In the verses we have just read, we see where Jesus has been teaching His disciples. He is teaching them in the form of parable, when the multitude grows large and wants to listen to them. Jesus then wants to take His disciples across the sea so that they could do some studying by themselves. They are on their way to Gadarenes and Jesus falls asleep in the hinder parts of the boat. As they are on their way, a storm approaches and begins to rock the boat. The disciples become scared of the storm and fearful. So they wake Jesus up and ask Him to do something. Jesus rebukes the wind, and he commands the sea to stand still. Of course, the people are amazed at the fact that even the winds and the sea obey His voice. They begin to ask themselves the question, "What manner of man is this?"
I want to ask you that same question and use it to preach on the thought,
What manner of man is this, the type that can calm a troubled sea? This is a man who can speak peace to a broken heart. He can heal the blinded eyes. What type of man is this? He is a man like no other. There has never been another man like him before and there will never be one like him again. Look at who he was, He was 100% man, and yet He was 100% God. He walked upon this earth 33 years (the number 33 meaning promise) and never sinned. He lived a perfect life in every way. He could not have sinned if He wanted to. And even at the very mention of the name Jesus, all of hell trembles and all of heaven stood still.
What type of man is this that can cause such a great reaction? Everywhere He went, He drew a crowd. Everybody wanted to get a glimpse of him, and a touch of this man named Jesus. Through the years, many people have been beaten for this man. Others have paid the ultimate sacrifice of their lives for Him. What manner of man is this, that He causes such a reaction? I want you to notice some things about Him this morning that will show us exactly why He causes the reaction that He does.
First of all, let me say that He is a saving man. The Bible says in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” He is the only one that can save our never dying souls this is Jesus. Our salvation is not depending upon our good deeds. It is not in baptism. It is not in your good looks or your money. The only way that you we will be ever see heaven is through his shed blood. Jesus said in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. So the first thing that I see about this man is that He is a saving man. Jesus said I am the way. He did not say that He was a way, He said I am the way. My brother and sister’s, David teaches in the 40th Psalm that you and I were in a horrible pit.
We were sunk down in the mire and the mud of this world. There was
nothing that we could do to get out of that pit.
We had tried climbing but we could not seem to get anywhere. There was no way for us to climb out of the pit. We tried calling for help, and some people stopped by to try to help us out, but they could help us out.
I’m reminded of a man that fell into a pit and couldn’t get himself out.
A SUBJECTIVE person came along and said:
"I FEEL for you, down there."
An OBJECTIVE person came along and said: "It’s logical that someone would fall, down there."
A CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST came along: "You only THINK that you are in a pit."
A PHARISEE said: "Only BAD people fall into a pit."
A MATHEMATICIAN calculated HOW he fell into the pit.
A NEWS REPORTER wanted the exclusive story on his pit.
A FUNDAMENTALIST said: "You DESERVE your pit."
CONFUCIUS said; "If you would have listened to me, you would not be in that pit."
BUDDHA said: "Your pit is only a state of mind."
A REALIST reminded him: "That’s a PIT."
A GEOLOGIST told him to appreciate the rocks layers in the pit.
AN EVOLUTIONIST said: "You are a rejected mutant destined to be removed from the evolutionary cycle." In other words, you are going to
DIE in the pit, so that he cannot produce any "pit-falling
offspring."
The COUNTY INSPECTOR asked him if he had a permit to dig a pit.
A PROFESSOR gave him a lecture on: "The Elementary Principles of the Pit."
An EVASIVE person: came along and avoided the subject of his pit altogether
A SELF-PITYING person said: "You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen MY PIT!!"
A CHARISMATIC said: "Just CONFESS that you’re not in a pit."
An OPTIMIST said: "Things COULD be worse."
A PESSIMIST said: "Things WILL get worse!!"
But when Jesus seen the man in the pit, he took him by the hand and LIFTED HIM OUT of the pit, set his feet on the solid rock to stay, and established his goings. I am glad that Jesus didn’t just lift us out of the pit and leave us hanging over the pit. The Bible says that not only did He lift us out of the pit, but He set our feet on the solid rock, never again to fall into the pit again
What manner of man is this, He is a saving man. He saved me when I was undeserving. I don’t deserve the good things that He has done for me. He has blessed me in so many ways and there was nothing that we did to deserve to be saved. Yet in His love for us, Jesus chose to save us anyway.
