Let's open our Bibles together
to Matthew chapter 14. Matthew 14. Begin reading in verse 22. And
straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship
and to go before him and to 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. 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. When the disciples saw Him walking
on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is the Spirit. And
they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto
them, saying, Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. Peter answered Him and said,
Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water. And He
said, Come. And when Peter was come down
out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But
when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to
sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. Immediately, Jesus stretched
forth his hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of
little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were
coming to the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in
the ship came and worshiped him, saying of a truth, Thou art the
Son of God." Now, when I began looking at this passage of Scripture,
I believe the first thing that stood out to me, God's sovereignty. God's sovereignty in all things. His sovereignty in Providence. Remember Nebuchadnezzar, there
in the scriptures, he declared, he said, at the end of days,
I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, my understanding
returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High. I praised and
honored him that liveth forever and ever. whose dominion is an
everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing. He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest thou? Our God orders and directs All
things. All things according to the counsel
of His own people. Not what's convenient for us
or what would necessarily make us happy, but all things according
to His will. Look at verse 22 here of our
text, here in Matthew 14. It says, Jesus constrained His
disciples to get into the ship. Everything, everything in Providence
is constrained. It's ordered and directed by
Almighty God. We know all things. All things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
called according to His purpose. Almighty God is sovereign in
providence. He's sovereign in creation. Look
at verse 26. The disciples saw Him walking
on the sea. Here we see His sovereignty in
and over His creation. God created the earth and the
heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, He created man in His
own image. He created all things. And here in our text, we see
Him walking on the sea. Why couldn't He walk on the sea?
It's His, isn't it? It's His to do with it what He
will, whether we understand it. Men have tried to understand
that. How's that possible? That God could walk on the sea.
The Lord Jesus Christ could walk on the sea. It's His. It's His. He can do with it what
He will. And here in our text, we see
that the old writers say that He was probably, you know, it
wasn't just like right along the shore. This was probably
four or five miles away from the shore. And the Lord Jesus
Christ walks on the sea. He's sovereign in creation. Sovereign over His creation.
And God is sovereign in salvation. He chose to save some, but not
all. He constrained His disciples
to get into the ship. Now, there were many there. He
told the multitudes to go away. He sent the multitudes away,
but He constrained His disciples to get into that ship. Christ died for some. but not
all. He sent his gospel to some, but
not all. He calls his son to hear his
voice, but not all. We read in our text that Jesus
spake unto them. He spake unto his disciples. all whom He chose, all whom He
redeemed by the blood of Christ, all that He justified by His
grace shall be kept and delivered by His power, by the power of
His grace. Look at verse 22 again. Christ
constrained His disciples to get into the ship and to go to
the other side. And if you look at verse 34,
if you look down in the passage there, you'll see that when the
disciples came over, they came into the land of Ganasserim.
Despite the wind, despite the waves, despite the unsteady sea,
despite their fears, He did what He said He was going
to do, didn't He? He said, get into the ship and go to the other
side. And he delivered them to the
other side. God's sovereignty. His sovereignty
in creation. His sovereignty in providence.
His sovereignty in salvation. With this in mind, I want us
to look at this passage of Scripture together. Okay, beginning with
verse 22. Let's look at it just verse by
verse. And straightway Jesus constrained
His disciples to get into the ship and to go before Him to
the other side while He sent the multitudes away. Again, He
constrained His disciples. He made them do something that
they didn't necessarily want to do. That word constrained,
it means to use some force. He constrained them. And you know what? With our sinful
nature, how often are we constrained, do we have to be constrained
to do that which we wouldn't do in and of ourselves? Turn to Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7, begin with verse 14. For we know
that the law is spiritual, but I'm carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow
not. For that what I would, that I
do not. But what I hate, that do I. If
then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that
it's good. Now then, it's no more I that
do it, but sin, sin that dwelleth in man. Thank God. Thank God that His people are
made willing. We're made willing in the day
of His power. Turn back to our text. He constrained
His disciples. to get into the ship. Again,
not everyone. That ship wasn't there for everyone. He told his disciples to get
into the ship. His sheep. His sheep. And they obeyed him. Just as
God did the same thing with this pattern. We see it throughout
Scripture. He did the same thing with Noah. Noah and his family,
the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the
ark. Come into the ark. For thee have
I seen righteous before me in this generation. And not only
did he put him in there, once he told him to go, he shut the
door. He shut the door to keep him, to keep him. Get in the
ship, get in, get in the ark. Get in there and stay in there.
