21st February 2023

21st February 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 8v23-34)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


I dread to think how much of our everyday talk is taken up with the subject of the weather. I remember coming to Ballynahinch in 2008 and for a while it seemed that the town was obsessed with the subject of snow. I'm delighted that we seem to have moved on from that but we still like to mention the stretch in the nights and the frequency of the rain.


As a child I would occasionally sing "rain, rain go away, come again another day." Needless to say the rhyme didn't work but our blessed Lord didn't sing to the weather nor did he ponder its changes, instead He commanded it. What do I mean? One day Jesus and His disciples entered a boat to sail to the other side of the lake. Unfortunately during their travels a great storm rose up and soon the boat was in danger of sinking (v24).


Where was Jesus? The Lord was fast asleep and it was necessary for His disciples to wake Him by saying "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." (v25). Jesus' response was completely absent of panic and He asked His friends "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" (v26) We've heard Christ say this before (Matthew 6v30) but let's remind ourselves of the nature of faith. Faith is a receiving and a resting in Christ as He is offered in the Gospel.


The disciples feared the storm and tragically failed to rest in Christ, they were weak just like us and all they could see was the immediacy of the raging storm. They need not have worried. Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea and suddenly everything fell calm (v26).


Later on the other side of the lake Jesus was confronted by two men possessed by demons (v28). Who are the demons? The demons are fallen angels, spirits who fell with Satan in his original rebellion against God. But despite the fear that these men provoked in others, Christ did not shrink. Indeed the demons feared Christ and asked Him “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” (v29)


What did they mean? The demons were no fools. They knew what they had done, they knew who Christ was and they knew that one day they would be cast in the lake of fire and so they wondered if Jesus had come to pass an early judgement. Instead Christ allowed the demons to enter a herd of pigs which then ran down the steep bank and drowned in the waters below (v32).


The response from the locals was fear. They had kept their distance from the demon-possessed men and so they kept their distance from Christ who had defeated the demons. They even begged Jesus to leave the region (v34).


These verses are full of fear. The disciples feared the storm, the people feared the demons and the demons feared destruction. Fear is a common emotion and one which rises frequently in our hearts but when it does we would do well to remember who our Saviour is. When the disciples saw the storm obeying Christ they marvelled and said “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (v27)


What an excellent question - what sort of man is Jesus? He is the creator of the universe and even the weather obeys Him. He is the One who the demons fear for they know they cannot stand against Him. He is the saviour and friend of sinners and He answers them when they cry out "We are perishing!" What sort of man is Jesus? The most extraordinary individual who ever walked the face of the earth, true God, true man, without sin. Don't fear demons, weather or tomorrow,  instead fear Christ.


"The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. " (Ecclesiastes 12v13-14) 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q82 Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed.