Thank you. Sally and John, turn
with me first of all to Psalm 77. Psalm 77. This is a psalm, a great psalm,
a wonderful psalm. David was in distress. He was in trouble. He could not
be comforted. He said, my soul refused to be
comforted. And calling on the Lord, he was
struggling with assurance, and he says, His mercy clean gone,
hath He forgotten to be gracious. And verse 10, he said, This is
my infirmity, this is my fault. I need to remember the years
of the right hand of the Most High, remember His mercy and
His grace, and not forget that the Lord is ever merciful and
gracious. He said in verse 13, Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary. You want to know God, His ways,
the way He does things, the way He is? It's in the sanctuary
right now, where we're sitting. We want to learn about our God,
His mercies, His graces. Who is so great a God as our
God? Thou art the God that doeth wonders. Thou hast declared thy strength
among the people, his people. And this is where we meet to
learn his ways and get comfort. David got comfort when he went
into the sanctuary. That was Psalm 73 too, you remember?
He was so fretful and just envious of those that didn't have any
trouble. And he said, until I went into
the sanctuary, then I understood. Now look down at verse 19, thy
way, he said thy way is in the sanctuary, and here he said thy
way is in the sea, thy path in the great waters. So that's our
story tonight. Mark chapter 4, go over there,
Mark chapter 4. His way, his wonders, his person,
his work are heard and seen in the sanctuary, where we are now. And his way is seen, the way
he deals with his people. And his great salvation, providence
and salvation, is seen in deep waters. We just read that, Psalm
107, didn't we? Those that go down to the sea
in ships, these see the wonders of the Lord. They do business
in deep waters. All of God's people are going
to go through deep waters, deep trials and afflictions and troubles. In Mark 4, he's teaching, verse
1, he began, again to teach by the seaside. There gathered unto
him a great multitude. He entered into a ship and sat
in the sea. The whole multitude was by the
sea on the land. He's by the sea and the multitude
heard him and he's teaching sitting in this ship. Whose ship was
it? I don't know. Maybe Simon's or
somebody. He got in Simon's ship one time
and how blessed Simon was that the Lord chose his ship to get
in. And I believe he's chosen this
little vessel, don't you? And down in verse 34, without
a parable spake he not unto the multitude. And when they were
alone, he expounded all things to his disciples. These things
are hidden from most, but revealed to his disciples. Alright, so
then they were sitting Listening to the Lord, it was, I believe,
a beautiful sunny day, a light breeze blowing, just pleasant,
sitting at the feet of our Lord, so peaceful, so calm, like now. Y'all comfortable? Got the air
conditioning going, that pew's real comfortable. You just got
to smile on your face. You got good enough health to
be here, don't you? The trouble's coming. You heard the story, the saying,
a calm before the storm. Look at verse 35. Same day. Oh, we don't know what a day
holds to. We just don't know. Same day. Verse 37, there arose a great
storm of wind, wave, beat into the ship, dispelled their vessel
full of trouble, fear. Same day. This very same day,
everything was just wonderful. Couldn't have been better. Who
did that? Who gave them that calm and that
peace and that comfort and reassured them? And they're all sitting,
listening to him, and he expounded all these things to them. And
don't you know they're smiling and punching each other? Isn't
it wonderful? This is just wonderful. Well,
hang on, because you're going to learn. You not only learn
from his word in the sanctuary, from the preached word, but you're
going to learn it going through troubles. That's where you learn
who he is, what he does, and why. Who he does it to and why. His purpose. So, the same day,
a great storm. Same day. The Lord tells us you
must through much tribulation enter the kingdom. Great, fierce
winds, waves. Wave after wave after wave after
wave. This is all His way of showing
us His providential power. He did it. We read that. The Lord raised the stormy wind.
He did this. And to show us what? His power.
