Matthew chapter 14. I'm taking for a title what is
said there in verse 27. Matthew 14, 27. Be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. The believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ, resting in Christ alone for all of our
salvation, we have every reason to be of good cheer, to be of
good comfort. The Lord said, it is I, I am
that I am. Therefore, don't be afraid. Be
of good cheer. Be of good cheer. It is I. Now
we find this statement several times in the scripture. We've
seen it before in our study. Hold your place there in Matthew
14. You remember back in chapter 9 of Matthew? The Lord said to
those four men who were carrying their sick friend on the bed,
Matthew chapter 9 verse 2, Behold, they brought to him a man sick
of the palsy, lying on a bed, and Jesus, seeing their faith,
said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins
be forgiven. And behold, certainly the scribes
said within themselves, Well, this man blasphemeth. And the
Lord, knowing their thoughts, wherefore think ye evil in your
hearts, whether it is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven,
or to say, Arise and walk. But that you may know the Son
of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. Then said he to
the sick of the poles, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto
thy house. And he rose and departed to his
house. When the multitude saw it, they
marveled and glorified God, which had given such power unto a man,
no mere man, but the God-man Mediator." So we see that statement
made there. And then in another time, you
remember on the eve of the cross, just before the Lord was arrested
and before he was crucified, He told his disciples that all
of them would forsake him and leave him. But he said, these
words have I spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. In this world you shall have
tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome. So we have every
reason as believers to be of good cheer. And then when the
apostle Paul, we read again in Acts chapter 23, when he was
arrested and standing before the Jewish court and the Roman
court and there was great, great argument about Paul and his ministry
and they started to pull him apart and one of the officers
of the Roman court intervened and put him in prison. And it
says in the scripture there that the Lord stood by him that night
and said, you not only have testified of me in Jerusalem, but you also
must go to Rome and testify there of me. And then the Lord said
to him, be of good cheer. Be of good cheer, Paul. Be of
good cheer. Well, I'm in prison. and they
hate me, be a good cheer." You have every reason as believers
to be a good cheer. And then we read in Acts chapter
27 when Paul and the other prisoners that were with him, they're on
that ship as they were headed to Rome and he was a prisoner
and a lot of these prisoners were probably in chains going
to Rome to be sentenced to death. And the Apostle Paul stood on
the deck of that ship and said, be a good chair. God's going
to save every one of us in the ship. Don't jump out. Stay in
the ship. God's going to save everyone
in the ship. So be a good chair. Being a believer
and finding all of our salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, we
have every reason and every hope to be of good cheer and not to
fear. Our sins have been put away.
We should not fear. We should not fear. God has given
us and established for us an everlasting righteousness. We
are accepted in the Beloved. We should not fear. We should
not fear, but rather worship Him. Our salvation in the Lord
Jesus Christ is certain and sure. All the promises of God in Christ
are yes, and in Him, and amen, and to the glory of God. God
had made with me, David said on his deathbed, his last words,
God had made with me an everlasting covenant, that's that covenant
we studied today in Hebrews chapter 12, an everlasting covenant ordered
in all things, and sure, this is all my hope. all my desire
and all my salvation. Oh the eternal covenant mercies
we have an everlasting salvation through those covenant mercies
in Christ who's the surety of that covenant. Now you remember
from the message last week How the Lord Jesus Christ, you remember
in verse 14, it says, Jesus went forth and saw the great multitude,
Matthew 14, 14, and was moved with compassion toward them,
and He healed them. Our God is full of compassion. He's full of mercy. He healed
all them that had need of healing. He healed every one of them.
And then he not only healed them, he fed everyone that was hungry. They were completely satisfied,
they were completely full, and they took up 12 baskets full
after feeding 10,000 people. They did not diminish the supply
that he had supplied for them. The grace of God is exhaustible. The mercy of God is never-ending. Now, it's interesting in John
chapter 6, where we read about this miracle of feeding the multitude,
when the people saw the great miracle that Jesus did, they
said, this is of a truth, that prophet that should come into
the world. When Jesus, therefore, perceived that they would come
and take him by force and make him their king, you know what
he did? He departed again into the mountain
alone himself. And that's what we read here.
