LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH
SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 3 OCTOBER 2021
MARK 4 VERSES 35 - 41
The reality of why I wnt to turn to this passage is because of the situation we find ourselves in after 18 months. These have been difficult for everyone. We have never known such a situation before. Pastors and elders have had to deal with situations never had to face before. In this passage I see men who have reached a difficult place. We could so easily be swamped with the cares of this world. 1 Peter 5 verse 7 "casting all your care upon the Lord for he careth for you." It is your personal care Peter is talking about. Any care we have. Anything that distracts our minds away from the God of heaven. Take the seed falling among the thorns. The seed is choked by thorns. So too we can get so caught up with the things of this world. Mark 4 verse 19.
There is the despair that is displayed - verse 38. They had got to the end of themselves. They thought the Lord didn't care about them. Verse 36 "and there were also with him other little ships." Concern not only for themselves but for the others in these other boats. It is good to have a concern for others. There are others with great worries going out into a lost Christless hell today. It is good to have a concern for such people. It is good to bring them before the Lord. "Carest thou not that we perish?" In verse 37 we see the little word "great" which indicates it was something loud and frightening. They were experienced fishermen, well used to the sea, the waves were beating against their boat but this must have been something different. Maybe the noise and the darkness made them think they would perish. Such was the despair on them. The disciples get into the boat. Jesus had preached earlier about the sower sowing his seed. Here's the reality of it all. Now they had so many concerns. Now everything the Lord had preached just seemed as if came true. They only cared for themselves. How many are at this despairing point? It must be awful to sit today not knowing whether you have a job tomorrow or behind a closed door knowing that all the utility bills are rising and winter is coming with children to feed and not be saved. What a tragedy. Think of Peter on one occasion in Mark chapter 1. His wife's mother was sick and he was so very anxious about her. What did Peter do? He spoke to Jesus about her. He brings him into the equation. If you have a problem today let the Lord come right in, really bring him into the situation. Remember Jairus who one morning saw his daughter lying in her bed at the point of death. He was so concerned and anxious. Amazing how quickly things had changed. The disciples had been listening intently to Jesus preaching and at the end of the day Jesus told them to get into a boat and go across the sea. Jesus goes and puts his head down and sleeps. The disciples started out on their journey and everything was alright, not a ripple on the waves. Then all of a sudden a storm arose. There are many families just like Jairus today - left without a loved one, a chair that is vacant, a voice that is no longer heard. The virus has taken loved ones away. Some cannot even visit loved ones in hospitals, they are left waiting on the end of a telephone.
The doubts that developed. The disciples started to question if Jesus cared for them Some times that is what happens - we are sure and confident the Lord has brought us into a situation but then as it develops we wonder if the Lord has left us. Remember when Jesus taught the people on the hillside and it came to the end of the day. Jesus turned to his disciples and told them to feed the 5000 that had gathered. The Lord doesn't bring us into any situation where he cannot keep us. Remember Elisha's servant who one day went outside and saw the enemy surrounding the house. It must have been frightening for him. Elisha prayed to God and asked for each to be struck with blindness and they were - 2 Kings 6 verse 18. Remember Gideon when the angel appeared to him in the winepress in Judges 6 verse 13 "Oh my Lord if the Lord be with us why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites." Remember the sower sowing the seed. Some seed fell onto hard ground. Jesus said this seed was like when the preacher preaches the word of God and men receive it but the devil soon comes and takes it away. We can see that happening in our churches today. Some make a profession for a while but something happens and they don't last. Some seed fell on thorns which represents those who are filled with the cares of the world. These cares take the seed and choke it. Isn't that what happens too? Gideon should have known the Lord was with him. We can be so caught up with family problems, sicknesses and death that we miss the presence of God. Paul proved God. He prayed for his thorn in the flesh but God said no "my grace is sufficient for thee."
The decision that was demanded. What are we going to do about this they asked. What do we do with our cares and problems? When Hezekiah heard and saw the Assyrian forces coming to invade his land he got before the Lord and left it with him. He saw the Lord move in a mighty way (2 Kings 19 verses 14 to 19). The disciples were questioning whether the Lord cared for them and they made a decision to go to him, to wake him from his sleep and make him aware of the situation.
The delivery that is described. Just with the power of his word he stood up and spoke to the wind and the waves. They had called him into their situation. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Once that turmoil in their lives was presented to Jesus he took control of the situation. Some times it is like that - we feel as though things are out of control, everything just seems to be getting on top of us. We need to learn that we can cast all our cares upon the Lord for he cares for us. The storm fell flat and they were safe.
What happens when we don't see the Lord deliver us in a situation? Paul prayed 3 times for that thorn in his flesh to be removed. It could have been 3 times or 300 times or 3000 times. The Lord told him he wasn't taking it away. The Lord could have done it but decided not to. Instead he wanted Paul to prove the Lord every day. We have to realise that that is what God wants us to do. Whatever the situation is today bring it to he Lord, really bring him into it, trust him to deliver us out of it.
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