust him to save your soul? Are you trying to save it your way? Row that boat.

Pitch out that water. But if you don't come to Christ for salvation, your ship's going to what? You're going to sink. You don't have to keep rowing and pitching water overboard and just come to who? Come to Jesus.

He will calm the storm. He will save your soul. If you will let him. And secondly, are you in the midst of a storm right now that seems dark and scary? God knows God understands Trust him.

Wait on him. Talk to him. He will not fail you. Let's pray. Dear God, thank you Lord.

For this passage, thank you Lord for the story. Been recorded for our benefit today. That we might be encouraged in the storms of life we face. Encouraged to have faith, encouraged to trust you, encouraged to come to you, knowing that you are our friend, our savior, and our God. And Lord, we pray if there's one here that's not trusted you as savior, not sure of their standing before God in heaven, not sure if Jesus is on their boat.

Lord, I pray that they would invite you on today. I pray that they would trust in you as savior. I pray that they would come as we sing this hymn of invitation. They might be saved even this day. In Jesus name, we pray.

Amen.