Guiding in thee, Thou lest, O
angels, I'm hiding in thee. Thank you, Sherry, Gabe. Go with me now to Matthew chapter
8, the Gospel of Matthew chapter 8. That hymn we just sang goes
so well with this message. It speaks of the tempest of life,
its wide heaving sea, and how often when trials like the sea
billows roll, Here in Matthew chapter 8, the title subject
of this message is Fellowship in the Storm. And this should
be, if the Lord gives you ears to hear and a heart to receive
it, a message of great comfort. Great comfort. Some accounts
here, we've been looking at Matthew 8. I've been reading through
Matthew personally and have been greatly blessed in reading it.
So that's the reason for these messages from Matthew. But these
are just some accounts of the many, many marvelous saving acts
of our Lord in just a few days' time. Here in Matthew 8, in just
a few days, he travels far and wide over the sea, over land,
in search of his people, his lost sheep. He finds every one
of them and heals them. And he is truly the Lord our
salvation. Scripture said, if the things
that our Lord said and did were written in the books, all of
them, the world could not contain the books. And right here in
this one chapter are so very many stories, and I can't help
but touch on these, okay? Because I was blessed by them.
We want to dwell on the disciples at sea with the Lord in the storm.
But look at verse 14. It says, when Jesus was coming
Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid and sick of a fever. Peter was a married man. The
Catholics don't like to let that be known. But he was. He was a married man. Perhaps
he had children. There's no account of it. But
his mother-in-law was sick with a fever. And all of God's people get sick. They get sick, sometimes severely.
And this modern health and wealth gospel is a lie. Elisha was one
of the greatest prophets. Sixty-seven years he ministered
to Israel. He died of a sickness. He got
sick and died from it. And there are many others. For
the Lord, in verse 15, He touched her hand. He took her by the
hand. Held her hand. I thought of this,
whenever we're sick, sicknesses are better endured if the Lord
will hold our hand. But he healed her. A fever left
her. She was healed. A fever. A severe
fever. And once healed, it says, she
arose and ministered unto them. See that? Here's the point. Verse 15, she arose and ministered
unto them. She served them. Here's one cure,
one sure cure for the fevers that we get in. We get in fevers of self-pity,
sorrow, feelings of uselessness, loneliness, and so on and so
forth. Serve us to others is a sure cure. A sure cure. If we're thinking on others,
That doesn't leave much time to dwell on ourselves. But if
we feel more sorry for other people, we won't feel too sorry
for ourselves. Here's true religion, James said,
to visit those that are in their affliction. If you go down to
the hospital, the nursing home, and look at that poor little
woman lying there, can't get out of bed. Your troubles will
diminish. Yes, they will. And the purpose
for our sicknesses, we all get sick. What's the purpose of our
sicknesses? To serve others who go through them. You know that? You cannot, you cannot truly have compassion on or pray
for, or think on others if you have not gone through some of
those difficulties. You know that? So the purpose
for our sicknesses is in order to minister to others with the
same. To Peter, Peter got in a bad
way, didn't he? A bad way. And the Lord said,
Peter, when you're converted, when you get out of this bad
state, that you're going to get in. Strengthen your brethren. So that's why we go through these
times. She arose and ministered to them. Now that was worth hearing,
wasn't it? Verse 16. When the evening was
come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils.
Most are, aren't they? We noted Sunday that if we're
not and dwelt by the Spirit of God, we have another spirit,
don't we? Christ is the only one who is
able to cast out these demons. So we must keep bringing them
to Him in prayer. Not only us, because we're assaulted,
we're still assaulted, and we get in a bad state. Peter, the
Lord sifted him, didn't He? sure did, got a hold of him.
The Lord let him have a hold of him. And we need to keep coming
to the Lord. He's the only one who can get
this, whatever demon it is, out of his people. And when he says
pray without ceasing, we studied that the other night. I happen
to think these Wednesday nights are the most important messages
of all. I look forward to them with you, and if you come, make an effort,
you will get a blessing. You will. We studied prayer,
the cure for revival, prayer and God's Word, and he said pray
without ceasing. That means That does not mean
that you can be in a state of prayer all day long, in a posture
of prayer, and have an attitude of thankfulness and so forth.
