So Lord, may you graciously help
me, I would turn your prayerful attention to Matthew's Gospel,
chapter 14, and reading for a text, verse 22, although I do want
to go through the account of Jesus walking on the water and
all that that meant. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 14,
and verse 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. Matthew's Gospel
chapter 14 and verse 22. So we have before us this account
of the storm that the disciples went into by the command of the
Lord Jesus. And I want really to look at
this, first of all, that Jesus was there at the beginning of
this trial. He constrained them to enter
into this trial. It was not something that they
conjured up. It was his appointment. And we think our lives, you see,
are appointed by God. And then I want to look also
of how the Lord was with them in the midst of the storm, although
they did not realise it. And then to look at that Jesus
came to them in his physical bodily presence, and delivered
them out of their great distress. So we think of the Lord's presence
then with his people. Now the context as we've read
of this account is that the Lord Jesus had just fed 5,000 men
beside women and children, so a great vast multitude of people,
and Really, we need to go to John's account, because this
account is given in three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and John. In John's
account of this, which is John chapter 6, we read these very
important words. After the feeding of the 5,000,
in John 6 verse 14, then those men, whom when they had seen
the miracle that Jesus did, 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 to make him a king,
he departed again into a mountain himself alone. So there we have
really the background as to what was going on here. Jesus had
just done this miracle, and they wanted to make Jesus their earthly
king. They thought, well, if this Jesus
can produce food miraculously in such a way, we want this Jesus
to be our king, our earthly king. But Jesus said, my kingdom, you
see, is not of this world. He did not come to be an earthly
bread king, to give them wealth, as it were, and provide just
in a natural way. He came on a different mission.
You see, it was the cross. before the crown, not the crown
before the cross. He was going to have to go the
way of the cross before he received a crown. And that crown would
be a far greater crown than these could have ever given him. You
see, it was Jesus' appointment that he should be a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief. He should not, as it were, become,
as it were, a king in earthly sense to fight against the Romans,
which is what they wanted. And so here we have the background,
really. And straightway Jesus constrained
his disciples to get into a ship. So the reason he was so keen
on getting them to go into this ship and to get them to go away
was because, you see, they wanted to make him king and no doubt
the disciples would have been great men in that kingdom as
well. They would have had a high position.
and even in Acts, the first chapter of Acts and verse 6, we read
then that even the disciples at that point were wondering
whether the kingdom of God is going to come now. It says, and
when therefore They would come again, they asked of him, saying,
Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom of
Israel? You see, even after his resurrection, they still had
thoughts of an earthly kingdom. But Jesus' kingdom was not an
earthly kingdom. It was a heavenly kingdom. He
was going to be King of kings and Lord of lords, but not on
an earthly throne. He was going to be truly God. He was God. and therefore he
was going to rightly take that crown. And straightway Jesus
constrained his disciples to get into a ship. So there was,
at the beginning then, the reason Jesus needed to constrain the
disciples was because they were probably, wouldn't have thought
it was a bad idea for them to be, for him to be a king and
they could be high up in his kingdom. But Jesus was not having
this. This was not his purpose. He
constrained them to get into a ship. So we see at the commencement
of this trial, and it was a trial for the disciples, it was a difficult
time. They were told to go into the
sea and then they find that all night they're toiling and rowing. It was a difficult night. We
find that it wasn't until the fourth watch of the night that
Jesus joined them. Well, the fourth watch of the
night is between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. And it was not yet
dark before they went and started this boat sailing across the
Lake of Galilee. So they were in that boat for
many, many hours. And we read in another gospel
that when they were in the midst of the sea they travelled something
like three miles, 20 or 30 furlons we read, something like three
miles. So for many hours they'd been
toiling, that the wind was against them, many difficulties. And
perhaps in your life you see you might be in difficulties,
in storms, with a headwind against you and you don't know how to
continue. Well, this is where the disciples were in this account.