He's sovereign over all things. I kill. I wound. I kill. I heal. I kill. I make alive. The Lord
does all these things. We're going to see in a little
bit how that they were afraid. They thought they saw a vision
or spirit or whatever. He said, it's I. You need not
be afraid of anything or anyone. You need to fear the Lord. Because
He's the one doing all this. Don't fear terrors. Fear the
terrible Lord. You know His name is called that,
terrible? You've read that. The world hasn't read that. His
name is terrible. Dreadful. You know what that
means. His way of showing us his providential
power, you must through much tribulation. His way of telling
us, you have here no continuing city. You're going through a
world of trouble. You're going through this, the
scriptures call it this present evil world. The Lord, this world
is going to perish and those that dwell therein, We're going,
look at verse 35. It's the same day He said, let
us pass over unto the other side. The multitude stayed there. He
said, let us to His disciple. We're going to the other side.
And oh my, what's on the other side. I wish we could just think about
that all the time, don't you? That's what Peter said. What
manner of person are we ought to be? Seeing these things will
be dissolved. We're looking for a kingdom.
Now, let's pass over. Verse 1, it says, He was by the
sea and He was in the sea and through the sea, went through
the sea. And we've been looking at this a lot lately, haven't
we, in this story. There's nothing on earth more
powerful than the sea. Nothing. You hear me? Nothing. And the Scriptures talk about
it. The Lord said to Job, gird up your loins. I'm going to make
you learn something. He talked about the sea and his
power over it. There was an old sea captain,
an old fishing captain. I heard him interviewed one time.
He just came through a fierce storm. I don't know if he knew
God or not, but he said, if you don't believe in God, you come
out here. Because you're absolutely at
the mercy The wind and waves and everything. Nothing you can
do. Biggest ship. Titanic learned that, didn't
it? Oh, my. Nothing more powerful
on earth than the sea, and there's nothing in heaven more powerful
than the wind. The Lord spoke to Job out of
the whirlwind. Nothing more powerful than wind.
You say lightning, uh-uh, that's breeze, boom. And so wind can
go for days, whirlwind, tornadoes, hurricane, just devastate, large
path, isn't it? Nothing to it. Wind bloweth where
it listeth. Where it listeth, who listeth
it? The Lord does. See, it shows
us His absolute power over everything. He raises the stormy wind. Oh, that men would call on the
Lord in times like that. They don't. They just curse Him.
We do. Thank God. Great waves. Verse 35 is the same day. It
says, when it was evening. Verse 35. Evening was coming.
Same day. Evening. You know, every day
there's morning, and then what follows morning? Evening. Right? In the beginning, when God created. The morning and the evening were
the first time. Every day. There's morning. Wake up in the
morning. I'm a morning person. I wasn't
when I was 18, but I am now. Oh, I love the morning, don't
you? I like to see the sun come up. Isn't it wonderful? Oh, but
then the evening comes. There's light, there's dark.
That's this life, isn't it? There's calm, and there's tempest. That's his life. Isaiah 21, they
said, Watchman, what of the night? Have a watchman. Isaiah was a
watchman. Watch, see what's going on. Watch
over Saul. What of the night, watchman?
He said, the morning coming, and then the night. The morning. But then tonight, dark, it's
coming. It's coming. If you don't have
any real troubles right now, if you don't have any real problems,
if everything's going pretty well right now, keep this message
in mind. I hope the Lord will plant something
in your hearts, in your mind, take root, because you will need
it. You will need. I hope you'll be able to go right
back to these passages and get some comfort because you're going
to need it. In the morning and in the evening. That's what Psalm
90 says. In the morning it flourisheth,
in the evening cut down. Youth, oh youth. I remember youth. I had fun. Did you? Did you enjoy your youth?
Where did it go? Where did it go? Psalm 90 says
it's like sleep. You wake up and it's over. Old
age comes so quickly, doesn't it? And old age is sad. It really is. It's sad to see those
you love getting in such bad shape. It's sad. I'll tell you
what, people. You don't want to live to 90
or older than that. I didn't get in a bad shape.
No, you don't. But if the Lord lets you live
that long, His grace is sufficient. It's sad, isn't it? It's sad. Not for a saint. Ecclesiastes 7 says, A day of
one's death is better than birth. Where'd our youth go? It's gone.
What's that mean? Look up. Lift up your head, your
redemption draws nigh. Now is your salvation nearer
than when you first believed. John and Erlene, you're about
to see the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what I've been preaching
to you all these years about. You're going to see Christ. I envy you. I don't want to live
to your age. It's not sad for God's people.
