Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Matthew chapter 14, where we just were. And I'm not going
to read the portion again, since we've already read it. And Matthew chapter 14, verses
22 to 33 will be where we will be looking at. And there's a
lot of instruction for we who are the people of God in this
passage of scripture. Because we are just like the
apostles. We are just like the apostles.
And there's also a lot of the manifestation of who Christ really
is. He's God. He's God over all. He's the ruler of the wind and
the waves. He's the one who spoke the universe
into existence. And we're seeing him walking
on water. That's nothing for Him. He created it all. It's
His. It's His. Man says it's impossible,
but man comes at it from the perspective that Christ is just
a man. He's not just a man. He's God
in the flesh. Oh my, He's so much more than
what man thinks He is. That's our Savior, beloved. That's
our Redeemer. That's the one who holds us in
his hands. Can we ever be lost if he holds us in his hands?
Never. He says, no man can pluck you
out of my father's hands and mine. No one. Not even yourself. Because we're no man, right?
We're part of the no man. Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. So today in our text, we'll see
the display of the great Redeemer's sovereignty, of who he really
is. His sovereignty on display. He's God. He created the sea.
He created the world. He created the earth. All things
consist because of Him. And here He comes, walking on the
water, like it's dry land. And this isn't just in the midst
of the water being calm. This is during a tempest, a storm. And he's just walking on water. Oh, our king's amazing, isn't
he? He's absolutely amazing. He approaches the boat that the
disciples are in, and we're going to find out in this message that
they're in the middle of the lake, the middle of the sea,
the Sea of Galilee. They're in the middle. In the
myths there, it says in the text, when we look at it, that's the
middle in the Greek. They're not just close to shore.
They're in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, miles from the shore. He didn't
just walk 300 feet. He walked miles to where they
were. That's our king, beloved. And
this showed his sovereign power, right? Only God could do that. Try it at a lake and watch what
happens. We just sink, don't we? Go to the Great Lake and
put your foot in the water. Well, I'm down under, right? Oh my, because we're just mere
humans. But again, he's God in the flesh. So that's the setting for our
text. Look at verse 22. Our Lord constrains them to go
into the boat. He constrains them to go. to the boat to the other side.
Well, he's going to send a multitude of people away, because usually
the disciples did that. This time he's going to send
them away. He's going to say, go back to your homes. This time,
though, he's going to have the disciples go before him. And
we're going to learn something here. His eye is ever upon them,
even when they're out there. We're going to see that in the
text, too. His eye is on them. Not in this text here, but in
the same narrative in another portion of scripture. He's watching
them. How can he watch them when he's
miles away? Because he's God. Because he's God. Oh my. It's wonderful. So it says here,
in straightway Jesus constrained, that means to force or compel
in the moral senses by authoritative command in the Greek. So he commanded
them to go into the, he said, you go in that ship. And they did. They did. It says, in straightway Jesus
constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before
him on the other side while he sent the multitude away. They didn't want to go. It seems
like they didn't want to go, but he compels them to go with
authority. Are you thankful, beloved God,
that he makes us well in the day of his power? Aren't you
thankful? We'd be just like disciples.
I don't want to go, Lord. You go in that boat right now.
OK, Lord. OK. It also shows the willingness
of God's people to obey the commands of the Lord, too. Whatever you
say, Lord. Remember what Mary said about
her son, about Christ? Whatever he says, listen to him.