And verse 23, when he had sent the multitude away, he went up
into the mountain apart to pray, and there he was alone. Now, the reason, you think in
your mind, why would they come and try to make him as their
king? Well, a couple things, they were
under the bondage of the Roman government, and they wanted to
be liberated from that bondage, but the other thing, they were
all healed, they were all fed, and they said, you know, this
is a pretty good thing. Maybe we ought to just make him
the king and he'll take care of everything for us. But they
were only considering the natural realm, not looking to Christ
as the king in their salvation. Not the king, they weren't looking
to him as king in salvation and king in redemption, and he indeed
is king. king of kings and lord of lords,
but not by what we say or what we do. We don't make him king. We don't take and make him lord. God has made him the eternal
lord. But I fear that most religious
people, self-righteous religious people, Only seek Him for the
same things, natural blessings rather than spiritual blessings
found only in Christ. Many of those, and I don't watch
those TV preachers, and I would recommend that you not listen
to false preachers, but many of them say, or they used to
say, sign this card and send your money in and all your problems
will be over. They preached health and wealth,
health and welfare. Being a believer is not a guarantee
of health and riches. Not naturally speaking, it is
spiritually, we have all spiritual blessing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at verse 22, Matthew
14, verse 22. And straightway, Jesus constrained His disciples, and I love that
word constrained. Believers are constrained by
the grace of God. His love constrains us. Here's
the Lord Jesus Christ as the captain of our salvation. He
constrains His disciples. He said, you go get in that boat.
And they did. They went into the boat. To go
before him, he gave them instructions where to go to the other side
while I send the multitude away. Now how could he speak to 10,000
people and tell them to leave? His word was with power. No man
ever spoke like that man. He spoke with absolute power
and authority. When the Lord commanded His disciples
to get into the ship, He sent the multitude away, and then
it says there, verse 23, and when He sent the multitude away,
He went up into a mountain apart to pray. And we see Him doing
this quite often. He gets away from the crowd,
away from everybody, and He comes to this place of solitude, and
that's the only way we can really pray. sincerely and only. I know we have to have public
prayer when we meet together, but private prayer, that's when
we really cry out unto the Lord. Into a mountain apart, and when
the evening was come, he was there alone. Alone. That's a good place to be. Alone
with God. Alone. Alone with Him. Alone with God. When his work
was done, For the day, he went alone to
rest and to pray." Remember, he often said, I must be about
my father's business. When the Lord was teaching there
in Matthew chapter 6 about when you pray, don't pray like the
Pharisees, they pray in the streets to be seen to men. You remember
how the Lord instructed us to pray? He said, when you pray,
enter into your closet. And there the Lord will see thee
in secret. And that's what he's doing here.
He's entering into the mountain place alone to pray. Remember
the Lord Jesus Christ is totally and fully God, but let us not
forget he's also God incarnate in human flesh. He worried in
body. He thirsted in body. He wearied
in body and he needed rest. He needed rest. He was tempted
and tested in all points like as we are, yet without sin. We read about his deity and we
read about his humanity. God incarnate, God in human flesh,
the God-man mediator. We read in Philippians chapter
two, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to
be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon
him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men
and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, became
obedient to death, even the death of the cross. He was a real man,
tempted and tested. He hungered, he wearied him body. You know, he often performed
miracles for other people to relieve their suffering. We never
read one time when he performed a miracle to relieve his own
suffering. Not one time. He was tempted
and tested. And as a God-man mediator, He
never, never sinned. Now think about this also. The
Lord Jesus Christ, while those disciples were in that boat,
and in the middle of that storm, what is the Lord doing? He's
praying for them. He's interceding for them. And
think about it right now. The Lord Jesus Christ has ascended
to glory. He's seated on the right hand
of the throne of God. And what is He doing there for
us? He's interceding for us right now. He ever lives to intercede
for us, that's why He's able to save to the uttermost all
that come to God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. There is but one God and one
mediator between God and men, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, look at verse 24. Now the
Lord in his providence arranges all this. He's a God and sovereign
over providence, sovereign over everything in creation and providence,
and he arranges this storm. He puts his apostles in the ship,
in the storm, verse 24. 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 water." Walking on the water. Here we see the sovereign
Lord. puts his apostles in this situation. He sends them this trial, this
storm, to be a blessing to them, not to harm them, not to hurt
them. We've seen this before. Turn
back to Matthew chapter 8. Remember over here? We've seen
this one time before when he told his disciples to get in
the ship. And when he went in the ship with them, in Matthew
chapter 8, Look at verse 23. And when he was entered into
a ship, his disciples followed him, and behold, there arose
a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with
waters, but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him
and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us, we perish. And he said unto them, why are
you so fearful? Oh, ye of little faith. Then
he arose and rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a
great calm. But the men marveled, saying, what manner of man is
this that even the wind and the seas, they obey him? What kind
of a man is this? He's God. God incarnate, God
in human flesh. The Lord sends trials to his
people. Peter calls them precious trials
that work for our good, that work for our good. The Lord sends
these trials our way for our good. They're called light afflictions,
which don't work against us, they work for us. But we know
all things work together for good to them who love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose. Trials do not
produce faith, but rather trials are sent our way to reveal faith
unto us. In this world, I'll quote this
again, in this world you shall have tribulation, but be of good
cheer, I've overcome. I've overcome. Now look at verse
25. About three or four o'clock in
the morning, the Lord Jesus Christ walks upon the water, walks upon
the sea, to find his distressed disciples. At the appointed time,
the Lord of Glory comes to the rescue. The Lord promised that
He said, and He said to them and us, He'll never leave us.
