Turn, if you will, to Mark's
Gospel, Mark Chapter 4. Let's take another look at this.
We'll begin reading it, verse 35, in just a moment. If I've
not told you before, let me tell you now, I love this passage
of Scripture. I look at this passage and thought
of this last night again as I was looking over it this morning.
This passage serves, as all of God's word does, as another example
of what someone called the infinity of God's word. The infinity of
God's word. The depths, the heights that
we'll never, never, never phantom in this life. Concerning the
word of God, there's nothing else like it is. These scriptures,
these God-breathed scriptures, there's nothing else like them.
They're God-like. They're God-like. Unlike the
writings of man, regardless of what they claim, like Joseph
Smith's invention in giving us the, not us, but his poor, deceived
followers the so-called Book of Mormon. Oh no, that reflects
man-like. The Word of God is God-like. It reflects the one who wrote
it, doesn't it? How often have you been reading
a passage of scripture, as I did this the last couple of days,
and thought I was pretty familiar with it, and then see something
and say to yourself, well, I never saw that before. That happens
to the child of God often, doesn't it? And it seems those scriptures
that they're most familiar with, God shows them something, another
sweet nugget that they never thought of before. The Word of
God. and this enlightened, as they
like to refer to themselves as being, although in darkness,
to this enlightened generation, the word of God, we who know
him, the word of God is always timely, isn't it? Always timely. I'm fearful. I'm fearful and
I've seen examples of this in the last few years when men who
claim to be called of God go off on some tangent something
in addition to the gospel. I'm fearful for them. Fearful
for them. Did they never know God at all?
How can anything, how can anything have a greater attraction than
Jesus Christ and Him crucified? How can anything, anything compare
to that? How can anyone, any self-professing
believer, not just a preacher, but any believer, ever get over
the wonder of God's mercy and salvation? How can they ever
feel that they've reached the place where Christ is no longer
altogether lovely? I'm fearful for folks who do
such a thing. But to the hungry sinner, to
the needy sinner, to the beggars, before the throne of God, His
word is always timely, It's always relevant, it's always needed
as their necessary food. That's what the children want
to eat. The goats can feed on all manner of garbage, but the
sheep, they have the sweet food of the gospel. This is how Peter
expressed it, 1 Peter 2 and 2, as newborn babes. desire the
sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby. If so be
ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Do you have an appetite
for it? Is what Peter's saying. Do you
have an appetite for the word of God? Is it your necessary
food? Can you live without it? That's not good. Do you have
an appetite for it? Well, thank God he's giving you
that appetite. The sincere milk of the word,
as Peter calls it, is the gospel, the pure gospel, the gospel of
God. Oh, it's my necessary food, Billy,
because the gospel of God, we're told in Romans 1, concerns God's
Son. Take Christ out of the gospel
and you've got nothing but a dry morsel that's not fit to feed
on. Oh, take Christ out of the gospel
and you take out the good news. Because the good news of the
gospel is just this. Jesus Christ came into this world
to save sinners. Now either he's doing it or he
didn't. That was his purpose. Will he fulfill it? Will he accomplish
it? Is it dependent upon me? Ooh,
I hope not, because that's not good news at all, is it? No,
this gospel concerns God's Son. It's compared to milk for its
purity. It's sincerity, the sweetness that agrees to the taste of the
born-again man. It nourishes us up. It's our
food and our drink. The believer, having learned,
having been taught of God, something about his emptiness. Oh, draw back the curtain. You
remember that, don't you? If you're a believer, I know
you do. You remember when God taught your heart to fear, and
you realize for the first time you're a beggar before the throne
of God, you owe him a debt to his justice, his holiness, his
law, and you've got nothing to pay. Nothing to pay. You're empty, empty. Oh, and
what a joy it was, as we just listened to Judy sing, what a
joy it was when Christ revealed himself to you as your all-sufficiency. You're empty. but I'm all the
fullness of the Godhead. You're empty, but you're complete
in me. Isn't that good news? The earnest
longing soul is to be satisfied with the sweet consolation of
this milk. God's word, the gospel. And the
great shepherd makes us to lie down in green pastures, as the
psalmist said, and prepares a table before us even in the presence
of his enemies. Oh, what a joy. That's what we're
doing right now. If God is pleased to bless His
Word, He's preparing a table before us, and He says, come
and dine. Come and dine. Oh, if ye have
tasted that the Lord is gracious. Now, let's read here in Mark's
Gospel, chapter 4, beginning at verse 35. And the same day, when the evening
was come, He saith unto them, that is Christ, Let us pass over
unto the other side. And when they had sent away the
multitude, they took him even as he was, tired, exhausted. Oh, great is the mystery of godliness. They took him as he was in the
ship, and there were also with him other little ships. And there
arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship,
so that it was now full. I wonder if anybody here feels
like that. Your little ship is now full."