It is sad, though, everything about old age. I hated seeing
my dad get in the shape he was in. It's awful. My mother, people
ask me, how's she doing? Well, she's doing. She's just old. In a home. She wants to go home. She wants
to go home. Nancy lying in that bed with
a busted leg, and there's a Pharisee in the bed beside her. It's awful. But she had such good testimony.
She said, Lord taught me through all this, taking my husband,
taking my daughter, taking all of this, that all this is not
my life. She said, Christ is my life.
Who wouldn't look forward to getting out of this? Now, young
people can't. They can't if God gives them
wisdom. That's what Psalm 90 says. There's strength. Some
believe how weak we are in the country. In it might. Can't do
what we used to do. Labor, whole life's full of labor
and sorrow. And soon cut off and we fly away. End of that's good, isn't it?
Fly away. Mount up like wings of eagle.
So lift up your head, old people. And so he says, let us pass over.
Let us pass over. We're leaving this place. We're
crossing over. We all must go through storms to get there.
Contrary winds and waves. Now, the Lord was in a ship.
And verse 36, it says they took him as he was in the ship. And
there are also other little ships. All about ships. They were in
ships all the time, weren't they? In a ship. Always going here
and there in a ship, weren't they? Why? Because the first
ship mentioned in Scriptures is Noah's Ark. You know that? The first ship in deep waters
represents the Lord Jesus Christ. And every other ship does too.
With His people in it. Let me go ahead and get to the
Gospel before... This whole story, you know. They
go through this storm. And the winds and the waves are
beating on this ship. Well, it beat on that ark. That
ark is Christ, isn't it? Noah's name means rest. That's
Christ. He's Christ. It beat on that ship and it was
covered with waves, covered with waves, doesn't it? And this ship,
in this story, it says that the ship began to be full. Well,
in Him, well, it's all fullness of the Godhead body. Our Lord
took a body. to be made sin for us, to be
sacrificed for us. He's our ark of safety. He's
our salvation. He's our ship. And all the wrath
of God fell on Christ in this story. He was asleep. Well, our
Lord died, didn't He? Or did He? He's asleep. He giveth His blood to sleep.
And what happened? He was asleep and they cried,
save us, save us, repair us. What did He do? He arose. for their salvation. What's the
first thing he did? Peace. Steal all the stones. Right there's the gospel. This
whole story represents the gospel. Now Mark 4 is the first storm.
There's more coming. Just two chapters later, they
went through another one. That's when he walked on the
water. Mark 4, he was with them. He was with them. He went through
this storm in the first one. Whatever they went through, he
went through it. Verse 38, he was in the hindered part of the
ship. I've told you before, that's where the captain's quarters
are. All sailing ship. Every sailing ship. Ship, mind
you, is an ocean-going, sea-worthy vessel. Not a boat. In a farm
pond, it's going to be a ship to withstand deep waters. And
it's got to have a captain and sails. The wind's got to push
it. This is a picture of this fellowship
we have. Christ is the ship. Well, the
captain's quarters are always in the back, always in the stern. You know what the stern is, don't
you, Mike? What's the port? Left. Starboard's
right. Bow, stern, port, starboard.
Captain's quarters are always in the back. Where's the rudder?
What guides the ship? What steers the ship? Where's
the rudder? It's in the back. Where's the wheel? Where's the
helm of the captain in the back? That's where he was. He's asleep. He's still controlling this whole
thing. He's the one that raised this
wind. What's he doing? He's trying their faith. He's
going to prove himself. He's going to prove to them he
had nothing to fear but me. Nothing to fear but me. Amazing
mystery. He was asleep on a pillow. I
tried to figure out what that pillow might mean, but let's
go on. Forget that right now, okay?
Forget it. I'll look up it later. But the
amazing fact is that he was asleep. This is he that keepeth Israel.
