In the sermon 'The Disciples: The Men Who Marveled' by Scott Brown, the speaker reflects on two biblical passages where the disciples experience a storm while at sea with Jesus. Initially terrified by the storm, the disciples witness Jesus calming the storm, which shifts their fear from the natural elements to a profound awe of Jesus' divine power. This 'filial fear' is marked by amazement and trust in Jesus rather than fear of nature or circumstances. The sermon emphasizes that the fear of God is life-giving, overcoming all other fears. Through the example of Hudson Taylor, the sermon illustrates the journey of growing in faith and trust in Jesus, recognizing Him as the ultimate source of strength and deliverance in all situations. The sermon concludes by encouraging believers to cultivate a deep-rooted trust in Jesus, the master over all creation, as the key to overcoming worldly fears.

You have an outline with two passages of scripture in front of you. One is Mark chapter 4, 35 through 41, and the other one is Matthew chapter 8, verse 27. And both of them describe that remarkable moment in the life of the disciples when they were in a boat, the sea was raging, Jesus Christ was asleep on a pillow, and they feared. This is about the fear of God and here we're going to talk about the disciples, the men who feared and marveled at their God. And so let's read first of all Mark chapter 4 beginning in verse 35.

And what we learn first of all In verse 35 is that it was nightfall. So picture that in your mind's eye. On the same day when evening had come, he said to them, let us cross over to the other side. So the sun is going down. They're getting ready to launch out into the night.

Then they actually left the multitude on the shore. That's what you hear in verse 36. Now when they left the multitude, they took him along in the boat as he was. And other little boats were also with him. So there they are, they're other little boats, the sun is going down and then a great storm whooped up.

And verse 37 says, and a great windstorm arose and the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling. Okay, so imagine that. The boat is filling up with water. This is actually one of the worst things that can happen to you when you're in a boat. And then the next thing that's reported, it's remarkable.

It's stunning. But Jesus was in the stern asleep on a pillow. He's asleep. The boat is filling with water and the Lord Jesus Christ is asleep. And then The disciples decide that they're going to wake him up.

Now, this is they have seen the Lord Jesus Christ work miracles They've seen his Remarkable wisdom like no other man has ever spoken their respect for him was significant and what you know when you have someone significant you don't want to wake them up you know you don't want to interrupt them you have honor and respect for what they're doing but the disciples woke him up and And so they woke him and said to him, this is at the end of verse 38, teacher do you not care? Don't you care that we are perishing? And then Jesus rose up and he didn't address his disciples. He addressed the wind. Yes, he was talking to the wind.

How about that? Now you may want to talk to the wind, but the Lord Jesus, when the Lord Jesus Christ talks to the wind, something actually might happen in a different way. Then he arose and rebuked the wind he rebuked the wind isn't that interesting and said to the sea peace be still he rebukes the wind and he talks to the sea and the wind ceased and there was a great calm and of course when the wind ceases the sea ceases to rage because waves are always driven by the wind and And they learned that day that even the wind and the waves obey him. Even the wind and the waves obey him. And after that, He turns his voice to his disciples in verse 40 But he said to them why are you so fearful?

How is it that you have no faith and? Then the disciples took that in and they reacted what was their reaction verse 41 and they feared exceedingly and said to one another Who can this be that even the wind and the sea? Obey him So they feared and it says exceedingly now You might think that they were just shaking in their boots. You might think that they were just shaking in their boots you might think that they were terrified wanting to get away from Jesus Christ But that isn't the kind of fear that they had when you read they feared exceedingly. It wasn't servile fear It was the fear that it was the fear of love and desire.

It was the fear that you have all of your hope in him. It's the fear that makes you want to cling to him. And how do I know that? Well I know that because of what Matthew says about it. So look at Matthew chapter 8.

Now the story is told in a very similar way, but We gain a particular insight from verse 27, because in verse 27, Matthew gives us a greater sense of understanding of what kind of fear. When Mark says they feared exceedingly, what was happening? What kind of fear was that? Well, Matthew tells us what kind of fear it was. So the men marveled.

