John chapter 6. We just looked at Psalm 107,
verse 21 through 31, and that's concerning those men that go
down to great waters and do business. What's that? Fishermen. commercial
fishermen. Years ago I watched one of those
TV shows on the Discovery Channel and those men were up in the
Arctic Ocean by Alaska crab fishing and just one wave knocked them
down and they was taking big old sledgehammers and beating
the ice off the rails. And here come another wave and
he dove up against that rail and the wave crashed over and
stood up and he looked right in the camera. That was our commercial
for a while. He said, if you don't believe in God, come up
here and get on this boat. That man believed there was a
God. I don't think he knew God, but he was convinced. There's
a God. God said in his word, he said,
those men that's on the waters, they got an idea of what I do.
And so that Psalm 107 will be fulfilled, our Lord gave us this
text in John 6. So he could fulfill all scriptures. He dealt with Peter. We're going
to read in John 6. John's account is very brief.
We're going to look a little bit in Mark 6 as the Lord's Word
expounds some. He gives us a little more information
and then we'll finish up Matthew. Matthew gives us more. And then
we'll come back to John 6 and see how that all ties up. See
exactly what the Lord dealt with us on this. So for context here
where we are in John 6, the Lord just fed 5,000 people, men. I'm not counting the women and
children. He fed 5,000 with five loaves and two little fishes.
What a miraculous thing to see. There was 12 baskets left over. 12 baskets of food left over
at the end of that. And those men said, I'm going
to make him king. In their heart. Then it said
out loud, they thought, this guy needs to be in charge and
we need to put him in charge. And he did not have it. He departed
from them. This is the one you can't make
king. He is already. Man don't have the authority
to make him king. You don't have the power to make him king. He
is. That's the great I am. To those that don't know him,
what a frightful, and that breaks my heart, what a frightful thing
that would be to hear him. Those men come to arrest him
in the garden. Judas was with them, led them
right to him, kissed him on the cheek. They thought they was
equals. He said, who are you looking
for? Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I am. And four to seven
hundred people fell flat on their backs, didn't they? The very
same words to his children when they're afraid. They're afraid
because every one of them is afraid. The ones that say they
ain't, and they're so sure, and they're so confident, lying to
themselves, lying to God, and lying to you. God's children
get scared because He comes to them and He says, I am. Be not
afraid. What's wrong with you? He reminds
us constantly of who He is. Here in our text, the sea we're
going to look at. These disciples are crossing
the sea to another town. This is the world that we live
in. Revelation tells us that when this time is over, when
the judgment is finished, there'll be no more sea. There'll be no
more of this world. It'll be over. It'll be gone. And the winds and the waves that
come, that go up and down, and the wind that knocks us to and
fro like a drunken man, that's the trials that we have in this
life. And not all trials are the same. They come in all shapes
and sizes, don't they? And what might be nothing to
one brother or sister could be just devastating to another.
And what would be devastating to this one would just be easy
breezy to another. Brother Don always said this,
us grown-ups can laugh at puppy love and say, oh, you be alright. Puppy love is real to the puppy,
isn't it? The Lord knows how to send trials for him. But He's
sending these trials and sending these waves as we go through
this sea of life. We're not above the sea. We're
not above this world, are we? We're made of it. But we're not
buried below it, neither. We're on it. We're sojourning
through this. We're passing through this world
to another place. And we're on it. And we're on
those waves. And we're in those winds tossed to and fro. Sometimes
we have a real calm spell. Sometimes the wind's at our back
and we're going down, dead downwind. That's wonderful, isn't it? That changes quickly. But it always has us preparing
for the next thing. When things are going so well, we know waves are on the horizon.
We're going to see a pattern here in John 6 and Mark 6 and
in Matthew. Christ was alone. And He was
praying for His people. Not all people, His people. He
was alone. He was praying for His people
high on a mountain. And He put them in this world. And in Providence,
in His wisdom, He gets them desperate. He makes them desperate, makes
them fearful, makes them afraid, makes them cry out, and He comes
to them. And He reveals Himself, and He
declares who He is in the hearts of His people, and He comforts
them, and He brings them where He had intended for them to be
all along. We're going to see that. The
Lord will show us that in each one of these recordings. Let's look
here in John 6. John's the most brief, but John 6 verse 16, it
says, And when evening was now come, his disciples went down
into the sea, and entered into a ship, and went over the sea
toward Capernaum. And now it was dark, and Jesus
was not come to them. They were in darkness. Why were
they in darkness? The light of this world was not
with them. They were in darkness. And the sea arose. Waves became
taller. The troughs of the waves became
deeper. They became shorter, choppier, rougher. The sea arose
by reason of a great wind that blew. When we go through this
world, and we have trials, and it gets choppy, and we have great
big old waves in front of us, and we can see everything, and
we can see all them scary waves, and we know what's coming, and
then we get down in a trough, and you can't see nothing, and
you feel like the waters are going to just fall on top of
you. What sent that? Was that an accident? The wind
sent it. Who's the wind? The Lord said
that's His Holy Spirit. That's part of the trinity. The
great triune God and his infinite wisdom is coming to you sending
you waves. That's what he's doing every
time. This isn't by accident. God did that. He's the one blowing. I listened to a comedian the
other day and for half a second I got real excited and thought
he might know something. He was talking to a lady. He
said, you believe in God? I said, that's just so unfair. God wouldn't
do that. He said, isn't that his name? God? He said, if He's a God, He's
God over everything. And I said, oh, this man may
know something. I made about two more seconds, had to turn
it off. That's His name and that's what He does. He sends everything. Verse 19 says, So when they had
rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, that's eight
or nine miles out in a rope boat, they seen Jesus walking on the
sea and drawing nigh unto the ship, and they were afraid. But He said unto them, It is
I. Be not afraid. I am. Be not afraid. Then they willingly received
Him into the ship. Then talk about receiving Jesus.
Have you received Jesus? Like I've told you before about
a glass of water. You pour water into a glass, it receives the
water. The glass can't glory in it, can it? It takes it. We receive gifts and think we
can refuse them. When I was a child, I received
a lot of spankings. I would say, no, not today. We'll
put that off until next week. I tried that once. They willingly
received Him. Have I received Christ? If He's
come to me, I've willingly received Him. He's made up His abode in
my heart. You better believe. Yes, come
on. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Come to me. Be with
us. They willingly received Him in the ship, verse 21, and immediately
the ship was at the land whether they went. They're eight or nine
miles out. They've got a ways to go. Storms
raging. They're fighting against the
seas. Here comes our Lord walking. Not running. Oh, He forgot them. He had to run. No. Not searching to and fro like
He didn't know where they was. No. He came walking. He wasn't
in a hurry, was He? He came right where they was. And immediately, out there in
the sea, they were on the land where they wanted to go, where
He sent them. There was fear. It was true fear.
And the Lord spoke to His child and the ship was immediately
where it needed to be. John was very brief in this,
but boy he sure got a hold of it. He sure understood what took
place. He's very brief, but he understood
it. Let's see what Mark had to say.
We're going to learn a little bit more. Mark chapter 6. Mark 6 verse 44. It says, And
they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.
This is at the same time. Same instance, verse 45, "...and
straightway He constrained His disciples to get into the ship."
That means He commanded them, He told them, get in the ship.
You go down and get in the ship. "...and to go to the other side
before unto Bethsaida, while He sent away the people." You
get into that boat, you're going across the sea, and I'm going
to send all these 5,000 men and their wives and their children
away. Verse 46, and when He had sent them away, He departed into
a mountain to pray. Our Lord went by Himself and
prayed. I wonder what He said. I thought
about that often this week. I don't know what He prayed.
I don't know what He said. No one does. But I know who He
prayed for. He prayed for His people. Can
you imagine that? He prayed for his children. I told a brother and a sister
this week, I said, I'll pray for you. And I've had brothers
and sisters tell me this week, Kevin, I'm praying for you. I'm
thankful for that. That gives me comfort. But what
if I could tell you, brother, Christ prayed for you. My sister, Christ prayed for
you. That's a whole lot better than me. That's what I said in
John 17 in this high priestly prayer. He said, Father, I pray
for them. I pray not for the world, but
for those that you've given me out of this world. They're mine. You gave them to me. They're
yours and they're mine. And that's who I'm praying for. What a thought.
