It's nice to see everybody. I
can only see half your faces, but it's nice to see everybody. Turn in your Bibles to Matthew
chapter 14. I'm going to start reading in verse 22
and read through verse 33. No, that's me, I'm sorry. I'm
not used to electronic equipment. And straightway, Jesus constrained
His disciples to get into a ship and to go before Him on the other
side while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the
multitudes away, He went up into a mountain park to pray. And
when the evening was come, He was there alone. But the ship
was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind
was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the
night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when
the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled,
saying, It is a spirit. And they cried out for fear. Straightway Jesus spake unto
them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I. Be not afraid. And Peter
answered and said, Lord, if it be thou bid me come unto thee
on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter
was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go
to Jesus. And when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid
and began to sink. And he cried, saying, Lord, save
me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him,
and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst
thou doubt? And when they were coming to
the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship
came and worshipped him, saying of a truth, Thou art the Son
of God." Something extraordinary utterly
extraordinary happens in a place like this. Something monumental, something
that is beyond the world's ability to grasp or embrace. Just moments
ago you stepped from your vehicles and entered into a building and
in a bit you will enter into another world. You will leave
that other world behind, mount upon wings of eagles, get a true
perspective, and see things from the lofty ether of glory. Like the drunk who downs his
libation to momentarily forget his trouble, you will imbibe
a heavenly cordial and will be gloriously inebriated, so much
so that all your troubles will dissipate like the vapor of your
breath on a frosty morning. and the reason will be simple
you will hear of Christ you'll hear of His power His
doings and His finishings and for a brief and beautiful moment
tonight nothing else will matter isn't that something? he is the feast of fat things
he is the wine on the leaves well refined that sweet interlude
will pluck you from the pit and save you again as it has so many
times before scripture says he has delivered us from so great
a death and doth deliver and shall yet deliver us." Some time
ago I was talking with my little brother, and I call him my little
brother, he's 60 years old, but my little brother, Myron. We
were talking about the world in general, and there was so
much going on that it was hard to think about most of it. Opinion
and anger abound, and things are changing at a breakneck pace,
it seems. The changes will continue, and
what we see today will be different tomorrow, yet it will be the
same. And the changes, whether political or social or religious
or whatever, will not be changes for the better. They won't be. Things will go worse and worse.
Our Lord said things will wax worse and worse. Our Lord said
the love of many will wax cold. The world has yet to reach the
pinnacle of its putrefaction, but it speeds apace into the
pit of profligate depravity. Time and tide are like a giant
juggernaut careening at breakneck velocity toward the deathly precipice
of a dungeon of the damned. And we will be aware more than
ever, because of the devices that report news or opinion at
the moment it happens, Those who cry for transparency find
that one more year, more than ever, all they see is the public
airing of dirty laundry revealing men and women glorying in their
shame. Words like integrity and honor and duty and gratitude
have been sacrificed on the so-called altar of carnal acceptance. Sin
has become a psychiatric malady, treatable by tolerance and social
assent. kind of makes you long for the
day when sin and debauchery were things thought to be worth hiding
from public view. Under the guise of being honest,
men and women put their depravity on public display. I may be a
cannibalistic serial killer, but at least I'm honest, they
say. As we sat and talked about this,
my brother and I both agreed that in this present age it is
difficult to concentrate, to find, much less to be fixed on
something worthwhile. It's what the Lord called in
the parable of the sower the choking cares of the world. Paul
called it the sin that so easily beset us and hinders us from
looking at the prize. We who believe know that these
things take our eyes off Christ. and we are too easily overwhelmed
but we can trace it can't we it's different out there than
it is in here isn't it we can trace it and our troubles begin
and our sorrows and our woes and our confusion begin when
we take our eyes off Christ it's that simple it really is and
that difficult But it's that simple. All our troubles come
when we take our oaths off Christ. And listen, tonight, right now,
I don't have any troubles. I am trouble-less. Right now. Why? Because I'm talking about
the one thing that's worthwhile in the entire universe, and that's
the Lord Jesus Christ. My brother was in the Coast Guard
for four years. His first tour was on an icebreaker
in the Arctic Circle. The rest of the time he spent
on boats off the coast of the Carolinas, rescue boats. They often had to go out in the
stormy seas with waves that towered over the boats, looking for broken
boats and bloated bodies. And when they were on deck amid
the towering torrents The standing order was always the same. Eyes in the boat, men. Eyes in
the boat. Eyes on the helmsman. This meant that they were not
to look at the roiling seas, but keep their eyes within the
parameters of the vessel, specifically on the helmsman. The helmsman
was stationed forward in the boat and kept it pointed in the
right direction. And that one man was he who would
guide the men through the storm to safety and to look away from
him was to be overwhelmed. So they set eyes in the boat.
