Thank you, Brass, for playing for us this morning. Now let's open the Word of God together
to the book of Mark, the fourth chapter as we look at the end of this passage dealing
with the majesty of Jesus Christ as Master. We have read already the account as Luke records
it, but let's look once more at the incident as Mark records it.
And on that day when evening had come, he said to them, Let us go over to the other
side. And leaving the multitude, they took him along with them, just as he was, in the
boat. And other boats were with him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves
were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. And he himself
was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they awoke him and said to him, Teacher, do
you not care that we are perishing and being aroused? He rebuked the wind and said to the
sea, Hush, be still. And the wind died down, and it became perfectly calm. And he said
to them, Why are you so timid? How is it that you have no faith? And they became very much
afraid and said to one another, Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Do you ever get weary and exhausted? I can hear someone say yes, and that reminds me,
there's just about time for my weekly nap. Well, let me encourage you to try to stay
awake a few more moments. However, let me tell you that Jesus knew what it was to grow
weary, and we see an example of that here. Mark uncharacteristically notes that it was
on that very day when evening came that this incident took place. And what a day it had
been. It seems to have begun with a fierce confrontation with some of the religious leaders
from Jerusalem who accused him of being demon possessed and blasphemed the name of the Lord.
In the midst of all of that, his brothers and his mother arrived on the scene, apparently
wanting to take him home because some people were saying that he was mad, that he was beside
himself, that he was actually mentally unbalanced. And apparently so that he would not any longer
put himself forward in such a disgraceful way, they came to get him. Jesus did not go
with them. But rather he left the house that he was in and went to the seaside there to
teach to them. After a while, our Lord apparently returned to the house to be alone with his
disciples and there he explained the parables that he had told to the multitudes and taught
them additional parables. Finally, after a long and exhausting day, evening came and
Jesus ordered his men to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. That was the only way
that he could get away from the crowds of people. He got into this boat which was apparently
a rather large fishing vessel, not one of the smaller rowing vessels, but a larger one.
And he went to the back of the boat to the stern and there he fell asleep with his head
on the leather cushion that was often used by the steersman of the boat. This is a reminder
to us that it is no sin to grow fatigued and weary in the Lord's service. It is no failure
to become exhausted in the Lord's work, but let us never grow weary of the Lord's work
itself. Jesus knew, of course, when the boat left the shore what was about to take place
in the middle of the sea. In fact, it was all a part of his curriculum for that day.
And he might show his majesty as the master to his disciples. The majesty of Jesus Christ
is expressed in this title given to him by the disciples, Master. It is the title that
is used on our third banner as you count back from the left side or the right side as you're
seated. You will notice that our ladies who did it pictured the waves boisterous and then
calming to an absolute stillness, capturing for us the essence of what it was that he
did to prove that he was the master. The truth is that every one of us serves some master.
The question is what or whom. Now there might be someone who would protest, claiming that
he is free from serving anyone or anything, but such a person actually is self-deceived,
for if no one else he serves himself, which is the most confining perhaps of all slaveries.
And so the question I want us to think about today is this, who is your master? I hope
that Jesus Christ is, because he is a worthy master. Indeed as we look at our text today,
I want you to notice with me several qualities of the master that are displayed for us. In
the first place, Jesus Christ is the sovereign master. The sovereign master. We need to talk
about this term master for just a second as it's found in the New Testament. Actually
there are seven Greek words that are translated master in various English translations. One
of them is the word didoskolos, which simply means teacher. It is the word used here in
our text in Mark chapter 4. Another one is the familiar word to us in English, rabbi.
It is a word that was a respectful address of Jewish teachers in that day. In some translations
it is brought into the English as master. Then there is the word katharetes, guide or teacher.
Kubernetes, which is a pilot or the steersman of the ship's governor. Then the word despates,
a very strong term that means an absolute sovereign, a king or an owner. And it likewise
is used of our Lord and translated master. Then there is the word kurios, the word that
means Lord. It is one who exercises power, yet likewise is used of our Lord. Ephesians
6 verse 7, Colossians 4 and verse 1. It is most often however translated Lord in the
English. Then there is finally the word epistates, which means a chief or a commander, an overseer.
The emphasis in this word is not upon what one says, but what one does. It is the authority
that one has in his deeds. Now it is interesting to me that as Matthew, Mark and Luke record
this incident, each one of them records the disciples as calling Jesus something different.