What a thought. Peter, I pray that your faith
fail not. Is there any chance whatsoever
Peter's faith could fail? It's impossible. He's high on
a mountain. Where's he at right now? We'll
jump to the end. That's all right, isn't it? Where's he at right
now? He's sitting on his throne. What's he doing? Making an intercession
for his people. I might drown in that sea. That's
all right. That's okay. Drown me, Lord.
You're right. I'll be with you. I pray for you versus Christ
praying for you. I want my brethren to pray for
me. I want to pray for you. Oh, I'm thankful He prays for
His people. It says in verse 47, And when
evening was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, out
in the middle, and He alone on the land. He was alone in the
dry. We are the ones in this world.
He was the only one on dry ground at one point before He came into
this world. And He saw His people He saw
us in this world. He was ever mindful of them.
And He came to where they were. We didn't ascend to Him. He descended
to us. And He saved them. He came down
so we could be with Him. So we could live and be with
Him. Have life more abundantly. What
a thought. It says in verse 48, And He saw
them Toiling and rowing. That means tormented and rowing. They're rowing till they just
can't take it. They're rowing to save their lives. Their hands
are bleeding and it doesn't matter. They're rowing. They're about
to die. They're giving it all they got. Isn't that man walking
in this world? Those that are zealous, like
Paul prayed for those of his natural brethren. He saw they're
zealous for God. They don't know Him. It's without
understanding, but they're working everything they can. They wake
up and they brush their teeth thinking how they could be nice
that day or whatever it is. How they can indebt God. How
they can work their way out of the pit that they found themselves
in. They're in debt. They got to pay off the debt,
and they're rowing as hard as they can. For the wind was contrary
to them. They're fighting God. That's
what they're doing. They're going against Him. What's
His Word say? Well, I think. I'm going to do. Well, maybe we could do it this
way. It's plain. God's Word is plain. And I ain't
preaching works. The Lord has children. This ain't got nothing
to do with sonship. The Lord has children, and He
tells His children how to behave. We live in His house, we live
under His rules, and He's going to make us mine. That's plain,
because He loves us. He sets things in order. It said,
For the wind was contrary to them, and it was about the fourth
watch of the night He cometh unto them. The fourth watch is
between 3 and 6 a.m. Have you ever been up at 3 to
6 a.m.? That's the longest stretch. The coldest it is, is right before
the sun comes up. And that's when you're getting
real tired, you're real wore out, everything's cold, and everything
starts making noise. I didn't know that ceiling creeped
like that. Is that wall making noise? And you get afraid, you
get scared, you start seeing stuff, you're tired. Like you
see a shadow. Somebody's coming, uh-oh. That's
terrifying, isn't it? It came to him right when it
was in the fourth watch. of the night, he cometh unto
them walking upon the sea, and would have passed them by." Does
that mean he could have passed them by? That he intended on
not coming to them? Now we just, our brother just
read that to us out of those two walking to the road of Emmaus
the other day, wasn't he? He was talking to them and as they
went, alright, okay, he's going to keep going. How long will
you stay with us for a while? He was walking on that water,
not in a hurry, and was about to go right past that ship. Why
would he do such a thing? So they cry out to him. He made
it look like he was going to leave them. Like he was just
going to show them a little bit and keep on going. Boy, now we're
just going to wait until he gets to us. You're going to come to
me. No, no, no. Lord, come to us. His children
cried to him because he loves them. And would that they would
pass us by. Our Lord was in no hurry. And we shouldn't be either. He wasn't anxious, was He? And
we shouldn't be either. He wasn't fretting, was He? And
we shouldn't either. We should just wait on Him. Why
does our Lord wait? He waits. Why does He wait? It
says in Isaiah 30, And therefore will the Lord wait that He may
be gracious unto you. If I was on that boat, I wouldn't
think it's gracious. Oh, it's Him being gracious.
