Good morning, everyone. Turn in your Bibles to Matthew
14, please. It's Peter walking on water.
It's a familiar passage to us all, and one I found personally
very relevant so many times over the last few years. And as Angus
has preached through John 3, I've been reminded of it again,
as the Lord speaks to us about a look of faith, about looking
away from the earth and these earthy things and looking above
to Christ and Him crucified. You see, it's faith that sets
its mind, sets its eye on the things above, on heavenly things.
Faith trusts all salvation to the Lord Jesus Christ. In Genesis
3, we're infected by Satan's poison, that lie that encourages
us not to trust our God, but to rely on our knowledge and
ability rather than his grace for our salvation. And since
then, this world has just been full of snakes, full of the poison
of that lie. And as Angus mentioned in Numbers
21, even church is affected in some way by these lies. We're
surrounded by these snakes. And the people there in Numbers
21, as Angus said, were picking up manna from the ground and
they were collecting water from the rock and they were surrounded
by these snakes and afflicted at some time. But by God's grace
in Genesis 3, all the elements of this creation were set against
us, achieving salvation based on our wisdom and words. See,
we have struggles in everyday life. All of us do. But they're a gracious act of
God in our life. And whether we see it or not,
that is the truth. In Genesis 3, there was an enmity
set between the children of God and between Satan. And Satan
attacks us by attacking our faith. He already knows the futility
of our wisdom and work, doesn't he? That's why he contaminated
us with that lie in the first place. But the great battleground
has always been in regard to our faith. And why? because salvation comes through
faith, doesn't it? That's the way it works. So this
world is filled with many, many distractions. Every one of them
in some way or another take our eyes off Christ. We've all been
suffering with this COVID thing, you know, and whether we believe
in vaccination or don't believe in vaccination, either side involves
risks. difficulties and agonies to some
degree. But wherever you stand, if that
hasn't driven you to Christ, it of necessity has driven you
away from Christ. And what's next? China's on the
rise? How's that gonna impact us? How's
that gonna be in regard to our fellowship and our encouragement
of one another? Let's read Matthew 14 verses
22 to 33, and then we'll commit ourselves to the Lord. 22, and straightway Jesus constrained
his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him unto the
other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he
had sent multitudes away, he went up into a mountain to pray,
apart to pray. And when the evening was come,
he was alone there. 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.
But straightway Jesus spoke unto them, spoke unto them, saying,
be of good cheer. It is I, be not afraid. And Peter
answered him 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 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. 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
come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in
the ship came, sorry, then they that were in the ship came and
worshipped him, saying, of a truth, thou art the Son of God. Let's
just commit ourselves to the Lord and then we'll look at it
a bit closer. Heavenly Father, we truly are
sheep prone to wander from the fold of your love. We're children,
so easily ensnared by distractions. Father, we're babes and we need
to be corrected and we need to be brought back into your fold.
We need to save you desperately. Father, thank you that all that's
necessary for our salvation lies in your dear son, your precious
son. And if you're willing today, Heavenly Father, set our eyes
on Him. Take our eyes off the difficulties and struggles and
trials of this world and set them firmly on Him. And show
us, Heavenly Father, the purpose of our struggles. And show us
the value of faithful fellowship. Father, only You can do these
things and we pray that You fulfill that promise to walk amongst
us and impress Your Word deeply into our hearts. and cause our
lives to be changed by your influence, Heavenly Father. Only you can
do it, Heavenly Father, and we just commit it all to you in
the name of your dear and precious Son, for your glory's sake. Amen. Okay, in verse 22, we'll start. Salvation comes by the hearing
of the gospel, and when we've heard the gospel and when the
Lord's been pleased to save us, we're then constrained by our
God to enter a church. See, this ship is a beautiful
picture of the church, isn't it? We're fellows in a ship. We join a place that's like-minded,
that preaches the gospel faithfully, a place where we can continue
to hear the gospel Because the gospel not only saves us, it
sustains us. We need its power constantly
in our lives. But as we know, the gospel is
a sort of division, isn't it? And while there is a remnant
saved, there's a multitude that'll be repelled by the revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to remember that it's
he himself who sends the multitudes away. And then where's our Saviour? Well, we're gathered together
in this little fellowship here on the earth. Verse 23. And when he'd sent the multitudes
away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray. And when the evening
was come, he was there alone. Our Saviour's in heaven, isn't
he? He's interceding for us. The
gathering of the saints can't be separated from the advocacy
of our Saviour before the throne of grace. We desperately need
it. And why do we desperately need
this intercession, verse 24? But the ship was now in the midst
of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. This sea is a great picture in
the scriptures of the world and all the tribulation and turmoil
and all the consequences of sin. And the church is still in the
midst of that sea. It's in the midst of the world
and it's buffeted by the many, many distractions that would
weaken our faith and dissolve our fellowship if possible. See,
that's Satan's desire, isn't it? He wants to devour us. through
unbelief. And thankfully, in the first
few chapters of Job, we read that Satan's activities are restricted.
