Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I am going to be speaking to
you today from Matthew chapter 14. Matthew chapter 14. There is a song that we sing
in the congregation here that says, in loving kindness, the
Lord Jesus came, my soul in mercy to reclaim. And from the depths
of sin and shame, through grace, he lifted me. In just a moment, we're going
to see that that was Peter's confession, the apostle Peter,
that was his confession. And my prayer is that. We see
that to be our confession. I pray we see that that is the
heart of the gospel. That right there is the heart
of the gospel, where we were. What we were. and what Christ
did to save us. That's the heart of the gospel. Now, the heart of this message
is a three-word prayer that Peter cried out. He cried it from the
depths of his soul. He cried it at the end of verse
30 here in Matthew 14, three words. He said, Lord, save me. three-word prayer, Lord, save
me. Save me. I pray the Lord might
truly open that prayer up to us and show us what it means,
what it really means, what Peter was really crying in that. Lord,
save me. Now, let's read the story and
see what caused Peter to cry this. It begins in verse 22,
Matthew 14, verse 22. It says. In straightway, Jesus
constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before
him unto the other side while he sent the multitude away. The Lord Jesus Christ, who is
God, as we go through the scriptures together, we're going to constantly
see and be reminded of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is
God. God manifest in the flesh. God himself, the almighty, the
king and the judge of the throne of heaven, the highest God, that's
who he is. THE HIGHEST GOD. AND YES, WE'RE
TALKING ABOUT JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE HIGHEST GOD. HE TOLD HIS
DISCIPLES TO GET INTO A SHIP. HE SAID, I WANT YOU TO GET INTO
THIS SHIP AND GO TO THE OTHER SIDE, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SEA. AND HE SAID HE WOULD MEET THEM
ON THE OTHER SIDE. NOW, HERE'S THE FIRST THING I
WANT US TO ENTER INTO. That was God's doing. God ordered
that. He's the one who told them to
do that. He started and he controlled
everything that's about to happen. Everything that we're about to
read here. Verse 22 says, straightway, Jesus constrained his disciples
to get into a ship and to go before him unto the other side
while he sent the multitude away. Verse 23 says, And when he had
sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart
to pray. And when the evening was come,
he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst
of the sea, in the middle of the sea, tossed with the waves,
for the wind was contrary. The wind was very contrary. Now,
here's what I want us to enter into. God did that. God did that. God was the one
who tossed their ship. People look at that naturally
and say, oh, Mother Nature really, you know, was going strong. No,
no, no. God was going strong. People look at that and say,
oh, they had an unlucky stroke of being in the middle of the
sea at that moment. No, no, no. That was all ordained. God did that. God orders and
controls all things. God was the one who raised the
wind and the waves. GOD DID THAT. IF YOU TURN ON
YOUR TELEVISION AND YOU SEE THAT SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD THE WIND
AND THE WAVES ARE GOING STRONG, RAGING STRONG, JUST REMEMBER
GOD DID THAT. He's the one who raises the wind. He's the one who raises the waves. If you want to read that for
yourself in Psalm 107, it says in verse 24, these see the works
of the Lord, talking about those who do business out in the depths
of the sea. It says, These see the works of the Lord and his
wonders in the deep, for he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind,
which lifteth up the waves thereof. He's the one who does that. He's
the one who commands that. AND IT ALSO SAYS DOWN IN VERSE
29, HE IS THE ONE WHO MAKETH THE STORM A CALM, SO THAT THE
WAVES THEREOF ARE STILL. THAT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO REALIZE.
HE RAISES THEM. AND HE'S THE ONE WHO SAYS, PEACE
BE STILL. ISN'T THAT WHAT HE SAID OUT ON
THE BOW OF THAT SHIP? THE DISCIPLES WERE, THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE
GONNA DIE. And the Lord was in the ship, bottom of the ship,
sleeping. And they came and woke him up and said, do you not care
that we're about to die? Carest thou not that we perish?