Therefore the Lord will wait that He may be gracious unto
you and therefore will He be exalted that He may have mercy
upon you. For the Lord is a God of judgment.
Blessed are all they that wait for Him. He's going to take His time.
He's going to be exalted so we cry out for Him and He can show
mercy to us. Mercy, Lord! Mercy! Save! Okay. And he'll be exalted for it.
Oh, he'll be magnified. And we are blessed if we're made
to wait on Him. We're blessed. The longer we're given the grace
to wait on Him, the more we desire Him. The longer He gives us the
grace to wait, the more we desire Him. Isn't that true in our life?
Have you ever just wanted something real bad and you got it? It's nice. But if it left today,
that's alright. But what if He wanted something
for a long time? 20, 30 years. Now it shows up. Now you appreciate it, don't
you? Now you appreciate it a little bit more. That's the same way.
The Lord gives us grace to wait on Him. To wait on Him. So we
desire Him. Look at verse 48. Mark 6, verse 48. And He saw
them toiling and rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them,
and about the fourth watch of the night He cometh unto them,
walking upon the sea, and would have passed them by. But when
they saw Him, He saw them first when they saw him walking upon
the sea. They supposed there had been
a spirit and cried out for they all saw him and were troubled.
The first thing when someone comes into contact with a holy
God, if they pay attention and listen, if they're not just sitting
there to go to church and go through bodily exercises, the
first time you really come face to face one-on-one with a holy
God, you're troubled. It may be for a second, it may
be for an hour, it may be for a couple of weeks. You're troubled.
It don't sit good with you. You're upset. That's what happens. And immediately, He talked with
them, verse 50, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer, it is
I. Be not afraid. When you come
in contact with that holy God, you see what you are. You see
who you are. You see everything that's made
up inside of your fibers as to what you're being. And you cry
out, mercy, Lord save. And he says, be of good cheer.
I am. Don't be afraid. You're all right. Isn't that comforting? I can
tell somebody not to be afraid. And maybe they ought to be. You're
getting on doing something or walking underneath a big old
rock. I don't know. Climbing up a high ladder. Y'all have
some caution climbing up ladders. I'm scared of heights. When He
says, be not afraid, there's nothing to be afraid of. We can
trust His Word. It says in verse 51, And He went
up unto them into the ship, and the wind ceased. And they were
sore amazed in themselves beyond measure and wondered. Boy, they
saw His miracles, but they just saw another one. The sea obeyed
this man. The winds obeyed this man. We've
got God in this boat with us. That's amazing, isn't it? That's
something to be wondrous towards. But they were amazed at this,
for they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart
was hardened. How long ago was that? Six hours
before? Twelve hours before? They just watched the Lord feed
five thousand men and women and children and all that with nothing. He created something out of nothing.
And just a few hours later, Have you ever had that happen? Have
you ever had just a moment of great faith when the Lord just enables
you and you're like, Amen! Yes! Yes, Lord! Confident! Then an hour goes by. Oh, what's
going to happen? Oh, what do we do? We're all
going to die. I ain't going to make it. It happens often to
the Lord's children, doesn't it? And when they had passed over,
verse 53, they came into the land of Gesinneret. and drew to the shore. They ended
up right where the Lord constrained them to go. He put them in the
boat. He put them on this water. He
sent a storm. He came to them. He calmed them.
And He took them right where He wanted them. That's His doing, isn't it? Christ
sent the disciples in that ship on the sea. He prayed for them.