And he was in the hindered part of the ship, asleep on a pillow,
and they awakened and said unto him, Master, Master, had they
not been overcome by their fear, that very word Master would have
calmed their fears. Had they just stopped long enough
to think about that, Master? Is he really Master? Then why
aren't we so fearful? Master, carest thou not that
we perish? Oh, what an awful thing to say.
What a thought. I'm guilty. I'm guilty. Don't
you care that we perish? And he arose. Oh, I don't know
that it's proper. I don't feel like that it's improper. But I'd like to try to visualize
in my mind the Lord Jesus Christ standing on the deck of that
storm-tossed vessel and speaking as never a man spoke. He arose. He arose and rebuked the wind
and said unto the sea, peace be still. He said, quiet, quiet. That's what he said. And the
wind ceased. Wow. Wow. And there was a great calm. And
then he says to them, why are ye so fearful? There's not a
good answer to that question, is there, for a child of God.
He can give no reason. Why are ye so fearful? How is
it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly,
and said one to another, can you just imagine Peter saying
to his brother Andrew, did you see that? John says to his little
brother James, come here, come here, did you see that? Did you
see that? Did you see what he did? My soul,
who is this? We thought we knew him. My soul,
we've never seen it on this fashion. What kind of man is this? That
even the winds in the sea obey him. They knew the voice of their
creator. They heard the voice of that
one who in the beginning created the heavens and the earth and
said, let there be light. That's the same voice that said,
now I'm telling you, quiet. And they laid at his feet like
an obedient dog does before its master. No wonder they were struck
with awe. No wonder they feared. Oh, I'd
like to see some of that in this irreligious day, this generation
that thinks God owes them something, that God's obligated to them.
You hear these hucksters. Oh, Larry, be careful. You'll
digress. Talk about like they've got God in a chokehold, that
he's at their beck and call, not the God of the Bible, not
the master of the sea, not the captain of our salvation. Oh,
no, no. When we have an inkling, an understanding,
some understanding of who he is and what he's done, this is
what it produces. Oh, what manner of man is this? Hallelujah, what a savior. When
we're made to know something about who we are and who he is,
we don't strut around like peacocks. We fall down in the dust and
say, Lord, I'm a beggar. You don't have to save me. But
if you will, if you will, you can make me clean. Don't give
me what I'm owed. Don't give me what I've earned.
If you do, I'll be in hell today. Oh, but have mercy, unmerited
mercy, your free favor. That's what I need. That's what
I want. I've preached to you from this
passage a few times before. In 2014, my memory's not that
great, and the flood took most of my notes, but I went on Free
Grace to refresh my memory, and they're posted there on Free
Grace Radio. But in 2014, and then again in
2018. But since it is obvious, it's
obvious, that some of us are still here. I thought it might
be good to remind ourselves of some things about our journey
to heaven that we're still traveling. Billy, we're not in heaven yet.
Not yet. Verse 35 will serve as our text. Let us pass over into the other
side, still passing over. Still passing over. One of the
descriptions God gives his people is that of pilgrims, doesn't
it? The Word of God often refers to a child of God as a pilgrim.