They're restricted by our God. They're restricted by the eternal
covenant. And that makes the difficult
circumstances of our lives, and Satan himself, servants of our
spiritual wellbeing. The other thing I want you to
notice in that verse is the sea is tossed because of the wind. And we've seen in John 3 that
the wind's representative of the Holy Spirit. Our God is sovereign
over every single event that's ever happened in this world.
And we need to be reminded of it desperately, constantly, because
we're children that are prone to forget. In verse 25, in the
fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking on the
sea. Now the fourth watch is usually
morning. It's that period between three
and six a.m. It's the period as the dark fades. It represents the end of our
difficulties. The time when our trials have
reached their intended purpose. It's then that the Lord comes
to us in sovereignty, walking above the things of this world.
We know our God's sovereign. We know that he's purposely brought
these things into our lives. And he's done so for one reason,
to grow us in our faith dependence upon him. Hebrews 12 talks about
chastisement leading to holiness, but it's holiness grasped by
the hand of faith. These difficulties grow us in
our faith. Verse 26, and when the disciples
saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is
a spirit. And they cried out for fear.
This is the church being tried collectively. we're one body
and we struggle together in these worldly issues often. And initially
we don't see Christ in our trials. Initially we don't see his sovereignly
ordering them. Our first response usually is
our fleshly response. And by nature We blame evil, don't we? We blame some sort of element
of this world as being to blame and we give too much credit to
evil. And finally we come undone and
we become emptied of our own wisdom, emptied of our strength,
and in weakness we cry out for salvation. And it's a great place
to be. And what does our Lord do when
our trials have served their purpose, when they've brought
us back to that desperate look of faith? 27, straightway Jesus spoke unto
them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I. Be not afraid. By grace, our Saviour now reveals
himself. By grace, he now reminds us of
His sovereignty over even our greatest trials. And what do
we do? When we're encouraged, what do
we do? We're renewed in our faith and we venture to trust on Him
individually. As feeble as we are in our situations,
we trust Him. In verse 28, Peter answered and
said unto him, Lord, if it be thou bid me to come unto thee
on the water. See, now the trial becomes personal,
doesn't it? As we leave church, we go from
here individually. We enter this world encouraged
by the fellowship. We go strengthened in our faith.
We go drawing near to our savior. And by his grace, we go viewing
this world and all its trials from a heavenly perspective. And if our Lord's willing, we
go in his strength. Verse 29, and he said, come,
and when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on
water to go to Jesus. The trials of this world and
the encouragement of faithful fellowship all serve to grow
our faith. They don't grow our natural discernment. They don't grow our natural ability.
They grow our faith. And as we go in faith, our Lord
meets us. He walks with us in the earth,
individually, personally, privately. He opens the eyes of our understanding. He reveals himself to be sovereign
over all things. and He guides and directs us,
sometimes in the most amazing ways. And while our eyes are
on Him, we rise above this world and we rise above our difficulties. Doesn't mean that we don't have
struggles, but we just look at them differently, and it's true. But, verse 30, but, When he saw
the wind boisterous, he was afraid, beginning to sink, he cried saying,
Lord, save me. I don't know about you guys,
but this is the story of my life here. As soon as we begin to
look back at the world, as soon as we give too much credit to
the things going on around us, as soon as we take our eyes off
our savior, we become distracted. We become overwhelmed. and we
sink under the gravity of our circumstances. However, by God's
grace, even these falls and fails have a perfect purpose. We know from our initial salvation
and from continued faithful fellowship that there's only one source
of true salvation, So at the perfect timing of our God, we
cry out to our Saviour again. Verse 31. And immediately Jesus
stretched forth his hand and called him and said unto him,
O thou of little faith, wherefore did thou doubt? You notice there's
no delay with our Saviour. The cry of faith dependence is
not only the purpose, but the fruition of the trial. These
trials are tests for our understanding. Our Lord already knows how weak
we are. He knows the heart of man. He knows what's in man.