But what that means is don't quit calling on the Lord. Don't
ever quit calling on the Lord, asking the Lord for mercy and
grace. And don't let Him go until He
blesses you. You are a son of Jacob, aren't
you? Then don't let go until He blesses you. And He will. He will. How did the Lord cast
out these devils? Verse 16, He cast out the spirits
with His Word. It's the only thing that will.
The Word of God is the only thing that will heal, take our sicknesses
and heal us of these demons that frighten us. and overcome us. Verse 17, that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took
our infirmities and bare our sicknesses. You know, sickness
came upon us because of sin. Man, that is, sin. Well, our Lord took our sin in
His body on a tree and on the cross and bore it away. Verse
18, Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave
commandment to depart unto the other side. The Lord always attracted
a crowd, or many who were about him seeking temporal helps. Everybody
wants out of their trouble. Everybody wants their belly filled.
But few really follow him for his sake. A few worship Him like
the leper. Remember the leper up in verse
2, chapter 8? The leper came down from the
mountain, and when he saw the Lord, before he asked Him anything,
before he got anything from Him, he worshiped Him. He found great
cause just in the Lord Himself to worship. So we come here like
the leper. We were full of troubles and
problems. We need help. But we come here to worship. And then we pour out our hearts
to Him. And look at verse 18. It says, He gave commandment
to depart unto the other side. The disciples, that is. He told
them, let's leave to get out of that crowd. Let's leave this
crowd. And they did not know where they
were going. They did not know what they were
about to go through. They were about to go through
one of the greatest storms that they'd ever been through. But I tell you what, it's better
to go with the Lord and follow Him and go through great trials
and difficulties than stay with the world in a false sense of
security. You hear that? Better to follow
the Lord and go through great difficulties and trial, and you
will, than to stay with the world in its carnal and false sense
of security. Like Psalm 73, he says there's
no trouble with them. The world has no real troubles,
but God's people do. Waters of a full cup. Verse 19, a certain scribe came
and said unto him, Teacher, I will follow thee whithersoever thou
dost." Religious people are big talkers,
aren't they? This fellow said, I will. Wrong way to start, isn't
it? Perhaps if he had said, Lord,
if you will, I'd like to follow you. Master, I will, or will
you now? Discipleship, verse 20, the Lord
said unto him, the foxes have holes, the birds of the air have
nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. Discipleship
with Christ means to sojourn. Like Abraham, he's the father
of the faithful. He's the first Jew. Gentile turned into a Jew. And he lived in tents. It says
in Hebrews 11, he dwelled in tents with his children. They dwelled with him in tents.
And we're strangers and pilgrims, sojourners in this earth. My
parents are 80-some years old. They have their house for sale.
They're leaving their long-time home. We're called to sojourn.
It's not a life of comfort, but we're called to suffer. He said
it's not only given unto you to believe, but to suffer. Suffer
deprivation. and troubles and trials. Why?
Because we have here no continuing city and the Lord will see to
it that we're weaned from it. That we don't want to stay here. And we all will suffer persecution
for Christ's sake, for the truth's sake, loneliness that is not
included with the world. So be it. I'd rather be with
the Lord and a few of His disciples and well loved by the whole world,
and perish with them." Verse 21, another of his disciples,
now this was one of his disciples, I believe one of the apostles,
said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
The Lord said unto him, follow me. Let the dead bury their dead. Over in Luke's account, he said
to this disciple, go preach the gospel. So this was one of his
preachers. The Lord is certainly not refusing
to let this man attend his father's funeral. This man's father wasn't
dead yet. What he's saying is, let me go
home and take care of him. And the Lord said, you let others
take care of him. You come and follow me. And that's
what his preachers are called to do, leave houses and land
and father and mother and so forth. and preach the gospel. And the Lord certainly is alluding
to those who are dead in sin who like to bury their dead.
We've been to a few of those funerals, haven't we? They live
for family and people. They live for the dead and they
die with them. Let them do that. One of our
ladies just gave me her funeral wishes. I can't wait to read
it. I'm always encouraged by the funeral wishes of the living,
because God's people never die. And it's a celebration. Though,
and you'll know where I'm coming from, though I don't look forward
to preaching Garnett's funeral, I don't look forward to funerals
at all, yet I am, because it's always a home, a celebration,
a going home for his people. All right, now here's our story.
Verse 23, and I hope you believe all of that was worth looking
at briefly. If you don't, you didn't hear
it, did you? Verse 23, and when he was entered
into a ship, his disciples followed him. The Lord entered this ship. The captain came on board the
ship. That's what captains always do.
I like to read those old stories of sailing ships and they're
fearless captains. Not all of them are fearless.
But I like to read those stories and I have a picture on my bathroom
wall of a big boat in the midst of a raging storm and the waves
are blowing over that thing. I love that picture. But Hebrews
chapter 2 says this. Listen to this. Our Lord entered
that ship with his disciples. He entered first. And they came
on board. Hebrews 2 says this. It says
that we see Jesus, a man, who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death. Suffering of death. It became
Him. It's becoming Him, our Captain,
for whom are all things and by whom are all things, and bringing
many sons to glory. The Lord got in the ship to take
His disciples across a raging sea to the other side. You reckon they're going to make
it? Well, if he makes it, they'll make it. It says, "...in bringing
many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect
through suffering." You see, he went through sufferings himself.
Listen to this, "...for as much as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood, he himself likewise took part in the same."
He entered a body. A body has to have preparedness.
That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death.
Why do things frighten us? Why do these things frighten
us? Death. Afraid something is going to
kill us. We'll see in a minute. But through
fear of death and all their lifetime subject to bondage, he didn't
take on the nature of angels, but he took on the seat of Abraham.
He entered one of these ships, a body, a fellowship of our sufferings
and our weakness. It behooved him to be made like
unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high
priest. Verse 18 of chapter 2 says, He
himself suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that
are tempted. He got in the ship. He went through everything they
went through. Except he wasn't worried. We'll see that in a
minute. Not at all. And this man, listen
to this, it says this man, this man, this man, he had great faith. Our captain lived by faith. The
Lord Jesus Christ as a man, we see Jesus, he lived by faith. He must because the just shall
live by faith. And to be called the just one,
he must live by faith. What is faith? What is faith? Faith is very
simply trusting the Lord. Faith is not faith in your faith.
Faith is not looking to yourself. Faith is looking to the Lord.
Trust, confidence, dependence upon God. And Jesus Christ lived
as a man totally dependent on God. He never performed a miracle
for his own sake, but depended on the Lord to do things for
him. Because we must. He was compassed with our infirmities,
Scripture says. Touched with the feeling of our
infirmities. Made a little lower than the angels, et cetera. And not only just touch, not
only that the Lord feels, and that, oh, that, you know, the
feeling of our infirmities, what that is, is compassion. Compassion
is a wonderful thing. That will make you serve others
if you are a compassionate person. You are feeling their infirmities
and you are touched by it. want to serve them, lift them
out of it. Our Lord was not only touched,
but He brings His people through these things. Verse 24 in our
text, it says that, Behold, there arose a great tempest in the
sea. There arose a great tempest. A great storm came down on this
boat, on this ship that the Lord was in with His disciples. Where
did it come from? This, I believe, was the greatest
storm that these old fishermen, these young fishermen, had ever
seen. Where did it come from? Where
do storms come from? They all come from above, don't
they? You read with me in Psalm 107, it says, He commandeth and
raiseth the stormy wind. and lifteth up the waves thereof."