Psalm 121. He'll never slumber nor sleep. He's asleep. Why? Because he's like us. He grew weary. Although he was
asleep, and it's so mystery, a mystery, God was manifest in
the flesh. But as a man, our Lord lived
by faith. And the Scripture says, Thy will
keep him in perfect peace whose mind has stayed on thee. His
mind never left the Father. He was always with the Father,
in the Father, thinking of the Father. He's asleep. He's totally
committed to the Father's care of him. He's not concerned about
anything. He's living by faith. Shouldn't
we? We should, but Scripture says, he giveth his
beloved to sleep. Isn't Christ the beloved? He
is. Scripture says, I will say of
the Lord, he is my refuge, my fortress, in him will I trust.
I shall not be afraid for the terrors by night or anything.
No, no, he went to sleep. He did by faith. He really did. Not a moment's doubt. The psalm says, and this is Christ
saying, I will both lay me down in peace and sleep for thou,
Lord, only maketh me to dwell in safety. Go to sleep. I wish I could learn that. He knew. His times were in his
Father's hand. He knew that. His bounds were
set. He could not pass. His days were
determined. He was with the Lord. He knew
the number of his days. And he said, No man taketh my
life from me, nor does any pestilence or disease or anything, nothing
takes your life from you. God does. Oh, for such faith and peace. But no, we have so little faith.
And I read six accounts, six accounts, two of Matthew, two
of Mark, one in Luke, and one in John of the storm. I read
all of them, time and time again. All of them have a different,
a little more to add. In all of them, he rebuked them
for their faith, every time. Where's your faith? Why don't
you have any faith? After all I've talked to you
about, after all I've said to you, after all you've seen, after
all you've experienced, after all my mercy and grace and all
my providence and all my caring, 66 years old, why would you ever
doubt the Lord now? 85 or 89, whatever you're doing. Why would you doubt the Lord
now? I had to tell my mother one time. She was approaching
100 years old, and she was worried about something, about paying
for something. Mother, my, my. But He knows our frame. That's
just the way we are. They all did. They all were afraid. They all exhibited little faith. They had some. In verse 38, he
was asleep, and they went and said, Master, carest thou not
that we perish? Don't you care that we're perishing?
Have you ever said anything like that? Yes, you have. The Lord doesn't care for me.
I'm not one of His own. I must not be one of His own. If He didn't care for you, you
wouldn't be in this ship. You understand me? You'd be out
there doing whatever. You wouldn't care for him. You
wouldn't call on him. You wouldn't worship him. You
wouldn't come to hear him. He didn't care for you. You wouldn't
be in the ship. He put his disciples in that
ship. And the other people, the multitude, said he sent them
away. He took his intimate disciples. Now, we're going to cross over.
We're crossing over. That's a promise, isn't it? He
didn't say, I hope we make it. Did he? He said, we're going
to get in this ship, and I don't know if we'll make it. To where
there's fines, we're lucky. No, no, see, we're crossing over.
Absolute fact. Isn't that the precious promise
that He's given to every single person that believes Him? Not
the good, not the righteous, not the perfect faith. None of
these fellas had any perfect faith. None of them! Whoever's
listening to me right now, your salvation is not in you and anything
about you. It's not in your faith. It's
Him! Trust Him. Title of this message, Trust
Christ in Contrary Winds and Deep Water Waves. If he didn't care for you, you
wouldn't be in this ship. You wouldn't care. If he didn't
care, you wouldn't be calling on him. You wouldn't be saying,
Lord, don't you care? Care? We perish. That's not possible. Didn't He say that? I give unto
them eternal life. And they shall what? Never perish. Who? For whom He did foreknow. He did predestinate. He predestinated.
He called by God. And He called. He justified.
He gave faith. And He justified. He glorified. See His glory.
They heard His voice. They believed Him. Not like they
ought to, but they did. And I do too. Don't you? There
was a time I didn't. There was a time I didn't care.
I didn't care if He cared. But I do now, and I'm in the
ship. If he didn't care, I wouldn't
be here. He wouldn't either, Kara. Judges 13, I was going to go
over there and read that, but Manoah's wife said to him, Manoah,
honey, if God was going to kill us, he wouldn't have told us
this thing. He wouldn't have shown us this thing. Keep showing
us that. Keep showing us. Why does he
have to keep showing us? Because we're like little children.