And it's a great question that the Lord asked, isn't it? And
it's a question we should all continue to ask ourselves regularly. O thou of little faith, wherefore
didst thou doubt? And more than that, the answer's
contained in the question, isn't it? Little faith. We believe, Heavenly Father,
but please help us in our unbelief. It's no wonder that Peter says
that these trials of our faith are precious. In verse 32, we read, and when
they were coming to the ship, the wind ceased. When the Holy
Spirit's work's done, when our faith has been tested and grown,
when our Savior is with us, We come back into fellowship and
we witness of the grace and salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ in the
midst of our own personal trials. And just look there, it's they
came into the ship. When we come and we witness to
our brothers and sisters of the grace that we've received in
church, our Saviour comes with us, doesn't he? He inhabits our
praises. and he comes refreshing the souls
of those we witnessed to. And what's the result? Verse
33. Then they that were in the ship
came and worshipped him, saying of a truth, thou art the Son
of God. Our testimony in church then
encourages our brothers and sisters to look to the Lord in their
own trials. It inspires them to acknowledge
him and his sovereignty in their own difficulties. Now, I looked
at this passage and I was gonna speak about a personal trial
and a personal encouragement to faith and it's obviously in
there, but I didn't think of this passage as a collective
thing and I think we need to see it. I think it's been wonderful
to see that It speaks to us powerfully as a church. It begins and it
ends with a message to all of us collectively. The salvation
of one member of the body is enough to make the whole body
rejoice. Church, our fellowship, our relationships,
should have just one priority, gospel encouragement in the law. And the distractions of this
world, they shouldn't stop that. They shouldn't even impair it.
Worldly peripherals, oh, actually, just turn in your Bibles to Matthew
13. Mark 13, sorry. Worldly peripheries like conspiracies,
government directives, the many issues of life, our own personal
trials. They're just platforms designed
by our God to redirect our views back to our Saviour. In Mark
13, the disciples ask, they begin by asking for a sign. The flesh
always wants a sign. Question is what we do with it
when we do get a sign. In verse three and four. And
as he sat upon the Mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter
and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, tell us,
when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign all
these things shall be fulfilled? And in the process of the conversation,
the Lord does tell them things soon to come. And then he says
in verse 28 to 31, now learn a parable of the fig tree. When
a branch is yet tender and put forth leaves, you know that summer
is near. So ye in like manner, when you
shall see these things come to pass, know that it is near, even
at the doors. Verily I say unto you that this
generation shall not pass away until all these things are done.
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. So the Lord tells him all these
things that are gonna come, but then he says, in 32 and 33, then
he reminds them that they can't actually know the exact date.
So he gives them something to do, to watch and to pray. But of that day and that hour
knoweth no man, no, not angels which are in heaven, neither
the sun, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray,
for ye know not when the time is. You see, watching shouldn't
lead us to carnal activity. It should lead us to prayer,
and praying's looking to Christ, isn't it? Praying's looking for
Him in the difficulties and in the trials and the things that
we experience. We observe these things, but
do they drive us to the throne of grace, or do they drive us
to activity based on our own discernment? You see, carnal
discernment, it automatically leads to carnal activity. And
we're already lost, brothers and sisters, at carnal discernment
if it doesn't direct us to a look of faith. And I think this is
what the Lord means by sleeping in 35 and 36. He says, For you know not when the master
of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock
crowing, or in the morning, lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say
unto all. Watch. As a body, each one of us has
an obligation to the souls of our brethren. It's not a legal
obligation. It's an obligation of love. It's
something that God works in the inner man. It's a love for the
brethren, for the brotherhood. In John 15, verse 13, the Lord
tells us, Now he is talking about what he's gonna do at the cross,
but we have his nature in us, don't we? And so we put aside
the trials and the difficulties of our lives to come together
and encourage each other, to strengthen each other. And what
does love of souls look like if it's not witnessing the truth
of the gospel to one another? If it's not compelling each other
to look away from this world, to look away from the troubles
and to draw near to God in our Lord Jesus Christ. In John 13, he talks about foot
washing, and I'm sure that Angus will cover it in detail when
we get there, Lord willing, when we get there. But it's about
washing the dirt and the dust of this world off each other's
feet. That's about encouraging each other in the truth of the
gospel. And I pray that our gracious
God would work mightily in our lives and give us all the strength
to do that. So let's pray. Heavenly Father,
thank you that you are truly, truly a loving and kind God to
your people. And I just thank you so much
for all your provision in you, Son. I thank you for the work
of your Holy Spirit over and above this world and in our hearts. And I thank you that all things
have been ordered and directed by your will, Father, for our
good. I just pray that you would just
cause us to know that over and over again. And I'm sorry that
you have to do that over and over again, but it's such a good
thing for us, Heavenly Father. Remind us and refresh our souls
with the truth of the gospel. Energise us, energise us in faith
and grow us in the grace and knowledge of our great and mighty
King, our Lord Jesus Christ. Commit ourselves to your Father
in his name for your glory,