And these disciples of Him that are in this ship that go down
into the sea and ships that do business in great waters, there
they see the works of the Lord, His wonders in the deep. And
it says, they mount up, they rise up. Oh, isn't this a great
view when they're dashed down as low as they can get? Who does
that? Who raises us up? Lofty like
on Mount Pisgah to see heaven as it were, be like Enoch and
we're ready to walk on in. The Lord lifts us up. But the
Lord cast it down. Isn't that Hannah's prayer? You
read that. Hannah's prayer, the Lord cast it down. Why? That
we might look good. And these storms come from the
Lord. Storms of life. Trials. We all go through. The Lord commanded
them. Listen to this over in 1 Peter. It says this. I love this. 1
Peter 1. It says that if need be, you
greatly rejoice in the salvation of the Lord right
now for a season, but if need be, You're in heaviness through manifold
temptations of trial, if need be. Do you remember that? If it be, it need be, or it would
not be. Because all things work together
according to that purpose of the Lord. That all-wise purpose
and therefore for our good. And he's the one who decides
if it need be. If it need be, if it be, it need
be. Or it would not be. And you know
they all went through this storm. Every one of them. There was
not one disciple who did not go through this storm. It says they, we read there,
they that go down to the sea in ships. fellowship of the mystery of
the Gospel. Truly, our fellowship is with
the Lord, with the Father and His Son. And they that go down
to get in this ship, they go down. He humbles us and puts
us in this fellowship. We do business in great water.
And it says, there they see, you'll only see the works of
the Lord and His wonders in the deep. This sea of life or this sea
of eternal life is a great mystery. The sea, there's nothing more
mysterious and yet more wondrous and glorious than the sea. Nothing. And what a type of eternal life
that it is. The life of a believer, Eternal
life, kingdom of heaven. Our Lord said in another place,
suffers violence, go through violent storms. This life of
a disciple with Christ in Christ, who is deceit, deep and mysterious,
but this eternal life entrance into the kingdom of heaven is
a deep and mysterious thing. with its wonders and dark mysteries
and complexities, the Lord's purposes, His ways are past found and now. Dark mysteries and those whom
Christ calls to be His disciples, those whom He calls into the
fellowship of this mystery, they see the works of the Lord and
His wonders. They don't understand it all.
But they see that it's the Lord. And as we said of Psalm 73, all
the world does not go through necessarily deep and dark and
difficult trials, but God's people do. He's promised it to them
eventually. And though they don't understand
it, it's the Lord. They see that it is the Lord.
And our comfort, listen to me, our comfort is not to understand
it all. but to trust Him who does. And they all went through it.
I read to you 1 Peter, over in 1 Corinthians it says this, There
hath no temptation taken you, there is no trial that you have
been through, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful. Their faithful God was right
there with them when they were bringing them through it. He's
the one that purposed that storm. And He was with them. They were
scared to death. Didn't need to be. But that's
flesh in it. But He was with them. He was
with them. And over in 1 Peter it says this,
1 Peter 5, listen to this very carefully. It says, the same
afflictions that you have, whatever afflictions you go through, are
accomplished in your brethren throughout the world. Let me
read that to you again. The same affliction, no trial
that you've been through, it doesn't matter what it is. Sickness,
doesn't matter what sickness you've gone through, no matter
how difficult, no matter how severe. Cancer, a lot of God's
people go through that, haven't they? Many in our midst. And
the Lord brought them through it. Death, the death of loved
ones, spouse, children, parents, and so forth. All of God's people
go through that. And they pass through it. The
Lord brings them through it. They all go, there's nothing
that you haven't gone through, that you've gone through that
all of God's people haven't or will not go through. Family trouble.
You have family trouble? Huh? A wayward child? Ask David
about wayward children. Ask Samuel about wayward children.
Ask Eli about wayward children. Ask any of your brethren today
about wavered children. Marriage? Go through difficult
marriages? Ask Job about a difficult marriage.
Many of God's people have gone through broken marriages, divorces,
many. Many in this room right here.
What about the loss of things? Loss of all your possessions?