Listen to him. Oh my. Oh, the Lord makes us
willing, too. And the same Greek word for constrained
is the same word used in Galatians chapter 2 when Paul is writing
that Titus was not to be circumcised, that he was not compelled. Remember
in our text in Sunday school, when he's not compelled, that's
the same Greek word. He didn't listen. He's like,
no way, I'm not doing that. I'm not going to get circumcised
just because you tell me I have to get circumcised. He wasn't
compelled to do that. because he knew that the false
teachers had no authority. See, when Christ speaks, he speaks
with authority. He's the captain of the Lord's
house, as we saw last week. He's the one who's in charge
of everything. He's the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Oh, I'm so thankful God makes
us willing. And why did he constrain them? get into the boat and head
to the other side? Well, we see the answer in verse
23 of Matthew 14. It says, And when he had sent
the multitude away, he went up the mountain apart to pray. And
when the evening was come, he was there alone. So the whole
reason he sent them away in the boat is because he wanted to
pray. He wanted to be the one who sent the multitude away,
and he also wanted to pray to the Father. Oftentimes, our great
King, he went off on his own, and he spent time on his own
and prayed to the Father, didn't he? Oftentimes. John 17, which we're looking
at on Wednesday nights, is the one time when we get a glimpse
into our Lord's prayers. There's no other recorded prayers
of the Lord except for John 17. We know he prayed often and always. But that's the one recorded prayer
of his. So we see here that he sent them away because he wanted
to pray. He wanted to be alone with the
Father. He wanted to commune with the Father, so he had the
disciples go on before him. And you know, we're also gonna
see that he had purpose to teach them a lesson. They're gonna
learn lesson through this situation. And it's a lesson for us, too,
as God's people. He was gonna teach them who he
was. by walking on water. See, they
didn't know. He just told them, go on the
boat and go to the other side. And I looked on a map, and the place
he departed and the place that he sent them to is the widest
part in the Sea of Galilee. It's the widest part from two
points. So he didn't just send them just across the little wee
ways. They were going across the widest part of the Sea of
Galilee. And the whole reason was he wanted
to pray to the Father. And he wanted to teach them a
lesson. They're gonna learn of his deity. They're gonna learn,
we're gonna learn, Lord help my unbelief. Because we're all
plagued by that. And we're gonna see who he is.
He's God over all. There's going to be a lesson
taught in the midst of the storm, which every storm we go through
in life, he teaches us a lesson. He does, every single one in
our lives. And remember, when I was in religion, and I don't
know if you felt this way before, I used to think when something
started to happen in my life, I think, oh, God's punishing
me. I did something wrong, right? That's immediate. The religion
I was in, that's what I was taught. That if you have a trial come
your way or a situation come your way, that it was because
of something you've done. God doesn't work that way, beloved.
Because that would be punishing us for our sins, right? Where
did he punish our sins? Amen, at Calvary. They're all
punished. See, God providentially sends
these storms according to his will and purpose. and they're
to conform us to the image of Christ, beloved. He doesn't do
it in anger. See, God's not like that to his
people. Everyone in the world has storms
occur to them, don't they? But our storms are providentially
determined by God. And usually what they do, every
time I go through a storm and I look back, I think, look what
the Lord's done. And I end up being closer to
him than I was before I went through the storm. Because I'm
just in awe again. Wow, Lord, you did it again.
You did it again. I had this gigantic mountain
built up that I'm looking at going, oh my! And he just mowed
it right down. You know, what's the worst that
can happen to us? We die and go to glory. See, but we're fearful. And every one of us are. I don't
care. Some say, I'm not afraid. At the day of death, every man
trembles. But we have a peace with God now. We can look at
death and know that our Lord, he overcame it. And it's just
a doorway for us. So whether a storm is small or
huge, we're going to find out that the Lord's ever with us
through it all. ever with us. It's wonderful. I was so comforted
when I put this message together. I was so comforted this week.
So this ship, look at what it says in verse 24. But the ship was now in the midst
of the sea. In the Greek, that's middle.
So they're traveling at the most widest point of the Sea of Galilee,
and they're right in the middle, beloved. They're right in the
middle. And look what it says, and it
was tossed with waves and the wind was contrary. Well, they
were rowing, because in another narrative of this, they're rowing.
You ever try to row against the wind? Oh my, they're rowing,
they're not even moving. I remember when I was a kid and
my dad would take me out, my brothers and I, and he'd give
us the paddles on the side or the oars. Well, me being a little guy,
I could only move one oar, so I just went right around in a
circle, right? But then he taught me to take
both oars and start, you know, and turn this oar here to steer
that way and turn that oar there to steer that way. Oh, okay,
now I understand, right? But otherwise, you're just spinning.