And he went up to the bow of the ship and he said, peace,
be still. And it says immediately there was a great calm. That
means everything didn't start to die out and dissipate and
slowly. It means immediately everything
went flat. So much so that they wondered
and said, who is this that can command the wind and the waves? And they obey him. Who is this
man? This is God. This is God, and
he is the one who does all these things. God was controlling everything
that happened to his disciples. And we're going to see that he
did all this on purpose. TO BRING A KNOWLEDGE OF SALVATION
TO ONE OF HIS OWN. AND THAT'S WHY GOD DOES ALL THINGS.
ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THEM THAT LOVE GOD, TO
THEM WHO ARE THE CALL ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE. EVERYTHING HAPPENS
FOR THE FURTHERANCE OF THE GOSPEL, FOR THE CALLING OF GOD'S PEOPLE
TO HIMSELF. AND HE'S GONNA PUT ONE OF HIS
OWN IN A PARTICULAR PLACE, IN A PARTICULAR POSITION, WHERE
ALL THAT THAT CHILD OF HIS CAN DO IS CRY OUT FOR MERCY. THAT'S WHAT'S ABOUT TO HAPPEN
IN OUR STORY AND THAT'S WHAT GOD DOES FOR ALL OF HIS PEOPLE. THAT'S THE GOODNESS OF GOD TO
HIS OWN. SO BACK IN MATTHEW 14, IF YOU'RE TURNING WITH ME, BACK
IN MATTHEW 14, VERSE 25 SAYS, And in the fourth watch of the
night, Jesus went unto them walking on the sea. He put them in that
ship. He said, I want you to go to
the other side. He went up into a mountain. He sent the multitudes
away, went up into a mountain to pray. And the wind came up
and the waves came up and this ship is struggling in the midst
of the sea. Verse 25 says, and in the fourth
watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking on the sea. The sea was raging. The sea was
boisterous. And he went walking on the sea.
And that's such a pleasant and peaceful thought to me in the
middle of all that chaos. In the middle of all that raging,
here he comes walking on the sea. Every physical thing in
the scripture. Every physical thing is a spiritual
picture. that points us to the truth of
our salvation, everything. Christ physically walked on the
water on purpose. He did that on purpose. It was
to show us something about this salvation that was gonna take
place. And what he was showing us was this right here. Only
God can do this. You and I really need to get
a hold of that. When it comes to anything, but especially salvation,
only God can do this. Only God. This is not something
that a man can accomplish on his own. Had Christ, you know
the story and we're about to read the story, but when Peter
went down, had Christ not been standing right there, Peter would
have perished. Peter could have done nothing
for himself. Our Lord made it so that Peter and all the other
disciples and every soul that he gives faith to believe this.
He made it so that all would know only God can do what's about
to happen. Only God can do this. Verse 25
says, 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. As we just said, Everything that
happens in this story is a spiritual picture of how God moves on his
people in salvation. This is how God moves, how God
works in salvation. God moved on them in such a way
that it struck absolute fear into them. Absolute fear, that's
what God did. He did that on purpose. HE STRUCK
FEAR INTO THEM. IT HAPPENS THAT WAY EVERY TIME.
THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM. AND IT IS. THE FEAR
OF THE LORD. LISTEN TO THESE SCRIPTURES. PSALM
2514 SAYS THE SECRET OF THE LORD, THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL, IS
WITH THEM THAT FEAR HIM. That's who the secret of the
Lord is with them that fear him. Psalm 33, 18 says, behold, the
eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him. Psalm 85, verse nine says, surely
his salvation is nigh them. His salvation is near them that
fear him. That's how you can know who his
salvation is with. Honestly, they fear him. They respect him. They reverence
him. They fear him. Psalm 103, verse
17 says the mercy, the mercy FORGIVENESS IN THE BLOOD OF THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE SPARING OF WRATH THROUGH HIS SUFFERING. THE MERCY OF THE LORD IS FROM
EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING UPON THEM THAT FEAR HIM. PSALM 147, VERSE 11 SAYS, THE
LORD TAKETH PLEASURE IN THEM THAT FEAR HIM. When God is in a place and I
hope the Lord will let me make this very clear. I truly want
to make this clear. When God is in a place and when
God moves on a people, this is how you can know it. This is
the truth. This is how you can know it.