And I want to trace God's presence, or the Lord Jesus' presence,
with his disciples passing through those difficulties. You see,
and that's the point. We are to travel through much
tribulation. It's through it. It's not getting
stuck in it. It's going through, through much tribulation. But
they were going to come out the other end, and the disciples
did. And what was the result of all this? What was the result
of this night at the end, when they arrived safe at the other
side of the land? Well, we read that there was
worship in verse 33. And then they that were in the
ship came and worshipped him, saying of a truth, Thou art the
Son of God. So are the trials that we're
passing through, Is that the objective? Is that what God has
in mind? You see, it was then, as we think
of this trial then, the Lord was behind it. He was the appointer. It was not the disciples' idea
to get into the boat at this time towards the evening. It was not their idea. It was
the Lord constrained them. The God was behind it. And that's
important, you see, that our lives are appointed by God. And there is appointments for
each of us. It is appointed unto men once to die and after death,
the judgment. These are appointments that cannot
be missed. They cannot be postponed. They
cannot be shunned. It's God's appointments. And
this was an appointment for the disciples. But you see, The Lord
Jesus appoints these things. He is a sovereign ruler of the
skies. He has everything at His control.
He's not just in control of people, He's in control of the elements.
He's in control of the wind and the waves. And everything is
His control. And the thoughts of man and everything
is in His sovereign control. And so we read, you see, how
that in that Psalm 107, it says that very clearly, for he commandeth
and raiseth the stormy wind which lifteth up the waves thereof. What's the comfort in that for
you and me this morning? What is the comfort in that?
Well, the comfort is that God is behind everything. Well, you
might say, but surely it's, I've got difficulties in my life.
There's this problem, there's that problem. Do you think it's
outside God's control? You might say, but in the case
of Job, Satan was performing all these evils to come into
his life. But it was still under God's ultimate check. God only gave him certain limits
to work in, which he could not. He was a chained foe, Satan was. And you see, in your life, God
is in control and God is orchestrating these things. And what a blessing
it is if the purpose of them and the result of them and the
fruit of them is worship to God. And is that in your life? Is
there that aim, as it were, to bring worship to God? But what
a difficulty, what a trial, what a storm, what a fearfulness that
there was in between. So Jesus constrained his disciples
to get into the ship. He knew that there was going
to be a storm. He knew all that lay before them, but he constrained
them to go into that ship. It was his appointment. And he,
you see, organized the storm. God is in control of it all.
We see that so much in the life of Jonah. Jonah was told to go
to Nineveh, that great city, and preach the preaching that
I bid thee. But Jonah knew he would go another way. He would
go a different way. He would go to Tarshish. We read many times in Jonah that
the Lord raised up the wind, and he raised up the whale, and
he raised up the gourd to cover Jonah, and he raised up a worm
to destroy that gourd. The whole way through the book
of Jonah we see God is majestically in control. And you see that
will still the storm somewhat, should it not, in our lives if
we see our difficulties are under the hand of God. Not just this
awkward person, that person doing something, this tremendous storm
that's come in my life which is to do with the weather conditions
that we have at the moment. No, God is in control. Yes, all these things played
their part, but God was ultimately in control. So Jesus was at the
beginning of this whole account. Jesus was the one, and he is
the author, you see, and the finisher of our faith. He is
the beginning. In the beginning, God. Nothing before him. Everything
comes from God. Our greatest sorrows and joys,
as it were, they're all in the beginning God. God is behind
it all. And he has a purpose of love
and mercy for those that are in Christ. Those who flee for
refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before them in the gospel.
Those that cry out for mercy to realize their need. There
is the gospel to be preached. to each one, that they may know
the blessing of God. mention this, that as we think
of the trials that we pass through, if you take in our congregation,
different people have different things that they pass through.
Some have trouble in this area of health, and some have trouble
in their business in this area perhaps, and different people
have different problems. We don't all pass through the
same problems. You see, God is sovereign. He
is in control. He selects trials. You see, the
disciples had just been really blessed. They had been involved
in this miracle of handing out to 5,000 men and women and children. Jesus had broken the bread and
given it to the disciples and they had distributed it. They
had had a great blessing. It was a very great privilege
for them to be involved in the work of the Lord. Paul said,
I was caught up into the third heaven. I saw things that it
was not possible to mention, they were so glorious. But lest
I should be exhorted above measure, there was given unto me a thorn
in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should
be exhorted above measure. Paul is saying basically there's
a balancing of the clouds. Yes, you've been used, disciples,
greatly in the feeding of the 5,000, but now you've got to
come to a difficult pathway. You've got to come to a storm.
