What Sort of Man Is This? | Matthew 8:23-27

Scripture

• Matthew 8:23–27

About this sermon

Introduction: We made the point, last Lord’s Day evening, that saving faith is not fully informed faith, and it is not yet perfected faith, but it is genuine faith, it is Spirit imparted faith. It is the result of regeneration, and as a result, it has in it a perception of Jesus that recognizes His supreme worth. We have been granted the eyes to see Jesus for who He is. We have been granted the belief to embrace Jesus for what He did to save sinners. And so, we embrace HIM as He saves us. We say YES to His identity and His mission. We have been granted access into the grace of God in which we stand — but it is also a grace in which WE ADVANCE. Our faith grows. Our faith grows in knowledge. But our faith also grows in trust — in confidence. We have entered into a life in which we learn more and more about the one who Has saved our souls. It is a life in which we see our Savior demonstrate His faithfulness repeatedly, so that our smallness is constantly being overcome by His greatness. Our weakness is constantly overcome by His strength. WHAT WAS MISSING IN THE MAN WHO PROCLAIMED HE WOULD FOLLOW JESUS WHEREVER HE WENT, AND IN THE MAN WHO WANTED TO PUT OFF FOLLOWING JESUS, IS PRESENT IN CHRIST’S TRUE DISCIPLES, BUT IT IS STILL BEING DEVELOPED. That is what we see in this next scene. All these scenes focus our attention on Jesus. We are meant to see Him. We see His identity, and we are meant to see His mission. But through it all we see something additional. We see what a faithful shepherd He is. We see how He develops His own. So that as we look at Jesus this morning, we see something about His disciples. We see four characteristics of those being developed by Jesus. • DISCIPLES WHO FOLLOW (vs.23) The first thing that we note is the way that Matthew describes Christ’s departure from the previous scene. We find again a form of the word ἀκολουθέω — to come after, to accompany, TO FOLLOW. One man declares that he will follow Jesus. Jesus commands that another man follow him now. And Matthew tells us that when Jesus leaves that scene His disciples FOLLOWED HIM. He could have described them getting into that boat in several different ways. But he says they FOLLOWED HIM. They do, what others declare they will do. They do, what others have been commanded to do. They are not disciples in POTENTIAL, they are disciples in PRACTICE. And yes, it is true that eventually, in scenes like this one there is a devil among them. But that is by God’s design and to accomplish God’s purposes regarding His Son. Even on the occasions when Judas was in their midst, Jesus is developing His men who are true. We sing about this when we sing the hymn “The Church’s One Foundation.” We sing: “The church shall never perish,Her dear Lord to defendTo guide, sustain and cherish,Is with her to the endThough there be those that hate her,And false sons in her paleAgainst a foe or traitor,She ever shall prevail” Christ’s training work is always going on in the lives of His true disciples, even while false sons are in their midst. It is still true, then, to say that true disciples FOLLOW JESUS. TRUE DISCIPLES FOLLOW WHERE JESUS GOES. TRUE DISCIPLES PURSUE THE TRUE TREASURE. TRUE DISCIPLES PERCEIVE THE URGENCY, THE PRIORITY, OF FOLLOWING CHRIST. • DISCIPLES WHO DOUBT (vs.24-26) Yet even those true disciples ARE IN PROCESS. They have genuine faith. They have the faith that is present in salvation. But they have a faith that still grows and needs to grow. These disciples follow Jesus, but they are about to be surprised by Jesus. FOLLOWING CHRIST PLACES, THEM IN SOVEREIGNLY DESIGNED PLACE OF INSTRUCTION. Christ is the teacher, and the entire world is His school house. He teaches on the sea as well as He teaches in the synagogue. He teaches in a storm as well as He teaches in the calm. Our God is not just teaching you in the church, He is teaching you everywhere. • THE LORD SLEEPS Christ is asleep in the boat. As we said last week, He lived His life exhausted. He expended Himself on behalf of sinners. He lived for us before He died for us. The level of exhaustion is on display when we see what He was sleeping through. • A STORM RAGES A great storm arises. So great was this storm that it threatened to sink the boat. The boat was being SWAMPED by the waves (ESV). καλύπτω ① to cause to be covered in some physical way, cover someone (up) lit. • THE DISCIPLES PANIC That Jesus is still sleeping is amazing. They get him up. THEY CRY TO HIM FOR SALVATION. I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THE ASTOUNDING FAITH ON DISPLAY AND THE ASTOUNDING IGNORANCE ON DISPLAY IN THE VERY SAME ACTION AND WORDS!