Do you fear that? Ask Job about the loss of possessions. All those things at the same
time came down on Job, didn't they? Did the Lord bring him
through? Who did it? The Lord did it. Brought him on it, didn't He? Who watched over him? Who
made it sure that Job got through these things? That he didn't
kill himself or he didn't perish from these difficulties? Who?
Who? Who? Who blessed him in the end ten times more than he
had in the beginning? Why don't you just wait? Okay? Don't do anything rash.
Because there's nothing that you've gone through that his
people have not. Nothing. Oh, if they're not going through
it now, they will. Depression? Loneliness? Difficulties? Read the Psalms. Sounds like that's about all
David went through most of the time. Who brought him through? David encouraged himself one
place, only place, in his God. What about sin? Have you sunk
to the lowest depths of sin and guilt? Let's ask old Jacob about sin.
Let's ask David about sin. Let's ask Saul, Paul. Paul, do you ever get over, in
your lifetime, killing all those people who loved Christ? Paul lived with that guilt all
his life. But he got his comfort. from
his Lord that somehow purposed it out. Right? There's no temptation,
no trial that you've gone through that God's people haven't gone
through. And the way of escape is what
these men did. Look at verse, in our text, Matthew
8. It says in verse 24, there arose
a great tempest in the sea and so much that the ship was covered
with waves. The ship was covered with waves.
Have you ever been in a trial that difficult where sometimes
you feel like you're going to be completely overcome and drowned
in your sorrow? Drowned in your grief? Go down
in the pit of corruption because of your sin and your guilt? Or
your worries and your fears over whatever or whomever are going
to just perish from them? All do. All do. All go through it. The greatest
of which, Psalm 38. I believe that's every sinner's,
along with Psalm 51, is every sinner's favorite psalm. David
prayed there in Psalm 38, he said, my loins are filled with
a loathsome disease. See, my sins have gone over my
head. They're more than I can bear. The Lord went through the same
storm. You know that? The Lord, though
He Himself did not commit any sins, John, He was made to sin. That Psalm 38 is Him speaking.
You know that? He was made to feel what you
and I feel. And he sweat, as it were, great
drops of blood. And he was forsaken by God so
that we need not be. Well, chapter 8, verse 24, they
were all in this great tempest. And he was with them, but verse
24 says he was asleep. He was asleep. This was the greatest trial that
these seafaring men had ever gone through, and they'd seen
some doozies. I told you about my little sailing venture, you
know. I got on that ship with six other men and sailed out
of Boston Harbor into a black sky and a wave for about ten
feet high. If you've never been on a sailing
ship, I mean a small sailing ship, in ten-foot waves, you
haven't died yet. I can say, Because I died. My heart failed me. Well, these
fellows had seen ten-foot swells, and they rowed those out every
day. Ten. That captain of that boat
I was on, Stan, was laughing at me and my landlubber friend. We were green. And he was laughing
at us. And so were those other experienced
sailors. Ten-foot waves. Well, these fellows had been
through some deuces. Some high winds. Maybe in their
carnal security as unbelievers, you know, they thought, ah, we'll
get through this. They were still scared. Men are,
Kelly, aren't they? They won't let it on like it,
but they are. Fear of death. They act like they're trying
to cheat death or they're afraid. And maybe they acted the part
in front of each other, but they were scared. Well, this was the
one. Perfect storm. It's the perfect storm to see
His glory. Because they think it's over. It's all over. In Luke's account,
Mark's account says the boat was full of water. The boat was full of water. It
can't float. He was asleep. I guess he was sleeping in water.
soundly resting. Why? Because he was sound in
the faith. He believed God. God sent this on purpose. God
his Father. And you know, we might drown. We sang a song the other day.
What was it? We sang a song. What was the
name of that song? The writer of that song, I forget who it was, but he wrote
that hymn because his wife, his fiancée drowned. And he wrote
that hymn because of that great trial he went through. Well,
you know what? He drowned a few years later. Well, these disciples might drown,
but they won't die. You understand? Our Lord said
that. Barbara, what makes us afraid
of things, like I said, is death. Our Lord said, he that liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. You believe this? Lazarus
was dead. Was he? They thought he was. Was he? No, the Lord said he
sleepeth. Who are we going to believe?