They marveled. So Matthew uses a different word to explain the kind of fear. He qualifies the fear. He's doing exposition on the fear, the kind of fear that the disciples had. And they marveled, that's the word, marveled.

Marveling and fearing is the kind of fear that these disciples had. And when this kind of fear caused them to say, who can this be that even the winds and the sea obey him? It was a remarkable kind of fear. It was filial fear It was not servile fear And so the first question that you see on your outline here is what kind of fear did they have? After Jesus calmed the storm what kind of fear was it and the the word that Matthew uses is the word, Thaumadzo, and it explains what this kind of fear is.

It's the fear of amazement and awe. It's a favorable, attractive, mighty, and powerful sense of the greatness of Jesus Christ. That's what the fear was. You could say they were thunderstruck in a positive way. It was astonishment.

It was being astounded. It was finding themselves stunned. But it's the kind of stunning that doesn't make you want to be running away, but running toward him. And they saw, they first of all, they saw his power over nature. Now last night we said particularly in the fear that Noah had, that his fear of God caused him not to fear man.

But this kind of fear that the disciples had was the kind of fear of God that destroyed their fear of nature because they realized that even the wind and the waves obey him. The fear of God is the most life-giving thing that you can have in your soul because it destroys all other fears. That's why David said, I sought the Lord and he heard me and he delivered me from all of my fears. And then he says, they looked at him and were radiant It's the radiant fear of God that causes you to lose your fear of Not just man But of all the elements They saw his mastery over the elements and they respected him and wanted more of him. They did not abandon him, they clung to him.

So what kind of fear was it? It was an amazed fear that made them trust him. It was an amazed fear that made them respect him. It was an amazed fear that made them want to follow him. So that's what kind of fear it was.

And that's why we've titled this the disciples, the men who marveled. Well, you could replace that word marvel with fear. And in all of our instruction here at this retreat about the fear of God, we want to make it very plain that there are two of the most critical kinds of fear. The fear of awe and respect and the fear of hatred. Now the object of their fear shifted from the winds and waves to Christ himself.

That's the second point that I want to make, that the object of their fear shifted. Do you see how that happened? Their fear shifted from the power of the elements to the glory and the might, the majesty of Jesus Christ. And it matters, it matters where your faith rests, where your fear rests. And their faith, their fear was shifted to Jesus Christ and They I think that they were they were grasping what the Apostle Paul said to the Colossian church in Colossians 2, verses 9 and 10, for in him all the fullness of the deity dwells.

They were recognizing the might and the power of Jesus Christ, And they recognize that if he can rescue you from a storm, he can rescue you from anything at a moment. From sickness, from attack, from a marriage problem, from a financial collapse. But it all depends on where your faith rests. It all depends on where your fear is and and It's it's that kind of fear where when you when you face sickness or attack or some difficulty That you want to be you want him near you in every storm because you marvel at his power you want him near you in every storm because you marvel at his power. You want him near you in every storm.

The most tragic thing a man can do is turn away from him in time of storm. The most life-giving and wonderful thing a man can ever do is when he is in a storm is to turn to him to set his eyes on Jesus Christ the author and the Perfecter of faith to to find yourself in the secret place of the tabernacle of the Most High to run to him And the disciples were learning that lesson there on the sea and you you want him with you in every problem because you marvel in Amazement at his power and his wisdom because you know that even the winds and the waves obey him So the big question that this passage of scripture causes us to ask is where is your amazement? What is it that impresses you? What is it that you want more of? What is it that drives your emotions and your actions?

What is it? What is that thing? And there's only one thing that will drive out your fear of the external things that take place around you and that is the fear of God. Now when the disciples were in the boat they feared the storm and they were rowing like crazy to try to get out of that storm. But what we learn from this and what we know about our own lives is that the object of your fear orders your life.

The object of your fear orders your life. What you fear is what controls you. What you fear is what consoles you. And what you fear is what guides you. So you'd better understand where your fear lies.

If it is not a fear of Jesus Christ and all of his goodness and beauty and majesty and love, if it is not placed there, you're going to get so jerked around in this world. Everything is going to jerk you around. The people who wrong you are going to jerk you around, the weather is going to jerk you around, Everything is going to jerk you around The people who wrong you are going to jerk you around the weather is going to jerk you around Everything is going to jerk you around and you're going to end up being dissatisfied with life if you place your fear in the wrong thing Because the object of your fear orders your life. The disciples were revering and fearing the storm. They were revering and fearing what might happen to them.