You've got to come with your life, as it were, seeming to
be in the scales, not certain whether the ship would sink or
no. And therefore, you see, God is
in in control. God is in the selection of our
trials and in the timing of our trials. He's in control of it
all. And what a mercy. And may we
then, this morning, think of that in our trials, in our difficulties,
instead of thinking, well, it's that person that started it.
If that person hadn't said this, then the whole trial would never
have happened. But is that person the beginning?
The Bible says, in the beginning, God. God is the prime mover. And yes, the secondary causes,
and yes, there was things that give us much trouble and we're
very sad about them at times, but ultimately it's a great blessing
if we can see that God is ultimately in control. That he has allowed
Satan, allowed people, perhaps to give us great trouble, allowed
this wind to blow up into a mighty rage just when the disciples
were in the midst of the sea. but he has allowed it. So Jesus
was there at the commencement. It was not their decision. They were going in obedience
to God, obedience to their Lord. So, and he sent the multitudes
away, and he went up into a mountain apart to pray. When the evening
was come, he was there alone. So Jesus had gone away to pray
with his father. Surely, you see, there was a
temptation that he should take an earthly crown. But no, his
crown, you see, was to do his father's will. He'd not come
to be an earthly king. He was going to pray to his father,
commune with his father, to be alone with the one he loved.
And his disciples were to make their way or start their way
going across the sea. But we read in verse 24, but
the ship was now in the midst of the sea. tossed with waves
for the wind was contrary. So where is Jesus now? The storm has come. The wind
has got up. The waves are now high. The boat
is now being tossed about in the waves. You see, in John's gospel, we
have these very telling words, and he entered into a ship and
went over the sea towards Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus
was not come to them. And the sea arose by reason of
a great wind that blew. So they had many discouragements.
They had the darkness, it was night, and no doubt they'd had
a busy day, but now there wasn't going to be much sleep this night.
They were going to be rowing all night, it seemed. Well, certainly
at least to three o'clock in the morning. And it could have
been any time between three and six that the Lord came. He came
in the fourth watch, so sometime in that period. And so they had
rowed three miles basically out into the sea. It was dark. The wind was blowing, the storm
was raging, and you see Jesus himself was not there. So we
are in a storm, we're in a difficulty, but we look back and we think,
but Jesus constrained us to get into this ship. And we were told
to go to the other side, but the wind was contrary. The wind
was not favourable. It was not behind them, blowing
them into their desired haven. It was contrary. It was opposite.
It was against them. And we do not read that the disciples
took a decision to turn the boat round and sail back to where
they came from. If the wind was in the wrong
direction, they didn't give up. They continued rowing. against
the storm, but yet they could realize that they were getting
nowhere. They were not, as it were, beating
the wind. They were not making headway.
And Jesus was not there with them. But where was he? Well,
you see, to the Lord's people, they notice the absence, the
felt presence of their Lord. If he's absent, they do not feel
his felt presence with them. They feel that. That's a great
concern. And surely is not that the greatest sorrow to them,
that Jesus was not yet come to them? They had this storm, they
had this difficulty, but Jesus wasn't there. You see, there
were those times when there was a storm and Jesus was with them
in the boat, but now he was not with them. And it didn't seem
humanly possible that he could get to them. But of course, he's
sovereign Lord of all. And he doesn't need to, he can
suspend the laws of nature that say, You can't have a human walking
on water. No, he's able to suspend that
and to come to where his people are for their blessing and their
benefit. So Jesus was absent from them. They felt it. And you see, it's
a great sorrow when the Lord's people cannot feel his presence
with them. Job said, oh, that I knew where
I might find him, that I might come even unto his footstool,
that I might order my cause aright before him. Job wanted to find
God. He couldn't understand what was
going on in his life. But we read at the beginning
that was all ordered by God. Job didn't probably understand
it all, no doubt. But we can read it. And we can
see here that the disciples then were in this distress. Jesus
had not yet come. But you see, what are we to do
then when the wind's contrary? You see, if you judged your course
of your life by providence, surely you would conclude that it was
God's will for you to turn back and go back to where you came
from. The wind was contrary. Providence is saying, go back
the other way. But what is more important It's the Word of God. They had the Word of God from
the Lord that said, go into the ship and go to the other side.
They were given strict commands to go to the other side, not
to turn around and come back. And they kept at it. And you
see, we need to do that, you see, when the troubles come.