They would be overwhelmed by the frightening view of the perilous
seas. As he explained this to me, I
thought of this episode in the up-and-down life of a man named
Simon Peter. He was a chosen vessel, an apostle,
one of the inner circle that was always around where the Lord
was. And he loved his Lord, declared
Him to be the Son of the Living God, declared Him to be the only one
who had the words of eternal life, He was the one who the
Lord gave the commission to feed His sheep. He was the one who
led the charge at Pentecost and the first to personally take
the Gospel to the Gentiles. He was also the one who thrice
denied the Lord, who thought He could correct the Lord, and
who left the fellowship of those at Antioch who had been saved
by grace for the companionship of those liberty spies who preached
salvation by the law. considering our own lives. Aren't
we grateful that Simon Peter is counted among the elect? I'm
glad he's there. Here in this text the Lord has
just fed 5,000 people with some fishes and a few loaves. John's
account says that they wanted to make Christ their king so
he sent the disciples on to the sea and told them that after
he dispersed the crowd he would join them. Now he dispersed the
crowds, as crowds are often dispersed, by speaking truth to error. They
wanted to make him king, and that wasn't going to happen.
They said, well, will you teach us how to do that fish and loaves
trick? Can you teach us how to work
the works of God? You know, so when you leave,
we can just take a few fish and some loaves. We'd feed 5,000
people, too. Might even open a restaurant.
I don't know what their idea was. But he spoke truth to error. He said, this is the work of
God. that you believe on Him whom He has sent. And if you
believe on Him whom He has sent tonight, it's because God has
worked on you. He's given you faith to believe.
The disciples didn't know, could not even imagine as they were
out in their tiny bark that He was going to walk to them on
the water. I'm still astonished by this. Aren't you? I think
about it. Have you ever tried it? I've
tried it. It didn't work for me. Gravity
took over and I sunk to the bottom like a stone, but he walked on
water. The words of this context tells
us a great deal about Simon Peter. And because he is a sinner saved
by grace, it tells us a great deal about ourselves. Our Lord
had retreated to the mountain to pray and the disciples had
set sail. Soon the disciples were in an uncomfortable quandary.
Their little bark was being tossed about with what the Lord called
contrary winds. Contrary winds. The Lord was
not in the boat with them, and the elements were making them
afraid. But that was not always the case. Even when the Lord
was present with them, they became afraid at troubled seas, didn't
they? When he was asleep in the vessel, and the seas began to
raise, they cried, Master, carest thou not that we perish? Won't
you care if we're going to die? The sea's up!" And he stood up
and said, Peace be still, and the sea became like glass. They were looking at the waves. That was the problem. That was
the problem. The trouble around them caused
them to fear for their life. Are you afraid? Has your peace
been disturbed because of fear? When they saw Christ walking
toward them in the water, they were even more afraid that it
was a spirit, a ghost, an apparition, some kind of specter. Maybe they
thought it was the Grim Reaper coming to finish them off, I
don't know. But what this tells us is that if the elements are
contrary to us, what we see may be not what we THINK we see. at all and we may cry out of
fear when in truth it is the Lord that is in control of this
entire scene now tonight in Lexington Kentucky and on every speck of
dirt on this beautiful blue ball that hurls through space God
Almighty is in control And if the winds are contrary, they're
His winds. And if the waves are boisterous,
they're His waves. Shall there be trouble in the
city, and the Lord not be in it? It says in Amos chapter 3.