Hebrews chapter 11 refers to Abraham and Noah and others as
being pilgrims. These all died in faith. They
died in faith? Is that what faith does? Does
faith take us that far? We die in faith? You mean faith
is not just a religious spasm that I make a decision and it
doesn't affect my life whatsoever, then I go my way and forget all
about it, it doesn't affect how I think, how I live, how I react? No, no, no. That's not faith.
That's just religious temporary spasm. Everybody just about has
one every now and then. They don't amount to much. They're
pretty much worse than nothing. No, true faith, these all died
in faith. They never quit believing. A
child of God never quits believing. His faith may be dim, it may
be weak, but once God gives that precious gift of faith by which
we behold the Son of God, he never takes it away. A child
of God cannot quit believing. And thank God that that's so.
These all died in faith, not having received the promise,
but having seen them afar off, this is Hebrews 11 and 13, and
were persuaded of them. and they embraced them and confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. No matter
when a believer lives in this world, that is always true. Whether it's the first century
or this century. It doesn't make any difference
when they live, what time they live, this is always true. This world is not their home. They don't feel at home in this
world. God won't allow it. God won't
allow it. We may try it. We may drift and
attempt to be satisfied in this world, but we're a true child
of God. We won't succeed. If I this day, if tomorrow I
wake up and I tell Robin, I've had enough. I'm leaving. I'm quitting. Let's pack up. We're going to move here. We're
going to go back to Indiana. We're going back to Kentucky
or West Virginia. I'm through. Don't believe anymore. If I can
do that, if I can successfully do that and go do anything else,
if I can truly be satisfied doing anything else in this world that's
proved positive, I never knew Jesus Christ. I went out from
you because I was not of you. If I'd have been of you, I would
have continued with you. That's what John said. Oh, I
know that kind of just takes the air out of most religious
professions in our day, so be it. So be it. Anybody that's
leaning upon a false hope, the best thing that can be done for
them, if God by His grace sends a preacher to kick those props
out from under them and show them that they're lost, they
don't know God. Is it love to stand and see my
children walking on the premises of hell and me not do nothing? Is that love? Is it love to say,
well, I don't want to interfere with your will, I don't want
to upset you, I dare not question your profession even though since
you made it you live like hell? No. No, that's not love. If I
care anything, if I really love him like I claim I do, I'll say,
oh, stop! Stop! I beseech you. Paul even
did it, didn't he? I beseech you. I plead with you.
By the mercies of God, be ye reconciled to God. Stop this
madness! Stop this madness! You must know
God, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he sent. I don't
care if you're a Calvinist or not. If you're a Baptist or not,
if you ever heard of Spurgeon or anybody else or not, if you
never remember my name, hear this, you can have life if you
don't have God's son. And only God can do that. It
takes a miracle. It takes a miracle. It's a wonder.
Oh, but when he does, when he gives you that appetite for grace,
when he brings you down, when grace teaches you, your heart
to fear, it's so that He can relieve your fear. He gets you
lost in order to save you. He brings you down before He
lifts you up. He strips you of every thick
leaf of your self-righteousness so He can clothe you in the righteousness
of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and aren't you glad He does?
Aren't you glad He does? Pilgrims, the Greek word for
pilgrims means this, temporary sojourners. Did you know that?