We're to go back to what God has told us. What God has told
us to do. We're to go back to it and to
think, well, what has God told me to do? And yes, there's difficulties. Yes, there's storms. Yes, I don't
know how to get round them. And I don't feel his presence
with me. What shall I do? Well, who is among you that feareth
the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant? You see, they
were obeying the voice of the Lord, that walketh in darkness. and hath no light." Well, they
were in darkness. They didn't have any light. They
were in the midst of the sea. Their life was in danger. And Jesus had not yet come. You see, for the Lord's people,
whether God is there or not there, makes everything, makes all the
difference. In thy presence I am happy. In
thy presence I am secure. In thy presence all afflictions
I can easily endure. They want the presence of their
God. They fear his absence. But they need to then trust in
the Lord. They need to stay upon the word
of God, and we need to do that in our lives. We need to trust
in Him, that He would appear for us, that He would come, that
God would come and appear for them in ways that they could
not understand. But you see, although they felt
the absence of Him, we need to turn to Mark's account of this
to find out a clear statement that they were not out of Jesus'
sight. If you look in Mark chapter 6
and verse 48, on the same account it says, And he saw them toiling
in rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them. and about the fourth
watch of the night he cometh unto them walking upon the sea."
You see, we have there in a clear account that yes, he physically
wasn't with them, he wasn't there in his bodily presence, but his
eye was upon them. And it's not this a picture you
see. He was in prayer up the top of a mountain praying. No
doubt his prayers were towards these disciples in their distress. The disciples in their contrary
wind. The disciples in their questioning,
well why did Jesus send us on such a dangerous journey? Surely
did he not know that the weather was going to be so difficult?
Did he not know how dangerous the sea was going to be tonight?
all these questions. But you see, he saw them toiling
in rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them, and about the fourth
watch of the night he cometh unto them. The fourth watch,
the darkest part of the night, just before dawn, he comes to
them in the darkness, he comes to them in all their distress. But you see, later on in this same account,
We read in verse 52 of Mark 6, 52 of Mark 6, for they considered
not the miracle of the loaves, for
their hearts were hardened. So we read that at this time,
the disciples' hearts were hardened. They hadn't really taken in the
impact of what Jesus had done on the miracle of the feeding
of the 5,000. They didn't really grasp the
magnitude of the miracle. They were hard. They did not
realize it. And you see, when hearts are
hard, and we're not warm in the things of God, then everything
that comes towards us we picture as being against us. You think
of Jacob when he had these accounts come back that when he sent his
sons to Egypt to buy corn and then he finds out that Simeon
has been bound in Egypt He already believes he's lost Joseph. He
then gets a demand that he has to give Benjamin up. And he says
something that you could understand. He says, all these things are
against me. All of them are against me. Everything,
every one of them is militating against me. But they weren't.
They were all a great plan to give him a great blessing. And
it was so, you see, when the Lord Jesus came to these disciples,
it was for their relief, but they didn't take it that way.
Their greatest fear in the whole of this night was when Jesus
walked to them and they saw him walking on the waters and didn't
believe it was Jesus. They saw him. They thought it
was a spirit. They thought it was something
of perhaps the devil or something that was coming to deal with them, as if they had
nearly passed into death themselves. They feared this ghost, as it
were, as they thought it was. But you see, it was all the time
it was Jesus coming to them. And how often the things that
might be for our blessing, we construe them to be for our ill. You think of Mary, Mary when
she went to the tomb early in the morning. and the body was
not there. Well that should have been, if
you could say, with living faith, that would have been a positive,
it would have been a proof, an indication that Christ had risen
from the dead. But no, she took it all the wrong
way. She took it, they've taken away my Lord. It was now more
bad news. Not only had her beloved died,
he'd now even been stolen. But it wasn't true. You see,
Jesus, turns round and says unto her, Mary. And she says, Rabboni. She suddenly realizes that this
which she sought was against her, was not against her. It was Jesus coming and coming
to her. So Jesus came to them and You
see, we don't always realise his presence. We don't always
realise. We can't cope with it. We think
that the things that he is doing is more bad news sometimes. But the Lord was coming and doing
them good. And then, of course, in Matthew's
Gospel is the only one that mentions the account of Peter saying,
if it be thou bid me come to thee on the water and he said
come and then Peter of course then run walks out onto the water
and the same as Jesus did, and how his great faith, his desire
was to come to his Lord. It's similar to the account in
some ways in John 21, after the resurrection, when they had caught
that hundred and so on, many fish, that breakfast morning,
and Jesus was on the beach with the coal fires. And when John
realized it was the Son of God, it was Jesus on the shore, Peter
rushed out of the boat and swam to shore. He left the fishes.
They were not important. He wanted his Lord and Master
and Saviour. Peter's love, you see, for the
Lord. His love for his Saviour. And
yet, of course, as we know, after seeing the boisterousness of
the waves, he then becomes fearful. But the Lord, you see, he saves
him. He saves him. But you see, he
didn't come out the boat before. He'd asked the Lord, if it be
thou, bid me come to thee on the water. And he said, come.
And when Peter was come out of the ship, he walked on the water
to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous,
he was afraid and began to sink. He cried out, Lord, save me. And you see, in our distresses,
we need to cry out to the living God. And we read that, you see,
in Psalms. They reel to and fro and stagger
like a drunken man and are at their wits end. Then they cry
unto the Lord in their trouble and he bringeth them out of their
distresses. It was Jesus that brought them
out. It wasn't their toiling and rowing. It was right that
they should toil and row. It was right that they should
continue rowing towards the side that Jesus had told them. It
was right for them to do it. But that isn't what saved them.
It was the Lord Jesus coming and doing them good. They cried unto the Lord in their
trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distress. He maketh
the storm a calm, so that the waves are of a still." And we
read that when Jesus came into the boat, and in John's Gospel
it says that they welcomed him into the boat, they wanted him
to come into the boat. And once he came into the boat,
you see, it was calm. And in Mark's account, it says,
he made as if he would have gone past them, like those two on
the road to Emmaus, where Jesus made as if he would have gone
further. But they constrained him, saying, abide with us. It
is toward evening. The day is far spent. Abide with
us. And they stayed with him. And
that's when he broke the bread, and they realized who he was. So, Jesus, you see, was there
at the beginning of this trial. He was there in spirit in the
midst of the storm. He wasn't physically with them,
and we don't have Jesus physically with us in the boat. but to know
that he ever liveth to make intercession for his people. We read specifically
that he saw them, and I don't believe he could have seen them
with his natural eye. They were three miles out at
sea. It was a dark night. It was the eye of faith, surely.
The eyes of the Lord was able to see the disciples in their
distress. As he knows all things and as
he knows our troubles, our sorrows, he knew the timing was perfect. He was doing it all. for this
end, so that they may come to know him and come to appreciate
who he was. And immediately Jesus stretched
forth his hand and caught him, that's Peter, and said, O thou
of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they'd come
into the ship, the wind ceased. And then they that were in the
ship came and worshipped him, saying, of a truth thou art the
Son of God. And in John's Gospel, it records
another miracle, that immediately he got into the ship and there
was a calm and they were immediately at the land, the side that they
wanted to go at. And they weren't left, as it
were, in the midst of the sea. They didn't have to row the rest
of the way back, even without the wind. They were immediately
at the side they wanted to be. So he bringeth them into their
desired haven. Then they are glad because they
be quiet, so he bringeth them into their desired haven. You see, the Lord is with them
right through the trial. And we need to grasp that in
our lives, that God is in control of our lives, and we are to listen
to his word. Obviously, in this case, Jesus
told them to go, and in Jonah's case, He went against what God
had told him to do, but God still brought him back. God still brought
him with all his trouble and all the discomforts that he knew
in the belly of the whale. But God brought him back. And
so we have to see that our times are in his hand, our lives are
in his hand. And as Jesus was able to come to them in their
extremity, come to them when they couldn't think that he could
come to them at all because they considered not the miracle of
the loaves. They didn't realize that this was the Son of God.
This was the one that can suspend the laws of nature, the one that
speaks and the sea is calm and the wind stops blowing. This
was the Almighty God. This was the one that they were
dealing with, and yet they did not realise it, and yet they
limited the Holy One of Israel. They limited Him, and so often
we can. We limit what He can do. He can
do this much. This is within the rules of what
we expect God can do, but no more. but he is what he is declared
to be, the sovereign ruler of the skies. He does, Nebuchadnezzar
had to say this, he does whatsoever he will in the armies of heaven
and amongst the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his
hand or say unto him, what doest thou? So we have this lovely
account of These disciples getting constrained to go into this way.