He'll never forsake you. Oh, He says, I'm with you always. The Lord Jesus clearly demonstrates,
powerfully demonstrates that he's the sovereign of the sea,
sovereign of the universe, sovereign in creation, sovereign in salvation. Behold, what manner of man is
this that can walk upon the water and the wind and the seas obey
him? Now the scientists would say And according to the laws
of physics, they would say, well, this is impossible. No man can
walk upon the water. No mere man can. No man can, but the God of creation
can and does. Faith says with God, all things
are possible. He did walk on the water. The Lord, one old preacher said,
I think it was Matthew Henry, the Lord suspends the law of
gravity and proves that He's the ultimate power over all things. He just suspended that law of
gravity for Him and He walks on the water. And it wasn't a
sea of glass. This was a raging storm. This
was the waves. The Lord will have His way in
the sea, the Scriptures teach. With God, all things are possible.
He walks on the water. He overcomes all obstacles to
come unto us in saving mercy, even now. We see in verse 26,
when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled. They did not recognize who he
was. being dark, being stormy, and
they didn't recognize him, they saw something out there and they
said it's a spirit or it's a ghost. It's a ghostly figure. And they
cried out, for fear. Now think about this. Most of
these men, Peter and Andrew, James and John, they were experienced
fishermen. They've been in many storms.
They knew how to run a ship and they knew all the things about
the sea and the actions of the sea and the waves of the sea,
but they've never seen anything like this. They see an appearance
of a man out there walking on the water. They've never seen
anything like that. Never. Not enough light to recognize
him, having no expectations of seeing him, and faced with something
they've never heard of or even seen, a man walking upon water
They were afraid. They were terrified. Many people
may jump to the wrong conclusion about the Lord Jesus Christ,
as they did. without knowing who he is, without
knowing what he has done, without knowing who he truly is or why
he came. They jumped to the wrong conclusion,
not knowing fully who he is and what he's done. He's not the
good man upstairs. He's not our co-pilot. He's God,
our savior, sovereign over all things. In the fullness of time,
God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law. That's who he is, and
that's what he did. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law. In the fullness of time, this
is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, the Lord
Jesus Christ came to save sinners, not to try to save, not to attempt
to save, not to put them in a savable state. He actually came to save
his people from their sin. When we are blessed to know who
he is, then we're given faith to rest in the true and living
God. It's who He is that gives power
to what He did for us. As Paul said, I know whom I have
believed and I'm persuaded that He is able to keep everything
I've committed unto Him against that day. Saving faith, that's
committed all our salvation unto Him alone. Now verse 27, and
meet straightway, immediately, the Lord speaks to them, saying,
be of good cheer. Now they've heard his voice before.
They recognize his voice. The sheep, they know his voice.
They know the voice of the Good Shepherd. Be of good cheer. It's
me. It's I. No need to be afraid. I just could imagine that their
fears just, oh, it's the Lord. Everything's going to be okay.