I didn't, I was studying. If I had, I'd forgotten. The
Greek word for pilgrims is temporary sojourners. That's a good description
of believers, isn't it? Regardless of when they're making
their pilgrimage through this world. Paul said in Philippians
3 and 20, for our conversation, Our citizenship is the word,
not how we talk. No, no, no. Talk's cheap, for
our conversation is in heaven. For whence also we look for our
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. People talk about signs, signs,
signs, signs, signs. I'm looking for the sun. not
some sign to sun. The Son of God, when He steps
out and says, time shall be no more, and He comes to gather
all of His children home, and we're with Him forever. Our conversation
is in heaven, where we look for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall change our vile body. Oh, isn't this something to look
forward to? That it might be fashioned like unto His glorious
body, according to the working whereby He is able. He's able. To subdue all things unto himself,
old John Newton wrote so many good old hymns. The most famous,
of course, is Amazing Grace, one of my favorites. But he also
wrote this. And when the weary traveler gains
the height of some commanding hill, his heart revives if over
the plains he sees his home, though distant still. Oh, I'm
almost home. I'm almost home. Thus when the
Christian pilgrim views by faith his mansion in the skies, the
sight his feigning strength renews and wins his speed to reach the
prize. I press toward the prize, Paul
said. The thought of heaven his spirit cheers. No more he grieves
for troubles past, nor any future trial he fears. so he may safely
arrive at last. Jesus, on thee our hopes we stay,
to lead us on to thine abode. Assured thy love will far repay
the hardest labors while on the road. I'll tell you what, I've thought about this a lot
lately. I may have mentioned it in the previous message, but
I just, I wonder, I wonder, The moment I breathe my last
and I'm stepping out of the earthly into the heavenly, the first
thing I see is the Lord Jesus crying, wow! What about that,
Billy? I see him. That's what a weary
pilgrim views. That's what he's grasping. That's
what he's reaching forth by faith. And he, in that moment, do you
think I'm going to remember any trial, any heartache, any burden?
You think I'm going to remember it compared to seeing him? and
being with him forever, and he takes this sinner in his arms,
this redeemed sinner, one of his sheep, and embraces me and
says, welcome home. You think anything I suffered
here is gonna mean anything when I enter there. Oh, remember this. Oh my soul, to see the King of
Kings, the Lord of Lords, King Jesus, The prophet said, thine
eyes shall see the king and his beauty. And they, not everybody,
is chosen, is redeemed, believers. They shall behold, no question
about it, they shall behold the land that is very far off. As I said, we're not in heaven
yet, but oh, we're looking forward to it, aren't we? People from
time to time, you know this, It's just another indication
of the crazy religious day we're living in. But every now and
then, somebody will write a book or make the talk show circuit
claiming they died and went to heaven. Some idiots even claim
they died and went to hell. Now, when I see that, when I
see that, I mean, I see books advertised and people buy them.
These hucksters get rich. Telling that lie. When I hear
that I think they're either insane, they're either nutty as a fruitcake,
or they're just plain liars. Just plain liars. They're just
hucksters trying to fleece poor ignorant people. When a believer
or an unbeliever leaves this world, they're not coming back.
They ain't coming back. When a child of God leaves this
world, they're present with the Lord. In that very breath, that
last breath they breathe here, they excel in glory, beholding
the king and his beauty. They're not coming back and they
don't want to come back. They don't want to come back.
Notice verse 35 again here in our text, Mark 4. And the same
day when the evening was come, the same day, And our time here
is still, I'll be using that word a lot, still, is brief at
its very best. It's compared in the Bible to
a single day. In many places, isn't it? Our
life, our entire life, from the cradle to the grave, from a day
old to a hundred years old, it's a day. It's a day. Psalm 90,
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. This
was a prayer of Moses. That's the title of that psalm,
Psalm 90. Before the mountains were brought
forth, or ever thou hast formed the earth and the world, even
from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Thou turnest man
to destruction, and sayest, return, ye children of men, for a thousand
years in thy sight, or but as yesterday, when it is past, and
as a watch in the night. Thou carriest them away with
a flood. They are as asleep. In the morning
they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourishes
and grows up. In the evening it is cut down
and withers. The earth and its mountains,
the universe and all the worlds, all the planets, all the galaxies
were born of God. God didn't begin with time. Time
sprang from God. He himself has no origin. He
has no beginning. Now try that on. Try that on. Anytime you're feeling real smart,
take a stab at that. God said, I had no beginning.
I had no end. Where did God come from? Nowhere.
He's always been. He's the self-existent God, and
He's always existed as God. He's God over all. He's God over
all. He rules. He's always ruled. He always has and He always will. If He doesn't, He's not God. God from everlasting to everlasting. Oh, how contrary, what a picture
that is to you and I. Our time is but a sigh, a breath,
like the rush of a mountain stream, like a tale that's told by the
campfire at night, like the grass, as the psalmist said, or as Moses
said, grows up and is soon gone. In the morning, he said. In the
morning. That's our life. In the morning. Oh, remember
that? Remember that in the morning?