He that walks on the waves holds the winds in His fists. Scripture
says He weighs the mountains in a balance, and measures the
waters in the hollow of His hand. While all of this is going on,
this tiny bark bouncing around, the contrary winds, the waves,
it's all in the hollow of His hand that controls all things, sovereign
and absolute, walking on water, a human being walking on water. The Lord told them, Be of good
cheer. Can you do that? be of good cheer it is I be not
afraid what would our life be like if we could hear these words
in our heart when the winds of change and decay are contrary
and the world's waves toss us about if we could just hear them
in our hearts be not afraid it is I though the words of Simon
Peter may be construed as doubtful along with that unbelief there's
also faith that had indeed been a specter and had lied to him
he would still have stepped out of the boat because he believed
it was the Lord he believed it was the Lord else why he would
have remained in the boat he stepped out onto the water onto the water not into the water onto the water
when the Lord said, Come, come. But as Simon Peter was a man
of faith, he was also a man, a human being. And though the
sea had become solid footing for him, a true foundation, he
took his eyes off the Lord, and the roiling seas consumed his
vision. And he felt the bluster of the
howling winds and the roiling waves that buffeted him, and
he slipped from his moorings and began the dreadful descent
into the deep. That's what happens when we take
our eyes off Christ. Boy, I wish I could just believe,
don't you? Don't you really wish you could just believe for heaven's
sake? What a picture this is. His doubt
emerged when he turned his eyes from the only object of faith
The Lord Jesus Christ, what a picture this is, and what a true portrait
it paints! How full of faith and courage
we are when we see Christ! Right now, ye couldn't scare
me with NOTHING! I'm not afraid of anything! part
of the same thing with you. Why? Because you're not looking
at the roiling waves. Your eyes are fixed on Him who
is worthy of all praise, who is altogether lovely, the King
of kings and Lord of lords, the One who sustains this world and
CONTROLS this world. We're not a drop of dust passes
across a sunbeam that is not controlled by His powerful hand. Do you see Christ? and I see him I'm just so full
of courage you couldn't stir me you couldn't make me move
immovable steadfast and then I take my eyes away and my soul fills with troubles
and my eyes with tears and I struggle to see what's going on around
me and I get angry and then twice a week I come to a place like
this and a man like that stands up behind this desk and says
look to Christ and all my troubles just float away how sure we are of his sovereignty
when we hear the gospel preached when the Spirit of Christ takes
the things of Christ and consoles our soul. And how true it is
that when we are buffeted by the doctrines of human wisdom
and the torrents of the world's chaos, when they break on the
shores of our shifting mind, we feel ourselves sinking. Have
you noticed that the things of the world never lift you up? They never will. They'll always
drag you down into the depths. What can we do? Shall we apply
to the law for some forensic solution? Or to the impotence
of our crippled flesh? Or the doomed and damned wisdom
of the world to undo our downward plunge? There's but one thing. There's but one avenue. Eyes
on the boat, my friend. Eyes on the helmsman. He cried, Lord save me. This is the hue and cry of the
believer throughout his life as he sinks in the mire from
that which he was once wondrously extricated. How frail our frame,
how tiny our faith, how ready our doubt. Thank the Lord that
salvation is by grace and when we see him and call on him, listen,
he stretches forth his hand and takes us and saves us again and
again. looking under him is all that
will keep us afloat and when the waves and the contrary winds
catch our attention and threaten to sink us just say it LORD SAVE
ME LORD SAVE ME the old song said I was sinking
deep in sin far from the peaceful shore but the master of the sea
heard my despairing cry from the waters lifted me now safe
am I we used to sing this, we don't
sing it much anymore. Turn your eyes upon Jesus look
full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow
strangely dim in the eyes of his glory and grace. God bless you brother.