Mark says they said didoskilos, teacher. Matthew says they called him kurios, Lord. And Luke
says they called him epistates, master. So the question might be asked, which one did
they actually say? I think the best answer is probably all three. For in the consternation,
the confusion, the anxiety of that moment, undoubtedly they were all speaking to him
and perhaps all three of those terms were used. The emphasis is certainly though upon
the authority of the one that they were speaking to. Lord, master, teacher, don't you care
that we're perishing? The expression of the sovereign lordship of the master is seen in
several realms right here in our context. We see it for example in chapter five, the
first part of the chapter, the first 20 verses in fact, that he is sovereign over the realm
of the demons. They must answer to him. He is able to say come out of the man and they
must respond to that because he is master ultimately even of the dark side of Satan
and the demon spirits. We see him in verses 25 through 34 as master of the realm of disease
and sickness. A woman simply touches the hem of his garment and she is immediately healed
of a hemorrhage. Jesus being aware that someone had touched him in faith, immediately stopped
and said who was it that touched me? And trembling, she came forward bowing before him, recognizing
that he was the master and had displayed it in curing her disease that she had had for
many years. We see in verses 21 through 24 and then resumed in verses 35 through 43 that
he is likewise master of the realm of death. For here is a little one that has died, a
young girl, and Jesus comes into her presence and he simply says to her little girl, I say
to you arise and immediately this little girl who is an adolescent rose from her deathbed.
Then we see in our text that he is master over the realm of nature. This is not the
only time that this happened. There was another time when Jesus calmed the storm. That was
the time we looked at last week when he walked upon the waters and came to them in the middle
of the sea. A different incident than this. There was the time when he spoke to the fig
tree and said to it, no more shall any man eat of you. And the very next day the disciples
and he were walking by that same tree and they noticed that it had dried up overnight
from the roots because he had cursed it. He is lord and master over the realm of nature.
There's only one realm that resists his word and does not immediately obey and that is
the realm of humanity. Our race is out of sync with all of the rest of God's creation.
For humanity resists the word of the master and will not immediately obey him. Something
that even the demons and the devil must do. But Jesus Christ is nonetheless the sovereign
master. And the scriptures tell us that one day every knee of every person in the human
race will bow to him and acknowledge that he is master, kurios, lord, to the glory of
God the Father. Jesus Christ is the sovereign master. Whether or not a man or woman or young
person acknowledges him as personal master, he is nonetheless master of everything. Secondly,
Jesus Christ is the sage master. As I said before, he knew this storm would come. The
Sea of Galilee is located 682 feet below sea level. It is not unusual for violent storms
to descend swiftly upon that body of water, some five miles wide and 15 miles long. The
wind sweeps across the plateaus surrounding this basin and then drops and tumbles into
the Galilee basin. Or other times it comes roaring down from the heights of Mount Hermon
to the north and into that same basin. It is very hot around the Sea of Galilee. The
hot air rising under the heat of the sun is displaced by cool air coming below and it
is frequent that storms such as this come to it. Black clouds and violent gusts of wind
stir up the sea into a raging monster that is able to swallow up vessels and fishermen.
Jesus knew that this storm was coming. He was the perfect meteorologist. But the language
suggests something more may have been involved here than the customary tempest that they
were used to. The language suggests, and that's all we can say, that this storm may have been
demonic in its origin. For in response to it, our Lord rebuked the wind. It is interesting
that he would speak to the wind and rebuke it. And the suggestion in that word rebuke
is anger. He rebuked it with anger. And he said to the sea, be muzzled. Hush! Be still.
Be muzzled as you would put a muzzle on a wild dog.
Turn back with me to Mark chapter 1 and look in verse 25 where Jesus rebukes a demon and
uses very similar terminology. This demon said to him through the man that he had possessed,
what do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you
are, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, same word, saying, be muzzled. Be still
and come out of him. And the demon responded and did so. And so our Lord uses the same
terminology on this occasion as he speaks to the wind and to the waves, leading us to at
least conjecture that this storm was more than one of these normal storms, that this
was a demonic storm attempting to destroy him. But he allowed the storm to develop because
he had a wise purpose in view. In the first place he wanted to test the faith of his disciples.
What did they believe? And how much of all of this teaching that he was giving did they
really understand? There's only one way to find out. Put them through an exam. And so
our Lord, the sage master, arranged for an exam on the Sea of Galilee. But he also purposed
to show his power, thus underscoring by a parable of deed the parables of words which
he had spoken. So that like a seal upon his authority, this miracle gave his words deeper
relevance to them. I tell you, it's great to know that God never wastes any of our experiences.