It doesn't seem like that long ago. The morning, a picture of
freshness, new beginnings, a picture of youth, We were so strong,
so young, we felt like we could do anything. But it didn't last
very long, did it, Terry? It didn't last very long. The
morning has soon passed and now the evening has come. The evening,
where did the time go? Most of us are in the evening
of our life. And I dare say the thing that is most surprising
as we look back Wasn't it just morning a few days ago? How did
I arrive here so quickly? My sister sent me a picture the
other day to my phone. It was a picture of a group of
people. And she said, do you recognize
any of these? The only one I recognized was
her. What it was, was my sister and
I graduated high school together in 1970. And it was our 50th 50th High School Reunion. It
was supposed to take place a few years ago, but because of the
COVID, they did it last weekend. And I told my sister, the only
one I recognize of those, and I think about half of them is
dead, because there was a much larger graduating class than
that from time to time. She was sending in an OBIT, someone
we graduated with that's gone. And I think about half of them
are gone. But I didn't recognize any but her. And I told Robin,
I showed Robin the picture, I said, Anne, ask me, do I know any of
these people? I don't know none of those people, they're old.
They're all old, I don't know them. Oh, but like the disciples, they
were still on this voyage and still on the sea. And the storms
will arise, won't they? They still arise. Someone said
very wisely that God had one son without sin, but none without
sorrow. Not one without sorrow. Christ
was the man of sorrows himself, was he not? And very well acquainted
with grief. No one who follows Christ will
find that they can do so without denying themselves. Christ said
that. Now Christ said that. You want
to follow me? Someone told him one day, I'll
follow you anywhere you go, master. I'll follow you. He said, will
you now? Will you now? Well, you stop thinking about that.
He said, I don't have anywhere to lay my head. The birds have
nest, the foxes has hole, I don't have a home. You sure you wanna
follow me? If you follow me, you're gonna have to deny yourself.
That's tough business, isn't it? Denying self. Terry, I can
deny you without a problem. But denying self, denying self,
that's tough. That's tough, that's painful,
that's not easy. Christ also said, not only must
you deny self, you must take up your cross daily and follow
me. If you don't, you can't be my disciple. You can't be my
disciple. That's painful. It's contrary
to the flesh, is it not? J.C. Rau made this statement.
He said, if we are true Christians, we must not expect everything
smooth in our journey to heaven. We must count it no strange thing
if we have to endure sickness and losses and bereavements and
disappointments just like other men. Free pardon and full forgiveness,
grace along the way, and glory at the end, all This our Savior
has promised to give, but he has never promised that we shall
have no afflictions. A religion that costs nothing,
like most peoples do today, a religion that costs nothing is worth nothing.
A cheap Christianity without a cross will prove in the end
to be a useless Christianity without a crown. This little
flock here, right here, this morning, proves there's no exemptions
to suffering, are there? If you're not suffering, if you're
not going through a trial, someone said a believer is either coming
out of a trial or going into a trial. But if you're not, if
you don't have a burden, a heartache, a trial, a difficulty, raise
your hand. No. No one. No one. We're still on troubled seas. We're still making our journey.
We still experience sufferings and heartaches and burdens. And
every child of God knows what it's like for that night of weeping. They know what it's like. They know what it's like to lie
on their bed. And they also know what it's
like to think in their heart, although they try to put it away
and think, Master, don't you even care? Heaven seems like
brass. And the night is so dark, so
thick. Well, morning never come and
you're soaking your pillow and you're crying out to Jesus Christ,
but it seems like he doesn't master. Don't you care? Don't
you care? And you say, oh, I shouldn't
think that. I shouldn't say that. But we
do, do we not? I like what a lady by the name
of Annie Johnson Flint wrote many poems. I've shared some
with you, probably this one. But this lady, she lived from
1866 to 1932, and she was an invalid most of her adult life. So she wrote from personal experience. She said, one day at a time,
with its failures and fears, with its hurts and mistakes,
with its weakness and tears, with its portion of pain and
its burden of care, one day at a time, we must meet and must
bear. One day at a time, but the day
is so long And the heart is not brave, and the soul is not strong.