So these guys, they're rowing, and they're not going nowhere.
The wind's blowing contrary to them. It's blowing against them.
Does not the storms of life blow against us? We're pilgrimaging
towards home, and it's blowing against us? Oh, my. Oh, my. So they were in the middle
of the sea. And this was occurring during the fourth watch. They'd rowed all through the
night, beloved. They'd rowed all through the
first watch. They'd rowed through the second watch. They'd rowed
through the third watch. And now they're still rowing
in the fourth watch. And they're only halfway across the sea. And daylight's approaching. And
they see the king walking upon the water. They see someone.
Could you imagine that? They're rowing. The storm's tossing
the boat around. It's blowing. And all of a sudden,
they look. And somebody's walking on the water. What? Of course they think that
they've seen a spirit, right? Has anyone ever seen that happen?
No one, except for here. Look over in John chapter 6 verse
16. Look at this. The story brings
forth that it was dark and Jesus was not come to them. Look at
this. John 6 verse 16 to 18. Same narrative. And it says here, an evening
was come, in verse 16, an evening was come, his disciples went
down into the sea, and entered into the ship, and went over
toward Capernaum, and it was now dark, and Jesus was not come
to them. So they're in the middle of the
sea, it's dark, and the wind is just tossing them around like
a little toy boat in the bathtub. And look at this, and the sea
rose by reason of a great wind that blew. My, and it was dark, and the Lord
had not yet come to them. They'd been rowing all through
the night, and now a storm's risen up. And they're only halfway
across. They're in the middle of the
Sea of Galilee. You know, sometimes Christ withholds
the light of his countenance from his own. Job cried this,
when I waited for light, there came darkness, Job 30 verse 26.
But thank God it's recorded in Psalm 112, unto the upright there
arises light in the darkness. Oh, there's light in the darkness
for us, isn't there? In the storms of life, there's
light in the darkness. That's the Lord Jesus Christ,
isn't he? Oh, he's our light. And let us remember that darkness
is not created by Satan, but by God. By God. And he has a wise and good reason
for it. We don't understand when these
storms come up and it's dark all around us, but God's got
a reason for it. He's got a reason for it. Sometimes he withholds the light
from his people that they may discover the treasures of the
darkness, Isaiah 45.3. Sometimes we go through trials
that we might discover the treasures within that trial, which draws closer to Christ. Oh my. And how this verse speaks
to the believer in Christ, we're on our way homeward, aren't we?
We're on the pilgrimage. We're on our way home, beloved. And we must pass through the
storms of this life. We must. We're often tossed to
and fro by the waves. They come at us from all sides
and toss us a little boat of life all over the place, don't
they? And sometimes we even find the
winds contrary to our pilgrimage, blowing against us. Remember,
we're not of this world. We're in this world. But we're
not of this world, beloved. We seek a better country. We're
on our way home. Oh, my. And we were in the world,
and we were of the world in our natural state, weren't we? So
God, in his mercy and his grace, regenerated us, born again by
the Holy Spirit of God. Oh. And now we're all at different
places in our pilgrimages. Some may be closer to death than
others. Some may not be. Some may be, you know, we don't
know. Again, as I said in Sunday School, we do not know the day
that we're going to die. We have no idea. But praise be to God,
we know the one who knows the day that we're going to die.
And that's our Father in Heaven. You know, the whole world lieth
in the wicked one, the scripture says. And the friendship of the
world is enmity with God. This world is devoid of any spiritual
light. It's devoid of any spiritual
light. It's a world which hangs over, a world which has it hanging
over it the shadow of death. The shadow of death. Everyone
here is going to die. Everyone in this world is going
to die. Everyone. We breathe our first breath,
and our heart is a drumbeat to death. My. So what comfort we find here? What comfort we find here? In
the midst of the storm here, that's blowing, that's so much
like us, isn't it? We're in the, we're roaring,
we're roaring, and we're going contrary. The wind's blowing
against us, my oh my. But next, in the text, we see
that he comes to them. He comes to them. We're going
to see that later on in the text. Always remember that no matter
what we're going through, Christ our advocate is ever with us.