This was a difficult way. This was a difficult night for
them. But Jesus constrained them. And by constraining them into
this way, he was saving them from other trials. If they'd
have been on the land and been involved in trying to make him
king, you see, they'd have had different troubles. God selects
our troubles. He's in control. at the beginning
of our lives, as it were, and beginning of the pathway. He's
the author. He chooses, as it were, what
trials that we would pass through. They didn't pass through that
trial on the land that they might have done if they'd have been
left on the land. But they had a trial at the sea,
and they had to see his wonders in the deep. They had to realise
that this God was not just in control of men, in control of
food, but he was in control of every element. The wind and the
waves were at his control. And so they are today. That hasn't
changed. You see, I am the Lord, I change
not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. And may we then be encouraged
in our lives that we may realise that this One is able to save
unto the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. This One that
could walk upon the waves, This one that could put out his hand
and save Peter in his hour of extremity, of hour of great need,
and the moment that he was sinking. This is the Almighty God. And yet in Hebrews, you see,
we read also that he was touched with the feelings of our infirmities. You see, if you just had this
account of Jesus walking on the water, you might think, but he
doesn't understand what it is to be where I am. He doesn't
understand what it is to be in a ship and be in Nye to be sinking. He doesn't understand the difficulties
of going under the waves. He doesn't understand what it
is not to have this supernatural power of being able to walk on
the waves. He doesn't understand me. Do you see, when it comes to
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we can never say that. If we
turn to Psalm 69. In Psalm 69 we have these words,
Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there
is no standing. I am come into deep waters, where
the floods overflow me." Who are these words? Who are these
speaking of? We could say, with the eunuch,
speaketh the prophet of himself or of some other man. Well, this
psalm is clearly a messianic psalm of the Lord Jesus Christ
and what he passed through. And therefore, you see, we have
to realise that the only way he could extend his hand of mercy
to his disciples, the only way he could stand in their place
and be unto them all that he was in those stormy seas, was because he was going to know
what it was. to tread the winepress alone.
He was going to know what it was for all the waves and the
billows to go over him. He was going to know what it
was to be rejected, to be despised. He knows what it was so that
he would say to his father, my God, my God, Why hast thou forsaken me? You
see, he knew the hidings of his father's face. He knew the depths. He knew the extremity. And he
knew it so he could be a blessing to his church. Because, you see,
he received that wrath of God against
sin, against the sin of his church. It was spent on Christ. It satisfied
itself in his death and in what he endured at Calvary. And therefore,
you see, there is therefore now no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus. So these, so us today that are
true Christians, we can realise that the Lord has suffered. has passed beneath the waves
the wrath of God so that he can give eternal life. He could not
give eternal life, you see, if he had not suffered beneath those
waves, as it were. If he had not endured the wrath
of God, he could not save his people. and be just. He couldn't save
his people and be a truthful God because he would have said
the soul that sins it shall die and then he would say to others
that were sinners that were come short of the glory of God that
they didn't need to die. He would be inconsistent. It
would be a travesty of truth. God is the God of truth. I am
the way, the truth, and the life. And the one that says, come unto
me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest, is because he has endured the curse of God. And he has
sunk beneath those waves, so that his church should never
sink beneath them, so that they should ride and be kept, so that
they should be brought to their desired haven. So he had to tread
the winepress alone. And you see, that is why the
Church of God love Christ. Because he is everything to them.
Because he has stood in their place. Because he has saved them
in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. Because he has done
it out of love for his church. He has not left them to go in
their own way. but he has brought them back
to God and made himself precious to them and they love him and
seek to serve him. And so we have then in the end
of our account, then they that were in the ship
came and worshipped him saying of a truth. Thou art the Son
of God. You see, this is an act of worship. This is an act of recognition.
We didn't realise this. We didn't realise that Jesus
was indeed that. We realised he had some powers,
but we didn't realise that he truly was the Son of God. And
we don't realise often in our trials. We don't realise that
the one who created this world out of nothing, It is the God
of his people and the God that can open his hand and walk upon
the water and do everything that they stand in need of. And yet,
to make a way of salvation for his church, he could not say,
let there be salvation and there was salvation. He needed to tread
that winepress. He needed to receive the sword
of divine justice against him so that his church could know
the blessings. that are in Christ. May the Lord
add his blessing. Amen.