This story is a good illustration of the Christian character and nature in this life. it is interesting to note that the disciples constantly found themselves in the middle of a storm. It seems the Lord was always using events as these to teach them great spiritual lessons. And if you will notice it seems that the disciples always had trouble reacting correctly to the storm. It is no different for us today. Disciples of Christ still have a great difficulty in behaving properly in the midst of a storm.
I feel that one of the greatest lessons a believer can learn, is the lesson of the storms. To realize that in a real sense, he is a little ship tossed on a raging sea. There are angry forces: sin, flesh, the world, Devil, gathered together against him. Trying to overthrow him, to destroy him, so I say this is a real picture of us a Christian.
Also, it truly shows, Jesus in His saving presence is with us in the midst of the storm, and I feel Jesus is trying to teach us, “How to stay calm in the midst of the storm.” This is a good object lesson for us who follow Christ and there are a great number of spiritual lessons we can learn from this.
1. All of the storms that come to us have a ministry to perform a lesson to learn.
2. God never waist time or experience.
I. The Storm Often Comes in the Very Midst of Obedience
1. Verse 35
a. The storm comes when they are obeying Jesus.
b. Could it be: if they had not been following, obeying Jesus they would not have been in the storm?
2. There is obedience to the command of Jesus may have made the storm harder to understanding.
3. Nowhere in the bible does it say, “If you follow Jesus, NO Storms, NO Trials, NO Heartaches.
a. Their lives were threatened, and their hearts were filled with fear.
b. Many people today are experiencing great storms in family, finances, healthy, and yet they have never lived closer to the Lord.
4. Sometimes we feel somehow, we have sinned against God. Why is He chastening us? Where did we miss His will for us?
5. It is very important that we understand the storms come in the very path of obedience.
a. Paul, in Acts 27:14-25, obeying God, yet the storms.
b. Daniel in obeying God, was thrown into the den of lions.
c. Three Hebrew children, obeying God was thrown into the fiery furnace.
d. Moses in following God, had to give up the pleasures of Egypt, being King.
e. It has always been the history of God’s people to suffer the storms.
II. We Never Get Used to the Storms, or Immune from Them
1. The disciples, many of them were fisherman, had no doubt been in many storms on the same sea.
2. Sometimes the storms that await us in obedience are greater than the storms of disobedience.
a. Many times, we never have war until we decide to live for Christ.
3. One reason is: the Devil takes aim at us, but also the Lord wants to test our faith. To try us.
a. He did, Abraham, Genesis 22:1
b. James says they are coming.
c. Sometimes it is hard to understand like David. Psalm 73:1-17
4. My friend the storms are a very part of divine plan for our lives.
III. The Storms often Make it Appear as if Jesus Does not Care
1. Remember: these men, most of them were expert sailors and had come through many storms.
2. They were the experts, Jesus was only a carpenter, not a sailor yet they come to him.
3. They found themselves at the end of their resources.
4. The very thing they had taken pride is gloried in.
5. The storms come to empty of self and drive us to Jesus
6. A wise man once said, “Anything that drives you to Jesus is a blessing.”
a. Sometimes the only thing that makes us pray is a storm.
b. Sometimes the only time we look up is when we are flat on our backs.
c. We are a stubborn people full of pride we can do it ourselves then it takes a storm.
7. I believe all and everything God is trying to do in us is to bring us unto himself. Draw us closer to Him, fellowship with Him.
8. When the storm has served its purpose, God will cam the storm and the sea.
9. If I have prayed the storm is still there, could it be God is not through with me or the storm.
10. The great need is not calm the storm, but God teach me the lesson.
11. Did you notice how in tune Jesus was to the disciples. The sea did not wake him, yet his followers did.
IV. The Storm Exposes our Real Enemy
1. It reveals to us, what it is we should be afraid of.
a. Verse 40 Jesus rebuked their faith.
b. Matthew 8:23-26, Jesus rebuked their faith then calmed the storm.
c. The thing we ought to fear is not the storm, but our lack of faith in the storm.
d. Their fear revealed their lack of faith in the Lord, verse 26.
2. You can not fear and faith at the same times.
3. They had no right to fear when Jesus was there.
4. So, the main problem that confronted Jesus was not the storm, but their lack of faith in the storm.
5. Many times, we in our Christian life are afraid of the wrong things.
6. What was it that Daniel feared the most the lion, no prayerlessness?
7. The three Hebrew children feared compromising their God, more than the fiery furnace.
8. We are afraid of the wrong things. I wish we feared prayerlessness, compromise, more than the fuel shortage, dollar value depression.
9. Which is worse, a lack of funds or a lack of faith.
10. We ought to fear failing to trust God to meet our needs in these trying time.
11. The storm always exposes our own weakness and shows us what we ought to fear.
12. The disciples said, “Master we are perishing.” That was the disciple’s opinion not the Lords.
13. You say, “We will die, starve to death, sleep in the cold.” That is your opinion not the Lords.
V. The Storm always Teaches us Something New About Jesus
1. Notice the two rears used here. Mark 4:39-41
a. Verse 40, fear, Jesus rebuked them for this fear.
b. Verse 41, fear, no rebuke, different fear.
c. Means to be timid, faithless, cowardly.
d. Means a deep reverence for Christ.
2. Only through the storms of life do we discover new things about our Lord.
a. Abraham in Genesis 22:14, discovered a new name for God.
b. Moses, in Exodus 17, “The Lord our Banner.”
3. The disciples ask, “who is this?” what manner of man is this?
4. In closing we learn three things: they learned.
a. There was much more to learn about Jesus.
b. Not storm can wreck the plan of God
c. It is safer to be in the storm with Jesus than to be in the calm without Him.
5. There are three classes of people in every crowd:
a. Those who have been through the storm.
b. Those who are going through the storm.
c. Those who will go through the storm.
