Lord of the Sea (Mk. 4:35-41)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
· Please turn over to Mark 4
· 30 years ago, the land of Israel experienced a very severe drought, very little rain fall or snow pack, much like California today. As a result, the Sea of Galilee was near an all-time low. Two brothers, Moshe and Yuval Lufan, saw this as an opportunity to explore the shoreline of the lake. One day, to their surprise, they spotted what appeared to be an oval outline buried deep in the mud. Upon closer inspection, they discovered it to be an a boat – what appeared to be an ancient boat. With the help of other archaeologists, they were able to extract the boat one piece at a time and then re-assemble it on shore. Like a fossilized skeleton, the boat was incredibly preserved. The boat was 27 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 5 feet deep. Just the right size for fishing with a drag net, and appeared to have remnants of a mast in the center. The planks were joined with mortise and tenon joints and held in place with wooden pegs – just as were done at the time of Christ. After careful scrutiny, experts agreed that this boat dated back 2,000 years to the time of Christ. Later, it would be dubbed ‘the Jesus boat.’ Though it is unlikely this is the exact boat Jesus sailed it, it dates to the very time of Christ and gives us a clearer picture of what life was like during Jesus’ time. Mark 4 tells us a story of one exciting adventure that took place long ago on a boat just like this one.
· Read Mark 4:35-41
· Why are you so afraid?
· What does Jesus see in your heart today? Does he see fear, like the disciples? Or a heart full of faith?
· 1 Jn. 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear
· Think of your heart like a pitcher of water. Dip it into a stagnant pool of water. Greenish brown. Filth, grime, sediment, algae, and microscopic organisms. Not be wise to drink it. But then you take that pitcher and put it under a faucet and run it until the clean water has completely rinsed out the grime, and the pitcher is filled to the brim with good, clean, drinkable water. A heart that is filled up with love will have no space for fear to contaminate it.
· In ch. 5, we’ll see some of Jesus’ most famous miracles, His power over demons, over sickness, and even over death itself. In ch. 2, He called Himself Lord of the Sabbath. Here, we could call Him Lord of the Sea.
· He demonstrates His power over the sea. His power is so great that the disciples’ fear over the storm turns into fear of God Himself. In this passage, we observe three lessons about fear that can help you overcome whatever fear may be lingering this morning in your heart.
Fear Can Be Crippling
Fear Can Be Crippling
· It had been a long day, and so they weighed anchor and set said for the other side of the Sea. Jesus, exhausted from a long day of ministry, went to the stern of the ship, laid his head on a pillow, and rocked by the light bobbing of the boat, was instantly asleep.
· Forecast had been fine. But then the breeze picked up. A curtain of clouds covered up the stars, and waves began to rock the boat. In a matter of minutes, the sky turned pitch black, the wind blew with hurricane force, and the sea grew angry.
· V. 37 “a great windstorm.”
· The boat pitched and rocked. There was panic and confusion. The men shouted, but their voices could barely be heard over the howl of the wind. Waves crashed against the side, gushing into their little vessel. Water was filling much faster than they could bail out the water. HCSB “so that the boat was already being swamped.”
· These were lifetime sailors. Yet they are now in a panic. This is one of the worst storms they’ve ever experienced, and they know this very well could be their last night. Their worst nightmare is coming true, that they are going to be lost at sea.
· To their amazement, Jesus is still laying on the bench asleep. Quickly, they wake him and cry for help.
· “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (v. 40)
· This storm was not mere freak of nature. It was a test by God. It was an opportunity for them to show faith, to trust in Him, to pray, and to see God demonstrate His power. But instead, they lost sight of God and panicked. This is what fear does to you. It paralyzes you.
· Fear will prevent you from doing what you should do, and it will cause you instead to do what you shouldn’t do.
· Wayne Mack in Fear Factor: “When you are afraid, you need to ask, ‘Is my fear stopping me from obeying God’s commands?’ Sometimes we ignore sin b/c we are dominated by sinful fear. God commands us to confront fellow Christians who are involved in sin. Many times fear keeps us from doing just that. Sometimes we fail to share the gospel b/c we are controlled by sinful fear. God has given us a message to proclaim, but we keep it to ourselves b/c we are afraid. ..Fear is a very powerful force. If you’re not careful, it can cause you to do things you would never do otherwise….When you are afraid, ask yourself if your fear is causing you to disobey God’s commands. Many times when we are frightened, we do just what Isaac did. We lie. That’s an evidence of sinful fear. Other times we compromise in our actions. We cheat, we steal, we yell, we shrink back. We disobey God because we are afraid. That’s sinful fear.
· >>Fear Can be Crippling…
Fear Can Be Irrational
Fear Can Be Irrational
· “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
· What an incredible statement!
· We are about to die, and you don’t even care. You’ve forgotten us. You’ve abandoned us. You really blew it this time.
· This is irrational.
· And yet isn’t that what we do when we give in to fear. We doubt His goodness. We deny His sovereignty. We forget His love.
· Psalm 121:5–8 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
· Do you believe this, or not?
· Spurgeon: “If we fret over all the [what] “ifs” that we can imagine, we shall certainly never be without fretfulness; but where is your dependence, Christian, for this world? Have you placed it [up]on man? Then [I’m not surprised] that you are full of fear; but why do you not trust your body where you trusted your soul? If you have trusted Jesus to be the Saviour of your immortal spirit, can you not also trust him to be the Provider for this poor flesh of the things which perish? God feeds the ravens; will he not feed you?”
· Make sure first of all that you entrust your soul to Christ, and then having done so, entrust Him with your daily needs.
· One of my besetting sins. Story of phone service going down, then ATMs? Turned out to be a severed fiber-optic cable. I fought a battle with fear that day, prayed for help, but really struggled to trust in God.
· Fear can be crippling, irrational, but thirdly…
Fear Can Be Overcome
Fear Can Be Overcome
· Praise God that fear, like any other sin, can be overcome. God provides a way of escape.
· Read v. 40. In this verse, we see the cure for the disease of fear. It is faith.
· Mt. 8 “O you of little faith.”
· A new year looms in front of us, full of uncertainty. What emotions do you feel? Excitement? Dread? Are you like the little purple character ‘Fear’ in Disney’s Inside Out – spending his time calculating all the possible negative outcomes that could occur on the first day at a new school?
· Who has your trust?
Conclusion
Conclusion
· Trust over the daily needs begins with trust
· THREE WAYS TO GROW IN FAITH:
· Ask God for help. Like the father of the demon-possessed boy - Mk. 9:24 “I believe, help my unbelief!”
· Meditate continually on God’s Faithfulness. Has God ever let you down?
· Get Your Eyes on Jesus – Not Your Problem.
· 2 Timothy 1:7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.