We can be assured that every storm or every calm has some divine intention. That's why
James tells us that when we are in the midst of a trial and we lack wisdom, we can ask
that of God. We must ask in faith. But God does not hold back wisdom when we need it
in the midst of trial. Wisdom to understand how to respond as God wants us to. He is the
sage master. Will you believe that in your experience? Whatever the storm is that threatens
your vessel, will you believe that God has a purpose in it? He does. Jesus Christ is
thirdly the sympathetic master. It is interesting to note that the noise and furor of the stormy
tempest did not awaken our Lord. He slept right through it. Can you imagine sleeping
in a tumult like this? Even the hardened fishermen who were with him were scared out of their
wits. They were sure they were going to die. Men who were used to the ocean. And here is
their master sound asleep in the midst of the storm. But rather it was the trembling
touch of his disciples that immediately roused him from the pillow. Isn't that interesting?
What the storm could not do, the touch and the word of his disciples immediately did.
Does this not remind you of a mother who perhaps sleeps through the noise of a thunderstorm
that rages outside and yet when the baby whimpers and cries, she is immediately awake and poking
dad in the side and saying the baby needs help? No. Not really. Not really. This is
the way our Lord was. Immediately when they touched him, he was awake to their need. Now
this does not mean that Jesus is asleep and unaware of your predicament until you provoke
him to be interested and involved. That is not what this story is teaching. But it does
illustrate for us the concern that he has for what causes us alarm and consternation.
We were asked the question this morning, does Jesus hear when we pray? Does he really care?
And the answer came back, yes, and he is able. Our Lord is a sympathetic master. Finally,
Jesus Christ is the scrutinizing master. With the amazing miracles still causing their minds
to be filled with wonder, Jesus gently rebuked them. Look at verse 40. He said to them, why
are you so timid? The word is cowardly. How is it that you have no faith? Please understand
that the disciples did not awaken him to calm the storm. There is no indication that they
said to him, Lord, wake up and tell the sea to be quiet. No. They woke him up to protest
his seeming indifference to the fact that they were all about to die. Lord, what is
going to happen to the teaching that you have been giving to us? Lord, what about the kingdom
you said is coming? Lord, what about your mission? It's going to be imperiled and we're
going to die. But you see, that was just the point. That was the test. Jesus wanted to
see whether they believed he would do what he said he would. Could a storm destroy his
purpose and defeat his plan, which he had already begun to teach them? What did they
believe about it? In fact, their awakening him was unnecessary. Had they passed the test,
they would have allowed him to sleep and gone on across the lake. You say, but that's too
much. What do we expect of them? Faith to believe what Jesus had said? That is not too
much to expect. And our Lord did expect it. G. Campbell Morgan wrote these words regarding
this text, I do not think that his waking and ending the storm was the value of the
lesson to them. I think the chief value of the day's experience was its revelation of
the fact that there was no need to wake him. They certainly did learn that in days of stress
and strain and storm, if they cried out, he would end the storm. Yes, but the deeper thing
they learned was this, that no storm can wreck the program of God. That though all hell be
let loose and though it have power over elements and events and the hearts of men and the passions
of the world to stir them into a storm and wreck the apparently frail bark where Christ
lies asleep, it is all useless. If he be there, all is well. That is the chief value of what
occurred on this day. Our Lord was scrutinizing their faith. What do you really believe about
me? They were absolutely astonished. And whereas they were afraid of the wind and the waves,
a greater fear now overcame them in the calm. Do you notice that? Actually two different
words for their fright here. They feared a great fear, it literally says in verse 41.
The picture is edged with awe and wonder. It brought them back to the very roots of
their understanding of who this man was and what their relationship to him was. And they
blurted out, who is this man? Now understand that he had chosen them as the twelve a few
months before this and they had been with him during that time. And for more than a
year before that, they had walked with him on and off. At least most of them had known
him for as much as almost two years by now. They had seen him heal many sick people and
deliver many who were demon possessed. They watched him raise a young boy from the dead
who was being carried out to be buried. They had witnessed many miracles of our Lord but
now in the Sea of Galilee with it perfectly calm they were terrified of this man and they
said who is this person? It brought them right back to their understanding of who he was
and what their relationship to him was. This chapter in their discipline curriculum, discipleship
curriculum had a profound impact upon them. This event drew them to a deeper understanding
of his Lordship and it excited a desire in them for a more intense discipleship than
they had known before. Jesus Christ is regularly, systematically and purposely ordering the
course of your life into stormy tests just as he ordered this boat into the storm. He
does this in order to scrutinize the depth of your discipleship and to create within
you a more intense desire to understand who this man is that you call master. He is ever
at the heart of the storm and because that is true we may learn to be quiet and to smile
at its threat. Does he seem to be asleep and indifferent? He is there and the best response
as Morgan suggests to us is not to awaken him with urgent alarm but simply to go on
with our eyes of faith focused on him believing that he will do what he said he would whatever
the circumstances say otherwise. Jeremy Taylor said we are far safer in the middle of a storm
with God than anywhere else without him. The majesty of Jesus Christ is in this designation
master but he is not satisfied until he has made us understand its full meaning in majesty
and until we have responded in faith and with a proportionate surrender to his lordship
in our lives. The fact that he is master is relevant in every ordeal of life but never
more so than in the storms because it is then we prove whether in fact we trust him as master.