And then over in Acts 27, Acts 27, you don't have to turn there,
but Paul was on that voyage with those prisoners. And he said,
except... Remember that? Some of the soldiers,
they were going to let down some of the men in a lifeboat down
the side of the ship. Paul said, stop. He said, except
you except you abide in the ship. You cannot be saved. Get in the ship. Abide in the
ship. Rest in the ship. Stay in the
ship. Rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Rest in Him and Him alone. Let's read on in our text. It begins in verse 23 there.
It says, when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into
a mountain to pray, and when the evening was come, He was
there alone. But the ship was now in the midst
of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. I believe we see here a description
of the believer's life. the believer's life. You know,
there's times when it's smooth sailing, as they would say. But
so often, so often the wind is boisterous and the sea is rough
and we're tossed to and fro. It's one of trouble and tribulation,
tossed with the waves, for the wind was was contrary. I was thinking about those giant
waves. We go to the, we've been fortunate
to go to the beach a few times over the years and sometimes
you're there and the kids could go out and play because the waves
were just kind of small, just gently kind of rolling over,
not enough to even knock a little one down. But then there's times
There's times when the sea is, that ocean's rough. I can remember
one time, and we laughed about this, but there was a couple
out in the ocean, and the waves, boy, they'd just come up over
top of them and just knock them down. And they'd kind of gather
their senses, and before they could get up, another wave just
come and just kept beating down on them and beating down on them.
And isn't that true? in our lives that there's times
that we just feel like those waves just keep coming, just
keep coming. And that's where these disciples
are right now. They were tossed with the waves. For the wind
was contrary. Our Lord said this. He said,
in this world, you'll have tribulation. You'll have trouble. Well, verse 25, in the fourth
watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking, walking on
the sea. Now, in this time of trouble,
in this time of... I'm sure the disciples were probably
thinking, are we going to make it to the other side? Is this
ship going to capsize and turn over on us? But in the fourth
watch of the night, they said that's about 3 a.m., about 3
a.m. in the morning, The Lord Jesus
Christ comes to His disciples. How often have you laid up late
at night, just troubled? The Lord comes and He comforts
His people. David wrote this in the Psalms,
Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. He's with His people at all times. At all times. And how often do
we need reminders that He'll never leave nor forsake His people? Aren't we quick to forget? Kind of like the children of
Israel. How often did they say, Lord,
Moses, did you just bring us out here to kill us in the desert? Verse 26, when the disciples
saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled. They said, it's
a spirit, and they cried out for fear. Now, just a few things
to think about here. Let me say this encouraged me,
because in spite of God's mercy, in spite of His blessing, in
spite of His grace, How often? How often do I doubt? How often
do we doubt? How often do we doubt Him? How
often do we fear? Turn back a page to verse 15
of Matthew 14. Begin verse 15, and when it was
evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, This is a desert
place, and the time is now past. Send the multitude away, that
we may go into the village and buy themselves fixtures. But
Jesus said unto them, They need not depart. Give ye them to eat.
And they say unto Him, We have but five loaves and two fishes. And He said, Bring them hither
to Me. And he commanded the multitude
to sit down on the grass, and he took the five loaves and the
two fishes. And looking up to heaven, he
blessed and brake and gave loaves to his disciples, and the disciples
and the multitude, and they did all eat and were filled. And
they took up the fragments that remained, twelve baskets full.
And when they had eaten, there were about five thousand men
beside women and children. Just earlier that evening, that
same evening, just earlier that evening, the Lord had taken five
loaves and two fishes, and He had fed 5,000 men. That didn't include the women.
That didn't include any of the children that were running around.