He's right beside us. We're going to see that too.
He's ever with us. He said, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. And it may seem like sometimes
in the first watch, we're going through this storm without him.
And sometimes in the second watch, we feel like we're going through
the storm without him. And sometimes in the third watch, we feel like
we're going through the storm without him. And then he manifests
himself in the fourth watch. But you know, he's always with
us all through the first, second, third watch. He's watching us,
watching over us, like a shepherd does with his sheep. Why does
he do that? Because he purchased us with
his precious, precious blood. We're his. He paid for our souls,
beloved, with his blood. And he ever lives to intercede
for us. So may God remind us while we're in the midst of storms
that Christ, our advocate, is ever with us. He's ever with
us. He'll never leave us. Do you know that he's ever with
us and ever watching over us? He may seem to delay his help
sometimes, may seem sometimes like he's passed us by, but it's never the case, beloved.
It's never the case. He is ever with we who are his
born-again blood-bought bride. He's ever with us. His eye is
ever upon us. It doesn't leave us. It doesn't leave us. And so here we see our Lord sent
them on into the boat, sent them ahead, and then look what he
does. He sent them away and he departed into the mountain to
pray. Look at verse 46. Oh, actually, Mark chapter 4, verse,
sorry, Mark chapter 6, verse 46. Scripture says, and when
he had sent them away, he departed into the mountain to pray. So
off he goes. He sends them away. Verse 23
of Matthew 14, and when he had sent the multitudes away, he
went up into the mountain part to pray, and when evening was
come, he was there alone. So the disciples are in the boat,
they're going across the Sea of Galilee, and our Lord's up
on top of a mountain. He's all by himself, talking
to the Father. My, oh my. Do you know the Sea of Galilee,
which they were crossing at its widest point is 8.5 miles across? Which would put them at 4.2 miles
out in the middle of the sea. That's a long way. That's a long
way. The length of the Sea of Galilee
is 13 miles long, but they were crossing at the width, the widest
point. The widest point. Look at verse 24, "...but the
ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with the waves,
and the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the
night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea." Walking on the sea. But note,
first of all, in verse 23, He was alone. He was alone up in
the mountains. He was alone on the land. He was all by himself. Turn, if you would, to Mark 6,
verse 48. He's alone, by himself, but here
we see in Mark 6, verse 48, remember, they're 4.2 miles away from him,
in a little boat. rolling across the Sea of Galilee
in the midst of a storm, a huge storm. Look what this text says
here. He's up in a mountain praying
to the Father. And he saw them. They're 4.2 miles away from him.
And he saw them. What did he see them doing? Toiling
and rowing. He saw them in the boat, beloved. He's up in the mountain all by
himself, talking to the father. They're 4.2 miles away, out in
the middle of nowhere, in the Sea of Galilee, in a storm. And
he saw them. He's God, beloved. Someone say,
oh, how can he see them? They're so far away. He's God. He saw them. He saw
them rowing. He saw them struggling. He saw that the wind was contrary
to them. For the wind was contrary to
them, and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them.
walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. He would
have walked right by them. Oh my. But you know what? His eyes are always on them,
isn't he? He saw them. So when we're in the midst of the storm,
remember this text. Lord, you see me. You see me
right now. You see me crying. You see me
struggling. You see me. He ever watches over His sheep,
beloved. He ever sees us. And think of
this. Oh, what a blessing these words
are, right? And He saw them. Think of this. They're rowing out there on the
first watch. And He saw them. He didn't just look and see them
there. He saw them even while they were rowing. They're leaving
that land. They start rowing. He saw them.
He's watching them. How? He's God. Second watch rolls around. He still sees him. Who else sees
him? God the Father sees him too,
doesn't he? They're both looking at him.
