All right, turn with me, if you
would, back to Matthew chapter 14. Matthew chapter 14. There is a song that we sing,
the Lord willing, we're gonna close this service with it. And it 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. He lifted me. In just a moment, we're gonna
see that that was Peter's confession. That was Peter's confession.
My prayer is that we see that to be our confession too. That's
my prayer. I pray we can cry the same thing
and have the same hope. He lifted me. That is the heart of the gospel.
That's 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 from the depths of his soul. Lord, save me. That was his prayer. Three words,
three precious words. Three wonderful words. A prayer
doesn't have to be a long prayer. It just has to come from the
sincere depths of the soul. And that's what he cried, Lord,
save me. Lord, just think about that.
Lord, save me. What a simple thing to ask the
Lord, but what, oh, the depths of that. Lord, save me. I pray the Lord might truly open
up that prayer to us tonight, those three words. Show us what
it truly means. Show us what He was really saying
in that. Lord, save me. Now, let's read
this story and see what caused Peter to cry this. It begins
in verse 22. And it says, 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. The Lord Jesus
Christ, who is God, God, God manifest in the flesh, the Almighty,
the absolute Almighty, the King and the Judge, of the throne
of heaven, the highest God. That's who he is, the highest
God, Jesus of Nazareth. He told his disciples to get
into a ship and to go into the sea, go into this sea, and he
would meet them on the other side. So God did that. God ordered that. God is the
one who started and controlled everything that's about to happen
right here. God did this. Verse 23, it 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, tossed with the waves, for the wind was contrary. God did that. God did that. God was the one who tossed their
ship. God was the one who raised the
wind and the waves. That's what Psalm 107 tells us. Look with me over there if you
would. Psalm 107. Psalm 107, verse 24, it says,
these see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep. They see what the Lord is doing.
Verse 25 says, for He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind,
which lifteth up the waves thereof. He's the one who does that. It
also says down in verse 29, he maketh the storm a calm so that
the waves thereof are still. He raises them up and he's the
one who says, peace, be still. He is the one who's doing that.
So God was the one controlling everything about what's about
to happen to Peter and these other disciples. And we're going
to see that he did all of this on purpose. to bring a knowledge
of salvation to one of his own. He's the one doing it, and he
did it on purpose, and that purpose was to bring a knowledge of salvation
to one of his own. He's gonna put one of his own
in a particular place, in a particular position. where all that man
can do is cry out for mercy. God's gonna put him there. And
I'll tell you, when God does that, that is his great kindness
on a sinner. When God puts a sinner in a place
where he is crying for mercy, begging for mercy, in dire need
of help, that's God's kindness. That's his goodness. So back
in Matthew 14, if you turn with me back over there, verse 25 says, and in the fourth
watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking on the sea. Now you just think about that.
We read that and we just bypass that and go to the next verse.
He went to them walking on the sea. Now our Lord, he did that
on purpose. He did that on purpose. He went
to them walking on the sea. Is that not amazing? Every physical
thing, In all of the word of God, in all of the scripture,
every physical thing is a spiritual picture that points us to the truth of
our salvation. Christ physically walked on the
water on purpose. He did that on purpose. It was
to show us something about this salvation that was going to take
place. And what he was showing us was this right here. Only
God can do this. Only God can do this. This is not something that man
can accomplish on his own. That is the greatest revelation
to a sinner when God deals with a sinner and opens his eyes.
He thinks that he can save himself. He does. He thinks he can. And
that's the greatest revelation whenever a sinner realized no
man can do this. Only God can do this. Only God. Had Christ not walked on the
water and been right there when Peter fell, Peter would have
perished. He would have been gone. Our
Lord made it so that Peter and all of his disciples and every
soul that he gives faith to believe this. Do you believe this? Do
you believe the Lord did that? Every soul that he gives faith
to see this and to believe this, our Lord made it so that they
all know only God can do this. Only God can accomplish what's
about to happen. Only God. Verse 25, it says,
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. As we just said, everything that
happens in this story is a spiritual picture of how God moves on his
people in salvation. God moved on them in such a way
that it struck fear into them. God did that on purpose. God
did that. He did that on purpose. He struck
fear in them. We just sang amazing grace. T'was
grace that taught my heart to fear. And grace my fears relieved. But it was God's grace, it was
God's free kindness that made me fear in the first place. This is how it happens every
single time. When God moves on a sinner, this
is what happens every single time. The fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord. Just listen
to these scriptures. Psalm 25 verse 14, it says, the
secret of the Lord, the secret, the mystery of the gospel, the
secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. That's who it's
with. It's with them that fear him.