And on top of that, we read there were 12 baskets of leftovers. They had just seen this miracle. Not 12 hours earlier, they had
just seen this. Now they doubt and fear. When the storm came, they were
troubled, weren't they? They were troubled. Turn to Matthew
chapter 8. Verse 23, when He was entered into a ship,
His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great
tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with
waves. But He, the Lord Jesus Christ, He was asleep. And His
disciples came to Him and they awoke Him, saying, Lord, save
us, for we perish. And he said unto them, Why are
you so fearful? O ye of little faith. Then he arose and rebuked the
winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. But the men
marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the
winds and the sea obey him? The disciples had followed the
Lord into a ship. And that great storm came, great
storm. It arose and they went and they
woke up the Lord and they said to him, save us, save us or we
perish. In Mark's account, we read that
they said to him, carest thou not, carest thou not that we
perish? Lord, don't you care? How often have we spoke those
words? Maybe not out loud for people
to hear us, but in here, in our fears and our doubts. Lord, do
you care? I think we can all relate to
the disciples, can't we? And listen, it was the Lord back
here in our text that had put them. He had told them, you go
into this ship, And go over to the other side. He constrained
them. We read that in verse 20. He
constrained them. Get into the ship. And again, in spite of
their fears and doubts that we all can quickly relate to, look
at verse 27. Straightway Jesus spake unto
them. He spake unto them. And he said,
he said three things. I believe he said these in love.
I think he said these in pity and grace and mercy to them. He said, be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. No doubt they heard him. You
know, up to this point, we read they were troubled. They were
troubled and they cried out with fear. Up to that point, they
had seen this man walking on the water. But now they hear him. He spoke
to them. You know, faith doesn't come
by seeing, does it? Faith comes by hearing. And they heard him. They heard
him. Are you troubled? Are you troubled? Do you have fears and doubts?
What did they do? They cried out to the Lord. They
cried to Him. Listen to this, Isaiah 59 verse
1. Behold, the Lord's hand is not
shortened that it cannot save. Neither is His ear heavy that
it cannot ease. He hears the cry And He spake. He spake to them. The Master
speaks to them. When they saw Him, they cried
out with fear. But straightway, He spoke unto them. And they
heard Him. They heard Him. Turn to John
chapter 10. Look at verse 27 of John chapter
10. My sheep, they hear my voice. I know them and they follow me
and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand." Safe and secure in the hand of God. No man, no
man can pluck them out of my hand. Well, he spake unto them. He speaks peace. He says, be
of good cheer. Three other times in Scripture,
our Lord used this phrase, be of good cheer. Turn to Matthew 9. Matthew 9. Be of good cheer. Look at verse
1. He entered into a ship and passed
over and came into his own city, and behold, they brought him
a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. Jesus, seeing their
faith, said unto the sick of palsy, Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins, thy sins be forgiven. Isn't that a good, isn't that
a reason to be of good cheer? Thy sins, thy sins be forgiven. He said that you may know that
the Son of Man hath power to forgive sins. We'll turn to Matthew
9, look at verse 20. We read this earlier. A woman that was diseased with
an issue of blood, twelve years, came behind Him and touched the
hem of His garment. For she said within herself,
If I may touch His garment, I shall be whole. Jesus turned about,
When he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort. Be of good
comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Be of good comfort. Be of good
cheer. Thy faith hath made thee whole.
And then in John chapter 16, I'll just read it to you. John
16, 33. He says, These things have I spoken unto you that in
me you might have peace in the world. In this world, you'll
have tribulation. You're going to have trouble.
But be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. I have overcome
the world. Be of good cheer. We have much
reason to be of good cheer. He says, it's I. It is I. He reveals himself just as Joseph
revealed himself to his brother. Remember that? He said, don't
be afraid. You meant this for evil. God
meant it for good. He said, it is I. I'm your master. I'm your savior. I'm your redeemer.
The one who is able to save and the one who came for that purpose. He said, it is I. It is I, and
some translate that it is I to I am, I am, which speaks of our
Lord's eternal existence. Christ is the everlasting I am,
the eternal God, which is, was, and is to come. Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not, be not afraid. Don't
be afraid. In Isaiah 43, we read this earlier. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not. Fear not. Don't be afraid. For
I have, here's some good reason, I have redeemed thee. I have
called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. When you pass
through the waters, I'll be with thee. And the rivers, they'll
not overflow thee. When you walk through the fire,
you'll not be burned. It'll be like Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego. There they were in the furnace,
and the fourth was like the Son of Man. There Christ was with
them back there in the Old Testament. When they brought them out, you
know how it is when you burn brush. You can't be around fire
without smoke getting on you. When they come out, Not only
was their skin not singed or burnt, there wasn't even a smell
of smoke on them. When you pass through the fire,
you'll not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon you.