Both of them. What a lesson for us here. God
is ever with us. Through the first watch, the
second watch, the third watch, and the fourth watch. That means
the whole day. From morning till night. And it just keeps going,
beloved. He's ever watching over us. Oh,
that's so comforting, isn't it? That's so comforting. He sees
me struggle each day. He's ever watchful. Gives us grace in time of need,
even when we don't even ask for it. Gives us strength. when we
need it, even when we don't even ask for it. Ever watch, ever
caring for us. Right there, never leaving us. And again, remember that the
storms of life are not sent because of sin. Religion, again, says
that all the time, but all our sins were dealt with at Calvary's
Cross. Christ paid them all. He paid the punishment for our
sins. He appeased the wrath of God
for our sins. So much so that God doesn't see
them anymore. Oh, my brothers and sisters,
God's not angry with us anymore in Christ. Why? And He ordains this storm,
didn't He? He ordained this storm to happen,
just like He ordains the storms in our lives to happen. But He's
ever with us during all those times of trials and hardship.
Again, He may come to us in the first watch, or the second, or
the third, and sometimes even in the fourth watch. But remember,
that amidst the wind and the waves, He's ever watching over
us. His eyes never left us. My, what
a Savior. He saves us, and then all through
our lives, He watches over us and cares for us, like a shepherd
with a sheep, yes. I can understand now why Paul
says it's the goodness of God that leads men to repentance.
Look how good he is. Look how good he is. We're like
the disciples. We get all frightened in the
midst of a storm, don't we? We're just like them. We're just
flesh. And yet he has such mercy upon us and such grace bestowed
to us. Oh, he's wonderful. Jonah said, for thou has cast
me into the deep, in the midst of the seas, and the floods can
pass me about, and all thy billows and all thy waves passed over
me. Oh, the billows and the waves
are all his, remember that. In the midst of the storm, the
winds that are howling around us in the storms of life, that's
his wind. That storm's his. He's in control
of it. I think you guys have heard me
talk about the goldsmith, right? A fellow walked in, in the 1800s,
he walked into a goldsmith's store. And here's the goldsmith,
he's getting gold, separating the gold and all that, and the
guy comes over and he goes, how do you know when it's finished?
He goes, when I can see my reflection. We're being conformed to the
image of Christ. through the midst of storms.
He's chipping away at us, conforming us to His image, beloved. It's
amazing. We don't see it, but that's what
He's doing. So remember, He's in charge of
all. He's sovereign over all. Look at this in verse 25 of Matthew
14. And in the fourth watch of the
night, Jesus went unto them, walking in on the sea. Now, the
Jews, since the conquest by Pompey, had adopted the Roman division
of night into four watches. The fourth watch was the last
watch. It was between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. It came about in the
dimness of the early dawn. And note the waves that were
fearful to our disciples, or to the disciples, Disciples are
fearful of them. They can't, all they're doing
is growing and they're just, they're contrary to them. And
here's the Lord just walking on them. Walking on them. 4.2 miles. It wasn't just the little wee
bit of land that he walked on. Or water that he walked on. 4.2
miles. in the midst of the Sea of Galilee. We'd be in awe if it was only
a hundred feet, wouldn't we? Four miles? What's it show us? His sovereignty. His dominion over all things.
We'd sink as soon as we put our foot in the water. My oh my. And here we have a glimpse of
his almighty power. Here's the mighty maker walking
on the very sea he made. Let's read verse 26. And when his disciples saw him
walking on the water, on the sea, they were troubled, saying,
It's a spirit. And they cried out for fear.
Now I'm not going to say anything bad about them, because you know
what? I'd be saying the same thing. If I was in that boat, I'd be
going, oh my gosh, what is that? What in the world? And we'd all
be sitting there going, right? We would be. Oh, my goodness. Walking on, someone's walking
on water? Who is that? Must be a spirit. And look at
that. They cried out for fear. They
were afraid. And again, I ain't going to be too hard on these
guys because we would be too. Someone says, oh, I wouldn't
be afraid. No, yeah, you would. These are
tough men. They're fishermen. And they see this form, this
person walking on water. What a display of our Savior's
absolute dominion over all things. What a display of His sovereign
power. He's just manifesting to them
who He is. None but God could do this. None. The ancient Egyptians pictured
an impossibility that man could walk on water. They said, it's
impossible. Scientists tell us that flesh and blood, for us
to walk on water is flesh and blood, it's a physical impossibility.