But afterward they revered his power. Afterward they revered the calm of Jesus Christ. And they wanted to become like him. And they understood that even the winds and the waves obey him. Now the Bible makes it very clear that the fear of God is something that you learn.

It's a learned thing. It's part of your sanctification. And when you're a new Christian, you begin brand new with a fear. But that fear grows and it matures, and it sweetens you as time goes on. And that's how it is that you're delivered from all of your fears of the weather, or the economy, or other people, or what might happen to you in your life.

It definitely is a progressive thing. You know, the great missionary, one of the greatest missionaries who ever lived, Hudson Taylor, experienced this. He was a man who did have the fear of God, but it was a growing fear, it was a growing respect. He believed that Christ was all he needed, but he wanted to get more of it. He wanted more, He realized that it was flagging.

And so he made some decisions in his life to help grow his fear. One of them was he was a doctor and he was on the streets and he had an employer. And the employer was known for forgetting to pay his employees. And so when he came to work for this doctor, the doctor said to him, I'm very forgetful to pay for my employees, would you please remind me when it's payday? Because I just can't keep track of it.

Hudson Taylor heard that and he thought in his own mind no I will not do that I will not remind you he said I'll trust in the Lord I'm going to pray and so payday came along one day and his employer didn't show up and it came to the end of the day and his employer finally showed up at the very end of the day. And he said to him, you know, I forgot to make the deposit in the bank today. Could I wait, you know, until next week? And Hudson Taylor accepted that as from the hand of the Lord. And then the doctor went away and then he came back and he said, you know, someone who owed me a lot of money just paid me.

And so I have some right here, but I don't have all of it. Here's how much I have." And the amount that he was given was exactly what Hudson Taylor needed to pay his rent that day. But he was a man who desired to live by faith, but even then He recognized that his faith was small. His vision, his trust in Jesus Christ was still small. And he says that he felt that Christ was all he needed, but he said, how do I get more?

He realized how poor he was, and he ended up concluding that his faith was in the wrong thing his faith was in his faith rather than in Jesus Christ Who rules the wind and the waves? Now his his son and his daughter wrote a biography of Hudson Taylor and the book is called Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret. It was published in 1932 and they tell the story of their father and his life and they explain what they call was his spiritual secret. Now there are a few secrets in the book but there was One that was prominent above them all. And the secret is explained this way.

Drawing for every need, temporal or spiritual, upon the fathomless wealth of Christ. That is the fear of God. To recognize the fathomless wealth of Jesus Christ. That He and He alone is your sustainer. He and He alone is your provider.

He and He alone is the deliverer of your life, of your soul, of absolutely everything. Whether you have a physical or a spiritual need whether there's a threat in nature a threat in the economy a threat relationally that Jesus Christ is the only right place for your fear. And this is the whole journey of the Christian life, to learn how to put your trust in Him. And I know this about myself and I know this about you That we don't trust the Lord Jesus Christ Like we ought to and we want to trust him more The Apostle Paul had the same spiritual secret He communicates it in Philippians chapter 4 verses 11 through 13. He says, I have learned that in whatever state I am to be content, I know how to be abased and I know how to abound.

Everywhere and in all things I have learned to be both full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." And then in verse 13 he says this, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So the question that I want us to consider this morning is where is my fear? Is it a weak fear? Is it a clinging fear? Or is it a resting fear?

The resting fear that Jesus Christ was teaching his disciples We're just like the disciples We need to learn to grow in our fear. And so God sends the storms, He sends the travail, He sends the disappointments in our lives to drive us to Him, to teach us that this world is not our home, but that He alone is good and He alone rules the winds and the waves. And so we learn here that if you fear, if you fear God, you have no need to fear any external power, neither the wind or the waves or the economy or a person made in the image of God in order to teach you His fear. So there it is, the disciples are feared. I've got some Questions for fathers and sons to consider you got ten minutes to consider them and then we'll be back