He showed, we forget so soon, like the Israelites. Just like
I forget, they forget His mercy. He didn't forget them. He never
did. He wouldn't have showed us these
things. He wouldn't have told us these things. He wouldn't
have accepted the sacrifice. He wouldn't have come down here.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. That
Christ Jesus came into this world to save who? Say it louder. Sinners! Are there good sinners? Are there better sinners than
others? Come on. He said even the chief. That's why he came. He cares.
If you need him, you call on him, you look to him. He will
not turn away anybody that looks to him. We're that way with our
animals. These animals look to us. We
feel so sorry for them. How much more? We have no reason to doubt our
Lord. Stop looking at ourselves and
look to Him. Look to Him alone. He'll save
us. We're not going to perish. He promised us. Those that look
to Him. You have to trust Him. Never
be desolate. Never be let down. Verse 39,
He arose and rebuked the wind, said unto the sea, Peace, be
still. And the wind ceased. There was
a great calm. He raised the storm and He stilled it. He's the only
one that can. He's the one that raises it and
nobody and nothing can still it but Him. How does He do that? Preach anywhere. Read anywhere. This is it. There's no other
way. There's no other help. His way is in the sanctuary.
Help is in the sanctuary. In His Word. He, the one, He
raised the storm. He's the only one that can still
it. He sends the waves. How many waves? You know, sometimes
troubles come wave after wave after wave after wave. Ask Job. Hmm. And waves of trouble roll. Is
there anyone can help us? Yes, there's one. Only one. He's one. He's got all the waves
numbered. He knows how many waves to send. He'll not put on you
more than you're able to bear. But we'll make, with the trouble,
a way of escape. Wave after wave. David said in
Psalm 42, it's really Christ speaking. All thy waves and thy
billows are mine. Out of the depths of thy cladding.
That's Christ on the cross. Jonah was actually in the belly
of a whale. He said, I'm going to perish.
But that's Christ. He had to go through that. Because
that's the sign of Christ on the cross. And we do too, to
see His power, to see what He went through for us, see what
He puts us through and why and who He is and how He does all
things. Listen to Job 38. The Lord told
Job to gird up his loins and he said this. The Lord's the
one that sends the waves and the number of them and the height
of them and all that. And he said, where were you when
I laid the foundations of the earth? Answer me. When the morning stars sang together,
did you shut up the sea by the doors? He said, I did. He said,
I said to the proud waves, where is it? Here, verse 11. He said,
hitherto shalt thou come and no further. Are you listening
to me? These waves that the Lord sends
of troubles. He says, come so far, that's
it. You're not going to drown. You're
not going to drown. You've been through wave after
wave after wave. Some of you. Haven't you? You
haven't drowned yet. Is there any reason to doubt
it? Oh, my. We're about to cross
over. We're on the brink of Jordan. On the brink. Go back and listen
to that message. The people on the brink. I love that song we sing on Jordan's
stormy banks. I stand and cast a wistful eye. Oh, who will come and go with
me? bound for the promised land. Mark 6, now go over there. Here's
another storm. Another storm. Our Lord rose
and calmed that sea and they feared. He said, why are you
fearful? Why do you have no faith? And
it says they feared exceedingly. They feared Him. They were greatly
afraid of that storm and those winds and those waves. But when
they saw what He did, they feared Him. exceedingly. If you really do fear Him, you
have no... The more you fear Him, the less
you'll fear everything else. That's a fact. Mark 6, here's another storm. Now the Lord just fed them. Their
bellies were full. He just fed 5,000. He broke the loaves beside the
sea. They were sitting beside the sea. They just got their
bellies wet. They're sitting in the grass.
Look at it. Verse 39, He commanded, Make
them sit down. This is the Lord our Shepherd.