Psalm 33, 18 says, behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them
that fear him. Psalm 85 9 says, surely his salvation
is nigh them that fear him. That's how you can know who his
salvation is with, they fear him. Psalm 103 verse 17, it says
the mercy, the mercy, the forgiveness, forgiveness in the blood of Christ,
the forgiveness of sins. That sparing of wrath, that all
of the mercy of God, the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting
to everlasting upon them that fear him. That's who it's on. And Psalm 147 verse 11 says,
the Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him. When God is in
a place and when God moves on a people, this is how you can
know it. They fear him. They fear him. They reverence him. They bow.
Oh, they bow. I pray this will be eye opening
to somebody who who may be in a place where God is not. I pray it will. I do, I pray
the spirit of God will open the eyes and open the heart to this
and someone will see who who is in a place in a house of worship
where God is not. A place where God is not moving
on the people just because you're in religion, that doesn't mean
you're in a place where God is. Didn't mean that at all. This
is how you can know when God is not there. This is how you
can know there's no fear. No fear. That's the number one
thing that will expose a false religion full of false worship. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. No fear of God. When God comes
to sinners, they become afraid. They really do. Adam and Eve,
you think about Adam and Eve. When God came to them, they sewed fig leaves together
and went and ran and hid from him. And they said themselves,
we were afraid. He said, why are you hiding?
They said, we were afraid. Moses, Moses met God, God met
Moses through that burning bush. You think about when Moses had
to go up on Mount Sinai, the whole mountain was on fire. How
would you like to go up into that? Moses was afraid. Isaiah, in the year that King
Uzziah died, Isaiah said, I saw the Lord high and lifted up.
His train filled the temple. The seraphims around him cried,
holy, holy, holy. The doorpost moved at the voice
of him that cried. And he said, I cried, woe is
me, I'm undone. He became afraid. He became afraid. He didn't hoop and holler and
run. He became afraid. Peter fell to his knees. Paul fell off of his horse. Oh, that man was so afraid. John, the apostle John, fell
at his feet as a dead man. They were afraid. They were all
afraid. Why? because of their sin. That's right, that's why. When
man sees God's holiness for the first time, man sees his own
sin for the first time. Up until that point, man sees
a few little things that he's done and he has a few regrets
in life and a few things he wishes he could do over. But if God
ever reveals his holiness to a man, a man will see sin. A man will see sin before God. A man will see God's justice,
he will see God's judgment for the first time, and he will become
afraid. He will. But just like Ephesians 2 says,
Ephesians 2 says, but God, again, amazing grace, "'Twas grace that
taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved." In
God's goodness and in God's mercy, every time he brings fear to
one of his own, with that fear, immediately comes comfort. Immediately. With the righteous
demands of the law, always comes the peace of the gospel. Always. In God's requirement, this is
what God requires. In His requirement, we always
see Christ's supply, always. We always hear Him crying, fear
not, look to me. Fear not. Be not afraid. Look to me. That's what we see
right here. That's what He said right here.
Verse 26, it says, 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 spake unto them, saying,
be of good cheer. It is I, be not afraid. That brings such comfort to me
every time I hear him say that. Every time my heart and my soul
and spirit is reminded of that. Be of good cheer, it is I. Whatever it is. Whatever it is. He says don't fear. Don't worry. I'm doing this. God is doing
this. I'm doing this. I'm controlling
this. I authored this. I'll finish
this. You just trust me. Just trust
me. Just look to me. Verse 26, it
says, 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 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, Let me come out of this ship and
walk on the water with you. What a request. Lord, if that's
you, let me get out of this ship and do the impossible. Let me
walk on the water with you. Now we can see Peter's faith
in this. We can see his faith. We can
see how he trusted in our Lord's ability. With man, it's impossible,
but with God, all things are possible. We can see Peter's
faith in looking to the Lord and trusting the Lord. But the
fact of the matter is we can see something else in this too.
The Lord did let him get out of that ship. He did actually
take a few steps on the water. But here's what we also see in
this. We see man's absolute ignorance in thinking that he can accomplish
with God what only God can accomplish on His own. Man thinks that he
can work the work with God that needs to be done. This impossible
work that only God can do. Peter, in the arrogance of his
flesh, he thought he was on an equal plane with God. If that's
you, then let me come out there to you. That's what man thinks
about his spiritual condition. Man thinks that he and God will
rise above together. That's what he thinks. We'll
do this, me and God. Just like Peter, God is gonna
let man get himself just far enough out there to where one
of two things will happen, either Man is going to die in the arrogance
of his sin, or he's going to cry out to Christ for mercy.
One of the two. And if a sinner cries, then that's
the goodness of God's salvation to that sinner. If God causes
a sinner to cry out for mercy, then that's his salvation 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 get a hold of tonight. That is the cry of salvation. That is the evidencing cry that
God has purposed to bring salvation to a sinner. That's the cry,
but That is a cry that is rarely heard. You would think that would
just be constantly heard for a man who's in that position.
Lord, save me. That is a cry that is rarely
heard. I'm in that position. You're
in that position. That's the condition that we
are in. If sinners do not, out of absolute
desperation, cry that cry, then there's no evidence of salvation
coming to that sinner. That is the evidencing cry. That is so scary to me, that that's the condition we're
in. And that's the cry of salvation,
but man doesn't cry it. That is just so fearful to me.
That's fearful to every child of God who's been given eyes
of faith to see this. A heart to believe it. But here's
the thing, if God has not given a sinner the ability to realize
that, it's not scary at all to them. There's no fear, no fear in it. So this is my hope and this is
my prayer for everybody who's listening right now. We all need
to examine ourselves. We do. We need to ask ourselves
this question. Have I ever cried from the sincere
depths of my soul? Have I ever cried Peter's cry
to my Lord? Have I ever cried that? Do I
see my condition like Peter saw his condition? Do I see my right
now urgency? I mean urgency right now, like
Peter saw it was right now. That's all he had time to get
out. He was going down. If I put this off, I'll perish
urgency right now. And have we ever truly realized
what Peter realized? This is what he realized. I'm
lost. I'm lost. When Peter said, Lord,
save me, this is what he was saying. I'm not saved. That's what he was saying when
he said, Lord, save me. This is what he was saying. I'm
not saved. I'm not saved. That's what he
cried. He had one moment. God revealed
it to him and he cried, I'm not saved. Does that hit home? I'm not saved. He felt himself going down. I'm not saved. Have you ever
said that to God? Have you ever cried that out
to him in absolute desperation? Lord, I'm not saved. I'm asking you this for two reasons.
Number one, it's because rarely will you find a sinner who is
actually willing to cry that to God. Rarely. Rarely, hardly ever, mostly never. Ask anybody, you go up and ask
anybody, are you not saved? Are you not saved? This is what
they'll say. They'll say, why in the world
would you ask me a question like that? Of course I'm saved. Of course I'm worthy to step
out there with God. I'm not gonna cry, I'm not saved.
Cry out to God, I'm not saved. No, I'm not gonna cry out to
God. If anybody's saved, I'm saved. That is the cry of a soul that
will perish. That was the cry of that Pharisee
in the temple, wasn't it? That was his cry. Oh, I'm saved. The Lord said he was unjustified.