O thou pitiful Christ, be thou near all the way. Give courage
and patience and strength for the day. Swift cometh his answer,
so clear and so sweet. Yea, I will be with you, your
troubles to meet. I will not forget you, nor fail
you, nor grieve. I will not forsake you. I never
will leave. I never will leave. That on more than one occasion
has given me reason to rise from my bed of weeping when he whispers
into my ear, Larry, I'm never going to leave you. I'm never
going to forsake you. And I feel like a little child
again when my mother picked me up in her arms and wiped my tears
away and says, Larry, it's going to be all right. Jesus Christ
does that, doesn't he? He does it for his people. The
captain of our salvation is still on board the ship, still. Still
we're on the journey, still we're crossing stormy seas, but the
captain of our salvation is still in the ship. Notice who started
this journey. Peter didn't say, let us pass
over unto the other side. Andrew didn't. They didn't have
a meeting and say, well, this is what we've decided to do.
No. Jesus said, let us pass over unto the other side. He started
this, and he'll finish it. Anything Christ begins, he finishes
it. Why wouldn't he? His last words
to his disciples before they watched him in utter amazement
ascend back to the glory he had with the Father before the world
began, the last thing he said to them is, Lo, I'm with you
always, even unto the end of the world. That was his last
words. Christ is not only the captain
of our salvation who leads the way, he's also the master of
the sea and billows his will obey. What he did here, literally,
he's done for you and I as believers, hasn't he? He stepped out on
the deck of your tossed ship when the winds were just tossing
you back and forth. You were hanging on by your fingernails
and you felt, I'm going down. Oh, these winds, this rain, this
storm. Somehow, you can't explain it.
Don't need to explain it. Don't need to figure it out.
I don't know how he did it, but I know he did. He steps out on
that little barque, that little ship of yours, and he says, peace
be still. And suddenly, I mean just like
that, the wind stopped. And there's a great calm. And
you think, well, my soul, what was I afraid of? What was I afraid
of? Christ is still on board. He
never abandoned ship. Listen to this. Listen to the
promise of our Lord and God. Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob,
and all the remnant of the house of Israel which are born by me
from the belly, listen, which are born by me from the belly
and are carried from the womb. I was there when you came into
this world. You were mine way before you
entered this world. My heavenly father before we
created the heavens and the earth committed you into my hands as
one of his chosen, one of his elect and I agreed, I agreed
in the fullness of time to come do everything necessary to secure
your eternal salvation. You were born by me from the
belly and carried from the womb. I was with you when you came
into this world. And I'm going to be with you when you go out.
Now, how do you like that? Oh, child of God, that kind of
puts death in a different light, doesn't it? Jesus Christ will
be there. He promised that he will. Oh,
if I'm dying and aware of it, I may be seeing you for the last
time. Oh, but when these eyes close
to this world and everything this world is, I'm going to open
them. and see the Lord Jesus Christ
who loved me. Even to your old age I am he,
and even to whore hairs will I carry you, I have made and
I will bear, even I will carry and will deliver you." The king,
Darius, said, Daniel, came to the pit, the lion's den, early
that morning that Daniel was in. The king tossed and turned,
I'm inclined to believe, Daniel probably just laid his head back
on the mane of one of them big lions and slept like a baby.
But the question of the king to Daniel was, the God that you
serve, Daniel, is he able to deliver you? Was he able to deliver
you? And every child of God, every
redeemed sinner can answer that question with a shout, yes, my
God is able to deliver me. Yes, he has and he will. How firm a foundation ye saints
of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word.
What more can he say to you than he said to you who for refuge
the Jesus hath led? When through the deep waters
I call you to go, the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow.