The undertaker or the Lord? He's not dead. Jo's not dead. People that don't know Christ
are dead. Dead in trespasses of sin. Ellen's not dead. She's alive. She has life more
abundant that we just taste a little bit of. Linda's not dead. We're in the land of the dead.
We're struggling to stay awake and trying to get some comfort
here. They don't have that problem.
They don't have that problem. We're in the land of the dead.
He was asleep. And again, as a man, our Lord
lived by faith. So in the midst of the greatest
storm that these disciples had ever seen, he was asleep. That's fitting, isn't it? But
they weren't. Over in Mark's account it said
they were sailing, meaning they were striking sails. They were
pulling sails down. You don't want sails up when
you're in the worst storm of all. It'll throw you down in
the water. They were striking sails. They
were probably casting everything out of that boat. That's a good
picture. You don't need all that you think you need. Get rid of
it. There's one thing needful. It's the Lord. And He's with
you. Well, they were doing all of this. They were doing all
they could to stay afloat. Sailing and bailing. Sailing
and bailing to try to stay afloat. Is that how they made it? Neither have we. We never have
kept ourselves afloat. We never have. They were doing
their jobs. They were sailors, and sailors
are supposed to sail the vessel and are supposed to do these
things when a storm comes up. Do your job. You do your job.
You go to work. But don't think for a minute
that you're keeping yourself and your family afloat. You're
not. Materially or spiritually. It's
of the Lord. Verse 25, His disciples came
to Him And they awoke him saying, Lord, save us. We perish. We're goners. I would not try to imitate how
they said this, but they did it just calmly. Can you hear
the fear and the cries and the screams? The wind was boisterous
and loud. The waves. Lord, this is it. We're going down. Over in Mark's
account, it says they said to him, Lord, don't you care? We get in bad states, don't we? Lord, don't you care about me?
The reason, and I thought about somebody we know that has gone
through great trials, many people. And it's like one person said
to another believer who had gone through great trials said, the
Lord must love you a great deal. That's whom he loves. He chased him. Don't you care? That's why he
sent the trial. That's why he sent it. But that's
unbelief, isn't it? Lord, save us. We're going down.
And you know what? You have never truly prayed.
And here's what's good about these trials. Here's what's really
good about going through deep trials. Because you'll never
really pray. You'll never really call on the
Lord until you think it's all over. You know that? Until you think,
I'm going down. There's nothing I can do. You call on Him, who not only can, but He will. He will. Lord, save us. We're
goners. Lord, save us. We're sinners. Would you save us from this untold
regeneration? Would you save us from this sin
that overwhelms us? Would you save us from this trial
that threatens to to kill me. Lord, save us. We're perishing. No, you're not. No, you're not.
No, you're not. No, you're not. There's no possible
way that this boat can go down. There's no possible way that
this boat can go down. Christ is not finished. His work
is not finished. Verse 26, it says, He saith unto
them, and I believe He's still lying there. He's still lying
there. They just woke Him up. Perhaps He's rubbing His eyes. Why are you so fearful? Oh, ye of little faith. You know, the Lord said this to them
often, didn't He? They needed it said to them.
Oh, ye of little faith. Why are you so fearful? Have
I been so long time with you? They hadn't known it. After three years with the Lord,
one time He said to them, while I was with you, Do you like anything? Huh? Three years. They didn't
provide themselves with anything. They went through all sorts of
perils and troubles and so forth. They were kept safe. How long
has the Lord kept you? Huh? Some of you 30 years, some
40, some 50, like myself, some 60, some 70, Eighty? Huh? Boy, Charles is to worry
now. Oh, he had little faith. But
you know what? Here's all of God's people. It doesn't matter if they're
40, 50, 60, 70, or 80. They're still going to act like
He's the Son. And aren't you glad He knows
our frame? The Lord didn't say this harshly. He didn't say this
in hard rebuke. He said it very tenderly, very
kindly. Enough to make them understand. Enough to convict them of their
lack of faith. They needed to, and so do we.