If he is truly in the vessel we may smile at the storm. Panic is unnecessary. Alarm
is unworthy if he is the master. The songwriter put it this way, no waters can swallow the
ship where lies the master of ocean and earth and skies. This incident seems to say to us
that the greatest danger is not in the storm but it is in the unbelief that persists in
our hearts. That is where the real danger is. And the greater challenge to our lord
is not to quiet the elements of circumstance but it is to root out that unbelief and to
see born and developed in its place a mature faith that can call him master and lord and
not be alarmed in the storm. Nathan Fousher is a strapping young man, six foot five inches
tall, weighs 200 pounds. He has just finished his senior year in Warroad, Minnesota and
was the leading defenseman on the hockey team. Three days ago he was to have been admitted,
appointed rather to the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs where he
was assured a place on their hockey team. However, last December because of some symptoms
Nathan went to the doctor and received word back that he was a victim of Hodgkin's disease,
a form of cancer that strikes about 7100 Americans every year. He underwent chemotherapy and
radiation therapy to attack it and Hodgkin's is a disease that frequently goes into remission
but he missed his appointment to the academy. Nathan and his parents are Christians. His
parents said you always think that this is not going to happen to your son but we've
accepted it. We're going to have to go through it together. We're a close family. We're
going to accept whatever God has in his plan for Nathan and for us. As a young man Nathan
was told that his family would support him in hockey if he would keep his grades up and
at least in the middle of the year, his senior year, he had a 3.77 grade average and if he
would attend Awana. And during the years that he was involved in the program he memorized
over 600 verses from the Word of God and this last year was a leader in the Awana program
in his church. One of the verses that he had memorized was Psalm 86 verse 1 that says in
the Living Bible paraphrased, bend down and hear my prayer oh Lord and answer me for I
am in deep trouble. And these are the words of this young man, this teenager. Psalm 86
verse 1, yeah, that one has really hit home lately. I've gone back to that quite a few
times. I was raised in a Christian home with a firm belief in the Bible and Jesus Christ.
Tying into this Hodgkin's thing I believe that he has a plan for my life and this is
a way of pointing me in the right direction. Here's a young man going through the storm
but his eye is on his master. Is your eye on your master? Who is your master? It's
the storm that really tells us who the master is. And if it is Jesus Christ it exposes where
our faith really is. Do we believe what he has said? He will do. When we understand who
he is the only proper response our hearts can make is to surrender and to say oh Jesus
Christ you are my master. And in the midst of this storm I'm watching you. And with
that eye of faith on him he will bring you through. And he will accomplish his purpose
in that storm and deepen your understanding of who this man is and what your relationship
to him needs to be. Let's pray together. You may be in the storm or you may be in a
calm today but I bring you back to the question asked a couple of times in this message. Who
is your master? Is it Jesus Christ? Do you truly know him as your savior? Have you trusted
him as an act of faith in your life? I hope so. And if you've not done that I would hope
that today you would. Even right now. And let him redeem you and save you from your
sin. And if you have made that profession then let me ask you what does it mean that
he is your master? Do you resist him in areas of your life where he is leading? Do you fret
about the circumstances he is allowed to develop? Oh friend understand he is a sympathetic,
compassionate master. He is also a wise, sage master who in his sovereign plan and purpose
desires to scrutinize your faith to see how deep it really is. And that very point where
you're struggling with him today is the test. Will you let him be the master of that realm
of your life? Will you let him bring stillness and calm to your soul even in the midst of
stormy circumstances? I hope so. In just a moment we're going to sing a closing
hymn and when we do if you're someone who needs prayer and you need someone who can
have a time with you personally praying I'm going to invite you to slip out from where
you're seated and come to the front. And here to kneel and we have men and women who
can come and have a word of prayer with you and seal this decision in your life to make
Jesus Christ the master of every realm. Father in heaven I pray that as we come to the climax
of this service in our response that none of us would harden our hearts but we would
all with yieldedness and surrender declare in truth and in faith that you are master
and Lord. Amen.