Not with God. See, they keep thinking he's
just a man. He's God incarnate in flesh.
He's the word of God incarnate. And He's came to save His people
from their sins. The days are passing by for Him
to go to the cross and die, aren't they? But here He is, before
He goes to the cross, and He's walking on water. They discount who it is who's
walking on the water. They discount that it's the Creator
of all things. They say, well, the world just
came by a big bang. Well, it's God who created all things,
isn't he? Like Travis said, whether it happened by a big bang, it's
God who did it, right? God's the creator of all things,
beloved. He's the one. And here's the one who has created
all things. Think of this. Even the little,
even the little, Brother Neil was talking the other day about
just the little things we don't even see, the microscopic things
that are under the ground that we don't even see, they're all
under his control. So walking on water is nothing
for him, is it? Just water to him. This is amazing. And we know
already that the angry waves obey Him, right? They obey His
command. The wind and the waves already
obey His commands. Do you know to deny Christ, to
deny all His miracles, is to deny who He is? He's God. Only God could do these
things. Remember the Pharisees, when
he said, your sins are forgiven, they said, well, only God can
forgive sins. Yeah, that's right. You're absolutely right. Only
God can forgive sins. And that's God who's telling
that man that his sins are forgiven. Praise be to God for us, eh?
Because all our sins are forgiven in him. So they see him walking
on water, and they're afraid. It's dark. It's gloomy. The storm's
buzzing around them. And then they see him walking.
We don't know if maybe dawn's breaking and they see this figure
coming to them. Scripture's silent on that, but
it says they saw him. They saw him coming. And they're
struck with fear, because they don't know it's him. And I love
this. Look at verse 27. Look at the
tenderness of our Lord. See, our Lord is so tender to
his people, isn't he? Here they are, they're in fear,
they're in doubt, right? That's us, right? See, there's
so many lessons for us in this. They're afraid, they're trembling. And I love this. But straightaway,
Jesus spake unto them, saying, be of good cheer, it is I. Be
not afraid. Oh, that's honey for our souls,
beloved. Be not afraid, it's I. Be not
afraid of the judgment, you who are in Christ, because Christ
has already paid it all for us. Be not afraid of the wrath of
God, because Christ already appeased it all in our place. My, oh, my. And hear what words
of comfort. They were terrified. What words
of comfort? Be of good cheer, it is I. Be not afraid. Don't
be afraid. It's like, fear not. What grace is shown here. What
grace. He comforts his people right
there in the midst of that storm, doesn't he? He comforts them
right away with his own words. And I ask you who are the born-again,
blood-washed people of God, does he not do the same for us in
the midst of storms? Does he not do the same for us?
Rejoice, beloved. He who has saved you and I has
power over all things. Over all things. Everything is in his hands. We
see and learn here what great power the Lord Jesus has. He
has all power. He has absolute power. Absolute power. If one has absolute
power, can anyone deny his will? No. If he has absolute power, does
he have the ability to do what he pleases? Please God to save us. Oh my. Scripture says, here keep
us from falling. Present us faultless one day
before his throne with exceeding joy. He'd be happy to, he'd be
happy to present us faultless. Sinners like us. Sinners like
me. He's mine. Oh my, what a Savior. So be not afraid of the storms
of life, beloved. They're ordained by God, and
they'll soon pass. They'll soon pass. They will
soon pass. No matter what we're going through,
it'll soon pass. And be not afraid of the things
that occur in this world. I know we can get caught up in the things
in this world. Don't be afraid of them. They'll pass. There's been
wars and rumors of wars ever since who knows how long. Don't be afraid. And don't be
afraid of what man can do to us. They can kill the body, right?
But they can't take the soul, can they? The soul's in God's
hands, beloved. The soul's in the hands of He
who rules the wind and the waves and walks on water. And what
do we say? Praise His mighty name. Hallelujah!
Hallelujah to our Savior. Now let's read verses 28 and
29. 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 water to go to Jesus.