Everything's going to be all right. The Lord spoke to them. They knew the voice of the great
good shepherd. It is I. Be of good cheer. Don't be afraid. It is I am that
I am. Remember, his sheep hear his
voice and they follow him. What comfort this must have been
to them. Right knowledge of Christ given
through his word brings comfort to us. They had comfort through
the spoken word of the Lord Jesus Christ. David writes in Psalm
119, this is my comfort and all my affliction, thy word hath
comfort me. Thy word, the word of God is
quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. Comfort
to them, Comfort to them not only by his word, but also by
his presence. They knew this one who spoke
peace unto them. Be not afraid, it is I. One of
my favorite scriptures in the book of Isaiah is found in Isaiah
41, verse 10. Let me just read it to you. Fear
thou not, I am with thee. Be not dismayed, I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, I will
help thee, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Fear not. When you read through
the book of Isaiah, many times we read that statement. Fear
not. Fear not. I am with thee. I'll be with
you. When you pass through the trial, when you pass through
the storm, when you pass through the water, I'll be with thee. I will not forsake thee. Now,
we come to something interesting here in verse 28. Peter. Here's
Peter again. Verse 28 and 29. And verse 30,
here's Peter. Peter answered him and said,
seemed like he's always the first one to speak up, didn't he? Peter
answered and said unto him, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto
thee on the water. And the Lord said, come. And Peter was come down out of
the ship. He walked on water. to go to
Jesus, but when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, and
beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. Save me, Lord, I'm perishing.
Lord, save me. We see something of the boldness
of Peter's faith. and the love that Peter has toward
the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, Lord, bid me come to
thee. Now notice what he didn't say. He didn't say, if it be thou,
I will come. He didn't say that, did he? Lord,
if it be thou, you bid me come. You bid me come to thee. Peter
was not thinking about I'm sure this was not even in his mind. Peter was not thinking about,
well you know, that looks pretty cool, I think I'll go walk on
the water too. That wasn't in his mind. Peter
was not thinking about walking on the water. His heart and his
affection was so set upon the Lord, And he was anxious to be
with the Lord. Peter did not start toward the
Lord without the Lord's command. And the Lord's command was one
word. And I love this one word. It says there in verse 29, the
Lord said, Come. Come. You remember what we studied
in Matthew 11, where the Lord said to those who are laboring
and heavy laden, come unto me and I'll give you rest. The same
Lord Jesus Christ bids us today, come to him and rest. Come to
Christ and rest in him. He said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and those that come to me, I'll never
cast them out. And then he adds in that same
chapter, no man can come to me except the Father which sent
me, draw him. Lord bid me to come to you. Bid me to come. Peter acted on
the Lord's command by faith. Out of the ship and on the water
he goes. And for a few moments, Peter there is walking on the
water as well. And when the Lord calls us to
Himself, He gives us eyes of faith to come to Him, to follow
Him, to look to Him. looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. I'll give you some examples of
that. When the Lord called his people to come to him, they come. They come. Abraham believed God
and he went out into a place that the Lord would show him
later on. But he believed God and he moved.
We studied about Moses. Moses believed God and forsook
all the treasures of Egypt for that greater treasure in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, the apostle, believed God
and counted all his religious past, religious works as dung
and rubbish that he might win Christ and be found in him. When
the Lord calls, he calls us irresistibly and affectionately to himself.
When the Lord calls with the gospel in the power of God the
Holy Spirit, we venture by faith everything upon Him and commit
all the care of our salvation unto Him. And He makes us willing
in a day of His power to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. I like
what O. A. D. Muse, an old preacher from
Louisville back in 1954, He made this statement, come
to Christ, don't move a hand or a muscle. Come to Christ,
don't move a hair or a muscle. Come to Christ by faith, that's
how we come. It's not a physical thing. It's
with eyes of faith we come to Christ. When He calls us, we
come. He makes us willing in the day
of His power. Now look at verse 30. But when
Peter saw the wind, boisterous, strong, He was fearful, afraid,
and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. Save me. Now, if you're ever wondering,
sometimes when you're praying and sometimes when you're alone,
what to pray, three words. Lord, save me. Lord, save me. Lord, save me. He's the only one that can. I'm
a sinner. I need salvation. Like that publican
in the temple, he prayed seven words. Lord, be merciful to me,
the sinner. Let's shorten it. Here's three
words. Lord, save me. That's my prayer. Lord, save
me. He's the only one that can for
salvation is of the Lord. Is it not? Lord, save me. David often prayed that way.