He said, The light makes us lie down in green pasture. Sadly,
they're sitting there, their feet in bread and fish. They're
just full. It isn't life good. Hang on. Verse 45, immediately, straightway,
constrained his cycles, get in the ship. We're crossing over. More trouble. Abraham was 90,
he was 114, 115. He'd been through a lot of trouble. He says, after these things,
the Lord did try Abraham, take your son, take that daughter, that one
you love, and you sacrifice him. Boy, that's a test. He's old
age. Surely the trials are over by
now. Nancy, I know Nancy's thinking,
You can't just die and pee. You will. She will. It just makes
you want to have more, doesn't it? She's ready to go. Sitting in the green grass field,
verse 42 says, they all eat and were filled. Boy, we come in
here tonight, come in here Sunday morning, come in here and just
get your, if you open your mouth, you'll get full and you can walk
out of here. Just everything's wonderful in it. Boy, it doesn't
take long. Still, the world hits you full in the face, wave after
wave, sin and trouble, getting the ship. And there were other
ships with him, too. sheep I have are not of this
folk, Christ said, them also I must bring." That's so wonderful. The word is so wonderful, isn't
it? There were other little ships. Do you notice that? Other little
ships with him, getting a ship. He sent the people away. When
he sent the people away, verse 46, he departed into a mountain
to pray. And when the evening was come, 47, the ship was in
the midst of the sea and he alone on the land. And he saw them
toiling and rowing. He sent the multitude away, but
not his disciples. He put them in a ship together
and put them through another storm, yet another storm. They
were in the midst of the sea, and he was alone on the mountain.
What a picture this is. Our Lord, that first time, went
through all that with them. He's in the ship with them. Then
there was a time when he left this earth, didn't he? Where
did he go? On the mountain. He ascended on high, didn't he,
John? Sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, and the
scripture says, there he lives, ever lives to make intercession
for us. I can't even pray for them. But they're in the midst,
they're still in the midst of sin. They're still on this earth. They're still in trouble. They're
still going through trouble. Well, has he left them? Oh, no. The last thing he said is, I'll
never leave you. I'll never leave you. I forsake you. Didn't he?
He saw them. He saw them. Didn't he say that? He saw them, toiling. Toiling
and rowing. Now, in a sailing ship, if the
winds are contrary, and brethren, there are no contrary winds in
our life. Do you understand? We may think
they are. These disciples were wanting,
they were going wherever they were, let's say they were going
southwest, so they needed a southwesterly wind behind them, but it was
blowing from the north. It was blowing from the east.
And they were, so then you can't sail in that. You try to tack
and you can't. If the waves are too high, tack
means against the wind. And if it's too rough, you can't,
you've got to strike sail, put them down, and get out to row. You ever rowed a boat? In five,
eight foot, ten foot waves? That's what they were doing.
You ain't getting anywhere. You ain't getting anywhere. You
ever feel like you've made any progress in life? Huh? Even, you know, most of us are
older and fairly comfortable, but there's a time when you think,
I can't get ahead. I can't get ahead. I can't get
ahead. Young people, you can't get ahead. I can't get ahead.
Well, who makes rich and who makes poor? But in this life,
we think, I'm making progress. I'm finally trusting the Lord.
Oh, are you? One step forward and two steps
back. You're not going to get there
by rowing. You're not going to get there by working. No matter
how hard you try, you're not going to make any progress. You
know that? How are you going to get there?
How'd they get there? The other side. They should have just dropped
the sail. They should have just dropped
those oars. But he's not with them. He's not with them. Can you hear him? Where is he
when we need him? He's left us. He's left us. Just when we need him the most,
he's left us. He's solid. He's solid. He's solid. Hager, sinful woman, had a little
legitimate son. God says, wow, man, the Lord
is so merciful. Hagar was down and out, down
to her last little bottle of water. She thought she was going
to watch her son die. And she couldn't bear to watch
him die. She called on the Lord. And she ended up at a well. And
she lived, and her son lived a long life, and she called the
name of the Lord, Thou, Lord, seest me. You see me. David said, you've
searched me and you've known me. He said, if I take a ship
and go to the, let me read it to you. In Psalm 139, it's your
favorite psalm, isn't it? If I ascend to heaven, thou art
there. If I'm down in hell, up, down, thou art there. If I take
wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the
sea, there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall
hold me." So it says in verse 48, "...shall
them toil, and the wind was contrary to them." They thought the Lord
raised the wind. He's got to show them that you
can't make any progress. Without him you can't do anything.