Most people cannot identify with saying, Lord, If you leave me
to myself in my current condition, I mean right now, current condition,
the current condition of my flesh, if you leave me alone and you
leave me right here, I'll die in my sins. If you don't do something
for me based on where I am and what I am, I'll perish. I'll perish. Most people cannot
identify with that cry to God, but I'll tell you who can identify
with it and who will identify with it. A soul that God has
purposed to save. For every one of them, God puts
them in a position where they see their only hope of life. They only have one hope of life,
and that hope is to cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy. We all need to examine our hearts,
cry to God, because if God leaves us alone, we won't cry the saving
cry. If he just leaves us alone, we
will not cry it. And all of God's people do cry
that saving cry, they all do. What is it? Lord, save me. Save me, Lord, in my flesh according
to my own works. If all I have to go on is what
I see right here, I'm not saved. If my salvation is based on what
I see in my flesh, I'm not saved. I'm going down. I can't do anything
for myself. All my hope in me is gone. That's what Peter realized right
then. All my hope in me is gone. I see my condition like I've
never seen it before. And if you don't save me, I'm
not going to be saved. I'm at your mercy. I'm at your
mercy. So, Lord, that means God, Jehovah. You're the one who has the ability. That's what he was crying, Lord,
you are the one who is able. Lord, you are the one who has
the right. You have the right to redeem
me right now. You are the one who has said
in your own word that you're willing to do it. Lord, save. Spare. Deliver, redeem me. Me, save me from the judgment
of God. I see what I deserve. Save me
from my sin. Save me from myself. That's the
cry. That's the evidence of a soul
that God has and will save. That's the cry of all of them.
Over in Ezekiel 37, that's where the Lord told Ezekiel to preach
to all those dry bones, those dead dry bones. And this is what
all of them said. Let me just read this to you
real quick. This is Ezekiel 37. He said, he said unto me, son
of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They represent
all my people. And he said, behold, they say,
this is what all of them say. Our bones are dried and our hope
is lost. We are cut off for our parts.
All of them say that. All of them. There's in ourselves,
there's no hope for us. Paul told the Philippians, he
said, we are the circumcision. That means we're God saved people,
which worship God in the spirit, not ourselves, not our works. We worship God in the spirit
and rejoice in Christ Jesus. We rejoice in the payment of
blood that he gave to deliver us from that destruction. And
Paul said, we have no confidence in the flesh, none. When God puts a sinner in that
place, that sinner will have no choice but to cry, Lord, save
me, save me. And if a sinner cries, Lord,
save me, the word of God declares, This God who cannot lie has promised,
this is what he said, whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord, not just in lip service, but out of the desperate cry
of the soul, whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved. Our God said, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. Verse 30 right here
says, 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 and worshipped him, saying of a truth." Now
we see. Of a truth. Thou art the Son
of God. You're the Son of God. They realize
this is not just God's Son. He's not just a lesser form. This is God among us. God, our Savior, our Lord, and
our God. I pray that God will put that
cry in our hearts. That's the cry of life. That's
the cry of hope. It'll take the Spirit of God
to do it. God has to do that. God has to do that. It takes
the Spirit of God putting us in the place that will cause
us to cry. If we do cry, that's the work
of the Spirit of God to us and in us. But if he does that work
in us, if he ever makes us lost, if he ever makes us perishing
beggars of mercy, then it'll be our evidence of salvation.
And for the rest of our days, if somebody asks us if we're
saved, somebody says, are you saved? This will be our answer.
Only in Christ, not in what I see right here. only because of Christ, only
because of the work of Christ, only because he did what only
God can do. Outside of him, I'm a goner still. Outside of him, if he leaves
me alone, I'm a goner. Here's the reality of salvation.
This is a truth. This is an absolute truth. The
evidence of a lost man is he goes around telling everybody, In my flesh, I'm saved. That's
the evidence of a lost man. He'll go around telling everybody,
in my flesh, in what I see right here, I'm saved. And the evidence
of a saved man is he goes around telling everybody, in my flesh,
I'm lost. In what I see right here, I'm
lost. I pray God will make us lost. That's my prayer. I pray God will make us lost. I pray God will utterly convince
us that if he leaves us in the current condition of our flesh,
we're lost. And the reason I pray that is
because if he brings that fear to us, he'll bring this comfort
right behind it. The son of man is come to seek
and to save that which was lost. Lord, save me. I pray that God
might cause us to cry that. Save me. That publican in the
temple cried, Lord God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Lord, save
me. I pray he will. All right, let's
have a closing song. This is going to be 459. He leadeth
me.