We need to be convicted of our lack of faith. It's dishonoring
to the Lord to not trust Him. You know that? And we very seldom
do we really actually believe and trust Him, to His honor and
glory. And we need rebuked. Gently rebuked. And He knows
our frame. He knows them. He knows their
what? Flesh. He knew that. He knew what they were going
to do. He brought this storm up. He knew what they were going
to do. And He knew what He was going to do. That's why He did
it. That's why He did it. Look what
He did. Then He arose. So you're going down. And he
arose and he went out on the bow of that ship, the captain
of our salvation. And it says he, the billows obey
his will, that he rebuked the wind. The disciples are watching
this. They watch him walk out on the
bow of that ship. What's he going to do? And he said to the wind, cease. And he said to the waves, lie
down. And all of a sudden they were
on a farm pond. Silent. They say there's a great
calm before the storm. Well, the Lord For his disciples,
there's a great calm after the storm. That's when you appreciate the
calm. He rebuked, there was great calm. It says, great calm. And they came to the other side. They made it. And they marveled,
oh, what manner of man is it? Even the winds and the seas obey
Him. They marveled. It says in Psalm
107, He makes the storm a calm so that the waves are still.
And they're so glad. They're glad to be quiet. And
He brings them unto their desired haven. Oh, that men would praise
the Lord. Why do we come here? We come
here to worship. We come here to cry out, Lord,
save us. We perish. We come here to be
calmed. If we're not calmed, we haven't
cried. If we don't get some calm and
some peace, we need to keep crying. Brother Walter Gruber one time
ran into a fellow who was going through great trials, a believer.
And Brother Walter read Scripture and so forth to him and came
to see him later on afterward. And expecting, hoping that the
man had found some peace or whatever. And he hadn't yet. And the Lord
said through Walter, where's the consolation? The Lord said He would give consolation
to his people. Comfort. He said, blessed are
they that mourn, they shall be comforted. Blessed are they that
hunger and thirst, they shall be, what? Filled. Blessed are
the poor. Blessed are the meek. There's
always a promise that He fulfills. Oh, ye of little faith, cry unto
the Lord, and only in Him is there great calm. He'll bring
you to your desired haven. What is your desired haven? Are
you like David? One thing have I desired, and
that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the
Lord and inquire into His temple and behold the beauty of my Lord.
Garnet, today when I went to see her, I was dressed like this
right before I came here. And she kept going on and on
about how nice I looked. I said, she's just sick is what
it is. I said, she's embarrassing me, really. I said, Garnet, you
look pretty to me. She said, oh, no, I don't look
pretty. I look awful. I said, no, Garnet,
you look beautiful to me. You look like Christ. I said,
this is just rags. You look beautiful to me. You
look just like Christ. She said, oh, that's who I want
to look like. And she said, that's who I want to see. You will. If that's your desire,
that's where you'll be. Okay, stand with me. Our Lord, we thank You for Your
Word. It is truly our comfort and our
peace and our consolation. All Your people go through trials. have been and are now and shall
go through trials of your sending. And Lord, we pray, we ask that
You would calm a troubled sea and a troubled heart and mind
and soul as only You can and must through Your Word. Give the command, Lord. Send
the command. And with it, peace and comfort. And knowing that
You Yourself are touched with the feeling of our infirmities
and encompassed with the same infirmities, took flesh, took
upon yourselves flesh, and have compassion on us that are so
beset behind and before by these troubles. Lord, thank You for
being made flesh and dwelling amongst us. And we enter into
this fellowship. You have brought us into the
fellowship of the gospel of mysteries and the sufferings of Christ,
Lord. Lord, bring us through it. We know You will. But cause
us to cry unto Thee, the Master of the sea. And it's in Thy name
we ask Thee, saying, give thanks tonight. Amen. You're dismissed. Thank you.