And they were working and fighting the winds and the waves. And
He came to them and He spoke peace. He calmed their fears. What a thought! One more, Matthew
14 Matthew 14 verse 21 This is the same event we read
here. And they that had eaten were about 5,000 men beside women
and children. And straightway Jesus constrained
His disciples to get into the ship and to go before Him unto
the other side while He sent the multitudes away. And when
He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart
to pray. They didn't have anything to
do with it, did they? And when the evening was come, He was
there alone. 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 spake unto them, saying, be of good cheer,
it is I. Be not afraid. I am. Be not afraid. And Peter answered
him and said, Lord, if it be thou, that could be translated,
since it's you, bid me come unto thee on the water. Lord, that's
you. I want to be with you. Bid me
come to you. He didn't say bid me to walk
to you. Bid me to come to you. Maybe there's a rowboat. Maybe
the Lord could have just picked him up and brought him. I just
want to be where you are, Lord. I want to be with you. This trial
came. I don't know what to do. I'm scared to my wits end. I
see no way out but death. Now I see my Lord. I try to say
that on purpose and I pray that at the end of this trial you
see Christ in it. Because you will if you're His. I told somebody
today, this trial you're going through, at the end of it you'll
see Him. I don't know how long it's going
to take and I don't know how it's going to look, but you're going to
see Him at the end of it. Over and over and over. However many
trials you're going to have, that's how many times a child,
after they're saved, is going to see Christ at the end of it.
Do we want to cuss away a trial? Oh no, pray that trial goes away. No, don't you pray that trial
goes away. You pray that trial accomplishes its purpose. What's
that? To see Christ and Him crucified. See Him exalted on the throne
that He's on right now. Let me bow to Him. That ain't
going to feel good. No, it ain't going to feel good.
Every time that feels pretty bad. But boy, you're going to
be happy at the end of it. You'll be on that land right
where He wanted to put you. Christ sent His disciples there.
And Peter answered Him, verse 28, and said, Lord, if it be
Thou, bid me come unto Thee, unto the water. And He said,
Come. What a prayer. Lord, I want to
be with You. The Lord says, Come. Do you know
who He is? This is the King, remember? It's
that one that's miraculous that fed all them people, but this
is the King. I want to be with King. King says, come on. Come. What a thought. That's a gospel
right there. A poor needy sinner wanting to be with his Lord,
be made like him, and the Lord says, 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 bolsterous, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried,
saying, Lord, save me. A three-word prayer. Lord, save
me. He looked around. He didn't look
at the Lord. He looked at the wind. He looked at the waves.
He started looking at all this world around him and he got afraid. You know what fear comes out
as sometimes? Anger. You ever watch the news and get
mad? If we can have a big boy moment and put our big boy pants
and our big girl pants on, you're scared, ain't you? You don't
know what's going to happen. Because we're looking to this
world, ain't we? It just manifested as anger is all it is. And Peter
cries out, 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? Ain't you glad he
said, O thou of no faith? I'm glad he didn't say that.
O thou of little faith. That's faith less than a mustard
seed, isn't it? You know what that is? That's saving faith.
What did Peter cry out? What kind of faith did Peter
cry out? Peter cried out, Lord, save me. You ever heard that? I can't remember the expression.
I should have looked it up. Yes, we have no bananas. I think it
was a skit from them Groucho Marx or something. Anyway, it's
backwards. Are you out of bananas? Do you have any bananas? Yes,
we have no bananas. You can say something backwards
and mean the same thing. What's another way we could word this?
Lord, save me. Lord, save me. Lord, I'm not
saved. Does that paint you in a corner? Have you ever cried that out?
Have you ever been not saved? Most people have been saved since
the day they were born. I don't know. They've been saved
127 years. Have you ever been not saved? That's when the Lord
stretches out His hand immediately. Was Peter saved? Of course he
was. The Lord called him. He followed him. He heard his
voice. He knew his voice when he said,
it's I. Lord, that's you. I know you. He knew the Lord. And one more time he cried out.
Believers cry that. I have. My pastor has. His pastor has. I woke up yesterday morning and
I said, Lord, I don't think I'm yours. I think you brought me here.
You gave me a word and a mind to be able to understand it and
a voice to stand up in front of a few people. and say what
it logically says to me, and this is all in my head, and I
deserve to go to hell, Lord, I'm lost, save me. And that one
that has saved me before time began, that one that saved me
in the hour he come to me in that particular storm, was the
one that stretched forth his hand immediately and got a hold
of me and said, what's wrong with you? Why are you doubting
me? That's what unbelief is. It's
easy to doubt me. That'll take nothing. Am I going
to show up on time? I might, I might not. Am I going
to do what I said I'm going to do? I may, I may not. The Lord
may break my legs. But whenever I worry, if I'm
a child of God, if I bow to the right God, the only God, He says,
why you doubt? Why you doubt? Isn't that something?