They fear him. They reverence him, they bow. They bow. They come before Him
humbly. They come before Him lowly. They
come in reverence. They come in fear. I pray this will be eye-opening
to somebody. I do. I pray somebody will hear
this and will have their eyes open to this and have their ears
open to this. Somebody who may be in a place
where God is not. Somebody who may be in a house
of religion, a house of so-called worship where God is not. A place
where God is not sending his spirit and blessing his word
and moving on the hearts of sinners. You know, just because you're
in religion. That does not mean you're in a place where God is. Just because we're in religion,
that does not mean we're in a place where God is. And we need to
know that. This is how you can know when
God is not there. If you're in a place and you're
wondering, I wonder if God is really here. This is how you
can know if you're in a place and God is not there. There's
no fear. That's how you can know. There's
no fear, it's just a big man, just a big man centered, there's
no fear. That's the number one thing that
will expose a false religion full of false worship is what
scripture says. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. That's what Psalm 36 says, and
that's what Romans 3 says. There's no fear of God before
their eyes. When God comes to sinners, they become afraid.
Adam and Eve were afraid. You know that? Moses was afraid. Isaiah was afraid. Peter fell
to his knees. Paul fell off of his horse. John fell at his feet as a dead
man. They were all afraid. They're
all afraid. Why? Why? because of their sin, that's
why. Honestly, when man sees God's
holiness for the first time, man sees his own sin for the
first time, that's the reason why. And man sees God's justice
and man sees God's judgment for the first time against sin and
he becomes afraid. HE BECOMES AFRAID. BUT JUST LIKE
EPHESIANS 2 SAYS, IT SAYS, BUT GOD, BUT GOD IN HIS GOODNESS
AND IN HIS MERCY, EVERY TIME GOD BRINGS FEAR TO ONE OF HIS
OWN WITH THAT FEAR THROUGH HIS WORD, IMMEDIATELY COMES COMFORT. God never sends fear to one of
his own without immediately following with comfort. With the righteous demands of
the law, you know, our eyes are open to what God demands in his
holy law, and we see we've sinned against it with the righteous
demands of the law always comes the peace of the gospel always. In God's requirement, we always
see Christ supply. Always. Always. Christ is saying to those who
fear him, fear not. Fear not. Look to me. That's
the message of the gospel. Look to me. Are you afraid? Look to me. And that's what we
see right here. That's what we're about to read
right here. Matthew 14, verse 26, it says, 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 spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer,
be happy. Let joy come into your hearts.
It is I, be not a prey. That brings such comfort to a
child of God. It really does. Every time they
hear him say, be of good cheer, it is I. It is I, don't fear, don't worry,
I'm doing this. That's what he was saying. I'm
doing this. I'm doing this. I'm working right
now. Don't fear. Don't worry. I'm
controlling this. I authored this. I'll finish
this. You just trust me. You just look
to me. Verse 26, 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
spake 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. Peter
said, Lord, if it's you. And let me come out of this ship
and walk with you on the water now. We can see Peter's faith
in this. We can we can see his faith,
we can see how he trusted in our Lord's ability, he said,
if it's you, if it's really you. And the fact is, the Lord did
let Peter come out of the ship. He said, come and Peter did get
out of the ship and he took a few steps on the water. But here's what we also see in
this. We see man's absolute ignorance. Absolute ignorance in thinking
that he can accomplish with God what only God alone can do. Peter, in the arrogance of his
flesh, and he reminds me so much of myself, the arrogance of the
flesh, Peter, he thought he was on an equal plane with God. If
that's you, let me come out there with you. Let's do this together.
And that's what man thinks about his spiritual condition. Man thinks that he and God will
rise above together. THAT'S WHAT MAN THINKS. AND JUST
LIKE PETER, GOD WILL LET A MAN OR A WOMAN GET HIMSELF OR HERSELF
JUST FAR ENOUGH OUT THERE TO WHERE ONE OF TWO THINGS ARE
GOING TO HAPPEN. ONE OF TWO THINGS. EITHER MAN IS GOING TO DIE RIGHT
THERE IN THE ARROGANCE OF HIS OWN SIN OR MAN IS GOING TO CRY
OUT TO GOD FOR MERCY. Cry out to God for help and mercy. And if a sinner cries, then that's
the goodness of God's salvation to a sinner. If a sinner cries,
he's either gonna fall or cry. And if he cries, that's God's
goodness. AND GOD'S MERCY TO THAT SINNER.
