Sermon Central
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Jesus The Lord Over Our Storm
Contributed by William Baeta on Jun 23, 2018 (message contributor)
Summary: “Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm… and they said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:39, 41)
c) An opportunity to live by faith
Storms present believers with the opportunity to live by faith and overcome the world. (1John 5:4) Faith takes hold of what the grace of Christ has provided and Christ has provided all our needs.
Illustration:
God has given man authority on earth and will not do anything here without a man to work with. The storms of life are not to destroy the believer but to give him an opportunity to glorify God. David was a man after God’s own heart. (Act 13:22) The battles he faced as a shepherd became his credentials for the fight against Goliath. David knew the source of his victory over the lion and the bear and Goliath was God. He only served as God’s instrument to reveal the devils defeat in the physical realm. The storms we face in life are spiritual and therefore are fought in the spiritual realm. Goliath fought in the name of his gods while David fought “in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel. (1Sa 17:45) “The battle is the LORD's”, (1Sa 17:47) and believers are to establish His victory on earth and walk in it. The battle was won in the spiritual realm and all that David needed to establish it on the field of battle was a single stone. The reason David chose five smooth stones from the brook was not to have four more in reserve in case he missed with the first stone but because Goliath had four other brothers.
Application:
Are you facing a storm in your life? As a believer the battle is the Lord’s. We can either establish God’s victory over the enemy and walk in victory or walk away defeated. God gave the Israelites the Promised Land. At the first attempt instead of establishing God’s victory by victoriously entering the promised land, they walked away and wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Let us proclaim His Word declaring His victory over our enemies, establish God’s victory in our lives as we exercise our Christ given authority.
Step Three: Storms are a reason to celebrate
a) Celebrate the victory of Jesus Christ
The storms we face in life are a reason for believers to celebrate. No matter the storm the believer can walk in victory because of the victory of Christ over our enemy, the devil. The celebration of our victory over the storm is a testimony that Christ has defeated the devil and stripped of his power.
b) Celebrate the grace of God
The storms we face in life are a reason to celebrate the grace of God. We overcome the storms in our lives because of the grace of God. The grace of God has made available to believers all that was available to Christ and no matter the storm we can celebrate our righteousness, our identity as God’s children and our access to His presence and provisions.
c) Celebrate the promises of God
The storms we face in life are a reason to celebrate the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit and the promises of God. He gives us the assurance that He will never leave or forsake us and that He will teach us and remind us of the promises of God.
Illustration:
Christ faced many challenges in His life as a man but He was always victorious because He had no sin nature. He was tempted in all ways as we are yet remained without sin. He believed His Father totally and trusted Him to fulfil His promises. Our victory over the storms in our lives also depend on our belief and trust in Christ to fulfil His promises. In today’s gospel reading, after a long day of teaching and deliverance, Jesus gave told His disciples to sail to the opposite shore and since He was tired he went to sleep. While Jesus slept, the devil tried to frustrate the efforts of His disciples and prevent them from reaching their destination where a demonised man needed deliverance. The only way he could succeed was to fill them with fear and make them doubt the Word of God. The storm was fierce enough to make seasoned fishermen afraid but Jesus Christ remained in control. He dealt with their fear by commanding the storm to be still. If only the disciples had not been afraid and doubted the Word of Christ they could also have slept through the storm. The real problem with the disciples was not the wind and the storm but fear, doubt and unbelief.