Isn't that patient and kind? The Lord did all these things.
He sends all these trials. He could have cast every human
being that would ever would be straight in hell and been just
to do so to fall Adam. Him and all his lineage, send
them. And He could have never let Adam fall and kept all of
us out of sin for eternity. But it pleased Him to magnify
His Son and allow His people to fall and so our Redeemer could
come save us. What a thought. I wouldn't have
done it that way. Well, his ways ain't your ways.
I think it's brilliant. And I bow to him. I say amen.
And then you know what'll happen? I'll get a little puffed up.
My head will get big. I'll get real comfortable. And that boat's
going to start rocking. Oh, no. Where's the life jackets?
I can't swim too good. It'll happen over and over until
we land on that dry ground, until we've crossed the Jordan and
we're with him forever. It won't cease. It says in verse
31, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they
were coming to the ship, the wind ceased. When they that were
in the ship came and worshipped Him, saying of the truth, Thou
art the Son of God. You're Him. You're Him. When we see Him, when we've cried
out to Him, when we bow to Him, we're with Him. We're with Him
right then. My brother said that one time.
He said, we're going to die and leave this earthly frame and
we're going to be with our Lord in glory and realize we've been
with Him the whole time. That we've always been with Him.
Because we're one with Him. Turn back to John 6. Let's read
it one more time and see if this helps us. John 6 verse 16. And when evening was now come,
His disciples went down to the sea and entered a ship and went
over the sea toward 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 when they had rowed about
five and twenty or thirty-four longs, they seeing Jesus walking
on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship, and they were
afraid. But He saith unto them, It is
I, be not afraid. Then they willingly received
him into the ship, and immediately, immediately the ship was asked
to land, whether they went. Every time the disciples looked
to the seas, this world, every time they looked to the winds,
every time they looked to people, every time they looked to food,
every time they looked to money, every time they looked to the
enemy, Oh no, they were afraid. We're going to starve to death.
We're not going to make it. They're going to kill us. What are we
going to do? We're going to drown. Every time they looked to Christ, they
were where they needed to be. There's one thing needful, and
that one thing is a person in them. And I want to be like Peter.
Lord, where are you at? Have me come with you. I want
to be with them. Knowing they were safe, knowing
they were secure, knowing He was with them. Knowing that their
King rules and reigns. Right there at his feet. Isn't
that so? A brother, I told you this before,
a brother A.D. Mews, Louisville, Kentucky back in the 1930s, 1920s,
had a young man come to him named Luther Martin. His family's were
Martins and they really liked Martin Luther so they named their
child Luther Martin. He's an aspiring young preacher.
He's going to be a preacher. Probably couldn't get hired anywhere
else, I don't know. Twenty-something years old. He
went to Brother Eddie Mews. He said, Brother Mews, some Tuesday morning
at the church, Brother Mews was in a study. He said, will you
pray for me? He said, well yeah, son, what's wrong? He said, I
want God to give me wisdom. God, give me strong faith and
give me a great amount of understanding and wisdom." He said, sure, let's
pray. He said, God, be hard on this boy. Send him trial after
trial after trial. Bear down on him. Be rough with
him. And Luther bumped him and said,
what are you doing? What kind of prayer is that? He said, I asked for wisdom and
understanding and faith. He said, how do you think you
get it, son? That's hard, isn't it? Foolishly, I've asked for
trials before. The Lord was faithful. He gave
more exceedingly abundant than I had planned. But when they
come, when those waves come in His good pleasure, I want to
be thankful for them. I want to be thankful for them.
And for His people, I weep with them. I weep with them. I know
what sin does. That's why Christ wept at the
tomb there looking at Lazarus. He knew what He would do, but
He saw the end product of sin. I know what that is on a body.
Lord is to have an old man. When trials come, I weep with
my brethren, but I'm thankful for them because they're going
to see Christ with them at the end. And they're going to be
with Him forever. I pray that for all of us and
for me. You pray that for me. Trial comes my way, you pray
that I see Christ in it. That'll be right. Amen.