Peter wants to go see the Lord, doesn't he? He wants to go see
him. And the Lord said, he says, Lord,
if it be thou bid me to come unto thee on the water. God's
people want to be in the presence of Christ, don't they? We want
to be. And in verse 29, Lord said, come. And Peter was come down on the
ship. He walked on water to go to Jesus. Now, did Peter do that
on his own? Nope. He did that by the power
of God, didn't he? God's upholding him. And the only reason he could
do that is because Christ said, come! Oh my. Mark this amazing miracle. Mark the power here. Mark the
divine power that's on display. Peter is walking on water just
as Christ did. Jack Shank said this, now for
the Lord to walk on water was a mighty miracle, but to enable
a poor, weak disciple to do the same was a mightier miracle. He can enable those who hear
his voice to do things they would have thought impossible. He can
carry them through difficulties and trials, which without him
they would not dare to do. You ever look back on your life
and go, how did I live through that? Before the Lord saved me? By
the grace of God. He was watching over you even
before you were born again. My, oh my. He goes on to say,
he can enable them to have no fear. If we are doing his work,
let us fear nothing. The water is deep, but if he
says, come, who shall we fear, end quote. Who shall we fear? Man says this and that. Let man
rail. Let man rail. Now we see a lesson
here of how much trouble the disciples bring upon themselves
by unbelief. And it's the same for us, isn't
it? It's the same for us. Look at verse 30. But when he
saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and began to sink. He
cried, saying, Lord, save me. Well, Peter walks boldly on the
water, right? He has got a willing spirit.
He's been made willing in the name of God's power. God says,
come on. Come. But suddenly, he looks
at his own ability. Oh, Lord, keep us from looking
at our own ability, because we don't have any. Oh, my. His weak flesh gets the
best of him, doesn't it? It does. He's got a willing spirit,
but he forgets the proofs of the Lord's goodness and the power
and considers not the same Savior who enabled him to walk one step
was also able to hold him up forever. He started looking at
that wind. Oh my, look at that wind. And
then he starts to sink. I was listening to Donnie. Donnie
said, you know, we don't know if it got up to his legs or up
to his chest or up to his neck. We don't know. I know Peter's
probably like, Lord, save me. Oh my. But his eye, what happened? His eye wandered from the Lord,
didn't it? And what's the Lord tell us? He says, without me,
you can do nothing. So what a lesson for all of us. Oh, he gets his eye on that storm,
and he starts to sink. What happens to us when we get
our eye? We start to sink, don't we? We start to get down. Oh my, what a lesson for us,
beloved. We can often look at the world,
at enemies that surround us, the great difficulties that come
our way. And we can look at the things going on in the world
and all they do. You know what they do? I was thinking about
this. You know what they do? They just obscure our view of
the Lord. That's all it does. All those things, when we start
looking at the storm, we start looking at things in the world,
it just obscures our view from God, looking at Christ. It really
does. It does for me. I don't know if it does for you,
but for me it does. My oh my. And I get my eyes back where
I'm supposed to be. When we get in trouble is when we dwell on
the storms or circumstances more than we dwell on Christ. And that's so for me. I gotta
keep my eyes on him all the time. Oh my. And when we get our eyes off
Him, we start to sink. Our hearts faint. Our hope can
vanish. And our comfort can disappear.
But you know what? What's happened? Why has that
happened? Christ hasn't moved, has He? Christ was walking on
the water. He said, Peter, come. He didn't
move. Come on, Peter. And when our hope starts to diminish,
or when things start to crowd in on us, Christ hasn't went
anywhere. He's still with us. We've just
let the things obscure our view of him, the circumstances and
the things that are happening. Oh, we've ceased to look to Christ
then, and we've given way to unbelief, which plagues every
one of us, every one of us. We can become so taken up by
circumstances than he who sent them. The circumstances consume our
minds rather than he who sent the circumstances to us. And let us ever keep our mind
upon him. And may God give us grace to do that, okay? Because
I am not one of them preachers that say, you have to do this.