He's going to show you that. About the fourth watch of the
night, there are four watches in the night. The watchman is
the one that watches in the night while everybody's asleep. Four
watches in the night. Starts at 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. is the first one. That's
pretty pleasant, you're watching the sun go down. 9 p.m. to 12
p.m. is the second one. From 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. that's the third watch.
from the three, eight, I'm sorry, 12 a.m. to 3 a.m. is the third
one, and 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. is the fourth one.
Have you ever woken up at 2.30 a.m.? Every night. It's awful, isn't it? Think,
can I go back to sleep? What happens? 9.30. Troubles. Weeping endures through the night.
So everything's always worse at night. It's always worse.
Daytime, if it's a beautiful day, it goes by so quickly that
nighttime just drags. The dark just drags. I woke up
yesterday morning at 2.30. Sometime, you ever do this? You
wake up to, I don't want to look at the clock. I'm afraid of what
time it is. Oh, 1.15. And you think, I'll
never get back to sleep. Do you? Most of the time. This was the fourth watch of
the night. It's 3 a.m. Man, where is He? He's left us. We're going to
die here. He's left us. Where is He? Where is He? He's on His throne. In their deepest, darkest trial,
He's on His throne. He's reigning over this, ruling
over this, ordering all things. The scepter of righteousness,
the scepter of His kingdom. He's ordering all things. Every
single way we're working together for our good and their good.
Nothing by chance. Nothing contrary. It's all for
them. Nothing against them. It's all
for them. Jacob said, everything's been against me. No, Jacob. Everything's
been for you. My brother, was killed in Vietnam. People are so cruel. And somebody
said to him, actually said to him, said, where was your God
when your son died? People are cruel, aren't they? You know what my dad's answer
was? Same place he was when his son died, on a throne. He's the one that killed his
son. He's the one that killed mine. Blessed be the name of
the Lord. That's the God we believe. And
that's the only peace you can have. Contrary we are? Nope. But he comes walking on
the water. There used to be a song, Just
When I Needed Most. A very present help in time of
trouble. He knows when the wind and the
waves are about to take us under. Fourth watch of the night, the
darkest part of the night, He comes under them. And brethren, it's about midnight. When did the children of Israel
leave Egypt? There's a Bible test now, come
on, how many times have you read? At midnight! That's when they left. The darkest
time. They didn't have darkness in
their homes. They had light. They were living
in a dark place, but they had light in their dwellings. The
people that walk in darkness have seen a great light. Upon
them hath the light shone. And that light is Christ. It's
the gospel. It's the good news. We're leaving
this dark place to go to a land that's fairer than day. We don't
even need the sun, because the Lamb is the light. Well, look
at this. I love this. It says in verse
49, He saw them toiling. He comes unto them walking upon
the sea, and would have passed by them. See that? Verse 49. He would have passed
by them. They see He's passing us by. We sing that song. Pass me not,
O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on
others I recall him, do not pass me by. Did he, Polly? Can he? Oh, no. He can't. He can't. When they saw him walking upon
the sea, they thought it was a spirit. No, he said when he
rose from the grave, he said, touch me. A spirit hath not flesh
and blood. Thomas, don't doubt. Hold my
hand, I said. They all saw him, and they were
troubled. We were all troubled by things. Immediately, he talked with them.
This is how he... People, I'm telling you, he's
the one that brings these troubles, and he's the only one that can
still them. He's the only one that can still
them. All through the Scriptures, be still, stand still and see
the sight of God. Be still, shut up! And listen,
don't let these things slip. He'll speak to you. He'll speak
peace. What does He speak? Every time.
Peace. Every single time He came to
them after He arose. Three times. Peace be on you.
Peace be on you. Why are you so fearful? He said
in verse 50, Be of good cheer. It is I. It is I. It is I. Don't be afraid. What is I? Everything. It's the Lord. It's
the Lord. Right now, we're all full of
faith. Let's not forget this, okay?
Because we're going to go through a storm. Same day. He went up into the ship, and
the wind ceased, and they were sore amazed in themselves, beyond
measure and wonder. Sore amazed. At what? At Him. And so shall we be, stand
amazed in the presence of Jesus of Nazarene and wonder how he
could love me, a sinner condemned unto death. How marvelous, how
wonderful is my Savior's love for me. All right, stand with
me.