A man after God's own heart for the Lord to save him. Listen
to this Psalm 109. Help me, Lord, my God. Oh, save
me according to your mercy. Jeremiah prayed that way. Heal
me, O Lord, and I shall be healed. Save me, and I shall be saved. For Thou art my praise, Thou
art my glory. Jeremiah 17, 14. Now look at
verse 31. What's going to happen? There's
the plea for mercy. And immediately the Lord stretched
forth His mighty hand, His almighty hand, His gracious hand, and
caught him and said, Why did you doubt, O thou little faith? Why did you doubt? The hand of Almighty God and
Savior, the hand of Almighty God our Savior is not shortened
that it cannot save. You remember the scripture from
Isaiah 59 verse 2, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened
that it cannot save, neither is His ear heavy that He cannot
hear. He has an Almighty hand to save
His people. None can say His hand or say
unto Him, What doest thou? Psalm 95, David said, He is our
God, We are the people of his pasture and we are the sheep
of his hand. No one can stay his hand. His
hand is mighty to save. The Lord always hears the cry
of his people. When they cry for mercy, he sends
it. The Lord has never turned a mercy
beggar away. He said, come boldly to the throne
of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help
in your time of need. And the Lord does rebuke him.
In verse 31, the last part, O ye of little faith. No wonder the
apostles later on, they prayed this way, Lord, increase our
faith. That's another good prayer, isn't
it? Lord, increase our faith. Increase our faith. Look at verse
32. And when they were come into
the ship, the wind stopped. Verse 31, verse 33. And then they that were in the
ship came and they worshipped Him. They came and they worshipped
Him, saying of a truth, Thou art God. Thou art the Son of
God. Thou art the Son of God. Thou art the One, the only One. When the Lord entered into the
ship, With the apostles, He caused the wind and the stormy sea to
cease. What manner of man is this that
the wind and the seas obey Him? Holy God and holy man. When the Lord enters into us
powerfully by His Lordship, He causes us to have great peace. and comfort in Christ being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now verse 33, and I love this
part here, they came and they worshipped. The only place a
sinner will worship is at the throne of the absolute sovereign
God. They worshipped Him. They worshipped
Him. True faith in Christ leads us
to true worship. to worship the true living God,
of a truth. Thou art the Son of God, or God
the Son. This trial increased their faith. They knew who he was, the Christ
of God. Now they know it just a little
bit stronger, don't they? Thou art the Son of God, the
second person of the blessed Trinity. God the Father, God
the Son, God the Holy Spirit, these three are one. One God
manifest in three distinct equal persons that make up the one
eternal Godhead. You remember 1 John 5 verse 7,
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, capital W, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us, the Word was God, The Word and the Holy Spirit, these three
are one. Now think about this. They worshipped
Him as God and they were not rebuked. Now remember John on
the Isle of Patmos in the book of Revelation? We've studied
this recently, but when John was on the Isle of Patmos and
he fell down before a heavenly creature, a heavenly angelic
being, he fell down to worship him, the angel said, the angel
rebuked him, said, don't worship me, you worship God. And on another
occasion, John did the same thing in Revelation 22. He fell down
before an angel to worship and the angel rebuked him. Don't
worship me, you worship God. Here, these apostles fall down
before the Lord Jesus Christ and worship Him as God and they're
not rebuked because He is God. He is God. He is God. Now, I'm going to quit with this. The last three verses, when they
were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. The Lord
now is back on the shore, back on the land, back doing the business
of the father. And when the men of that place
had knowledge of him, They sent out into all the country round
about and brought unto him all that were diseased. They heard
that this one is the physician of souls. They heard that this
one heals all who were sick, all that come to him in need,
he heals them. Verse 36, And they besought him
that they might only touch the hem of his garment, And as many
as touched were made perfectly whole. Complete. Complete. What a miracle. What a miracle. The Lord is gracious and full
of compassion. As many as touched Him were made
whole. You remember the woman who had
the issue of blood for 12 years? You remember she said in Matthew
chapter 9 verse 20, If I may but touch the hem of His garment,
I shall be made whole. And she touched His garment.
And immediately the Lord said, Virtue's gone out. She was made
whole. She was made whole that day. Perfectly whole. In Him dwells
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and we are complete. Perfectly whole in Christ. Redeemed body, soul, and spirit
in the Lord Jesus Christ.