VERSE 28 SAYS, 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 THE 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. Now, this is what I want us to
really enter into. This is what I want us to really
enter into. That right there is the cry of
salvation. That right there is the cry of
salvation, that is the evidencing cry. That God has purposed to
bring a sinner to salvation. That's it. Unfortunately, that
is a cry that's rarely heard How often do you really hear
people crying that, really? That's a cry that's rarely heard. If sinners do not, out of absolute
desperation, cry that cry, then there's no evidence of salvation
coming to that sinner. Now, that's scary. That is scary
to me. That is so fearful. That's fearful
to every child of God who's been given eyes to see this in a heart
to believe this. But if God has not given a center
the ability to realize this, it's not scary at all. You know,
you hear that cry because God's people will think, oh, do I cry
this? And those who are not God's people
will think I don't need to cry that. My hope and my prayer for everybody
who's listening right now, honestly, we all need to examine ourselves.
We need to ask ourselves this question. Have I ever cried? I mean, from the sincere depths
of my soul. Have I ever cried Peter's cry
to my Lord? Have I ever cried that? Have
you ever cried that? Do I see my condition like Peter
saw his condition? Peter was keenly aware for that
very, very immediate brief moment of his condition. I'm going down. I'm dying. Lord, I'm perishing.
Do I see right now the urgency? Do I see that? Do you see that?
I can't put this off urgency, right now urgency. And have we
ever truly realized what Peter realized? I'm lost. Have we ever realized that? When
Peter said, Lord, save me, what he was saying was, I'm not saved. I'm not saved. Have you ever
said that to God? Have you ever cried out of absolute
desperation? Lord, I'm not saved. In my flesh
and in my deeds, I'm not saved. You know, many people, if you
ask them that, you say, go around, ask somebody, are you not saved?
They'd say, why would you ask me a question like that? Of course
I'm saved. That's a person who does not
evidence God's salvation. All of God's people cry, Lord,
save me. I'M NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT YESTERDAY,
I'M TALKING ABOUT TODAY AND I'M TALKING ABOUT TOMORROW. RIGHT
NOW, ALL OF GOD'S PEOPLE FIND THEMSELVES IN AN IMMEDIATE NEED
RIGHT NOW. I HAVE A CURRENT NEED RIGHT NOW. LORD, SAVE ME. SAVE ME. FOR EVERY SOUL WHO CRIES THAT,
EVERY SOUL WHO CRIES THAT, Lord, save me. Lord, I'm not saved. Lord, I'm going down in my flesh. I see nothing that can help me.
For everyone who cries, you're the only one who can do it. You're
the only one who has the right to. You're the only one who has
the ability to. And you're the one who said you
would. You're the one who said you delight to. Lord, save me. Save me from the judgment of
God. Save me from my sin. Save me from myself. For every
soul who cries that, that's the evidence that God has and God
will. Save that soul. This is what
Paul told the Philippians and may we get a hold of this. He
said, we are the circumcision. That means we're God saved people
which worship God in the spirit, not ourselves and not our works,
but God in the spirit. And we rejoice in Christ Jesus. For the payment of his blood
that he gave to deliver us from our sins. Everything he did to
save us. And Paul said, we have no confidence
in our flesh. We're the circumcision who have
no confidence in our flesh. When God puts a sinner in that
place. That sinner will have no choice
but to cry, Lord, save me. And whoever cries, Lord, save
me, will be saved. Verse 30 says, when he saw the
wind boisterous, he was afraid, beginning to sink. He cried,
Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched
forth his hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of
little faith, why did you doubt? And he saved him. May God put
that cry in us and save our souls. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message, or to hear other messages of sovereign grace, log on to
our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 1045 a.m., and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. Please tune in next week for
another message of God's free and sovereign grace.