The Bible says in Romans 5:8 But God commendeth His love toward us,
in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. While we were still doing the things of this world, with our backs turned on God, God loved us anyway and chose to send His Son to die on an old rugged cross so that we might be saved. He is a saving man. If you want to go to heaven, you must meet this saving man.
Secondly, He is a sheltering man. We see in the verses we read this morning how Jesus takes care of His own. Nothing can get to us unless it comes through Jesus first. For example, say that this coat I am wearing is Jesus. Before anything gets to me, it first has to go through this coat. We are wrapped up in His love. His shelter protects us and keeps us safe.
There is not a thing in the world that can happen to us unless it comes through the Lord. You may be here this morning and you may be facing the darkest days of your life. You may be wondering where in the world is Jesus and why has He forsaken you. But I’m here to tell you don’t worry, that’s only is only the human side talking. Let me share this with you though. Just because Jesus doesn’t calm the storm right away does not mean that He is not there with you. Look at John 6 near verse 15.
The Bible teaches that a storm was brewing as the disciples were crossing the sea toward Capernaum. It became so severe, that they began to be afraid. They looked and saw Jesus walking on the water, and Jesus He could see their fears and so He said to them, It is I; be not afraid. Now what is interesting to note here is that the Bible never says that the storm was calmed. Jesus simply tells the disciples to be not afraid. There is a great lesson in that for you and me.
We may be in the storm right now, but I can assure you that Jesus knows exactly where you are at. He knows exactly what you are facing, and He is already walking on the water, cancer, sickle cell, blood clots, and tumors, don’t worry because Jesus coming toward you. He may already even be in your boat, and you may not know it yet, we might need to just check the hull of the ship. Just keep this in mind, just because the storm is raging, does not mean that He doesn’t care. He simply says to you, be not afraid.
In Psalm 91 the Bible teaches that Jesus is our shelter. He is my refuge and my fortress. In verse 4, it says that He will hide me in the shelter of His wings. Just as a mother hen will hide her little chicks under her wings to protect and shelter them, the same is true with Jesus. He will put His wings around us and protect you from anything that the devil has to throw at you.
And while we are in that shelter, He will strengthen us and he will make us stronger so that you can continue on in the fight. The Psalmist says that He is my refuge. That means that He is a present refuge. He is always there. Whenever you are feeling weak, like you cannot make it anymore, you need to just run to the shelter. There He will wrap us in His arms of love and mercy and strengthen us back to where we can get back into the fight.
We all need some strengthening now and then. Think about Elijah, as he came down the mount where he had prayed the fire of God down and slew the 400 false prophets of Baal, Jezebel told him that he was going to die. Now you would not think that a man that had the power of God on him like Elijah did, wouldn’t get discouraged so easily, but he did. So God took him up in the mountains and begin to feed him and strengthen him and get him ready to go face Jezebel. After Elijah spent some time being replenished by the hand of God, he went down and was able to face Jezebel. Why, because in his time of weakness, he allowed God to strengthen him.
I don’t know the problems you may be facing, but I do know that this man Jesus is a sheltering man. There have been times in my life that He has sheltered me, and he has taken good care of me. He is a saving man, a sheltering man.
Satisfying Man
I have never been disappointed by Him. Just like the woman at the well, who came looking for a bucket of water, yet left with a well of living water springing up within her soul, I looked all over this world for satisfaction. We might find some pleasure in the things of this world, but it will be short lived, and your heart will still be searching for that longing that it needs to make it feel complete.
But Jesus is everything that we need
To the architect He is the chief cornerstone.
Baker bread of life
Banker hidden treasure
Builder sure foundation
Carpenter the door
Doctor great physician
Educator new and living way
I don’t know what your job may be, and I don’t know what your needs might be, but I do know that whatever it is, He’s able to satisfy it. He is a satisfying man.
Supplying Man
The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:19, But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
You may be here, and you may say "Preacher, you don’t know how big my need is." That is an accurate statement. However, I do know the One that can supply your need. Whatever it may be today, He's waiting with open arms, ready to take care of His children. The problem is, too many times we try to carry our burdens ourselves.
You may be here today and you are thinking to yourself, that sounds like a man I would like to get to know. I have good news for you. He is here today. He longs to meet you. If you do not know him let me introduce him to you.
He’s the one that can:
Rolling dark clouds away
He can stop the thundering clapping
He can hold back storms in your live
Somebody called him a heart fixer
Others called him a mind regulator
Somebody called him a wheel in the middle of a wheel
What do you call him