For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior."
Jesus spake unto them. He said, be of good cheer. It
is I. Be not afraid. Back in our text
here in Matthew 14, look at verse 28. And Peter answered Him and said,
Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water. And He
said, come. The Lord Jesus Christ said, come. You know, I don't know how men
mistake God's command as an invitation. I guess I do understand it because
then it puts it in the hand of men. But he said, come. He said, this is a command. No man can come unto me except
the Father. Except the Father would send
me to draw him. We're giving him to my Father.
It's a command. The man must be obeyed. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. He said, and when Peter was come down out
of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, when he saw that wind. You know,
to look to anything or anyone apart from Christ, we should
be overcome with fear. If we're looking to anything
but Christ, that would be good reason to be afraid, because
there's no hope. There's no hope in any other.
He began to sink and he cried, and listen to this prayer, Three words, Lord, save me. Lord, save me. Otherwise, Lord,
if you don't save me, I'll perish. I have no hope but you. There's none other name given
among me whereby we must be, whereby we must be, Lord, Lord. Save me. You know those three
points we looked at this morning. Am I a sinner? Am I a sinner?
Am I dead in trespasses and sin? Did Christ die for me? Is He
my only Savior? Is He my only hope? I have no
righteousness. I have no sin offering. I have
nothing. I have nothing apart from Christ. Peter cried out. I believe it
was a cry of desperation too. It was one of... He was serious
about it. I'm going to die. I'm going to
die. And listen, he didn't cry out to the other... Notice, those
disciples were the ones he'd been spending all that time on
the ship with. He didn't cry out to them. He didn't cry out
to himself. He didn't say, stand back here
for a minute, And maybe if I get rid of this robe and I won't
drown in it, I can swim a little better. I can make it on my own."
That's not what he said, was it? He didn't say, somebody throw
me a life preserver and I'll grab and hold on to it. No, he
said, Lord, save me. It was personal, wasn't it? And there was only one. There
was only one he could cry out to. Lord, save me. Without you. Without you, I'll perish. Without
you, I'll drown. Without you, I'm helpless, I'm
hopeless. And immediately, look at verse
31, immediately, immediately, the old hymn writer wrote, the
vilest offender who truly believed, that moment, that very moment,
a pardon from Jesus receives. Jesus stretched forth his hand, He taught. He taught Him. Or we read, no man can pluck
them out of My hand. My sheep, they hear My voice,
I know them, they follow Me, I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand. Even Peter, even Peter. Maggie, you mentioned that last
night. Even Peter, Peter who had Think about this. He had
denied the Lord three times that are recorded here, right? Probably more so than that. But
he had denied the Lord three times. Peter, when the Lord died,
would have just went back to his old work of fishing. Just
go back to my old job. Peter. Peter. What a mess he was, wasn't it?
He said, save me, Lord, save me. He reached forth his hand
and caught him and brings him back into the sheep. Every one
of us can relate to Peter there, can't we? Unmeasurable. Well, O thou of little faith. Couldn't that be said to each
of us? O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? We
could cry out, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Well,
look at verse 32. And when they were coming to
the ship, the wind ceased. And they that were in the ship
came, and they worshipped him, saying of a truth, Thou art the
Son of God. They worshipped him. They worshipped
him. They said, Thou art the Son of
God. Look back at verse 27, and I'll quit here. I was thinking about this as
the title for the lesson, but I know it was way too long to
post. Be of good cheer, it is I, be
not afraid. But listen to this, it is I. It is I. Be of good cheer. It is I. It
is I, listen, it's I that put you in the ship. Almighty God
constrained them to go into that ship. It is I that am with you. Even though He was off on the
shore, He could see them the whole time. God sees all things. It is I that saved you. It is I that keep you. I, He saved him, brought him
back into that ship, and it's I that you worship. We worship
Him, don't we? They worshiped Him as the Son
of God. And He didn't correct them on
that either, did He? Because He is the Son of God. He is God.
It is I, listen, that will deliver you safely to the other side. So with that, what was his last
command there? Be not afraid. Be not afraid. Don't be afraid. All right, I
pray God would bless this word. Our hearts hear this word. Brother
Michael.