' . . . And rest on the blissful shore'

There’s a very famous incident of Jesus Christ with His disciples that illustrates that the point Paul makes in I Thessalonians 2:13 works the same no matter what the message.

He writes, “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”

The account in Mark 4 reads, [35] And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
[36] And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
[37] And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
[38] And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
[39] And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
[40] And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
[41] And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Jordan says, “You ever hear that song, ‘Master, the tempest is raging! The billows are tossing high! The sky is o'ershadowed with blackness. No shelter or help is nigh.’

“They’re crying, ‘We’re dying, Lord, and you’re asleep! How can you sleep?! Carest thou not that we perish?!’

“What a stupid question but they’re all caught up in their circumstances. And He arose and did what only God can do. He rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, ‘Peace.’ Only God can do that! Once again He demonstrates Himself to be the Messiah. Psalm 89 said that’s exactly what Israel’s Messiah would do:

[8] O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?
[9] Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

*****

“You ever been that way in your life? The winds and the waves are beating; life’s coming over the transom and all of a sudden your ship is full of all kind of garbage?

“I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a storm in a boat where the stuff’s coming over, but it isn’t just water; it’s all the sludge from the sea that comes up. There’s these guys with the seaweed and the bushes hanging all over them and they’re looking at Jesus and He’s asleep. Look at what He says to them in verse 40: ‘Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?’

“I read that and I say, wait a minute, what in the world is He talking about? Well, ‘faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.’ So look back up through that passage and tell me, ‘What did He say to them that they aren’t believing?’

“Look back at verse 35: What do you think they’re going to do? You know why He’s asleep? They aren’t on the other side yet! You say, ‘They didn’t believe what He said to them.’

“My point to you is, God’s Word doesn’t calm the storms until you believe it! The power that’s in that Book stays in that Book until you believe it.

“And you can be just like the storm-tossed, frightened, confused, bewildered, upset, accusing . . .  Imagine saying to the Lord Jesus Christ, ‘Carest not that we perish?’ What an accusation! He says, ‘Peace, be still.’ He does what He says He’s going to do. The Word of God is where the power of God resides.”

(Editor’s note: working on a new article to post later today)