For I will be with you, thy trials to bless and sanctify to thee
thy deepest distress, the soul that the Jesus hath leaned for
repose. Here's his word. I will not,
I will not desert to its foes. That soul, though all hail, should
endeavor to shake. I'll never, no never, no never
forsake. I love that passage and will
not turn there. I'll just mention it briefly.
In Exodus chapter 14, after the children of Israel come through
the Red Sea, what America The last two verses of Exodus 14
sum up what they just had experienced. They stand on the Red Sea on
the other side, let us pass over to the other side, and they're
on the other side, and they look back and see all their enemies
destroyed. And we read, thus did the Lord save Israel that
day out of the hands of the Egyptians. And Israel saw that great work
which the Lord did, and they feared the Lord. They stood in
awe of Him. Like we read in Psalm 89, who
is a god like unto our God? And chapter 15 is a psalm saying
to God be the glory, great things he hath done. You have a picture of that very
thing in Revelation. And now look, chapter 14, and
lo, a lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him the shepherd
will not be without his sheep. The glorious bridegroom will
not be without his bride. No, no, no. And with him, a hundred
and forty and four thousand, representing all God's elect,
having their father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard
a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice
of great thunder. I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps. And they sung, as it were, a
new song before the throne, and before the four beasts and the
elders. And no man could learn that song but the hundred and
forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
These are they which were not defiled with women. They are
virgins. These are they which follow the
Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among
men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their
mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before
the throne of God. And they sing the song of Moses,
the servant of God. And the song of the Lamb sang,
great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true
are thy ways, thou King of saints. Last of all, let me give you
something before you leave. What should we take from this?
We read this miracle on the sea. It's a picture of every believer's
life. Every believer is a pilgrim crossing
the sea to the other side. What's the practical benefit
of it for you and I? Any shoe-leather theology here. Something that gets down to where
the rubber meets the road where I'm at right now. When we hear
Jesus Christ say, let us pass over into the other side, it
is no great wonder, it shouldn't be, that we read in verse 1 of
chapter 5, and they came over into the other side. Why wouldn't
they? When the great shepherd says,
my sheep shall never perish, that means they shall never perish.
Storms notwithstanding, they shall never perish. Sins notwithstanding,
they shall never perish. We sang earlier of grace greater
than all my sin, and thank God it is. If not, I'm a goner, and
so are you. But that can never happen, because
Christ is still able to save to the uttermost all that come
unto God by him. The other evening, I was reading
a transcribed message from a television broadcast sermon that was preached
in 1992 by a dear friend of yours and mine, Brother Henry Mahan. Henry began the message by saying,
this is one of my favorites of all the scripture. And the passage
was this, Isaiah 43, but now thus saith the Lord that created
the old Jacob and he that formed the old Israel, fear not, For
I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou
art mine. When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you. And through the fires, they shall
not overflow you. When thou walkest through the
fire, you shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon you. For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Sheba for thee, since thou was precious in my
sight. Did I read that right? Did I
stumble over that? Are my glasses failing me? Oh,
no. God says to his church, every believer, you're precious in
my sight. Wow. The world passes us by,
looks at us with a sneer, with utter contempt, and think you're
not even worthy of noticed. Oh, but to God Almighty, we're
precious. We're his. We're his. Since you
were precious in my sight, you've been honorable, and I've loved
you. Therefore, I will give men for
you and people for thy life. Fear not, fear not, I am with
thee. Don't be afraid. Let me close
this by reading to you a couple of verses of another poem that
Lady Annie Joseph Flint wrote. When thou passest through the
waters, deep the ways may be in cold, but Jehovah is our refuge
and his promise is our hold. For the Lord himself hath said
it, he the faithful God and true. When thou passest through the
waters, thou shalt not go down, but through. Threatening breakers
of destruction, doubts insidious undertow, shall not sink us,
shall not drag us out the ocean depths of woe. For his promise
shall sustain us, Praise the Lord whose word is true. We shall
not go down or under. He has said, thou passest through. Oh my soul. Imagine what it's going
to be like when we get to the other side. And every child of
God will get to the other side. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise
God, our savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and ever. Amen. Amen. God bless you.