No, we have to, don't we? We. We. I'm right there with you. So
may we lay this to our heart. May we learn wisdom from what's
here in the scriptures. May we look away from circumstances
and may we look to the mighty Savior. May we look to the one
who said to Peter, come. Come. And what's our cry? Our cry is just like Peter's. I love this. This is the cry
of every believer. Lord, save me. You don't save
me, I'm going to perish, Lord. And I don't just mean out of
our salvation. I mean in the middle of the storm. We're sitting
there, we're like, oh Lord, if you don't do something, I'm going
to perish. Oh, ye of little faith, Wayne. My, how many times have I learned
that and I keep repeating it? Is it so for you? My. My, oh my. Look at Matthew 14, 31. Immediately. See what happens when we cry
out like that and we're in the midst of that storm? Immediately.
He didn't even wait, did he? Immediately. Jesus stretched
forth his hand and caught him and said unto them, O thou of
little faith, wherefore dost thou doubt? Look at that. What tenderness. What tenderness
is shown by the Savior here. May we learn from this miracle
how merciful our Lord is to the weak. And we're weak, aren't we? When
we think we're strong, we're not strong. And when we're weak,
we are strong in Christ. In Christ. Look at that. Immediately, he stretches forth
his hands. And he doesn't say to Peter, Oh, Peter, you should
have listened to me. You should have, you, oh my,
Peter. should have kept your eyes on
me. No, our Lord is full of... See, that's maybe how a worldly
man would act. But Christ says, oh, ye of little
faith, why do you doubt me? I can just hear his voice, just
with tenderness. Love. Love. This is one of his sheep. Oh,
Peter. Oh, thou of little faith, Wherefore
dost thou doubt? What gentleness! What gentleness
of the Savior! As a mother deals gently with
a child, he doesn't cast Peter away. He doesn't say, go on over
there and sit in the corner for a while. Right? No. He says, Peter, thou of little
faith, wherefore dost thou doubt? Praise God, we have a little
faith, eh? If the faith is in the right person, Christ, praise
God we have a little faith, God-given faith. And you know why he's
so gentle and tender with them? Because he's loved them from
eternity. He's his. He's purchased him. He pities
him. He knows our feebleness. Who
will raise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand
up for me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the Lord
had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence. When
I said, my foot slippeth, thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. Psalm
94, verses 16 to 18. Thy mercy, Lord. Thy mercy, Lord, held me up. Now let's read the last two verses
here. And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
What a miracle. It just stopped. As soon as they
set foot in that boat, it stopped, just like that. Then they that were in the ship
came and worshiped him, saying, Of a truth, thou art the Son
of God. The Lord Jesus and Peter step into the boat, and boom,
the wind just stops. It just stops. Even in a stormy
day, beloved, He's ever-present with us. He who is ruler over
all is ever-present with us. In verse 33, then we see they
worshipped Him. He alone is worthy of praise.
He alone has redeemed our eternal souls. He alone has shed His
precious blood to redeem us. He alone is the Savior of our
souls. He alone is the Savior of sinners. He is worthy of our
praise. And they call Him the Son of
God. How do they do that? By God-given faith. They're giving
Him the title of the Messiah. You're the Messiah. Yeah, He
is. Glory to His name. He that comes
to God must believe on Christ. Must believe on Christ. And he
that believes in God will come being made well in the day of
God's almighty power. And that's the same power that
we saw on display right here. The same power that raised Jesus
from the dead is the same power that raises us from our dead
natural state, beloved. It's the power of the Holy Spirit
of God. Power of God. We've seen much in this text
to encourage us today, haven't we? Much in this text to encourage
us. We who are the born-again, blood-washed
people of God. If we fall, Christ is there to
pick us up. Immediately. Immediately. If we wander away, he'll bring
us back gently. In love. In love. And you know
what? His mercy will never be taken
away from us. Never. Never. My oh my, may we be thankful
that God's given us faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us be content, wherever we find ourselves in life, let us
be content. And let us cry out, Lord, increase
my faith. Lord, help my unbelief and increase
my faith, Lord, please.